On Saturday, July 17, 1999, The Andy Ruenes Foundation had their first
official fundraiser. This fundraiser was a concert entitled "The Genesis
Concert." Though it was not a packed house, the concert drew a nice crowd. The bands
that played were excellent, and the night was a success.
The night
started on a great foot with the first band, P.F.R. They are a young band that was
originally formed to serve the Lord playing in the spanish masses on Sunday nights at
Blessed Trinity Catholic Church. They played mostly cover songs, but showed their talents
when they played an original song written by Monique Rodriguez-Feo entitled "For a
Friend." She wrote that song in memory of Andy. This band is also made up of Andy’s
brother, Eric, and his sister and brother-in-law Carol and Eddie.
The next band
that performed was called Rey y Cesar. They are a young spanish rock band who are on their
way to making their music their life. They played five songs off of their debut album
called “Doce.” Among the songs that they selected for their set, they played a
song called “Vuelve a Volar.” This song was dedicated to Andy on that
night by Rey and Cesar who were both friends of Andy’s since they were in high
school. These young musicians showed the crowd that they had much more than looks; they
are extremely talented both in their playing of their instruments, their singing, and song
writing.
The band that
closed the evening is a band that has been around for a very long time. They are called
Salt & Light. They played a great set with songs from their debut album “A La
Orilla Del Mar.” Aside from those they also sang some of their new material that they
hope to have on their up coming album. One of the songs that was sung was called “You
Live On” written by Gladys Ruenes for Andy. It was played in both english and
spanish. Salt & Light really got the crowd on their feet. They had an excellent
performance.
Even though
we did not have a packed house that night, the hall seemed to be full to capacity. Perhaps
it was the excitement of all the bands who played, but then again it could have been the
amount of love that was transmitted by the bands who all were somehow related to Andy. |
