Local anti-meth rockers Beyond Our Recognitions of God are playing a benefit/fundraiser show tonight night at UB's in Mesa for their drummer, Jon Landato, who was stabbed in the neck during an altercation last month following a gig at Goathead Saloon.
Landato has made a full recovery, but spent several harrowing days in the hospital immediately after the attack and still sports a mean scar. In addition to Landato's medical bills, much of BORG's equipment was damaged in the confusion following the attack, as Landato's bandmates began driving him to the hospital in their van without securing their equipment or closing all the doors.
"We're gonna be raffling off tattoos," says band manager Ginger Brunson. "[Lead singer] Joe [Terborg] and [guitarist] Waylon [Wood] are both tattoo artists, so we'll be raffling off time in their chairs. We're going to be taking part of the door and also have a donation jar as well. Our hopes are to raise enough money to at least get him a new drum set. If we can't help him out with the hospital bills, at least we can get him a new drum set, 'cause they got boo-booed in the whole thing."
Landato says he's happy to be alive.
"The blood was going down my throat and out of my wound, so I started puking profusely, just nothing but blood," he says of the moments after the stabbing. "My friend, she was just sitting there, covered with blood. I kept telling her 'Tell my kids I love them, tell my kids I love them,' 'cause with all the blood that I was losing, I seriously thought that I was going to die."
Although toxicology reports on the alleged assailant are still pending, the band says the incident illustrates why BORG and their non-profit Dads Against Meth Use (DAMU) Foundation focus specifically on the dangers of meth abuse, rather than an oversimplified message that treats all drugs as equally dangerous.
"To each his own, as far as that goes, but you're not gonna have some crazy-ass pothead sit there and stab somebody in the neck and almost kill somebody," Landato says.
BORG is scheduled to perform on Friday, September 17, at UB's in Mesa.
