Benefit for Matt Call, bassist and hit-and-run victim, lineup announced

Tickets are going for $20, 100 percent of which will go to Call. While Call does have insurance, he's not sure which of his medical costs will be covered, and he's going to be in a wheelchair and out of work for six months to a year.

"It's unfathomable to think of the loss of income from that," Montour says. "We want to give him a cushion so he can focus on recovery, not stress."

Call had been standing outside his car at the Urban Bean on Lyndale and 24th when a Jeep slammed into him at about 40 m.p.h., witnesses say, and threw him 20 to 30 feet in the air. His catalog of injuries includes two broken femurs, a cracked pelvis, cracked vertebrae, and lung contusions.

Tommy Rehbein visited Call in the hospital a few days after the accident, and says, "He was clearly in a lot of pain. You see someone like that and you want to do something to make this a less raw situation for him."

Many of the musicians set to perform on Tuesday know Call, from times they played together or from talks at Urban Bean. (Ken Hannigan, for instance, remembers that the last time he saw Call before the accident, he was admiring his latte art).

So many musicians reached out wanting to help, says Montour, that she figured the round robin would be "the best way to get a lot of them involved. Instead of two or three bands, now we get ten, and the form also lends itself to the community feel of everything."

"I'm excited to improv with other musicians in the round," says Danny O'Brien of the Farewell Circuit. "So there's that, in addition to this potentially being a sizable amount of money to really help Matt out."

"When I tell people about it, their first response is, 'That's expensive!'" O'Brien says. "But then I tell them what's going on, and that this could change someone's life, and then my experience has been about 50/50--some people saying it's still too much, and some people saying, 'Okay, I can do that.'"

Montour reports that there's a healthy interest in the cause. "The music community is so strong here, and that Matt's a bassist pulls a lot of people together. Then the coffee community is also so strong, and Matt's a great barista," Montour says."If you had a Venn diagram of these two great communities, Matt would be at the center." And, she continues, "People realize that this could have been them. This is a street we all, the whole city, hangs out on, and Matt was just standing next to his car."

Police are still looking for the driver who hit Call, armed with a grainy surveillance shot of his car and left profile. In the interim, says Hannigan, "The community can pick up the pieces."

Gabriel Douglas of 4onthefloor echoes Hannigan. "No one maliciously hit him, but they did just leave," he says. "To have such a positive force spearheading his recovery, though, should inspire everyone."

So far, Call's received $5,000 in donations and ticket sales, according to Montour. About 100 people have bought tickets to Tuesday night's event, but Montour expects many supporters to wait until the last minute or donate at the door. She's hoping for a turnout of 300 to 500 people.

Call is currently an inpatient at a rehabilitation center in Rochester, where his parents live, and is scheduled to upgrade to outpatient by mid-next week. He says that when he first heard about the event, "It blew and still blows me away." He's going to try to set up a Skype with the party, but says, "I wish I could shake everyone's hand as they walk in the door. I'm overwhelmed with gratitude."

"I have conversations with people where they say, 'I'm losing faith in humanity,' and I say, 'Man, I don't feel that way at all. People seem pretty good right now."

Check out some photos of the venue:

Mike McCaw

The benefit's going to be in the loft of Greg Martin, owner of Urban Bean.

Sara Montour

The space in action.

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