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Bands Fundraise for Musician Attacked by Hammer at Show He Planned to Play

By Meredith Hoffman | August 1, 2013 1:20pm
 Fort Greene resident Dru Barnes, 34, was attacked with a hammer on July 11.
Fort Greene resident Dru Barnes, 34, was attacked with a hammer on July 11.
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WILLIAMSBURG — When they take to the stage with their darting light spectacle, flowing electronic-live music fusions and futuristic costumes next week, the Adversary band will be celebrating their last performance before heading to the explosive arts marathon Burning Man.

But they'll also be acknowledging a much more somber, chilling reality: the absence of their fellow musician Dru Barnes, who was brutally struck by a stranger with a hammer last month as he walked home in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

"He was supposed to play the show," said Adversary member Andre Mistier, who said Barnes was scheduled to open for his band at Glasslands Gallery before the shocking attack that completely destroyed his left eye. "That’s the scariest form of violence...There's nothing you can do to prepare for something random like that."

Now Mistier — who's never met Barnes but shares his booking agent — and the other two bands at Tuesday night's show are donating all ticket sales to Barnes' medical fund, since the 34-year-old musician requires extensive operations to repair damage.

"This is almost a random act, since I don't know him," said Mistier of the fundraiser, "to balance out cosmically what happened to him, since that was so random."

The benefit show is Tuesday, Aug. 6 at Glasslands Gallery. Tickets are $10.