LOUD Love will see some of Newcastle’s best known musicians come together for one night to perform the songs of Chris Cornell, Layne Staley, Scott Weiland and Kurt Cobain.
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The evening is not just about celebrating the music of the late greats, but also to raise awareness about suicide and depression.
The idea had been “brewing” for some time, drummer Justin Ngariki explained.
“I had mentioned it to Marcus (Wright) over a year ago,” Ngariki said.
“Then a family member committed suicide. The Cornell thing … it happened in pretty quick succession.
“It was time to stop talking and thinking about this.”
He said the message he wanted the event to send was “depression needs to be talked about”.
“How men really feel is not allowed to be talked about,” Ngariki said.
“I just wanted to open up a dialog really.
“If you have cancer everyone knows about it, your family, your friends – there is support everywhere.
“Depression and suicide are seen as a product of weakness in our culture, but I think it’s our culture that’s weak.”
Marcus Wright of Big Apache stepped in to help organise the event. He has lost four friends to suicide and agreed it was a subject which needs to be discussed openly.
“Depression causes more disability than any other disease,” Mr Wright said.
“The rate of suicide is double the road toll, but look at all the attention it gets.”
“My friend passed away from suicide 12 years, ago. I had dinner the other day with his father and he told me it is still just as painful.”
On the night Ngariki will be joined on stage by Mark Cashin, Paul Coxon, Ross Flynn, Chris Hamall, Ken Jewell, Lee Rolfe, Kane Starkey and Amy Vee.
Singing duties will be shared among band members who have chosen songs which are meaningful to them.
Special guests on the night are Newcastle rock’n’roll brothers Viagro, who will open the show.
There will be a merchandise counter with Loud Love tees for sale. All money raised from ticket sales and merchandise will go to Hunter Lifeline.
Lifeline will be present on the evening to make people aware of support services available to anyone who might be doing it tough.
Loud Love will be held at The Cambridge Hotel on August 17. Tickets are $15 pre-sale, or $20 at the door and are available at bigtix.oztix.com.au.
If you need someone to talk to please contact Lifeline on their 24 hour hotline: 13 11 14 or go online to their online chat service at lifeline.org.au