Photos by Jared Soares | The Roanoke Times

Megan Pendleton, 15 (left), dances with her friend Olivia Lyon, also 15, during a performance by the Young Sinclairs at Wednesday evening's benefit concert for musicians in Roanoke who lost equipment in the Church Avenue warehouse fire last week.

The Young Sinclairs play at Wednesday's benefit concert. Some musicians lost their gear outright in last week's fire; others have been unable to get into the building to even see what has been destroyed.

Related

Video

• Watch video from the benefit concert

At least two more benefit shows are on the way to help the bands:

FRIDAY

• The Two Funerals, Satanized, the Wading Girl and Dubnium
• 8 p.m. YMCA Thrift Shop, 1000 N. Main St., Blacksburg. $5

JAN. 27

• WROV benefit
• Madrone, and more TBA
• 8 p.m. at Martin’s Downtown Bar & Grill, 413 First St. S.W., Roanoke. $5. jd@wrov.cc. The radio station also will take instrument donations from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. during the week leading up to the show.
• To donate, visit the station’s offices at 3807 Brandon Ave., Suite 2350.

Here's how the Magic Twig Community describes itself -- "a tiny record label releasing Tapes, CD's and CDR's. As of now it consists of a group of like minded friends who record music/ play music/explore the woods / make stuff / laugh / color / pretend and have fun."

That happy, post-psychedelic vibe got a jolt of the opposite on Jan. 3. A fire at a Roanoke warehouse, where the Magic Twigs and others rehearsed and recorded, destroyed music gear, and left some Twig equipment in limbo at the building while an investigation continued.

By Wednesday night it was clear a more serious definition was in order: It was a group of musicians helping one another.

"Nothing can stop us," sang Daniel Cundiff of SunKing!, a Magic Twig Community member. "Why would you want to?"

Those were the first words of the first song Wednesday night, as SunKing!, the Young Sinclairs and the Sad Cobras played a show at Roanoke's Jefferson Center to raise money to replace lost equipment. At least 120 people were there, most at $5 a head, to help out.

Doug Cheatwood, whose band The Bastards of Fate lost all its equipment, was glad to see the support, as well as friends' and associates' quick response to the fire's aftermath.

"If there hadn't been such a large response, it would've been hard to get up the courage to continue," said Cheatwood, whose band already had to cancel one show, and will have to work using borrowed instruments for now.

For the the bands, it was an instant decision to turn the show into a benefit. It already was scheduled as part of Jefferson Center's Roanoke Live!, a local and regional music showcase. The bands quickly agreed to stage the show to help themselves and other acts, including Doug Cheatwood and the Bastards of Fate, and the Situationist.

Wednesday night's performers are longtime friends who have been playing music together for years. Their gear has surely suffered smoke and water damage, but the players don't know how bad the damage is because they haven't been allowed into the building to retrieve their equipment.

"It's almost worse to have that happen than it is to lose all your equipment," said Bastards of Fate keyboardist/violinist Camellia Delk, whose two new keyboards were confirmed to be lost. "They don't know if they have to buy more stuff."

And it wasn't just any stuff, said Crystal Carroll, a longtime friend of the Magic Twigs, and Cundiff, who opened the show with defiant lyrics.

"Everything's vintage and priceless," Carroll said.

But true to the spirit of the community's motto -- "You can't divide us. It's inside us" -- the bands are still focused on upcoming shows, and members say they appreciate the generosity people and businesses have already shown them. The borrowed equipment and rehearsals in different places could really solidify not just the Magic Twigs, but also the valley's entire musical community, said singer and multi-instrumentalist Joe Lunsford.

"It's more friends getting together, and sharing gear and ideas," Lunsford said. "Hopefully, it will continue."