Photo via Facebook / Tonic Tavern
Inside Bay View’s Tonic Tavern, more than just local music radiates from the building this summer. That’s because the bar and music venue, owned by 5 Card Studs member Paul Jonas, have put together a concert series called Gigs 4 Good, getting local musicians back on stage while benefitting two local charities in the process.
The concert series began this past June, and will continue regularly on Saturday afternoons through September. In addition to the regular concert series, a Halloween event is planned as well, with the possibility of future holiday-related shows as part of the Gigs 4 Good initiative. This Saturday, “Diet” Clove, which is a more intimate trio rather than the full five-piece band, will take the stage for the latest fundraiser set. The remaining lineup features Roxie Beane, The Exotics and several more local acts.
“It’s not a complicated concept. It’s a more holistic approach than I’ve ever taken though” said Jonas. “As many have, I experienced a lot of change during the pandemic. It caused me to reevaluate my guiding principles. When you start larger projects you get rolling and you can lose track of what you are truly after. You start counting milestones but then realize you’re on the wrong road. Without getting too involved in my personal voyage over the last years let’s just say that the COVID shutdown shocked me into clarity I had lost.”
Rather than utilizing the stage built into the back of the venue, the concerts make the most of Tonic Tavern’s patio space, with a riser located in the main room of the bar facing outwards. Proceeds from the shows are benefitting both the The Milwaukee Center for Children and Youth, as well as The Women’s Center. So far, more than $3,000 has been raised for the charities, with aspirations of driving that number higher into the fall.
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“With a chance to restart I thought that having a larger mission was important. As a musician and service industry person I knew there were others like me who had their income evaporate instantly. I wanted to help as many as I could” said Jonas. “When I started to think it through further, I recognized that there were whole other parts of the population who struggle in the same way, but also did before the pandemic and will after our lives begin to return to whatever the new normal will be. I thought, ‘I know these two women who have dedicated their lives to helping disadvantaged women and children’ so I reached out to them, and I got my staff involved to help support the cause.”
The full lineup of Gigs 4 Good shows can be found on the Tonic Tavern Facebook page.
