Vampire Weekend and Dirty Projectors to perform at Sandy benefit concert


Brooklyn gig is an offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement, and just one aspect of rock's effort to raise relief funds


Vampire Weekend, Devendra Banhart and members of the Dirty Projectors will be among the performers at a benefit concert for victims of superstorm Sandy, which struck the east coast of the US late in October, killing 121 people – plus 78 more in other countries – and causing an estimated $50bn (£31m) of damage in the US alone. Saturday's gig will raise funds for Occupy Sandy, an offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement.


"This came together with 10 phone calls, 10 emails and 10 texts," organiser Morgan Lebus told the New York Times. "Everyone's doing this for free … People just felt compelled to be a part of the cause."


Lebus is the founder of Ribbon Music, an imprint of Domino Records. As an A&R scout for the label he helped sign Dirty Projectors, members of which will perform at this weekend's show in Brooklyn. "These people are friends," Lebus said. Other guests include songwriter Cass McCombs, the band Real Estate, and members of the Walkmen; all will play short acoustic sets, according to Pitchfork. The concert will take place at Brooklyn Heights' St Ann & the Holy Trinity church; tickets start at $30 (£19) and are on sale now.


In addition to the Occupy gig, many other Sandy benefits are happening across the United States. The Dave Matthews Band have pledged the proceeds from a forthcoming concert in New Jersey – estimated at at least $1m (£600,000) to the relief operation. Dan Deacon, Ween, Justin Bieber and Crystal Method are also raising funds. On 12 December "some of the biggest stars in rock and pop music" will perform at Madison Square Gardens in a benefit show called 12-12-12; the concert is organised by the same producers who produced a charity gig in 2001, featuring the Who, Paul McCartney and Elton John, and which collected more than $30m (£19m) for victims of 9/11.


Thousands of people in New York and New Jersey are still without power following Sandy's landfall on 29 October. There are even greater challenges further afield: in Haiti, more than 20,000 people have reportedly lost their homes, and the country faces a major food shortage.






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