With clear skies and mild temperatures, many consider Southern California to be a perfect venue for live, outdoor music.
And Cloverton, the Kansas based-Christian rock band whom NorthPark Community Church in Valencia hosted for a benefit concert Saturday night, would agree.
“There’s kind of like this love in California,” said drummer Rains Wall. “Everybody comes out to the shows and enjoys it.”
Over 400 local residents did just this; rocking out to the grooves of the live concert while enjoying dinner from the myriad of food trucks that catered the event.
The late-night jam session, however, was just one-half of what many described as a “win-win” situation, as all proceeds from the event went to charity.
“The concert is free but we are taking donations for hurricane relief and missions,” said NorthPark Community Church Lead Ministry Pastor Bob Hudson.
Saturday’s concert was the latest in a succession of benefit concerts held by the church, he explained.
“We’re working with a church in Houston that helps people who have had flood damage from Hurricane Harvey,” Hudson said.
Music plays an important role in the congregation, and the church aims to hold musically charged events when possible, he added.
Cloverton, for example, first played NorthPark two years ago — and for a band whose members are spread geographically between Kansas City, Chicago and Phoenix – the visit to this Los Angeles suburb was memorable.
Wall and many of his Cloverton bandmates, he said, formed lasting relationships with members of NorthPark Community Church after their last concert and were eager to return.
Cloverton specializes in Christian alternative rock – “similar musically to Coldplay,” according to Hudson.
They are best-known for their Christmas-themed cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” for which garnered significant acclaim on YouTube.
Cloverton was preceded by performances from Stephen Petree, a member of NorthPark Community Church, and Linsley Hartenstein, a singer-songwriter based in Cincinnati, Ohio.
All three acts demonstrated what Hudson would consider “quality family fun.”
“The heart of this is to be able to provide good quality family events for the community,” he said.