Dan Mangan – Smorgasbord to End Homelessnes Now from Jason Rothe on Vimeo.

April 18, 2011 – Over 1,200 people crammed into the wooden pews of St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church in Vancouver, Canada for a night of multi-medium art curated by local folk/rock musician Dan Mangan.

The event brought in a variety of performers, from musicians to a spoken word artist and comedian.  All donated their talents to raise money for End Homelessness Now, a faith-based community group that on this night particularly demonstrated it’s openness to working with the secular community as part of a united effort to end youth homelessness in Vancouver.  The church itself, one of the oldest and most ornate in the city, opened it’s doors as well — to a crowd or artists and youth who were both bemused and inspired to participate in what would typically be a nightclub-style event, yet hosted in a sacred space.  For those who stood before the mic, it was hard to resist quips about what they did or might say in church.  For the audience, a live Twitter wall publicly voiced their jokes and comments.

In a few short years, Dan Mangan has vaulted to a level of success that even he admits “only 0.01% of musicians are lucky enough to attain.”  i.e.  He is able to make a living from his work. In an interview before the show, Dan spoke humbly of how important it is for artists and musicians to take action and effect positive change in the world.

“This city has given so much to me as a local performer, and my roots are very much here”, he said.  “Even though now I’m in a very luxury place where I can kind of tour the world and see lots of other amazing cities, it always feels good to come back, and this is just a small token of my appreciation for the city to try and give back and point people’s attention at some areas that really need to be addressed”.   He added, “I would say that it’s hard to think of a movement, like a civil movement of any kind…whether it’s a war, or a protest to that war…it’s hard to imagine any large mass of cultural movement in history that hasn’t been tied to music.  Whatever the people are feeling will eventually make its way into the art that the people are making.”

The event was also attended by many MPs, politicians, the Vancouver City Council and mayor Gregor Robertson, who presented the Local Hero awards and played tuba on Dan’s closing number, “Sold”.  A secondary aim during the event was to encourage the public to participate in their community, especially to get out and vote in the upcoming federal election.

Dan also addressed the criticism that artists sometimes receive for taking a stance on social and political issues:

“It’s so important for the people who have a voice in the community, who have music that reaches a large audience, to use that voice to promote positive things.  There’s a slap back to it, because often when people who are known for one thing spread their voice about another thing, they get criticized – ‘stick to music, because that’s what you know.’  But I feel like as long as people use their message for positive change, and not a hateful change, that it can only do good.”

Artists and speakers who performed at Smorgasbord: Aidan Knight, Veda Hille, The Crackling, Mike McGee, Charles Demers, Margaret Ovenall,  Jimmy King,  Mayor Gregor Robertson

Funds raised (over $18,000) were donated to the following organizations: YouthCo, Broadway Youth Resource Centre, Urban Native Youth Association

For more details, read the official press release here.