Update: The concert has been rescheduled to Feb. 3 due to inclement weather.
Local dads will be rocking the stage at Robert’s Westside for a night of hard rock music, headbanging, and giving the next generation a chance of playing music.
Arriver, Stomatopod, Underhand, and Numerical Control Society are rock bands, each with at least one local dad, who will be playing a benefit concert for PING!, a nonprofit that helps low-income students participate in music programs at school.
Matt O’Dell, of Oak Park, is the guitarist of Numerical Control Society, a hard rock band that has played shows across Chicagoland, and a local dad who wanted to form more connections with other dads in Oak Park.
“I was surprised to find that there were other people in other bands that we have played with who were members of the Oak Park Dad”s” group. I didn’t even know they lived in Oak Park,” O’Dell said.
From there, O’Dell said a few other members of these “dad bands,” as he jokingly calls them, have been trying to put together a show together and kept in communication with the other bands, some of whom he has played shows with already.
The idea was simple: do a show together, it should be local, and it should be a fundraiser.
However, finding the perfect venue turned out to be a little tricky.
“Finding local bars around here that will play hard rock and heavy metal music can be tough,” O’Dell said.
But when Robert’s West Side opened in Forest Park in November 2023, O’Dell reached out to owner Donnie Biggins, who was on board with the idea and welcomed those music genres.
It was actually O’Dell’s wife, a PTO member at Longfellow Elementary School, who came home with a flier from PING!, Providing Instruments for the Next Generation, a local nonprofit organization that helps provide equitable access to band and orchestra instruments and music opportunities. It serves student in fourth through 12th grade in Oak Park and River Forest.
For musicians like O’Dell, who was a music education major in college, PING! was the perfect beneficiary for the benefit concert.
Michelle Dybal, executive director of PING!, said they not only provide instruments and maintenance of the instruments for low-income students from D97, D90, and D200, but they also work to level the playing field through mentorship programs, workshops for elementary students, and provide access to music lessons and pay for trips to help students be on par with their peers.
This year PING! provided financial support to 150 students, an increase from their numbers which usually average around 130 students per year.
Dybal said the nonprofit was founded with a goal to increase the diversity of the student population that participates in music programs, and it largely serves students of color from low-income families.
“It seems pretty obvious to us that if we weren’t here doing this there would be a lot of students who wouldn’t have this opportunity,” Dybal said. “Families tell us this all the time. If we weren’t there giving support their students wouldn’t have been able to discover they love music and they have this talent.”
The growth seen in students extends past the music rooms. Dybal noted that many studies show that participating in music and playing an instrument can bring many benefits to students, including a sense of community.
Stomatopod band member John Huston of Oak Park said he knows firsthand what an amazing companion music can be throughout someone’s life. Crediting music for giving him the ability to travel and meet extraordinary people, Huston said growing up playing in high school bands allowed him the avenue for self-expression.
“I think playing music is a really wonderful way for kids to enjoy the same thing,” he said. “We want to encourage as many people as possible to find their muse, whether it’s music or other endeavors.”
Looking back on his childhood, O’Dell said he realized how fortunate he was to come from a family who would afford to invest in his passion for music.
“I got a trumpet in fifth grade and I got my first guitar in fifth grade and even allowing me to go to music school, I had that luxury because it is not cheap buying gear and you need stuff to play music,” O’Dell said, adding music lessons, which he considers mentorships, are also expensive. “Having an organization that helps anyone be able to realize the benefits of that if that is the thing they want to do or if that is where they find that passion is amazing.”
The benefit concert will be held at Robert’s Westside, 7321 Madison in Forest Park, on Friday, Jan. 12. with doors opening at 6 p.m. and the show starting at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online.