Spearheaded by radio presenter Doug Anderson, musician Lionel Bastos, and Madelaine Steyn, the M.A.D. 4 Haiti concert will feature a selection of the country's premier artists in a bid to raise funds for the devastated Caribbean nation, which is still reeling from the 12 January earthquake that killed an estimated 230 000 people.
Anderson explained: "It started off as a Facebook status update: 'I want to put on a benefit concert for the Haiti victims - anyone interested in helping out?' This was as a result of seeing the visuals coming out of Haiti, shortly after the earthquake."
It took only a few seconds for friends to start commenting. The first friend on board was singer/songwriter/producer Lionel Bastos who, in turn, posted the same status update on his Facebook page - and so M.A.D. (Making A Difference) 4 Haiti was born. Madelaine Steyn created the M.A.D 4 Haiti Facebook fan page. Since then, a number of well-known South African musicians have volunteered to perform at the benefit concert on 21 March. In addition, Carnival City has donated the use of the Big Top Arena for the concert, and other companies and individuals have jumped at the chance to come on board and make their services and expertise available free of
charge.
All proceeds from the concert, which takes place from 12 noon to 3pm on Sunday, 21 March (the Monday is a public holiday), will be paid into a trust administered by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants SA.
The organisers are also making available an album of songs donated by various artists around the country for the M.A.D. 4 Haiti fund, which can be downloaded from www.rhythmmusicstore.com, and a CD may be in the works as well if a label comes on board.
Members of the public who would like to contribute to the disaster-relief effort in Haiti, while experiencing some of SA's premier music acts performing under one roof, are urged to head along to Carnival City and rock on down for a good cause. Your small act of compassion may make a huge difference in the lives of many Haitian people.
Book at Computicket, and join the Facebook fan page - M.A.D. 4 Haiti - for updates.
The organisers of the M.A.D. 4 Haiti Benefit Concert would like to thank Carnival City for sponsoring the Big Top Arena, Marshall for sponsoring the backline equipment, all the artists who are performing free of charge, Mango for sponsoring flights for all artists based outside Gauteng.
