Last Thursday marked the beginning of a concert series featuring local bands with an altruistic purpose for performing. The Ruby
Room has begun housing a benefit concert series called Play It Forward on the last Thursday of every month.
Organized by Control Center Productions, a local event-planning company, the concert series is aimed to help people in need. Kris Towne, co-owner of Controls Center for the Sun Studios, is hopeful the concert series can help those in the community as well as globally.
“I want to make something that’s huge at some point, and really can make a difference for a lot of people,” Towne said. “At the same time I don’t want to overlook my neighbors or my community.” The proceeds of each concert will go directly to the concert’s beneficiary.
The first Play It Forward concert helped the family of Diana Gonzalez, a 19-year-old City College student who was found dead on campus in a men’s bathroom last October.
Her 1-year-old daughter is being taken care of by her family. The search for her ex-husband and alleged murderer, Armando Perez, is ongoing.
Local bands that came together to perform at the event with Gonzalez’s family in mind included Vinyl Film, Centerlight Pop and Knockout Bell. Knockout Bell, which can best be described as “soul rock,” put on an especially entertaining set.
The band’s lively performance took up the Ruby Room’s whole stage. The musical talent of a trio of ladies singing in doo-wop fashion with a saxophonist, keyboardist, guitarist, bassist and drummer led some members of the audience to dance.
After the event was done and everyone had gone home for the night, the Play It Forward concert still had a lot of significance for the Gonzalez family.
“It means that they’re (the community) showing their support to our family and have good hearts and want to help out with Diana’s daughter,” Beatriz Luna, Gonzalez’s cousin, said.
The Play It Forward concert series is an excellent opportunity for San Diegans to come together to support local and global causes.
“What we want people to remember is that you really need to stick together as a community,” Luna said.
