Local duo is
heating up the city

By Brian Rademaekers
Times Staff Writer

Give them enough time and there is no telling what Mikal Kamil and Dan Levin could pull off.
Three years ago, the East Kensington entertainment entrepreneurs put together a benefit concert in just 10 days that helped raise $1,000 for local families struggling to pay their heating bills.
Kamil and Levin called that show — which featured legendary jazz bassist Stanley Clarke — "Artists For Heat."
Last winter, their 3Kingdoms Entertainment company held the second annual Artists For Heat benefit. That event saw them go from the Coral Street Arts House to Center City’s Verizon Hall.
Performers included Clarke, The Jackson Five patriarch Joe Jackson, and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, who played Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington in the hit TV show Welcome Back Kotter.
Most important: The increased star-power (and a few big corporate sponsors) helped Artists For Heat raise more than $16,000 to cover low-income families’ heat costs.
This year, Kamil and Levin are at it again. The third annual Artists For Heat benefit is an all-ages event that will be held 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31, at the Trocadero Theatre, 10th and Arch streets.
And the lineup for this one dwarfs anything that came before.
We’re talking about hip-hop mega-group The Roots. And Public Enemy, Everlast, the ever-reliable Clarke, and a special DJ set from A Tribe Called Quest’s Ali Shaheed.
Comedian and actress Sandra Bernhard will host the show, and the list of the event’s corporate and media partners is itself something to behold.
The South American oil giant, Citgo, is the event’s main sponsor, while PECO, Citizens Energy Corp., Comcast, 6 ABC, the Greater Philadelphia Marketing and Tourism Corp. and Clear Channel have signed on to help out in one way or another.
Naturally, Kimal and Levin are expecting a bigger crowd than ever, and a bigger chunk of change for area families.
That’s a good thing, too.
Energy prices are up, forecasters have predicted an especially cold winter, and public assistance for available energy costs is tighter than in previous years.
Kamil first got the idea for the benefit after sitting in at the Coral Street Arts House, where he lives, for a meeting to address rising heating costs.
"I just happened to be walking by the community room," explained Kamil. "I sat there and listened, and there were people who were yelling and crying. It was clear that something very traumatic was happening there, and that was when we started asking what we could do."
The rest is quickly becoming history, as Artists For Heat continues to grow exponentially each year.
Kamil says he had a feeling from the start that the event would be something in demand each year.
"We knew that the need would dictate the size of the event," said Kamil.
Last winter’s benefit was big enough to catch the attention of other cities around the country.
"It really just grew from there and took on a life of its own," said Levin. "We got calls from Washington, D.C., and Chicago to see if we could come and do it there."
But 3Kingdoms quickly told those cities no.
Kamil and Levin insisted that Artists For Heat will always be Philly-rooted event.
"The primary reasons we want to keep it here is to help Philadelphia grow into a prime entertainment capital, so it would defeat the purpose to create it here and then take it to another city," said Kamil. "Philadelphia is where this event was born, and it’s where we want it to grow."
While this year’s benefit has some of the best-known names in music, Kamil said, the artists were chosen for more than their crowd-attracting qualities.
"The type of artists we wanted were the type of artists who lean more toward intelligent hip hop and rock and who are revolutionary thinkers," explained Kamil. "They are more or less legends and innovators, they’re very intelligent, and they’re social thinkers."
Besides the star-studded lineup of national acts, Kamil and Levin said there are some new features that make Artists For Heat ’08 stand out.
Concertgoers this year can expect to get a little education along with their entertainment.
"We are literally going to have to find new ways of heating homes by the end of this century, so this year Artists For Heat is also introducing people to concepts of energy conservation in addition to the importance of providing low-income people with heat," said Kamil.
They also hope to raise awareness about the more than 30 million Americans who will struggle to pay their utility bills this year.
Another new aspect is involvement from local colleges.
"It’s really being driven by the youth this year," said Kamil.
The help primarily has come from Drexel and Temple University students who are pitching in to promote and market the event.
"We wanted to create something that is spectacular and grandiose, something that people would expect to happen in New York City or Los Angles, and the kids believe in this and they are making it happen right in their own city," said Kamil.
On a more controversial note, the naming of the event’s new title sponsor, Citgo, has drawn some political ire. That’s because Citgo is owned by the Venezuelan government — a country that is not is exactly on the Bush Administration’s buddy list.
Hugo Chavez, the country’s controversial president, made headlines in 2006 when he infamously equated President Bush with the devil in front of the United Nations.
The dust-up was just one among many between Bush and the pro-socialist leader.
For Kamil and Levin, their acceptance of support from Citgo has brought on a slew of nasty phone calls and e-mails from Bush-supporters.
"I got one e-mail where the guy called me a ‘black communist,’" said Kamil.
While they have been critical of Bush’s proposed 2007-08 budget cut for the federal Low Income Heat and Energy Assistance Program, Kamil and Levin say the concert is not intended to be a political statement.
"This is about helping the American people," said Kamil. "There is always going to be a beef between heads of states, but do you think the people on the streets of Philadelphia care if their heat is coming from Hugo Chavez or President Bush?"
Artists For Heat, Kamil said, simply emerged from a need to help low-income families address what the Boston Globe called "the heat or eat dilemma."
"If a government isn’t doing enough to help its own people, how can you criticize a company or another government for going in and helping out?" asked Levin.
The business partners said they have already seen other locales creating spin-off events to help address the problem in those regions.
"We think that is great," said Levin. "The idea is for Philadelphia to become an example for other places. We want to show them how you build a socially conscious event and a socially conscious company."
But both agree that Artists For Heat will always be a pure Philly event that will stay true to its East Kensington beginnings.
"It can only grow as long as the people in Philadelphia support it and believe in it," said Kamil. "But people in Philly, when they get behind something, they really believe in it." ••
Tickets for the Artists For Heat benefit are $37.50 in advance and $45 at the door. For more information, visit www.thetroc.com