Concert for the Blind Summer 2019

It all begins with an idea.

The concept was created while brainstorming ways the Hirst Brothers can help with their youngest brother, Jake. Living with a vision-impairment has been difficult, but Jake has always enjoyed listening to and being a part of the live music experience. in an effort to do their part - the Concert of the Blind was conceived with the sole purpose of raising funds to help fund future sight-saving research.

”We feel very humbled and fortunate to be able to integrate our hobby and passions with an event that can help raise money for the vision-impaired. It is a win-win for all of us; we get to have a great night, play and listen to live music and know that it all goes towards helping fight a condition that we all know too closely.” - Johnny Hirst

The first event took place at Silence Sounds in Guelph and featured many popular cover songs by The Hirst Brothers with the help from some special guests. We took learned that our next venue must include a full-service bar and a professional videographer. Alcohol took up much of the budget and many of the guests were unable to reproduce solid mobile-footage of the event.

At the end of the night, we were successfully able to make a contribution to Fighting Blindness Canada and realized just how exciting and promising this event could be in the future. The Hirst Brothers immediately started planning another show with visions on how to improve all aspects of the event.

A big thank you goes out to everyone that attended and donated their time, resources, and money towards helping this night become a huge success. It has sparked a major passion-project for the brothers and we look forward to making it bigger and better every year.

Setlist

Stuck in the Middle With You - A Stealers Wheel by The Hirst Brothers
Maggie May - A Rob Stewart cover by The Hirst Brothers
Ramble On - A Led Zeppelin cover by The Hirst Brothers
Valerie - An Amy Winehouse cover by The Hirst Brothers
Poets - A Tragically Hip cover by The Hirst Brothers

House of the Rising Sun - An Animals cover by The Hirst Brothers ft. Lynne and Sully
Twist & Shout - A Beatles cover by the Hirst Brothers ft. Nate

Ocean - A John Butler cover by Johnny Hirst

Late July - A Shakey Graves cover by Johnny Hirst
Roll the Bones - A Shakey Graves cover by Johnny Hirst

I Want You to Want Me - A Cheap Trick cover by The Hirst Brothers
Are You Gunna Be My Girl - A Jet cover by The Hirst Brothers
Purple Rain - A Prince cover by The Hirst Brothers
All Right Now - A Free cover by The Hirst Brothers

Fat Bottomed Girls - A Queen cover by The Hirst Brothers ft. Burns

Hard to Handle - A Black Crowes cover by The Hirst Brothers ft. Sully
Come Together - A Beatles cover by The Hirst Brothers ft. Sully

Encore:
Powers - A Blackalicious cover by The Hirst Brothers