POP MUSIC REVIEW : Short Sets Add Up to Long Day at Benefit

For Dick and Jane Dodd, Sunday’s benefit concert for the Orange County Musicians Foundation was a chance to reminisce with some old friends, hear some good music and support a worthy cause.

For two middle-aged Irvine women who identified themselves only as Jeannie and Caroline, the 7 1/2-hour show at the Coach House was just a way to party the day away.

“We’re just out here to dance and have a wild time,” Caroline said.

Asked if the pair knew anything about the foundation that was receiving the $20 they each paid to get in the door, Caroline replied, “No, and we don’t even care.”

Some of the hundreds who turned out Sunday may have cared more than others about the cause of the day--a local organization providing basic and catastrophic medical funding for cash-strapped musicians. But it appeared no one was disappointed by the music served.

The 29 acts on the day’s bill, which began at noon, included Bobby Hatfield, Dick Dale, Billy Swan, ex-Desert Rose Band guitarist John Jorgenson and Dick Dodd, formerly of the Standells.

Unlike so many benefit concerts that become mired in seemingly endless set changes and stage announcements, Sunday’s event was well-paced. All of the performers used a single stage setup, so each act could perform at regular intervals of about 15 minutes.

The genres of music included rockabilly, blues, country and R & B, and the near-capacity crowd seemed enthralled by all of it. At a venue notorious for a seating arrangement that discourages patrons from leaving their seats, many of those at the Coach House Sunday spent most of their time dancing in the aisles.

And along the way, about $10,000 in pledges and donations was raised for the Orange County Musicians Foundation, said singer-pianist Greg Topper, the group’s president and founder, who organized Sunday’s benefit. That will more than double the foundation’s treasury to help local musicians meet their medical costs and other critical needs, he said.

It was the second such benefit Topper has held since forming the foundation a year ago.

The money raised at Sunday’s show topped the amount collected at the inaugural benefit held in February, Topper said afterward.

He said he was particularly pleased with the musicians’ willingness to participate in the event.

“I called 29 bands, and not one turned me down,” he said. “Everything went great. It was flawless.”

In reality, if the event had one glaring flaw, it was its length. By late afternoon, the majority of the crowd was gone, leaving just a handful of enthusiasts for the final acts.

Phil LeAnza of Fullerton was among those who showed up early and stayed to the end. He also was among those who agreed the concert could be improved by trimming its length.

“I wish they’d cut it down a little bit,” he said near the end. “The people who left (early) missed some really good musicians.”

LeAnza said he and a group of friends discovered Topper--a Jerry Lee Lewis-style keyboardist who performs regularly in Orange County nightclubs and lounges--12 years ago, and since have seen him perform “once or twice a week.”

He said he was happy to support Topper’s foundation, but the main attraction for him was that “I knew it would be great music. And it has been.”