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Musicians perform at the Canyon Club Sunday night, Santa Clarita, Jan 5,2020. The concert organizer Bret Carpenter put it together help benefit victims and their families from the Saugus high school shooting.(Photo by Gene Blevins)
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Musicians Gregg Bissonette(L) and Warren Ham perform at the Canyon Club Sunday night, Santa Clarita, Jan 5,2020. The concert organizer Bret Carpenter put it together help benefit victims and their families from the Saugus high school shooting.(Photo by Gene Blevins)
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Men at Work’s Colin Hay performs at the Canyon Club Sunday night, Santa Clarita, Jan 5,2020. The concert organizer Bret Carpenter put it together help benefit victims and their families from the Saugus high school shooting.(Photo by Gene Blevins)
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Musician Jeff Babko performs at the Canyon Club Sunday night, Santa Clarita, Jan 5,2020. The concert organizer Bret Carpenter put it together help benefit victims and their families from the Saugus high school shooting.(Photo by Gene Blevins)
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Guitarist Steve Lukather of Toto performs at the Canyon Club Sunday night, Santa Clarita, Jan 5,2020. The concert organizer Bret Carpenter put it together help benefit victims and their families from the Saugus high school shooting.(Photo by Gene Blevins)
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Locals arrive at the Canyon Club Sunday night, Santa Clarita, Jan 5,2020. The concert organizer Bret Carpenter put it together help benefit victims and their families from the Saugus high school shooting.(Photo by Gene Blevins)
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Musician Chris Trujillo performs at the Canyon Club Sunday night, Santa Clarita, Jan 5,2020. The concert organizer Bret Carpenter put it together help benefit victims and their families from the Saugus high school shooting.(Photo by Gene Blevins)
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Guitarist Steve Lukather of Toto performs at the Canyon Club Sunday night, Santa Clarita, Jan 5,2020. The concert organizer Bret Carpenter put it together help benefit victims and their families from the Saugus high school shooting.(Photo by Gene Blevins)
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Musicians perform at the Canyon Club Sunday night, Santa Clarita, Jan 5,2020. The concert organizer Bret Carpenter put it together help benefit victims and their families from the Saugus high school shooting.(Photo by Gene Blevins)
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Hats and shirts for sale as musicians perform at the Canyon Club Sunday night, Santa Clarita, Jan 5,2020. The concert organizer Bret Carpenter put it together help benefit victims and their families from the Saugus high school shooting.(Photo by Gene Blevins)
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(L-R) Musicians Steve Lukather of Toto, Gregg Bissonette and Warren Ham perform at the Canyon Club Sunday night, Santa Clarita, Jan 5,2020. The concert organizer Bret Carpenter put it together help benefit victims and their families from the Saugus high school shooting.(Photo by Gene Blevins)
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(L-R) Musicians Steve Lukather of Toto, Warren Ham and Gregg Bissonette perform at the Canyon Club Sunday night, Santa Clarita, Jan 5,2020. The concert organizer Bret Carpenter put it together help benefit victims and their families from the Saugus high school shooting.(Photo by Gene Blevins)
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Hats and shirts for sale as musicians perform at the Canyon Club Sunday night, Santa Clarita, Jan 5,2020. The concert organizer Bret Carpenter put it together help benefit victims and their families from the Saugus high school shooting.(Photo by Gene Blevins)
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80’s Guitarist from Men at Work Colin Hay performs at the Canyon Club Sunday night, Santa Clarita, Jan 5,2020. The concert organizer Bret Carpenter put it together help benefit victims and their families from the Saugus high school shooting.(Photo by Gene Blevins)
The lights dimmed at roughly 8 p.m. Sunday night at The Canyon in Santa Clarita. Every seat was filled to show support to the community members affected by the November 2019 Saugus High shooting that rocked the tightly knit community.
The benefit concert, which featured top-selling artists Richard Marx and Colin Hay of “Men at Work,” just to name a few, drew a standing room only crowd. More than 200 patrons ate, drank and cheered — but, more importantly, were pillars of support for one another as the community continued to grieve the deaths of 15-year-old Gracie Anne Muehlberger and 14-year-old Dominic Blackwell.
“It’s something to lift the spirits and bring people together and show their support. Music always tends to brighten the mood no matter what,” said Bret Carpenter, who organized the event. “All of the musicians up there are some of the most loving people I’ve ever managed to become friends with and I think maybe that just spills out a little bit into the audience. I just hope we don’t have to do it very often.”
The concert venue in Santa Clarita offered a full menu and bar for patrons to enjoy while they were serenaded with rock classics as, “Rosanna” by Toto and “Down Under” by Men at Work. T-shirts and hoodies that read, “Saugus Strong,” were also available for purchase.
The community sang and clapped together and reminded one another that they’re not alone in the aftermath of the heartbreaking news.
“There’s a lot of fear. Everybody is afraid that it can happen anywhere. It doesn’t matter where you live, it doesn’t matter how safe they say your community is, it’s just one of those things that can happen in any community,” said Sherie Porretta of Santa Clarita, said.
“I think bonding everybody together and supporting each other in our times of need (is important.),” Porretta said. “Holding hands and getting everyone through the hard times — I think that’s what our community needs.”
Just after 7:30 a.m. Nov. 14, 2019, a 16-year-old student of Saugus High School used a .45 caliber semiautomatic unregistered “ghost gun” assembled from a kit to kill two classmates. He also injured three more before using the last remaining bullet to shoot himself; the wound would later prove fatal.
“The thing that’s really sad is that so many of my kid’s friends said, ‘oh, we figured it would happen.’ Apparently that’s what kids feel these days. That’s part of their lives. That’s not something I would have ever thought of growing up that anybody I knew would get shot. But, they’re all of that mindset that that’s what happens now,” Carpenter said. “Something that broke in society. Kids shouldn’t be going to school and be wondering if they’re going to get shot that day.”
The phrase #SaugusStrong remains visible all over Santa Clarita, and students now have access to a wellness center offering mental and emotional resources.
“Hopefully, what we do tonight will help brighten their path a little going forward. Our music makes people happy and if we do that then we feel like we’ve done a little something,” said Warren Ham, vocalist and saxophonist. “It’s a benefit to the community in that it brings the community together for a common purpose to do something in the wake of a tragedy like this.”