On July 6th, MADINA LAKE bassist Matthew Leone came to the aid of a woman being beaten in the street outside a bar in his home-town of Chicago. The attacker, the woman’s husband, then turned on Matthew. The beating Matthew received was so severe, he had emergency surgery to remove a third of his skull to relieve swelling on his brain and repair numerous facial fractures. Currently recovering from a second surgery on his skull, he is now faced with substantial medical bills, as at the time of his attack, his insurance had lapsed.

Since the attack, fans and well-wishers have been donating money to Matthew via Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, Through The Pain have organised benefits in Chicago- including one with Smashing Pumpkins which raised a staggering $70,000 dollars- and now Sweet Relief have partnered up with Through The Pain and Roadrunner Records to help raise funds for his yet untold medical, legal and rehabilitation costs via charity auctions.

Fellow musicians of all genres, record labels, management companies, publications and many more have all donated items for the auctions, and these are now being loaded on an ongoing basis. Items include (but are not limited to):

Paramore Tickets (to sold out shows)
30 Seconds To Mars Meet And Greets
Signed instruments from Fall Out Boy, Mayhem Festival artists, Shinedown, Megadeth
Signed photographs, collectables and / or albums from the likes of Lady Gaga, Brand New, Kill Hannah, Ville Vallo

If you head to THIS LOCATION you can check out all the current auctions. Keep an eye on the Sweet Relief eBay account for more auctions coming soon.

In other news, following the Vans Warped Tour hitting Chicago recently, tour founder Kevin Lyman contacted Through The Pain pledging a donation from Vans Warped Tour of $11,930 to Matthew Leone’s Sweet Relief fund.