Odds & Ends

Three stages, 22 bands, more than eight hours of live music--Saturday night's benefit for Cory Helms, recently diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, was more like a festival than a concert. Organizer Tania Rivas anticipates the event will end up raising between $4,000 and $5,000 for Helms' family, and it was one of the most expansive and enjoyable local bills in recent memory, with highlights including some great new songs from I Love Math and a countrified cover of Bell Biv Devoe's "Poison" from none other than the Theater Fire. Shame that two of the more rocking bands, The Tah-Dahs and Record Hop, were stuck opening the show at the crack of 6 p.m., but that's what happens when so many bands clamor to help out a good cause. No less than Erykah Badu pitched in, donating the long white dress she wore to the Grammys in 2001. Unfortunately, bidding started at $2,500--not exactly the right price for broke-ass musicians scrounging for rent and beer money. Still, an extravagant gesture. The dress will either be sold to the Hard Rock Cafe or auctioned on eBay.