Hawk TV and WMCX held the sixth annual charity concert, Rock N Raise on Friday Mar. 31. The live benefit concert which supported The American Cancer Society, took place in the Jules L. Plangere Jr. Center for Communication in the Hawk TV studio.
The concert was also simultaneously broadcasted on air on WMCX. Rock N Raise allowed students to connect through music and a meaningful cause.
This year the music came from three local bands; Halogens, Shark Club and Drive, Kid, as well as a performance from Jake Ewald of Modern Baseball. These bands brought a variety of music to the event and gave the community the opportunity to not only come and rock out with them, but also get to see some of their own classmates perform.
Nick Manduley a junior communication student, member of Hawk TV, as well as of the bands Shark Club, and Drive, Kid said, “I was insanely excited to play at Rock N Raise. The headliner Slaughter Beach, Dog (Jake Ewald of Modern Baseball) is actually the guy whose music inspired me to start singing in the first place, so it means a lot to me that I get to open for him.
I also love that it’s all for a great cause like American Cancer Society, it goes to show that music can really do good things for the world.”
The anticipation for this event was at an all-time high throughout the weeks leading up to the event, according to junior communication student and member of Hawk TV, Jillian Young. “We were so excited to have such a great lineup this year and we also planned to raise a lot of money for the American Cancer Society so it was a really successful event,” she said.
One of the biggest highlights of the Rock N Raise event was that it brought together two communication clubs that do not always have the opportunity to work with one another.
Dr. Aaron Furgason, Chair of the Communication Department and WMCX faculty advisor shared his excitement for how the event brings students together, “The Rock N Raise event benefits Communication students involved in Hawk TV and WMCX via the collaborative nature of the event.
Students from both organizations have the opportunity to work together on an event that is beneficial to their resume, as well as society via the fundraising to assist in the fight against cancer.”
Michael Trapasso, a senior communication student and Sports Director for WMCX is one of those members who joins in on the excitement of collaboration. “As the person board operating the event back in WMCX studio, I got to hear everything, but unfortunately didn’t get to see anything.
It was exciting to hear music from some really talented artists who were there to raise money for a good cause. Also this event is cool because it is really the first time since homecoming that WMCX and Hawk TV came together for one big event,” he said.
The biggest act of the event was Jake Ewald of Modern Baseball bringing his acoustic solo act Slaughter Beach, Dog to the event. Modern Baseball is on a current hiatus so to be able to see one of their members was a large selling point of the event.
Throughout the event students could come by and pay the $5 admission fee and receive raffle tickets. The prizes were of a great variety and ranged from free food at some of the events sponsors such as Bagel Guys and Scala’s Pizzeria.
There were also gift baskets full of items from Monmouth clubs which included Hawk TV and The Outlook.
The whole event was an exciting time for all Monmouth Students to come together and enjoy great music and help fight a disease that affects everyone.
PHOTO COURTESY of Robert Scott
