On Dec. 6, for the first time since 2019, members, listeners, and fans of WFUV gathered at the Beacon Theatre in New York City for a concert featuring some of the music world’s top and emerging artists.
The 16th annual Holiday Cheer for FUV, a benefit for Fordham’s public media station, featured the rock group Spoon and folk-pop band Lucius, both recently nominated for 2023 Grammy Awards, and blues guitarist Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, a 2022 Grammy winner.
As usual, WFUV also reserved a spot on the bill for a fast-rising young band: The Brooklyn-based newcomers Say She She, a self-described “discodelic soul” group featuring three singers, opened the show.
In her concert recap, WFUV’s Kara Manning wrote that the artists “represented the breadth of what listeners love about WFUV, the deft segues between diverse genres: funked-up soul, gritty blues, ethereal folk-pop, and straight-up rock ‘n’ roll.”
CBS News senior national correspondent Anthony Mason emceed the show, one month after hosting WFUV’s annual On the Record event, which highlights the station’s award-winning news and sports departments. This year’s Holiday Cheer, which had been on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, marked the first WFUV benefit concert hosted by someone other than Rita Houston, the station’s legendary DJ and music and program director, who died in 2020.
Manning noted that Mason, a longtime fan of WFUV, paid tribute to his friend Houston. “His affection for Rita, the radio station, and the night’s musicians was a trifecta of bonhomie,” she wrote, and his “own insight on songs as salvation in times of crisis set the evening’s emotional tone.”
Those who missed the concert will have two chances to catch it—tune in to WFUV, 90.7 FM, at noon on Saturday, December 24, and at 6 p.m. on Sunday, December 25, to hear the full show.
Spoon, the venerable rock band from Austin, Texas, headlined WFUV’s 2022 Holiday Cheer benefit concert at the Beacon Theatre on Dec. 6.Spoon performed several songs from their latest record, “Lucifer on the Sofa,” recently nominated for the 2023 Grammy Award for Best Rock Album.The indie pop band Lucius, featuring lead vocalists Holly Laessig and Jess Wolf, performed an acoustic set at Holiday CheerLucius was recently nominated for three 2023 Grammys—for Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Americana Performance—for their collaborations with Brandi Carlile, who performed at WFUV’s Holiday Cheer concert in 2015.Guitarist Christone “Kingfish” Ingram brought his blues virtuosity to the show. It wasn’t his first performance for the station. Last March, he played an FUV Live session at Rockwood Music Hall, a few days before winning the 2022 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album.Nya Gazelle Brown, a singer in the band Say She She, a new group from Brooklyn, performed at the annual WFUV Holiday Cheer benefit concert on Dec. 6, 2022.Legendary guitarist and songwriter Vernon Reid (right), founder of the rock band Living Colour, joined Christone “Kingfish” Ingram in a performance of the Jimi Hendrix classic “Red House.”Say She She, a new group from Brooklyn, opened the annual WFUV Holiday Cheer benefit concert on Dec. 6, 2022.Anthony Mason, of CBS News, served as the emcee for the annual WFUV Holiday Cheer benefit concert on Dec. 6, 2022.All of the WFUV DJs who were in attendance at the show were honored on stage.
