Local Hero at Concert Buys Drinks for Band

The first-ever CultureShift “Local Hero of the Week” segment highlights a man brave enough to buy shots for the band

Photo via Ryan Patrick Hooper

Click on the audio player above for the full conversation. 

This past Saturday, a music fan named Ben drove from Chicago to see soul singer Curtis Harding perform at the Shelter in Detroit.

Little did he know he would leave the venue that night as a hero.

About halfway through Harding’s set of modern R&B, the band asked the audience who was going to step up and buy the band some drinks.

Ben answered the call to action.

“I said yeah, sure, I will!” says Ben, just moments after the show ended. “I’m usually a tequila drinker, so I expected them to say something like that.”

But the band wanted Jameson Irish Whiskey, a top shelf liquor which sells for at least $6 a shot at live music venues throughout metro Detroit.

Ben didn’t blink.

“They were in the middle of a song, so I just left the shots there,” says Ben. “I wasn’t sure what was going to happen … but it was a great time.”

In the heat of the moment, Ben didn’t even remember to buy himself a shot and that selfless act of concert kindess is why Ben is our first-ever CultureShift Local Hero of the Week.

Author

  • Ryan Patrick Hooper
    Ryan Patrick Hooper is the award-winning host and producer of CultureShift on 101.9 WDET-FM Detroit’s NPR station. Hooper has covered stories for the New York Times, NPR, Detroit Free Press, Hour Detroit, SPIN and Paste magazine.