Rock n’ Roll - A Charity Case
You can’t swing a relic guitar these days without hitting some form of rock n’ roll charity endeavor based on the notion: if you play it, they will give. The most recent was last night’s “Concert for Diana,” a star-studded musical event at the new Wembley Stadium in London.
According to the Concert for Diana web site, proceeds from the event “will go to charities supported by the late Princess, and to charities of which the Princes are Patrons.”
Targeting musicians rather than just music-lovers, Fender is taking pre-orders for the $20,000 Eric Clapton Crossroads Stratocaster®. (Ask them to throw in the Crossroads ‘57 Twin Amp for another $10k). All profits from the sale of these highly limited guitars (100) and amps (50) will go towards the Crossroads Centre, Antigua, a drug and alcohol rehab center founded by Clapton.
And for those who must walk among the guitars, ensconcing themselves in decorated, larger-than-life scale, Gibson is currently offering Guitar Town, London, “a unique charity inspired campaign bringing together the power of music with art to raise money for three chosen charities; The Princes Trust, Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy and Teenage Cancer Trust.”
Guitar Town is a section in London, by Tower Bridge, in which 30 ten-foot tall fiberglass Gibson Les Paul guitars are being publicly displayed from late June 2007 for ten weeks. In addition, 30 regular-sized Gibson SG’s - creatively designed and hand painted by well-known artists and signed by an associated musician - will be on public display at The O2 in Greenwich, a tube or boat ride from the London display.
Gibson explains that, “all the guitars will be auctioned off at an event in September with all the proceeds being split equally between the three associated charities.”
So, where is the rock-charity connection? Is it that we are so accustomed to getting rooked with exorbitant prices for concerts and gear that we feel relieved and comforted to know that, at the least, our hard-earned dollars are going to good causes rather than lining the pockets of corporate giants?
Or does music tame the miserly beast?
Sphere: Related Contentguitarblog @ July 2, 2007
I also noticed the sheer number of “relic” guitars the bands were using at the Diana concert - but I suppose that, with the likes of Status Quo and Rod Stewart playing, the instruments may as well look as old as the bands playing them!
Nice observation, Geekboy. I’ll look for that as I TiVo through the concert this week. I’d like to think that most of those instruments are authentic relics, notched up from decades of touring rather from the deliberate “relic’ing” of some eBay seller. Thanks for stopping by.
It’s certainly a possibility. Fender also sell “factory relic-ed” guitars brand new, which is what I imagine these are. It’s all the rage just lately.