SunCan Music Festival: Where Local Arts Give Back to Local Causes

This previous winter felt extra cruel for Las Vegas. The harsh winds and relentless gloom kept local residents indoors. That is, of course, for those who have doors. We are overdue for some warmth, especially anyone who unfortunately had to brave this cold with no home. This year, Nevada’s heat should be met with festivity, and SunCan Music Festival promises to do so while helping a good cause.

A collaborative effort between Black Sheep Booking and Arrlo, the former being a prominent local concert booker and the latter being a local trans-fronted alternative indie-rock band; SunCan aims to bring a fun celebration of local arts while promoting awareness for harm reduction and houseless causes. To get a better context behind the festival, we reached out to the members of Arrlo and asked a few questions.

“What inspired you guys to put on a festival?”

Sunni Suede, lead vocalist: “Last year, when we started this group and started playing shows, we envisioned putting something like this together at some point or another. It was really only a matter of time, embedding ourselves in the scene, making friends and connections to put on something like this. The entire idea behind SunCan was to gather all of our favorite people in Vegas’s arts and music community and throw a benefit block-party style festival that would not only showcase our incredible friends but also give back to those in need. SunCan is wordplay for Suntan (spring/warmer seasons) and Can for the canned food drive.

“What do you all think an event like this means for the local scene?”

Jimmi Stepanik, guitarist: “For the local scene we hope this means more killer showcases in the future. Putting together events like this is a ton of work and we love every single aspect about the process because we want it to be special for the scene. We hope this sparks a wave to go as big as you want and to always give back. This music community has given us a platform to be able to do this and we felt it was time to give back in the best way that we can.”

“What is the primary goal for SunCan Music Festival?”

Alexander Vera, Bassist, and Anthony Braun, Drummer: “As far as goals go we want as many canned food donations as possible. As of right now, Las Vegas has 5,700+ homeless men, women, young adults, and even children in its metropolitan area. Many of them go days without eating a meal. We saw the statistics and instantly thought about hosting some sort of food drive event that could help out. We all live here, we see it, and it’s very sad to witness so we want to do our part to help feed as many as we can.”

SunCan is set to hit the stage at Fergusons Downtown on April 15th. Tickets are available online for $15, however, there is discounted entry with any canned food donation available only for tickets purchased at the door. With that being said, any price is a fair price for this absolutely stacked lineup of local acts. SunCan is bringing together a night of Vegas’s best, with performances from Arrlo, Pure Sport, Desert Island Boys, Projectcxdy, Secos, The Dollheads, Post NC, Elevated Undergrounds, White Noise, Part II & The Electric Boogaloo, and sounds from DJ Psychedelic.

Best of luck to Black Sheep Booking and Arrlo, and to everyone involved with what is lining up to be a historical night for the local arts scene, and more importantly a celebration of Vegas while giving back to Vegas itself.

Thank you to Arrlo for chatting with us about SunCan Music Festival.

Get your tickets to SunCan here!