The Take Action Tour (www.takeactiontour.com) kicked off in DC with an evening of hard-hitting music from Sugarcult, The Early November, Hawthorne Heights, Hopesfall and Gym Class Heros. The event is the brainchild of Louis Posen, president and founder of punk/hard-core label Hopeless Records.
In 1998, five years after forming Hopeless, Posen formed Sub City Records, an offshoot label that donates 5 percent of its prof- its to charity, according to the Web site.
In 1999, Sub City took its socially conscious act on the road. The idea of the Take Action Tour is to connect Sub City bands – and representatives from charity organizations with the music-loving masses. A portion of the proceeds from the performances, as well as the sale of individual Sub City releases, are earmarked for an ever-growing list of causes.
Organizations that Sub City has helped over the years include the Plea for Peace Foundation, the Women’s Justice Center, the Multiple Sclerosis Service Society and the Foundation Fighting Blindness.
A major partner in this tour, and on previous Take Action Tours, is the National Hopeline Network. After Reese Butler’s wife, Kristen Brooks, committed suicide in 1998, he found himself frustrated by the absence of a national toll-free prevention hot line. Butler used Brooks’ life-insurance money to start the Kristen Brooks Hope Center and to create the National Hopeline Network, (800) SUICIDE (784-2433).
The service connects callers to local crisis counselors. If someone isn’t available, Hopeline immediately links that caller to another counselor elsewhere in the country.
To date, Sub City has donated more than $135,000 to the National Hopeline Network. This year, Hopeline is launching a Youth America Hotline, (877) YOUTHLINE (968-8454),which offers troubled young people a network of peers to turn to in times of crisis.
To coincide with the tour each year, Sub City also releases a Take Action compilation, a double CD featuring donated tracks from other labels such as Fat Wreck, TVT, Victory and Fueled by Ramen. Bands on the compilation include NOFX, Coheed and Cambria, Pedro the Lion, Ted Leo and The Dillinger Escape Plan. The album, 41 tracks in all, will be available at the show for $3.99. Proceeds will benefit the Kristen Brooks Hope Center.
- February 2 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
- February 3 – Richmond, VA – Canal Club
- February 4 – Charlotte, NC – Tremont Music Hall
- February 5 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
- February 6 – Nashville, TN – Rocketown
- February 8 – Fort Lauderdale, FL – Revolution
- February 9 – Tallahassee, FL – Union Ballroom
- February 10 – Orlando, FL – House of Blues
- February 12 – San Antonio, TX – The White Rabbit
- February 13 – Houston, TX – Engine Room
- February 14 – Dallas, TX – Gypsy Ballroom
- February 15 – Albuquerque, NM – Sunshine Theatre
- February 16 – Scottsdale, AZ – Venue of Scottsdale
- February 18 – Los Angeles, CA – House of Blues, Sunset Strip
- February 19 – San Diego, CA – Soma
- February 20 – Anaheim, CA – House of Blues
- February 21 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
- February 23 – Portland, OR – Meow Meow
- February 24 – Seattle, WA – Graceland
- February 25 – Boise, ID – The Big Easy Concert House
- February 26 – Salt Lake City, UT – Lo-Fi Cafe
- February 27 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
- March 1 – Minneapolis, MN – The Quest
- March 2 – Chicago, IL – House of Blues
- March 3 – Cleveland, OH – House of Blues
- March 4 – Pontiac, MI – Clutch Cargo’s
- March 5 – Cincinnati, OH – Bogart’s
- March 6 – Millvale, PA – Mr. Smalls Theatre
- March 7 – Rochester, NY – Water Street Music Hall
- March 8 – Boston, MA – The Roxy
- March 9 – Hartford, CT – Webster Theater
- March 10 – New York, NY – Irving Plaza
- March 11 – Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
- March 12 – Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory
