SunCan: Music For a Cause
Article Written by Sage Banks
Beyond the bright lights and casinos of Sin City lies an ever-growing music scene. Bands and fans alike gather together to be able to share their passions, and for the first time ever over six-hundred people gathered in the heart of the valley for the first-ever SunCan Music Festival Held in Ferguson's Downtown and hosted by Savino. Black Sheep Booking describes SunCan as, “A Las Vegas-based music festival curated by the band Arrlo, and booking/promotion company, Black Sheep Booking, this festival brings awareness to important social issues and is a benefit event that focuses on helping those in need.” Suncan served dual purposes, not only was it a music festival, but a canned food drive as well. Selling over six hundred tickets and collecting an immense amount of food donations. With a donation of two cans of food, tickets were sold at a discounted price of ten dollars instead of fifteen. Attendees who donated were given a raffle ticket for an opportunity to win merch and a guitar as things were raffled off through the night. In Between the band’s sets, the festival had many art vendors to take a look at, selling prints, paintings, clothing, and many other forms of art.
Arrlo by Sage Banks
“SunCan was 4 months of preparation. There was a lot of stuff in the making for that. From gathering vendors, sponsors, booking bands, making and printing flyers, digital and street promotion, booking [the] venue, running the day of activities just to name a few of the main tasks”, says Jimmi Stepanik from the band Arrlo. Playing together for a year now Arrlo’s first show was at a Pride festival in Salt Lake City. The band has also played at the very popular Las Vegas music festival Life Is Beautiful. Getting inspiration from many different types of music, but especially ’90s oriented, “From Green Day grunge to many alternative bands like Oasis, Third Eye, Blink 182, Sugar Ray, Korn… Influences bleeding even into the early 2000’s as well from the skate punk/y2k pop era.” shares Jimmi. You can find their music on all current streaming platforms with their most recent release being Medicine, and likely more to come in the future.
FIND ARRLO ON INSTAGRAM
Sharing the same main stage, artists rotated in and out as their sets began and ended. With there being an ample amount of space for all attendees, people were able to view from the sides, above, and from the pit… And what’s a pit without a mosh? With so much space this allowed moshers to move around as more punk bands made their way throughout the night. With safety obviously being one of the main concerns during mosh pits, bands appropriately and gracefully handled any injuries by stopping their set and allowing for proper care to be performed. Even when not moshing the crowd carried the same high energy throughout the whole night supporting local bands' newer and older hits. Including many new songs from Bigger Business, a new album from the band Pure Sport.
From left to right: Pure Sport and Elevated Underground’s
With the turnout of SunCan, it is undeniable that Vegas has an ever-growing music and art scene with something for everyone to enjoy. If you missed SunCan, have no fear as there is always a local show or event to attend. Show announcements can be found through social media or even apps like Eventbrite. SunCan may be a recurring event, but at the moment it can not be confirmed nor denied. “We’ve been asked if we’re going to throw another SunCan or festival in general. All we can say is… only time will tell.” Says Jimmi.
