A Sense of Community Exemplified

[paulsby]

on saturday evening, a local radio station here in seattle helped organize a benefit concert for the 4 murdered lakewood officers (and to an extent, for ofc. benton of SPD as well) - playing were mike mccreedy from pearl jam (he did the national anthem on guitar a la hendrix), queensryche acoustic set, and duff mckagan's loaded (duff is the bassist for guns and roses) at snoqualmie casino, along with a silent auction for some really cool stuff that was donated (i almost bidded on a guitar signed by godsmack.

i have never seen a better example of a community coming together. the room was absolutely packed, the silent auction was a smashing success, and a whole cadre of lakewood officers took the stage, along with their police chief (not a cop-o-crat, but a real cop who rose through the ranks) who gave a rousing speech and exhorted "no fucking fear" to massive cheers.

queensryche was great (lead singer has pipes) as was duff mckagan's band, which kind of sounded like the ramones meets guns n roses (and how is that not a good thing?)

the lead singer of queensryche joined them for a few guns n roses covers.

set up on the stage was a drum set owned by one of the downed officers, who was apparently an avid rock drummer. it sat right next to the loaded drummer's set.

this was a great example of the kind of sense of community we have seen. people came to give respect, monetary support, and rock out for a good cause. when one of the cops gave a speech about cops protecting the 95% of society against that 5% who are out to prey and victimize them, people cheered.

it was a great frigging night.

[cali]

1. rec. glad you had such an inspirational night.

[Jamastiene]

2. K&R

That's sweet.

[malaise]

3. Nice

:hi: