While Finegold just got reappointed as Senate chairman of the Legislature’s economic development committee, the legislator-lawyer has a bit of a side hustle as a charity-concert promoter. What started as a way to celebrate his 50th birthday with local rock band Godsmack and 5,000 of the band’s fans has turned into an August tradition. This year, the nonprofit he formed, the 617 Rocks Foundation, will hold its fourth concert at the MGM Music Hall on Aug. 1. It’s a triple bill this time, with Bret Michaels of Poison, Vince Neil of Motley Crue and Stephen Pearcy of Ratt, all separately taking the stage.
Every cowboy may indeed sing his sad, sad song. But Senator Barry Finegold is determined to put on a show that offers nothin’ but a good time, by bringing three of heavy metal’s best-known vocalists to Boston, to help raise money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
It’s a genre that the partner at the Andover law firm of Dalton & Finegold knows well. While attending college at Franklin & Marshall in Pennsylvania, Finegod was a disc jockey, with the moniker “The Junkyard Dog,” overseeing a metal-themed show. The show’s genre broadened as grunge hit the scene. Finegold was likely one of the first DJs to play Nirvana, but he also admits to telling a record producer that any band with the name Smashing Pumpkins was never going to make it.
To celebrate his 50th in 2021, he wanted to do something meaningful. His mom and wife are cancer survivors, and his sister died at the age of 42 from lung cancer. So raising money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute was a logical choice.
“What can I do that I’m passionate about and combined them and do some good?” he said, reflecting on the decision to start 617 Rocks. “It was music, and it was Dana Farber.”
The first show, the one with Godsmack, didn’t happen until 2022, because of a pandemic-related delay. Together, the shows have raised more than $500,000 for several charities, with Dana-Farber being the biggest recipient by far. All four have happened at the MGM Music Hall, in coordination with venue owner Live Nation. Some day he hopes to expand the event to include an even bigger concert next door at Fenway Park.
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“We’ve had some discussions with the Red Sox [but] we’re not yet at that level,” Finegold said. “This is a long-term thing. Each year, we’re building it.”
This is an installment of our weekly Bold Types column about the movers and shakers on Boston’s business scene.
Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him @jonchesto.