Bands to battle hunger at DeJoria Center

Musicians and bands play live music to entertain and share their music, but the thrash and metal bands who will play on Saturday, May 19, at the DeJoria Center are performing for an additional different cause.

They want to help the Utah Food Bank, said concert organizer Jaime Poulos.

“You can play your music and share your talent with a community, but when you give your music and talent to the community for a charity benefit, it seems like you give more of yourself,” Poulos said. “These bands wanted to give our talent back to the community.”

Admission to the Musicians Fight Hunger concert is five pounds of non-perishable food items per person.

“That adds up to be about three cans of food,” Poulos said. “We’re going more (with) the canned food because it’s easier to donate.”

According to the Utah Food Bank, the organization distributed 32.7 million meals from 49 agencies in every county.

Poulos planned the concert over the past year and solidified the lineup a few months ago.

“Most of the bands are from Salt Lake City, and two of them are from out of state,” she said.

The Salt Lake-based bands are Noise Ordinance, Limitless, False Witness, Loss of Existence, Az Iz and Seven Second Memory.

Wyoming’s Hanover Fist is on the bill, and the headliner, Mastiv, is from Las Vegas.

“These bands play styles that range from hard rock to heavy thrash and thrash metal,” Poulos said. “So we know it’s going to be a high-energy and fun show.”

Since Poulos had worked with these bands before, she approached them about doing the benefit.

“After I asked them to participate, a lot of other bands who were interested in the show approached me as well,” she said. “There were so many that I had to turn them away, and that was rough for me to do. But if this show turns out well, I will definitely do another one.”

Poulos decided to make Musicians Fight Hunger an all-ages event.

“We did that because all of these bands usually play clubs that are only open to ages 21 and older,” she said. “We wanted to reach out to a younger audience and people who would normally not be able to see these bands.”

The concert marks the first time Poulos will present at the DeJoria Center.

“We also wanted to have a venue that was spectacular,” she said. “When I saw photos of the DeJoria Center, I knew this would be a spectacular place to have a show.”