the damage done

Herc is in hard times.

But if you swim a certain depth of the music world, you'll see a dozen of these a year: benefit concerts for (usually) American musicians who can't pay their medical bills. It's chilling, and I refuse the idea that this is merely the chill of a spoiled European. This is the story of most people everywhere: but they're uncanonized, nor even are they mates with Billy Corgan.

Instances:

• Victoria Williams. She later founded a pretty life-affirming musician's medical charity, so this is welfare investment... yeah.


• Vic Chesnutt recently went to his death $30000 under, despite a 1996 powow by Sweet Relief.
  
  
• Skip Spence's one was too late.
  
  
• Arthur Lee received a four-hour ordeal in 2006.
  
  
• Natasha Schneider's was also posthumous, and poses one of the all-time serious existential questions: would I allow Tenacious D to play in my memory?
  
  
• Without trying to be too insensitive, there's real absurdity in this one, featuring Roger Daltrey for Grand Funk Railroad Jr.
  
  
• J Dilla's mum is still paying off his long illness, despite sustained buzz and tribute.
  
  
• J Church honcho and punk historian Lance Hahn got an exemplary x-list US punk sendoff in 2007.
  
  
• Supreme P-funkist Gary Shider's debt apparently reached $500000, and spawned a few dozen tribute gigs worldwide.
  
  
• The call went out for Nate Dogg, too, though it's not clear that the man most famous for "21 Questions" will elicit much sympathy.
  
  
• Charlie Louvin died last week, but had some fun beforehand.
  
  
• And there's a unsourced bit of wiki saying that there was one in 1791 for Mozart's family.
  
  

These things are beautiful and intolerable; only our bastard world could sustain them. Where, if people will insist on being sinful enough to neglect insurance - or on being genetically shit of out luck - they shall suffer, or else suffer charity.

The wider benefit-gig phenomenon needs looking at (its successes and massive massive massive massive failures), as celebritization of virtue and commodification of welfare, but I don't have the stomach for it now.