COLUMBUS, Ind. — The feeling of it’s-finally-going-to-happen was drowned in puddles of rain at Mill Race Park Saturday when thunderstorms washed out a chance for locally flavored and nationally touring band Yacht Rock Revue to headline the popular, annual Our Hospice of South Central Indiana fundraising concert.
The band, whose profile is rising steadily amid sellouts of venues ranging from 3,000 to 6,000 seats in major metro areas, was originally set to perform at the 2020 concert before COVID-19 forced the performance to be a streaming show from the Coca-Cola Roxy in Atlanta, Georgia, where the group is based. Then a spike in cases last year triggered a general cancellation.
The free event is the local hospice’s biggest fundraiser of the year, generally raising $120,000 to more than $150,000 from raffle ticket for the nonprofit’s work with patients with life-limiting illnesses.
Columbus native Nick Niespodziani is lead singer and his friend from childhood, Peter Olson, is a singer and instrumentalist with Yacht Rock Revue. The band performed in Nashville, Tennessee, Friday night, and still was in Louisville, Kentucky, Saturday afternoon when they got the cancellation call.
“The swirling hurricane of emotions is heavy,” Niespodziani said. “I’ve been trying to get mentally prepared for this night for a long time – it was going to be so cathartic for me to come home and play the concert that was the BIGGEST deal to me as a kid. Like dreams-come-true kind of vibes.
“With my parents there and teachers and coaches and so many friends coming, I was afraid the emotions might overwhelm me.”
He added that “there really aren’t words to describe the letdown” of the forced cancellation.
For more updates, see Sunday’s Republic.
