September 30, 2007--A Tribute to Brendan Costello.
Performance by Lovehammers.This was a special night. How incredible that this young man’s family and friends were able to turn their loss into the desire to keep others from suffering similar losses. The overwhelming feeling in that large room was one of being wrapped in love and caring. Even those of us who didn’t know him or his family were welcomed and appreciated, and allowed to join in the celebration of a life. I feel grateful and honored to have been there. This is when it really began to sink in—what Marty has been saying all along, about how he is the product of his family and the neighborhood he grew up in, the values he was raised with, in the sturdy working-class south side of Chicago. These are good folks, and I got the sense that they truly understand what’s most important in life—to love and appreciate your loved ones—family and friends—and to gather together and support each other through whatever life brings. There were smiles, there were tears, and there was a joyful clamor of life throughout the room.
The event was held in the concert hall, one of many rooms at 115 Bourbon Street. This venue started life as a hardware store, so it is quite big. When we got to the concert hall, it was packed with people. The many volunteers who were running the event were dressed either in tie-dye shirts or in blue or green T-shirts, and all were wearing Mardi Gras beads. It turned out that the folks from the suicide prevention organization were giving the beads away, with different colored strands signifying what relationship each person had to someone they knew who committed suicide (such as parent, child, sibling, other relative, friend, supporter of cause). The room was decorated with balloons, and one wall was lined with tables holding all the raffle donations. There were so many wonderful and cleverly coordinated baskets of goodies, each with a theme, such as wine tasting party, movie night, girls’ spa night, Harley shirts and hats, Cubs goodies, plus lots of gift certificates to restaurants and shops. This event was very well planned and organized—all who were involved with that can be proud of themselves.
The ticket price got you into the party, plus a buffet, a couple kinds of free beer or wine, free soft drinks, and a show billed as “Marty Casey and Friends”. There was plenty of time while looking at and bidding on the raffle items to speculate with the other folks there as to just who the “friends” were going to be.
Everyone was hoping it might be certain friends from his childhood and college days that he’s been known to play a song or two with…
The stage was bare at that point, so there were no clues to be seen. We got there at 3 pm, and there was no sign of any musicians until promptly at 5 pm, one Mr. Marty Casey appeared at the side door of the venue, visible from the main room. The buzz started. Then Dan Howard, doing what he always does—working his butt off. Then, oh my gosh—the Kourelis brothers, and the word was getting passed excitedly around the room! Then Matt Hoffer (whoa!), and then BILLY!!! The one and only Mr. Sawilchik completed the set, and we were all ecstatic, because we were going to get a LOVEHAMMERS SHOW!!!
Dan started setting up gear, and we could see that they were going to play acoustic, with Bobby on his tribal-type drum and a shaker. Five chairs were set in a row on stage. While Dan worked, the band and Matt mingled with the crowd. I was able to catch Marty to sign the framed photos I had brought to donate to the auction. He did a beautiful job of signing them!
They were sold in the silent auction, so I hope they are making their new owners very happy.
It wasn’t too long until the time came for the guys to take the stage, and they were announced as THE LOVEHAMMERS! They did a brief sound check, then launched into their performance.
The set list:
Hold On
Riddle
Driving Blind
Call of Distress
Wish You Were Here
Clouds
Mr. Brightside
Trees
With Billy, Marty, and Matt all playing guitar, the guitar sound was really kicking!
Tidbits about each song….
I think Marty talked a bit about Hold On being a song about hope for the future. They were joking around about Driving Blind. Marty said he knows it so well that he wrote the title wrong on the set list. He wasn’t kidding—Dan was kind enough to give us the set list afterward, and you can see that right on there. (After the show, Bobby told us that he was the one who corrected the title.) Marty talked about one of his relatives having committed suicide, which led him to write Call of Distress, and that it was written from the perspective of a young person. To introduce Wish You Were Here, Marty simply said, “This is for Brendan.” No intro for Clouds that I recall.
Before they played Mr. Brightside, Dino said he didn’t know it, and was trying to figure out if he should just make it up as he went along, or not play at all. Billy shouted, “Don’t play!” Much laughter followed! They did an energetic version of this one, and Marty let the crowd sing the first “I’m Mr. Brightside”. (We did good! The place was at least the size of the Metro, if not larger, and it was packed. Lots of voices to sing it.)
For Trees, Marty asked all the kids to come up onstage. One little fellow in front of us (a relative, perhaps), had to be coaxed up there by his parents, then he went over and gave Marty a hug. Awwwww!!! Then he wanted to get right back down, but his parents convinced him to go stand with the other kids and sing.
Their show seemed to fly by, but when I looked at my watch, it had been almost an hour long. These guys always seem to find a way to give more than expected, in ways that aren’t expected. That’s so rare these days, and it’s one of the things I love about this band.
Afterward, they came out and hung out with everyone again. The feeling of warmth and caring was still wrapping around everyone, and I think they must have felt it, too. The atmosphere was very relaxed and natural, and everyone was talking and connecting like old friends. By then, the venue had opened the side wall (which was really a set of industrial garage doors) so that the room was open to the patio area. The cool breezes drifted in as the sun set, and it felt like the perfect ending to a perfect day. The guys were still out visiting with the crowd when we had to leave to drive 2-3 hours home that night.
A big THANK YOU to Brendan’s family and friends for that memorable evening. You all did him proud, and you reminded all of us about how precious life is. May you find peace and comfort from each other, and from the gratitude of everyone who was there.
Setlist:
THANKS for sharing your picture memories of this event..looking forward to hearing the details from those who were able to be apart of it. ttyl
Wonderful news Nancy, Thanks so much for sharing it with us. 
