A fundraiser has been launched to help offset the millions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs lost by tour managers, merch slingers, and roadcrew lighting designers, sound persons, tour bus driver types from all of these canceled tours and festivals worldwide. Frank Fanelli (ex-The World We Knew singer) launched a GoFundMe to help all these folks out in their time of need. As much as we want you to support bands and artists, please also consider helping these unsung heroes of our musical life.
NOMAD FUNDRAISER – For The Touring Crew
Go Fund Me Link: http://gf.me/u/xq9pb3
Hey all! My name is Frank Fanelli. I sang for a band called The World We Knew, own a clothing company called CAT clothing, and most importantly, I make a living on the road behind the scenes working with artists and bands as a tour manager, merchandise seller, LD, and more. I’ve been touring all over the world for the past 14 years along side some of the greatest minds the music industry has to offer, but right now I’m at home in Florida doing my best to try and enjoy this downtime because as many of you know, our business is practically crumbling at our feet as we speak due to the Corona Virus outbreak.
Hundreds of tours have been canceled, venue & crew personnel are out of jobs, clubs are shutting down and most of us don’t know where to turn. As I strongly encourage fans to continue buying new merch from your favorite artists due to cancelations, I’m also giving you an option to help out the crew members and roadies that help bring the shows you love to every city you see these bands in.
Honestly, if there’s one thing I know how to do pretty well after all these years, it’s how to promote and sell a funny t-shirt concept. So here’s the deal..
A few years ago while working on the Vans Warped Tour, a friend of mine called me the “Merch Daddy” I guess due to my touring merch accolades, so I made a couple hundred dumb shirts with my face on them to sell for a good laugh. However, this time, I’m bringing back 2 NEW “Merch Daddy” tees to help others in need.
For every $20 you donate, you’ll not only get one of the new “Merch Daddy” t-shirts, but I’ll be splitting ALL the donations between everyone who can prove of the touring job they lost through the band themselves, the booking agents, or the management teams (Email provided in video). This will take time to sort through, but we’re all cooped up in our homes anyway, so we’ll stay busy with this work. If donations flourish, as a team we can hopefully chip away at rent, buy groceries, feed/our children, pay the phone bill, etc.
***PLEASE EMAIL US, AND LEAVE YOUR SHIRT SIZE IN THE COMMENTS AFTER DONATING***
***T-shirts will ship after we close down the donations***
Below, you’ll find a list of 40 of my personal friends and fellow touring crew members that lost their jobs recently due to the virus shutdown. This is just a fraction of the thousands out of work in the music industry from all over the world. It’s packed with respectful hardworking people who leave their homes and families to spend sometimes upwards of 8 – 10 months out of EVERY YEAR on the road.. so when all these tours got shut down, so did our livelihoods.
DONATIONS CLOSE AT THE END OF MARCH, so please help spread the word and donate what you can! I want nothing more than to take this unexpected downtime and turn it into a positive, so let’s put forth our best effort to make a difference in some lives instead of panicking. Thank you for your consideration, and don’t forget to wash your damn hands!
***HERE’S A SMALL EXAMPLE OF THE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE OUT OF WORK IN THE TOURING WORLD***
– Frank Fanelli (Tour Manager, Merchandise, LD) – Black Veil Brides, JID, Pennywise, Bam Margera
– Bryce Hall (Photo, Video, Tour Manager) – In This Moment, Motionless In White, Gojira, Wage War
– Jeff Pare (Merchandise) – Brothers Osborne, Between the Buried and Me
– Blake Kunkel (Merchandise) – Dance Gavin Dance, I The Mighty, Light The Torch
– Alyssa Wisser (Merchandise) – The Floozies, CAT Clothing, Warped Tour
– Rocky Rodriquez (Merchandise) – Exhorder, As It Is, Unwritten Law
– Matthew Yanni (Security) – Black Veil Brides, Blackbear, Billie Eilish
– Andrew Laeddis (Driver, Tour Manager) – Fit For A King, Emmure, The Plot In You
– Jon Klucharits (Stage Manager, Monitors) – Black Veil Brides, Set If Off, Warped Tour
– Tatiana Danielle (Merchandise, Production Coordinator) – Warped Tour, The Protomen
– Chriztophe Singleton (Merchandise) – Warped Tour, Ne Obliviscaris, Iann Dior
– Gino Scarim (Tour Manager, FOH) – The Amity Affliction, Bless The Fall, Chelsea Grin
– Eric Fain (Merchandise) – Poppy, Chon, Senses Fail, Issues
– Jesse Butts (Merchandise) – Black Veil Brides, Impractical Jokers, Anderson Paak
– Thaddeus Gavura (Merchandise) – Cannibal Corpse, Veil of Maya, Crown The Empire
– Martin Cleal (Tour Manager, FOH) – Plain White T’s, Stick To Your Guns, Zeal and Ardor
– Chris Arredondo (Drum Tech) – Deftones, Pennywise, Rise Against
– Aaron Berkshire (Photo/Video) – Black Veil Brides, Palaye Royale, Chelsea Grin
– Danny Sammet (Merchandise) – Thrice, Two Door Cinema Club, Lauren Sanderson
– Neil Hazel (Photo, Merchandise) – King 810
– Marco Morselli (Stage Manager, Drum Tech) – Hatebreed, Black Veil Brides, Sepultura
– Selena Rox (Merchandise) – Tove Lo, 3OH!3
– Brian Warner (Merchandise) – Logic, Muse, Fall Out Boy, Slipknot
– Matt Goodman (Merchandise) – Papa Roach, Alan Parsons, Jimmy Eat World
– John Winters (Guitar Tech) – Black Veil Brides, Machine Head, Metal Church
– Nadia Guardado (Merchandise) – Buckcherry, Fear Factory, Megadeth
– Boris Bouma (Tour Manager, FOH) – Misfits, Live, Zakk Wylde, Black Veil Brides
– Hannah Carter (Merchandise) – Master Chef Jr. Live, Lacuna Coil
– Hayley Moncrief (Merchandise) – Daniel Tigers Neighborhood Live
– Aaron Kudler (Merchandise, Photo) – Khalid, Rex Orange County, Nothing More
– Trevor Mcgoldrick (Photo, Merchandise) – Fit For A King, I See Stars
– Ryan Warrell (Guitar Tech) – The Hu, Of Mice & Men, No Bragging Rights
– Sam Kirby (Tour Manager, FOH) – Mod Sun, Atreyu, Memphis May Fire
– John James Ryan (Tour Manager) – Four Year Strong, Real Friends, Keep Flying
– Paul Dominguez (Merchandise) – Lizzo, Shinedown, Yelawolf, Winds Of Plague
– Sean Stitt (Driver) – Warped Tour, Deep Purple, Lily Allen
– Colin Feeney (Tour Manager, Merchandise) – SeeYouSpaceCowboy, Knocked Loose
– Travis Wade (Tour Manager, FOH) – Dance Gavin Dance, Suicidal Tendencies, CKY
– Erica Turer (Merchandise) – Silversun Pickups, Hot Chip, Dawes, Issues
– Pam Muhart (Photo, Merchandise) – Another Days Dawn, Warped Tour, Kulick
– Bryan Greenberg (FOH) – Fit For a King, Silent Planet, Erra, The Word Alive
*** SPECIAL THANKS FOR HELPING BRING THIS IDEA TO LIFE ***
– Tori Kravitz (Photography)
– Sean Mott (Graphic Design)
– Simon Chasalow (Photography)
– Tatiana Danielle (Visionary)
Instagram: FrankTWWK
Twitter: FGFanelli