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Concert Listings: Dec. 22 through 28

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Outdoors: Dec. 22 through 28

<p>For Kingston-born band Suze, their annual Christmas show has become a chance to gather their faithful in a familiar setting and celebrate the holiday to the soundtrack of their funk-heavy rock &#8216;n&#8217; roll. But this year, the groove-peddling quartet will turn their yuletide soiree into a tribute, in more ways than one.</p><p>Suze will perform at 10 p.m. Monday at the River Street Jazz Cafe in Plains Township. They&#8217;ll perform one set of Suze originals and one set in tribute to celebrated jamband moe.. In honor of the band&#8217;s late friend Brent P. Evans, a portion of proceeds from the show will be donated to Carve 4 Cancer, a non-profit organization Evans founded to raise money for blood-cancer research.</p><p>Evans was diagnosed with a rare form of non-Hodkin&#8217;s lymphoma in 2010, and, even during his initial battle, had a plan to bring people together to spread awareness about the disease.</p><p>In that timeframe, Suze frontman Adam McKinley and Evans met for the first time when a mutual friend suggested they travel together to see moe., a favorite of both men.</p><p>&#8220;We rode together and started talking like we&#8217;d been friends for a long time,&#8221; McKinley said. &#8220;He told me about his original diagnosis.&#8221;</p><p>After a successful round of treatment, Evans organized the pre-cursor to Carve 4 Cancer at Rodano&#8217;s in Wilkes-Barre, and Suze became one of the first bands to play the event.</p><p>Through the years, Evans&#8217; fund-raiser grew to be a successful gathering. The avid snowboarder held events first at Montage Mountain in Scranton and then at Jack Frost/Big Boulder in Carbon County, and McKinley became the only musician to play every event Evans arranged.</p><p>The two grew closer as Evans battled his own cancer while continuing to advocate for others.</p><p>&#8220;We shared this &#8230; there&#8217;s a Little Feat song called &#8216;Willin&#8221; that became our mantra. We&#8217;d go back and forth on Facebook with #willin&#8217;,&#8221; McKinley said.</p><p>Evans passed away in July after his cancer returned, and McKinley said he lost someone he felt he knew on a personal level despite not having spent a lifetime getting acquainted.</p><p>In its eighth year, Suze&#8217;s Christmas show became a fitting outlet to remember Evans.</p><p>&#8220;When it came to the Christmas show, we&#8217;d bill it as the Christmas show, but we always just did a normal show,&#8221; McKinley said. &#8220;For the longest time, I&#8217;ve wanted to do a tribute show.&#8221;</p><p>As chance would have it, Suze guitarist Adam Gabriel and his wife Kelly suggested to McKinley that Suze play a tribute to moe.</p><p>&#8220;moe. was one of our earliest influences as a band, and still is to this day,&#8221; McKinley said. &#8220;Being that Brent was a moe. fan, we thought, &#8216;Why don&#8217;t we take a portion of what we made and donate it to Carve 4 Cancer.&#8221;</p><p>But the Gabriels hadn&#8217;t recalled that McKinley&#8217;s first encounter with Evans was on a car ride to see the popular jam ensemble.</p><p>&#8220;It slapped me in the face,&#8221; McKinley said. &#8220;It almost took my breath away. It was almost on a spiritual level that, &#8216;Wow, this makes so much sense to do that. A lot of Brent&#8217;s friends and people who know him are all moe. fans too. It was too perfect to be ignored.&#8221;</p><p>McKinley said he expects the crowd to be a welcome mix of people who want to hear a set of moe. and people who want to support Carve 4 Cancer.</p><p>The foundation, in the meantime, has become a federally recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is partnered directly with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Dr. Andrei Shustov at University of Washington, Medicine Advancement.</p><p>The annual Carve 4 Cancer event will be held on Feb. 3 at Blue Mountain Ski Area in Palmerton, and Suze will perform.</p><p>&#8220;When he was first diagnosed,&#8221; McKinley said of Evans, &#8220;he was given around four months to live, and he lived for eight years. Just by him living as long as he did, he&#8217;s probably saved thousands of lives because he allowed his disease to be researched. That&#8217;s where the whole &#8220;Willin&#8217;&#8221; thing came from: &#8220;Willin&#8217;&#8221; to keep fighting and battle it out. He unknowingly touched so many lives.&#8221;</p><p>Suze is finishing work on a new record the band hopes to debut in February or March. For information on future performances, visit <a href="https://suzerocks.com/" target="_blank">suzerocks.com</a>.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Suze frontman Adam McKinley befriended late Carve 4 Cancer founder Brent P Evans six years ago. The band will play a tribute to New York jamband moe. during their Monday performance at the River Street Jazz Cafe, and a portion of the evenings proceeds will be donated to the foundation Evans started. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/web1_suze11.jpg</photo0><caption0>Suze frontman Adam McKinley befriended late Carve 4 Cancer founder Brent P Evans six years ago. The band will play a tribute to New York jamband moe. during their Monday performance at the River Street Jazz Cafe, and a portion of the evenings proceeds will be donated to the foundation Evans started. </caption0><photoCredit0>Times Leader file photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/web1_Suze2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Suze lead guitarist Adam Gabriel and his wife, Kelly, suggested the band play a set of moe.&#8217;s music during their annual Christmas show, because late friend Brent P. Evans was a big fan of the jamband&#8217;s work. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/web1_Suze2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Suze lead guitarist Adam Gabriel and his wife, Kelly, suggested the band play a set of moe.&#8217;s music during their annual Christmas show, because late friend Brent P. Evans was a big fan of the jamband&#8217;s work. </caption1><photoCredit1>Times Leader file photo </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/web1_Suze1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">From left, Adam Gabriel, Adam McKinley, Jason Stefanski and Brian Gildea perform in May in the Chandelier Lobby of the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre. The funk-infused rock band has a new record expected to be released in February or March. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/web1_Suze1.jpg</photo2><caption2>From left, Adam Gabriel, Adam McKinley, Jason Stefanski and Brian Gildea perform in May in the Chandelier Lobby of the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre. The funk-infused rock band has a new record expected to be released in February or March. </caption2><photoCredit2>Times Leader file photo </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Tribute to moe. a nod to late friend of the band</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Matt Mattei</p><p>mmattei@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What: </strong>Suze Christmas Part 8 featuring a tribute to moe.</p><p><strong>Where: </strong>River Street Jazz Cafe, 667 N. River St., Plains Township</p><p><strong>When: </strong>10 p.m. Monday (Christmas Day); doors open at 8 p.m.</p><p><strong>Additional information: </strong>Admission costs $10 at the door, and a portion of proceeds will be donated to Carve 4 Cancer in honor of founder Brent P. Evans, who lost his battle with a rare form of non-Hodgkin&#8217;s lymphoma in the summer.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Matt Mattei at 570-991-6651 or on Twitter @TimesLeaderMatt.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Suze to honor late Carve 4 Cancer founder during annual Christmas show