It's been a summer of benefits, hasn't it? Jeff Wood. James Murphy. The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, and others. It sucks that these individuals and organizations needed 'em in the first place; on the other hand, the way elements of the Bay area original-music community have rallied is nothing short of inspiring.
And now autumn brings perhaps the biggest and most ambitious cause-driven musical call for attention and patronage Tampa has ever seen, in the form of the SOAP Show. On Saturday, Oct. 4, a host of current modern-rock heavies, up-and-coming national acts and noteworthy locals will fill out a full-day festival in the University of South Florida Sun Dome's parking lot. The concert benefits The Spring, a Hillsborough County agency that has provided asylum for victims of domestic abuse for 26 years.
Featuring sounds that range from pop-punk to insurgent country, and engineered to draw an eclectic (read: young) audience, the SOAP Show has been in the works for nearly two years. SOAP is an acronym for "Speak Out Against" Performance; the concept was cooked up by Eric Torres, a freelance producer who made his bones in South Florida television and event production. A chance meeting with Spring principals led to a conversation about the organization's desire to educate a new generation on the issue of domestic violence.
"They noticed not only that their donor base was getting older, but also that cases of domestic violence involving young people were rising," says Torres. "They wanted to reach out to a younger crowd."
Before long, Torres came on board as The Spring's Events Manager and began laying the groundwork for a major concert to-do. Under the nonspecific SOAP moniker, he envisions a series of soirees profiting various causes. "Speak Out Against" domestic violence, "Speak Out Against" homelessness — you get the picture.
"I stayed away from proclaiming the issue [in the name of the show] … if I had a show with domestic violence in the title, [younger fans] might not come," he says. "I'd like to try and find a different charity that could benefit from this every year."
Torres has a background in the entertainment industry, and he says he's an ardent modern-rock fan. But he still needed someone with music-world connections and concert-promotion experience. Enter Jane McKee, whose Jane's World Entertainment books several Bay area original acts and promotes live shows.
"Since I've had my license, this is the most complicated thing I've been involved in," she says.
In McKee's line of work, every show is a gamble. If a promoter becomes involved in an event and it falls through, or performs poorly, or even if one of the egos involved isn't satisfied, the blame will fall on someone, culpable or no. Starting something as big as SOAP from scratch involves no small risk. But she feels very strongly about The Spring's commitment to domestic-violence awareness, and with good reason — as a child, she lived in a household where there were incidents of abuse.
"I went through a lot of grief growing up. I wanted to help them out, and Eric seemed to have it together enough that I could go ahead and stick my neck out for it," says McKee. "These younger kids needed to know there was a place they could be safe.
"Having been a teacher for 32 years, I was always aware of the needs of kids who were going through some really rough things and didn't know where to turn."
The pair began developing a musical program heavy on young acts they thought might be breaking on modern-rock radio in the coming months. Such acts are generally cheaper and more willing to commit to this kind of thing, but more important, a concert franchise that successfully stays ahead of the big-break curve can come to be seen as part of that process, earning it serious cachet. As with any big show, there were some disappointments; one notable fall-through involved a then completely unknown new band called Evanescence.
"Eric had lines on them from what little radio airplay they were getting in other parts of the country. We could've booked that band before they'd ever been here, before anybody knew who they were. Their agency didn't even know what they sounded like," says McKee with a laugh.
The SOAP Show was originally slated for March. As deadlines loomed, it became obvious that the proposed date wouldn't fly; the concert was moved back until October, which, fittingly enough, is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Eventually, an impressive lineup materialized, including legends like Everclear frontman Art Alexakis (contributing a rare acoustic set) and radio staples like overwrought ska-rock outfit Authority Zero and just-breaking pop-punkers Yellowcard, but also leaving room for some local acts to get a little early-afternoon exposure.
"We've been in on it pretty much from the beginning; we were one of the first acts approached for it," says Bret Calltharp, guitarist for Code Sunshine, a Sarasota modern-rock act booked by Jane's World that's starting to garner some industry attention. "We've seen lots of [national] bands mentioned for the show, but they ended up with a pretty good lineup. Hopefully there'll be a lot of people there to help The Spring make some money."
Another on-the-brink regional outfit that made the cut was bluesy Atlanta garage-rock quartet The Hiss. The band's first record, Panic Movement, was released overseas last month by a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, and is currently awaiting an American label. The Hiss has been championed by both British rock tabloid New Music Express and White Stripes principal Jack White, and is a credible contender for a monster winter buzz.
"[We were contacted] through our booking agent. Half of the band's from Florida, and we're always trying to play shows in Tampa," says Adrian Barrera, Hiss vocalist and former Bay area resident. "It just looked like a really good thing to do."
After a solid 20 months of planning, it's finally looking like the SOAP Show will not only come off, but come off as one of the biggest, most eclectic Tampa rock shows this side of a radio-station festival. It doesn't really matter how many pundits buy tickets with The Spring in mind; though The Spring certainly would like the concert to raise its profile and awareness of domestic-violence issues in general, it will benefit from ticket sales alone.
In fact, in little ways, it already has.
"In addition to rerouting some of their touring plans because they were adamant about the cause, Yellowcard linked us up to their website," says Torres, "and the hits at The Spring website have tripled since that happened."
Scott Harrell can be reached at 813-248-8888, ext. 109, or by e-mail at scott.harrell@weeklyplanet.com.
This article appears in Oct 2-8, 2003.