Some punk bands roll into Allston to cause trouble. Others come and help out with a good cause.
Veteran Nevada punk band 7 Seconds stormed into Brighton Music Hall this past Saturday, and after the show, doused bartender Sarah Leib in two giant buckets of ice water.
“You know what a ‘white wash’ is? When you push someones face in snow?” Leib tells Vanyaland. “It felt like that. Except all over.”
It was all part of the Ice Bucket Challenge, a viral stunt aimed at raising awareness for ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The idea is simple: video yourself getting ice water dumped on your head, all while referencing the cause and then challenging others to do the same. That person has 24 hours to fulfill the challenge or they have to donate to an ALS cause. It’s like Bros Icing Bros, but way less douchey and for a good cause.
The Ice Bucket Challenge seems to have gotten started at Boston College, as student athletes at the school rallied around 29-year-old former baseball player and team captain Pete Frates, who was diagnosed in 2012. Recently, former BC athletes like the Atlanta Falcons’ Matt Ryan and Pittsburgh Pirates Tony Sanchez have taken the challenge, and 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Toucher & Rich and the Boston Bruins have also taken part.
“ALS is close to my heart as I remember a close family friend — who I always knew as Uncle Marshall — being diagnosed many years ago,” Leib says.
Through her bar tending gigs at the Paradise and Brighton Music Hall, Leib was quickly called out when she asked a co-worker about the Ice Bucket Challenge.
“That gave me 24 hours,” she says. “I was thinking of doing a whole Flashdance montage, but got called into work at the last minute. I was feeling kind of forced to have my co-workers dump the ice water, which seemed like something they would enjoy way too much. When I realized that 7 Seconds were playing (a band I really like), I thought, ‘Well, if they aren’t too douchey, maybe they can help.'”
At the end of the night one of her bar customers was talking about how he was friends with 7 Seconds drummer Troy Mowat, so Leib asked the guy to make an introduction.
“I asked him if he could ask one of the guys in the band if they would be willing to take three minutes out of their load-out to dump a bucket of water on my head,” Leib adds. “Troy came over while I was closing, and [frontman] Kevin [Seconds] overheard me explaining what I needed and why, and asked why only Troy got to do it. So both guys put down what they were doing, and came outside to help. They were so into it, and so amazing. And really seemed to enjoy helping out.”
Anything after midnight on the Allston corner of Harvard and Brighton avenues is sure to draw a crowd. This spectacle drew everything from 7 Seconds fans, Brighton Music Hall employees, people across the street from Tavern In The Square, and even the police detail hired to watch the people across the street from Tavern In The Square.
Plus, it was cold.
“It reminded me of jumping into Lake Champlain in April,” Leib says.