‘937-Live: Hometown Legends for Relief’ benefit concert raises thousands for tornado survivors

If you wanted to party with a purpose, the Rose Music Center in Huber Heights was the place to be Wednesday night for 937-Live: Hometown Legends for Relief, a benefit concert that raised more than $109,000 to help survivors of the Memorial Day tornado outbreak.

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Some of Dayton's top platinum-selling recording artists including the Ohio Players, the Original Lakeside, Zapp, and special guest Steve Arrington, among others, donated their time and talents to create the special performance.

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The effort was the vision of The Original Lakeside’s senior member, Stephen Shockley, and his wife, Brenda Lutz.

“Sitting in the dark after the tornadoes, Brenda and I lit some candles waiting for power to be restored," Shockley said in an interview posted to the Rose Music Center website.

"When the power was restored, we turned on the television and saw Sinbad, the comedian, at the Arena in Trotwood participating in tornado relief work. I thought back to all of the shows we had done in the past, I turned to Brenda and said, ‘NOW IS THE TIME!’ Now’s the time for all these bands to come together to do a benefit concert for Dayton. We can do this!” Shockley recalled.

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The money will be donated to the Dayton Foundation’s Greater Dayton Disaster Relief Fund.

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