![Mexican Knives]()
![Mexican Knives]()
Staff report
Four Detroit punk bands — Mexican Knives, Growwing Pains, Mountains and Rainbows, Rall Tide — and two DJs want to spur their community into action against the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department’s mass water shutoff program at a concert July 31 at Ponyride (1401 Vermont St., Detroit).
All proceeds from the event, which begins at 9 p.m., will go to the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization. MWRO, one of the leading protest organizers, also works to help families who have had their water shut off.
Musician Zac Weedon organized the concert to coalesce the outrage, he says, many in his music scene feel about the shutoffs, and incite action in those who aren’t yet outraged.
Weedon has seen first hand how the botched handling of shutoffs can leave families without access to a vital necessity.
“The water department tried to shut my water off two days after I paid the water bill. I caught the guy trying to do it and I told him I paid it,” Weedon says.
“(The shutoff technician) replied, 'How am I supposed to know?'
“And I said, '…because you are the water department.' Turns out they (Homrich, a private company contracted to execute the shutoffs) are not actually the water department. And that's part of the problem.”
Weedon sees the water shutoffs as one element of a larger issue.
“I've had many conversations about (emergency management) with a lot of people in the music scene,” he says. “The problem is it's easy to feel helpless, so this is … my attempt to let everyone (myself included) know you should use your resources to make your community stronger and never get discouraged.”
In spite of the seriousness of the issue, Weedon says the bands and the DJs, himself and Sara Aldridge of Nothing Elegant, will keep the atmosphere fun and energetic. Different speakers will give concert-goers a chance to learn more about the current state of the crisis and how it came to be.
“This is our city,” Weedon says. “And if we don't like what's happening, (we must) use whatever resources we have to make a change.
To learn more about the MWRO, visit mwro.org. Learn more about the water rights concert and get links to music by Mexican Knives at
https://www.facebook.com/events/1481128438798471/?ref_dashboard_filter=calendar.
Staff report
Four Detroit punk bands — Mexican Knives, Growwing Pains, Mountains and Rainbows, Rall Tide — and two DJs want to spur their community into action against the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department’s mass water shutoff program at a concert July 31 at Ponyride (1401 Vermont St., Detroit).
All proceeds from the event, which begins at 9 p.m., will go to the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization. MWRO, one of the leading protest organizers, also works to help families who have had their water shut off.
Musician Zac Weedon organized the concert to coalesce the outrage, he says, many in his music scene feel about the shutoffs, and incite action in those who aren’t yet outraged.
Weedon has seen first hand how the botched handling of shutoffs can leave families without access to a vital necessity.
“The water department tried to shut my water off two days after I paid the water bill. I caught the guy trying to do it and I told him I paid it,” Weedon says.
“(The shutoff technician) replied, 'How am I supposed to know?'
“And I said, '…because you are the water department.' Turns out they (Homrich, a private company contracted to execute the shutoffs) are not actually the water department. And that's part of the problem.”
Weedon sees the water shutoffs as one element of a larger issue.
“I've had many conversations about (emergency management) with a lot of people in the music scene,” he says. “The problem is it's easy to feel helpless, so this is … my attempt to let everyone (myself included) know you should use your resources to make your community stronger and never get discouraged.”
In spite of the seriousness of the issue, Weedon says the bands and the DJs, himself and Sara Aldridge of Nothing Elegant, will keep the atmosphere fun and energetic. Different speakers will give concert-goers a chance to learn more about the current state of the crisis and how it came to be.
“This is our city,” Weedon says. “And if we don't like what's happening, (we must) use whatever resources we have to make a change.
To learn more about the MWRO, visit mwro.org. Learn more about the water rights concert and get links to music by Mexican Knives at https://www.facebook.com/events/1481128438798471/?ref_dashboard_filter=calendar.