The distance between West Warwick and Weymouth, Mass., spans 46 miles. The distance between heartache and recovery is measured only in time. And Bill King knows seven months is not a long time.
King owns Club Odyssey in Weymouth where he says the rock band Great White was scheduled to play a benefit concert Sept. 26.
It would be the band's first New England appearance since its pyrotechnic display inside The Station on Feb. 20 sparked one of the nation's worst nightclub fires, killing 100 people and injuring nearly 200 others.
(Channel 10 reported last night that the band canceled the engagement yesterday, but that report could not be confirmed. The Journal's calls to the band's managers in California and to the nightclub were not returned.)
King gave much thought about whether to host the concert, the proceeds of which will go to The Station Family Fund.
"I know some people are going to be offended," he said yesterday. "I empathize with those people and I know they're upset. I feel bad, too. But it is for a good cause. We're trying to get something good out of this."
The Friday night show in Weymouth is apparently part of the band's series of shows around the country to raise money for the victims of the fire.
The show, however, was not posted on the band's official Web site as of yesterday afternoon with 11 others set for this month.
In July, the band canceled a broader benefit concert tour, with other bands accompanying them, because insurers feared people angry over The Station fire might riot. The band opted instead for flying into various cities for smaller weekend shows.
The band's scheduled appearance in Weymouth is not without controversy.
One petition to keep the band from "returning to the scene of the crime" is already circulating on the Internet.
Leo Wells, of New Bedford, organized the petition to let the band know that families are still grieving and still angry.
"They deserve their time and space for healing without having an integral part of the cause of the tragedy being allowed to perform in their backyard," Wells said on an Internet mailing.
So far, the band has performed nine shows and raised $27,005 for The Station Family Fund.
"We're grateful that they are going to raise funds for us," said Victoria Potvin, a Station fire survivor and president of the Family Fund. "But as far as where they play, we've not a darn thing to do with that."
However, Potvin said as far as she knows the band has no intention of playing in Rhode Island, which is probably smart.
"I don't think it would be wise for them to play in Rhode Island," she said.
"I think it's too sensitive of an issue. I think they need to respect people's feelings. It's just too close."
