It’s been nearly three months since the Oakland Ghost Ship fire took the lives of 36 people, leaving behind a massive void in the Bay Area’s underground music scene.
It makes sense, then, that the shows and fundraisers to honor the victims (of which there have been many) tend to include impressively diverse, genre-crossing lineups. Elegy For Ghost Ship: An Evening of Music In Remembrance, taking place this Thursday, Feb. 23, at San Francisco’s beautiful Grace Cathedral, is no exception. Organized by Gabriel Connor (a friend of fire victim Cash Askew), and the Reverend Megan Rohrer (who, like Askew, is trans), the event offers an inclusive space to those affected by the fire.
“After losing a good friend in the fire and being with many other grieving friends, I felt compelled to seek out the mercy of a sacred space where all could grieve, heal, and raise up visions,” Connor writes in an email. “Grace Cathedral has a universal appeal among Bay Area residents. The Cathedral also enjoys a history as a beacon for LGBT rights. The architecture and acoustics alone evoke profound feelings that carry beyond the Christian tradition.” He noted that several other event organizers as well as performers had lost loved ones in the fire.
The bill of performers currently includes acclaimed throat-singer Enrique Ugalde (aka Soriah); Nethorthot Luku of Earth Child (performing the Japanese art of Butoh); Katabik (a label/music collective playing “estoeric ambient sounds”); the S.P.A.Z. collective (ambient electronica); violinist Maki Ishii Sowash and cellist Victoria Ehrlich of the San Francisco Opera orchestra; Jealous (hypnotic bass guitarist and songwriter Mark Treise); Oakland post-punk band The World; experimental music from Aja Archuleta a.k.a. Piano Rain; Jason Cool on sitar; Singers of the Street (a choir of people who are/have been homeless); readings from Reverends Lyle Beckman and Megan Rohrer, and more.
