It was clear beautiful evening at the Gallivan Center in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah on June 23, 2011. The band Parachute along with Hugo, Damato and Allred were scheduled to perform what was sure to be an unforgettable night. The crowd of over 3,000 anxiously anticipated the musicians’ arrival. The fact that the concert was free made the night that much more desirable. But what was truly unique about that evening was the cause that brought all these fans, bands, and vendors together, the harmful effects of pornography.
To the left of the stage hung an enormous banner boldly stating, “I’ve got a problem with porn”. This eye catching banner also read, “I got a problem that over time pornography can decrease your sex drive – making you prefer porn to an actual relationship”. This clever play on words definitely got the crowd talking. Fight the New Drug sponsored the evening and offered a booth selling t-shirts and answering questions. The booth volunteers were not sure if they would be of much use for the evening, considering it was a loud, fun, energetic concert. Considering how wide spread pornography has become and how many people have been negatively affected by it, the volunteers had no reason for doubt. They had an overwhelming number of people approach them asking questions about the harmful effects of pornography. When one volunteer was asked if he enjoyed the concert he replied, “Concert? What Concert?”
The night was a huge success, at one point a young man in the crowd stood on a garbage can, raised his arms over his head a yelled, “Porn sucks!” Not exactly the way we would have worded it, but we couldn’t help but feel pretty pumped that our mission was complete. We wanted to offer a fun and entertaining way to bring the youth together and get them on board with our movement and if standing on questionable objects and shouting is how that support is shown, well then so be it.
