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Hot Stove Cool Music: The Fenway Sessions
When the sky opens up and the dugouts begin to fill with overflow from the nearby Muddy River, a baseball game
at Fenway Park is usually postponed. But what if postponement is not an option? What do you do if you’re booking
an outdoor charity concert with nearly a dozen performers and 6,000 ticket holders marching toward the gates?
You batten down the hatches and try to keep the stage as dry as possible. That’s exactly what Red Sox General
Manager Theo Epstein attempted on July 12 during his second annual Hot Stove, Cool Music: The Fenway Sessions
charity gig.
"Honestly, I thought we were rainproof,” Epstein stated after the event. “But then the rain started pouring in sideways
and we couldn’t keep the water off the stage. If we would have continued [the concert] outside, we would have killed somebody.”
Because of the high hopes for the stage’s water resistance, there was no rain contingency plan. Around 6:30 pm,
Epstein and the other members of the HSCM production staff met on stage to discuss their options. Moments later,
barricades were being shifted about in Fenway’s Big Concourse adjacent to Gate B and a makeshift stage area was assembled.
Within 30 minutes, Hot Stove Cool Music was relocated from on the field to under the bleachers.
While the general admission setting became much more intimate after the move, many fans in attendance were disappointed by
the rain altered schedule. Hometown gal and American Idol contestant Ayla Brown was scheduled to perform a 20-minute set but
only grabbed the microphone to help event MC Mike O’Malley auction off a David Ortiz autographed jersey and an autographed Mark
Loretta baseball. The biggest groan-inducing omission was HSCM headliner James Taylor. Instead of his event-closing set, Taylor’s
only appearance was a two-song tribute to ESPN analyst and HSCM co-founder Peter Gammons, who missed the concert while recovering
from a recent brain aneurysm. A handful of fans who stuck around to the closing notes “felt ripped off” for dishing out $100 to see
Taylor only for him to take the stage for fewer than five minutes.
But at the end of the day, Hot Stove Cool Music isn’t just about the music, it’s about raising thousands of dollars for charity.
The Foundation to be Named Later, an umbrella charity assisting children in need established by Theo Epstein and his twin brother Paul,
collected more than $300,000 at 2005’s HSCM event and even though the official tallies are not yet in, rumor has it this year’s event
raked in an even more impressive chunk of change. For more information on future HSCM events, surf on over to www.hotstovecoolmusic.com.
Until then, here are some photos from this year's event
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Hey, at least The Gentlemen got to play outside before the threat of electrocution set in. |
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Theo Epstein, wearing hat, back to the camera, hears the bad news about the outdoor stage.
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Red Sox outfielder Gabe Kapler can't rock but he can kill time with emcee Mike O'Malley. |
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The Click 5: not as offensive as advertised. |
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American Idol castoff Ayla Brown didn't get to sing but did have a reunion with some Girl Scout buddies. |
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Kay Hanley and husband Mike Eisenstein jam out on the Letters to Cleo classic "Awake."
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Terry Francona and O'Malley discuss "Did Jay Hale really write in the Red Sox manager for President in 2004?" |
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Sox rookie closer Jonathan Papelbon, fresh off the all-star team, helps HSCM raffle off a custom built guitar. |
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Papelbon poses with the aforementioned guitar. |
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... and has just autographed the aforementioned guitar. |
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Gloria Gammons, the wife of ESPN's Peter Gammons, takes the stage with Theo Epstein to express her gratitude for the crowd's get well wishes. |
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Why does James Taylor belong on a punk rock website? Because he loves raising money for worthwhile charities. |
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New Orleans' Cowboy Mouth finally takes a break from telling the crowd what to do and actually plays some music. |
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Howie Day was the first performer to arrive this Wednesday and fit in perfectly with the intimate setting. |
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HSCM mainstay Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom leads the charge into "Treehouse." |
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Buffalo Tom bassist Chris Colburn boasts his sweet Pesky Pole: Zero to Hero T-shirt. Where do you get one of those? |
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Kay Hanley and Mike Gent of the Gentlemen share some gang vocals on Tom Petty's "Even the Losers". |
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Bill Janovitz shows some guitar face on that very same song. |
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Pearl Jam fan/World Champion architect Theo Epstein jams out on "Rockin' in the Free World". |
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Rain proof? I'll give you a mulligan on that... |
