D’BANDIT, DR. JAY, DJ STARTING FROM SCRATCH, EXCO LEVI, KERWIN DU BOIS and LYRIKAL as part of CARIBBEAN RELIEF & RHYTHMS at the Phoenix Concert Theatre (410 Sherbourne) on Wednesday (September 27). 8 pm. $20. ticketgateway.com.
On Wednesday (September 27), the Phoenix is throwing a benefit concert for the Caribbean islands devastated by Hurricane Irma.
Dubbed Caribbean Relief & Rhythms, the show features performances by D’Bandit, Dr. Jay, DJ Starting from Scratch, Juno Award winner Exco Levi and Soca for Life creators Kerwin Du Bois and Lyrikal.
Lisa Zbitnew, owner of the Phoenix, helped organize the show to aid in the island’s sure-to-be long recovery from one of the strongest storms to ever hit the Atlantic.
“I was blown away by how quickly [the acts] responded to come perform,” says Zbitnew. “And we are getting calls by the hours from artists, suppliers and friends who want to contribute.”
The money raised from ticket sales and donations will be disbursed through the Caribana Arts Group (which founded Caribana) to local organizations providing relief to the islands affected by the hurricane. Concertgoers are also encouraged to bring non-perishable items, such as diapers, baby food, baby wipes, dried and canned food, new baby clothes and baby bottles.
The staff at the Phoenix have a personal connection to the tragedy. Winny Liang, who has worked as a bartender there for eight years, was stranded in the Caribbean for six days during Hurricane Irma.
Liang arrived in St. Maarten with fellow Torontonian Janet Han and Ania Danilina, a Canadian living in Los Angeles, on September 2 for their annual vacation. The women stayed at Danilina’s main floor condo in St. Maarten’s capital, Philipsburg, which was equipped with hurricane shutters and had survived Hurricane Luis in 1995.
On September 5, in preparation for the storm, the women bought bottled water, flashlights, face wipes and other supplies. When the storm hit St. Maarten early the next day, the three women hid in a concrete bathroom and then inside a closet for hours.
“The floor was shaking. We used wire hangers to hold the doors shut,” says Liang.
When it calmed and they could finally assess the damage, they discovered the entire condo was flooded and filled with seaweed and tiny crabs swept in from the ocean. The upper floors of the condo building were demolished.
“We couldn’t get out because the front door was blocked by a refrigerator [from the next-door neighbour’s apartment],” Liang says.
Over the next few days, the women attempted to get ahold of the Canadian Embassy to no avail and visited the St. Maarten Medical Center and a local school, which were providing shelter, hot meals and information about flights. Meanwhile, they said they started hearing stories of gangs targeting foreigners by finding their locations in tagged Instagram photos and then robbing them at gunpoint.
On Friday, September 8, they were determined to get back home and headed to the Princess Juliana International Airport. Eventually that evening they were able to get on a flight dropping off supplies, which then flew them to Curaçao. After a couple more days of waiting for flights, Liang and Han finally arrived in Toronto on Tuesday, September 12.
“We were very concerned about Winny, Janet and Ania, and did what we could to help get them from St. Maarten to safety,” said Zbitnew, who reached out to the Red Cross, the Canadian Embassy, the Emergency Watch and Response Centre and the Department of Foreign Affairs trying to get information. “But it left us distraught about all the people who didn’t have the option to evacuate and are still living in complete hell.”
Hurricane Irma did catastrophic damage to several islands, including Barbuda, St. Maarten, Anguilla and St. Barts. Zbitnew hopes the benefit show will provide some relief to the thousands of residents now homeless and without electricity.
“We knew that once Irma hit the U.S., media would lose focus on the plight of the Caribbean Islands. These are our friends and family and we all have to do our part.”
samanthae@nowtoronto.com | @samedwardsTO
