Andrew McMahon's 12th Annual Dear Jack Benefit Concert shines bright in Philadelphia

November 19, 2021

The special annual benefit concert hosted by Andrew McMahon & Friends finally made appearance on the East Coast in the city of Philadelphia, which has long been a "second home" to McMahon through out the years of his many projects.

From the early years with Something Corporate to the current era of Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness the city of Philadelphia has always supported Andrew McMahon. And, while McMahon may not properly live here he has played nearly every stage in the city during his impressive career. The local alternative station, ALT 104.5, has also featured McMahon numerous times at their annual events as well (both free and ticketed). When the 'Three Pianos Tour' was announced earlier this year and Philadelphia was left off the initial announcement fans were left confused why McMahon would skip their city after all the years of countless touring there. However, their patience paid off as Andrew McMahon was quick to tease on social media that an announcement would come soon for Philadelphia - and it did, in the form of the 12th Annual Dear Jack Benefit at the Fillmore on November 13.

Andrew McMahon founded the Dear Jack Foundation after his own battle and recovery from young adolescence cancer during his Jack's Mannequin days. The Dear Jack Foundation's primary goal is to provide quality of life programming that directly benefits young adult cancer patients, survivors and their families. The Annual Benefit Concert is just one of the many ways fans and interested parties can contribute to the organization. This year the organization set out with the 250K Challenge to raise funding for their next year of operation. Thanks in part to the combined efforts leading into the after and proceeds from it - The Dear Jack Foundation ended up raising a grand total of a total of $305,533. The organization explained on their social media pages that this sum would help the fund 100 LifeList patients and 5 Breathe Now retreats, in addition to a partnership with Cancer for College which would provide Matt Cwiertny Dear Jack Music Education scholarships to two AYA survivors.


The venue was transformed for the event with large Dear Jack banners, information tables and a massive merchandise set up that featured limited edition items exclusive to the event - and a line that wrapped into the concert hall of fans waiting to purchase their posters and shirts. Throughout the evening Andrew McMahon greeted the in person crowd and those watching the livestream from onstage while he provided an update on the incoming donations. He also spoke in length about how important Dear Jack is to him and took some time to showcase some video content about the organization as well. Closer to his set Executive Director Andrea Schwartz took to the stage to spotlight some videos from individuals who have benefited from their incredible program.

Joining Andrew McMahon for this special benefit show as support were his former bandmate Zac Clark and singer-songwriter Annika Bennett. Clark kicked the night off after a warm welcome from McMahon and he gave the crowd a wonderful 30 minute set of his new solo material. As a long time member of McMahon's band during the 'In The Wilderness' era, Clark was a welcome face to the Philadelphia crowd - many of whom sang along to his material as they knew it very well already.


Clark's setlist featured a lot of material from his recently released full length album "Holy Shit" in addition to some other songs he has written as a solo musician. While his set may have been short he brought a perfect amount of energy to kick the show off that left the packed house of the Fillmore with smiles on their faces as they waited for the night to continue.


Zac Clark's set was quickly followed up by another appearance from Andrew McMahon with an update for the crowd about progress towards the $250K Challenge before he introduced the next special guest on the evening, Annika Bennett. Bennett put on an impressive performance and along the way explained that this was her first time performing in the city of Philadelphia. She went on to tell the audience later in the set that she usually is in a studio environment writing songs for other people so she was rather new to touring - however, this lack of on stage experience didn't prevent her from delivering a great set from start to finish.

Following Bennett's set the stage underwent a brief change over in anticipation for the arrival of the star of the evening, Andrew McMahon. He'd appear on the stage briefly once more to thank the Philadelphia crowd as he explained how much it meant to him to host the 12th Annual Dear Jack Benefit in the city that had truly been like a second home to him. The stage lights then went dark and when McMahon returned to stage a few minutes later he was seated at his piano as beaming light cascaded down on top him as he began the show with a re-imagined version of "Synesthesia."


Through out the night McMahon left his perch up at his piano talk to with the crowd as he shared many intimate stories about some of the stories behind the songs and his journey as a young adult when he faced his cancer diagnosis as well. Many of the songs in the set were stripped down or completely new versions as McMahon had new, smaller band with him that just featured Morgan Paros on violin and a few other instruments and Mikey Wagner on keyboards as well as some various instruments throughout the show.


Andrew McMahon took the crowd on a musical journey after he explained the story behind the three pianos that shaped his life as well as the three mirrors that surrounded him on the stage. The night was a true story book performance as McMahon dug deep into his catalog digging out some rare Something Corporate gems with "She Paints Me Blue" and "The Astronaut" shining bright early in the night - fans of his Something Corporate era of songwriting had to wait until the encore of the night for the rare appearance of "Konstantine" that sent the crowd into a frenzy. McMahon didn't shy away from any of his current materials as a stunning performance of "Halls" and "Fire Escape" were among the many 'In the Wilderness' songs that made the setlist but a stand out moment was the performance of "Something Wild" that he originally recorded with Lindsey Stirling. Up until now McMahon didn't have a touring violinist in the band but the addition of Morgan Paros allowed him to perform this song at last.

Last, but certainly not least, were the many Jack's Mannequin moments that McMahon treated his fans to for this special night at the 12th Annual Dear Jack Benefit concert. No night with Andrew McMahon is complete with out a full crowd sing-a-long during the chorus of "Dark Blue" or the crashing piano notes of "The Mixed Tape." This special night would also conclude with a fan favorite Jack's Mannequin song, again re-imagined for this new tour that Andrew McMahon & Friends are on. After being joined on stage by both Annika Bennett and Zac Clark, the entirety of the Dear Jack staff in attendance came out onto the stage for a massive performance of "La La Lie" that served as a proper ending to a once in a lifetime show for so many fans in Philadelphia.


There is no doubt that Andrew McMahon will be back to Philadelphia in the next year, or two at most - however it goes without saying that it will be hard to top the feelings that the 12th Annual Dear Jack Benefit show left the fans with. A special night, after over a year of not being able to gather for any sort of meaningful events transformed Andrew McMahon's first Philadelphia appearance since before the pandemic into the most important show he's performed in the city to date. Philadelphia will always support McMahon and hopefully the city won't have to wait another 12 years to host another Dear Jack Benefit - but if they, they'll be here waiting and ready to support, pack another room and break another fundraising goal.

Article Written By:

Matt Christine

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