Music and charity come together Sunday

‘ ‘ ‘ Music and local activism will come together for a greater cause this Sunday at Mr. Smalls… ‘ ‘ ‘ Music and local activism will come together for a greater cause this Sunday at Mr. Smalls in Millvale. ‘ ‘ ‘ Local Pittsburgh punk band Anti-Flag will host a concert in support of the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, whose funds and supplies have been dwindling in lieu of the economic crisis sweeping the country. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘The stat that really stuck out to me is that they have 500,000 pounds of supplies less than what they had at this time last year,’ said Anti-Flag’s bassist and lead vocalist Chris Barker, more commonly known as Chris #2. ‘ ‘ ‘ He said Anti-Flag learned of the problems the food bank is facing and immediately took action. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We caught wind that the food bank was having troubles and said, ‘What can we do to help?’ So we talked to them and found out they were in need of money, awareness and goods,’ he said. ‘ ‘ ‘ From there, Anti-Flag called Mr. Smalls to set up the ‘Yes We Can’ benefit concert and invited other local bands Grand Buffet, Incommunicado and Girl Fight. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘It’s exciting to play with bands just from Pittsburgh, and there’s going to be kids and people there who are really excited about the scene and the city and excited to help,’ said Barker. ‘ ‘ ‘ In an e-mail interview, Jarrod Weeks a.k.a. Lord Grunge, of Grand Buffet, said, ‘To be honest, I’m just really psyched to play with Anti-Flag,’ and he assured The Pitt News that it will be an awesome show.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ His bandmate Jackson O’Connell-Barlow added, ‘Ra, Yahweh ‘amp; the Cat in the Hat will it to be.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ One hundred percent of the proceeds from the show will go directly to the Food Bank, and attendees will also be encouraged to bring canned goods and nonperishable foods to donate. ‘ ‘ ‘ People who bring canned and dry goods will be entered in drawings to win prizes like CDs and shirts, and one lucky winner will win a vegan dinner with Anti-Flag drummer Pat Thetic, which Barker promises will be a moment of true awkwardness. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘[Pat] is unsure about it, but he likes awkward situations. I’m hoping to hook up some sort of helmet video apparatus to film it and post it on some random Web site and be flies on the wall of the really weird,’ said Barker with a laugh. ‘ ‘ ‘ Tickets are $5, and doors open at 7 p.m. for a night of rock for a good cause.