Since the early hours of June 17, news has traveled far and wide of a malicious van driver in a white box truck—still at large at press time—who struck Koi piercer Marty Kasteler while he was bicycling home alongside his wife Nicki.
According to HelpMarty.com, Kasteler—who has no medical insurance—remained in critical condition for many days following the accident and has recently undergone several risky procedures. His condition appears to be stabilizing, and he is scheduled for additional surgeries in the months ahead.
In the wake of Kasteler’s misfortune, a diverse assortment of Salt Lakers—from bikini-clad burlesque dancers washing cars to benevolent bicycle enthusiasts hosting bake sales—have eagerly volunteered their time and resources to support Kasteler and his family in their time of need.
“I don’t know Marty that well, but I ride my bike around town, and when I heard about what happened, I wanted to do everything I could to help. We all did. Marty is such an active dude. You can tell from the community outpouring that he’s just a good person,” says Accidente vocalist Peter Makowski.
The members of Accidente—which is essentially a slightly rearranged, zany and stripped-down version of revered Salt Lake City rock band Form of Rocket—say they’re happy to participate in one of this summer’s many Help Marty fund-raisers and to perform alongside Blackhole, Drop Dead Celebrity and White Hot Ferrari at Bar Deluxe on July 21 and donate all of the proceeds to Kasteler.
Accidente’s raucous, irreverent performances are certainly not standard fund-raising fare, but one of the band’s great strengths is that many members of Form of Rocket’s solid, loyal and diverse fan base have turned out to support them in their latest mutation—and these same fans will gladly turn out to support Kasteler.
“The level of community support for Marty has just been incredible,” guitarist John Asher says. “There have been all of these bulletins on MySpace about his condition, and people who live out of state who have never even met him are sending me messages, asking for updates, wanting to know how he’s doing.”
“All of our thoughts are certainly with Marty, his wife Nicki and the rest of his family. We definitely wish him the best and hope he recovers as fast as possible,” Makowski says.
Bassist Ben Dodds says that Accidente—who have been in existence for almost a year now—are in the process of recording their first record. Although the band hasn’t yet set a release date, they roughly anticipate an early winter release.
“The title of our first release is TBA—To Be Argued,” Asher jokes.
It’s appropriate that Accidente collectively cites carnies as an influence, because the band’s live shows are the talk of the town. A circus barker in a red-and-white striped suit could easily announce their sets.
Dodds stresses that the infamous Form of Rocket energy—which has enthralled fans from coast to coast—still pulsates from Accidente as they perform. Makowski alternately jumps and rolls across the stage while belting out unhinged lyrics, and Asher has been known to momentarily hand off his guitar to a few pumped up audience members.
During the course of our interview at Brewvies, a server recognizes the band and comments on a recent performance. He looks squarely at Makowski and says: “You’re a f—king madman. I didn’t know how to take you.”
Such is Accidente. In addition to dancing midgets and bearded ladies, the seedy fun-house version of Form of Rocket will surely draw a whole crowd of spectators may be able to help ease Marty Kasteler’s burden.
ACCIDENTE
Bar Deluxe
666 S. State
Saturday, July 21
9 p.m.
HelpMarty.com
