Route 91 survivors to host benefit concert in Chandler

Idea was developed on return drive from Las Vegas

Chandler residents are joining together to support victims of the Las Vegas shooting by hosting a benefit concert from noon-7 p.m. Saturday at Tom Ryan’s country bar at 70 W. Warner Road, Chandler.

Hayley Boult and her boyfriend Joel Maze were with friends attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, where 58 people were killed andnearly 500 were injured in a mass shooting Sunday night.

“Our whole drive home on Monday, I wished we could do something to help the victims and families,” Boult said. “You don’t expect something like that when you’re going to a country music concert. You don’t expect you’re not going to come home.”

After arriving home, Maze partnered with Eddie Smith, who runs Chandler Country, a Facebook group that promotes local country music, to organize a benefit for the victims.

“It’s almost surreal knowing that at any moment myself or a band or just a crowd of fans could be at a show and something like this could happen,” Smith said. “The best moment was getting messages back from everyone saying that were OK.”

Saturday’s event will feature local country music acts, food trucks, raffles and a silent auction to raise money for the Las Vegas Victim’s Fund.

Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak set up a GoFundMe campaign for the fund and nearly 75,000 people had donated $9.2 million by Thursday morning.

The local benefit will feature two indoor stages as well as acoustic performances on the patio. The bar has a capacity of 200, not including the patio, and is expecting to see patrons coming in and out all day, said Julie Bohner, assistant manager at Tom Ryan’s.

“We’ll definitely accommodate whoever comes and hopefully raise a lot of money for the victims,” Bohner said. “We’re not just a country bar, we’re part of a community.”

Maze, who is a local country musician, will perform at the event with his group, Southern Country.

Boult had purchased tickets to the Route 91 festival as an early birthday present to Maze.

Maze recalls Boult standing on a wooden barrel to get a better view of the show. Later, as bullets rained down on them, Maze threw himself on top of his girlfriend, pulling the barrel over him as a shield.

“I know that a couple men who died were shielding their wives or girlfriends,” Boult said. “That stands out to me because my boyfriend did the exact same thing.”

Maze remembers countless people carrying the wounded and piling them into vehicles to take them to safety.

“I think that speaks for something in the country community,” Maze said. “We’re blue-collar people but we try to help.”

In the aftermath of the shooting, the couple moved from casino to casino, sheltering down for hours with other concertgoers.

“For about a three-hour stretch there was not much room to breathe,” Maze said. “There was no safe feeling of ‘We’re out of there.’ Nobody knew what was going on.”

While the couple is understandably anxious about returning to Las Vegas any time soon, they are committed to doing whatever they can in their local community to help victims of the tragedy.

The couple has partnered with Facebook group Living Chandler, which has over 46,000 members, and Pride Group, a special event management company, to raise awareness about the benefit.

The event will include a blood donation center for residents to donate.

They are still looking for vendors and businesses to supply items for the silent auction, according to Tia Coates, a moderator for Living Chandler.

“We want to send as much relief as possible to the victims,” she said.

Boult asks that those unable to attend the event donate directly through Sisolak’s GoFundMe campaign.

“We’re not just a country bar, we’re part of a community.” JULIE BOHNER ASSISTANT MANAGER, TOM RYAN’S IN CHANDLER