One of the many cool things about putting together a live musical event is that it brings people together–and brings out the best in people. When I had the idea to stage a concert at the Colonial Playhouse last fall, I reached out to them, and the they were more than generous with their time and resources.

The Colonial Playhouse is a small theater — about 100 seats — that’s usually used for community productions of plays like Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple or Harold Pinter’s Betrayal, so when I asked how much it might cost to rent the venue for an evening, they said they were actually looking for ways to broaden their audience and would be happy to let me use the theater for a split of the door and any money they could make selling snacks at their concession stand. So they found a date when they wouldn’t be putting on a show and penciled me in.

At that point, I had a venue but no acts. Of course, I didn’t have to worry on that count. This blog has allowed me to meet plenty of amazing musicians over the past few years, many of the local to Delaware County (just outside of Philadelphia). The only real challenge was deciding who among those local bands to ask, and my solution was to ask people I’d made music with: Sam Goodman of Rescue Pets, Jesse Gimbel, and Fataday Korngor. And, of course, the band I’ve been playing in, DelCobras.

There were a couple of other challenges as well. Since the Colonial is set up for “straight” drama (as opposed to musical theater), their sound system wasn’t ideal for a rock concert. What this meant in practical terms was that I needed a crash course in live sound.

A few YouTube videos later, I had a rough idea of what I was doing and the kind of equipment I’d need. Fortunately, I already had most of it, and what I didn’t have, I could borrow. My friend Tim Simmons loaned me a couple of his amplifiers, and Jesse Gimbel came through with some microphones and a pair of stage monitors so the musicians could hear themselves while they were playing.

Promotion was another issue, especially since I’m not on social media. Sure, I have this blog and my radio show, but their reach only reaches so far. Or, for the purposes of this exercise, too far. My readers and listeners are spread out over the world, which is great for spreading the word about new music far and wide, but isn’t great for getting people to a concert at a small theater on the outskirts of Philadelphia.

Once again, my fellow musicians stepped in, sharing news of the show on their social media feeds. Even bands who weren’t performing helped out, particularly Mike Huff of BEES! who told fans, friends, and followers to swing by the Colonial Playhouse in addition to attending the West Philly Porch Fest that was scheduled for earlier in the day.

The day before the show, Jesse Gimbel once again stepped up to help me load all of my equipment into the theater: amps, drums, guitars, and a PA system. Amps are incredibly heavy and bulky, so I really appreciated Jesse’s help in this stage of the endeavor. We also did a bit of troubleshooting with respect to where to put everything on the stage so that it was within an extension cord’s reach of the electrical outlets.

The show itself was amazing. I did a few quick sound checks with the bands, and from there the audience started streaming in–friends, family, and fans. From my vantage point behind the mixing board, I just kept thinking about how fortunate I was not only to get to see some of my favorite bands from the Philadelphia area performing on the same stage but also to get to be making something with them: a night of music and memories that couldn’t have happened without everyone pulling together as a team.