Line-up of Legendary Rock and Folk Stars will take the stage at House of Blues on Monday, December 3. Limited tickets now on sale through Ticketmaster.
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Fans who donate $104 to the film’s fundraising campaign at KickstartWBCN.com receive admission to the event with their contribution, along with a special thanks in the film and other perks. Additional concert-related donation benefits include exclusive seating offers and tickets to the after-party. Due to the rising number of supporters, the concert, originally scheduled for the Paradise Rock Club, has been moved to the larger House of Blues, which has been donated for the evening. As a result, a limited number of tickets have been made available at Ticketmaster.com.
“This will be an extraordinary gathering of musicians, on air talent, and family and friends of WBCN,” says The American Revolution filmmaker and former WBCN DJ Bill Lichtenstein. “Concertgoers will enjoy performances from an incredible line-up of musicians with ties to the radio station and to the region and we’ll all have the chance to share memories of ‘BCN and celebrate its rich history.”
Among those performing during the first part of the evening, deemed “The Folk Revolution,” will be Tom Rush, Livingston Taylor, Jonathan Edwards, and “Spider” John Koerner. Up next during “The Rock Revolution,” Billy Squier, members of Boston, and The Uptown Horns will take the stage. Additional performers will include Danny Klein of The J. Geils Band, Peter Case, Jon-Pousette Dart, Kate Taylor, Willie “Loco” Alexander, The Fools, Sandy MacDonald, Johnny A., Tosh1, Barbara Holliday, members of both Duke & the Drivers and Barry & the Remains, with the James Montgomery Band. In addition to performing, Montgomery is serving as musical director for the evening’s festivities. Charlie “Master Blaster” Daniels, original concert emcee at the legendary Boston Tea Party, which stood on the location of the House of Blues, will host the event. The concert will also include light shows from Ken Brown, who oversaw the “psychedelic cinema” films that were a staple at the Tea Party.
Portions of the evening’s festivities are being filmed for possible inclusion in the film.
“The cultural revolution the station fostered continues to live on in the hearts and minds of those of us who experienced the ‘BCN phenomenon firsthand during the late 60s and early 70s,” says James Montgomery. “Who would have guessed when the station played its first song, ‘I Feel Free’ by Cream, that ‘BCN would become a uniting force of the counterculture that would be felt throughout the nation?”
Material from The American Revolution, which tells the story of WBCN and Boston’s underground music, political, and media scene of the era, will be screened throughout the evening, along with photos and video footage from the 100,000+ pieces of archival material that have been shared by the public for the project. This unprecedented archival collection will be innovatively curated by the filmmakers as part of a program sponsored by the Tribeca Film Institute that will feature a comprehensive public online archive with audio, photos, film clips, walking tours of key local sites, and more.
WBCN began broadcasting as a free-form station at 104.1 FM in Boston on March 15, 1968 and soon became a powerful and groundbreaking media platform for a young generation driven to challenge social and political norms. Alongside a rock soundtrack from the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and others, announcers like Charles Laquidara, Peter Wolf, Maxanne Sartori, Danny Schechter, and J.J. Jackson both reflected and promoted the profound social, cultural, and political counterculture of the era that drove both Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon from office and ended an unpopular war. “’BCN was a generational beachhead, an icon in the memories of everyone who was truly there,” says Lichtenstein, who was himself there: at age 14 in 1970, he became the youngest DJ in WCBN history.
Known as the “Rock of Boston,” WBCN played a range of rock music styles until August 12, 2009. But for one night in December, WBCN will once again “rock Boston.”
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To contact The American Revolution filmmaker Bill Lichtenstein, please call 617/682-3708 or email [email protected]. For media inquiries, contact Chris Kelly, Fifth House Public Relations, at 617/532-0574 or [email protected].