The United States' exorbitant joke of a health-care system is partially the result of our powerful benefit-concert lobby. It must be, right? Because every week brings another show organized to raise funds for a poor American—usually a musician—who can't afford to pay for his/her medical treatments. Which brings us to dormant Seattle space-rock band Sky Cries Mary and their October 24 reunion concert, dubbed LIVE & Let Live: A Benefit for the Joe Skyward Cancer Fund, happening at Neumos. Skyward, who was SCM's original bassist, is currently fighting prostate cancer. Skyward (aka Joe Bass) now lives in LA and works as a bartender at the Short Stop; you can read more about his plight in this LA Weekly piece. Writer Hayley Fox summarizes Skyward's situation:
Skyward, 56, ... was diagnosed with [prostate cancer] last spring, after it had already metastasized and spread to his skeletal and lymphatic systems. After two rounds of hormone treatments that weren’t much help, Skyward is facing 10 rounds of chemotherapy. His family has started a GoFundMe page to raise at least $45,000 to pay for the treatment.
Sky Cries Mary's upcoming show will include material from all phases of the group's career, which began in the late '80s and flourished in the '90s with albums like A Return to the Inner Experience (which features great covers of the Rolling Stones' "2,000 Light Years from Home" and the Stooges' "We Will Fall"), This Timeless Turning, and Moonbathing on Sleeping Leaves. The group will include players from those works as well as musicians who appear on SCM's more recent releases.
