Dance for your rights: Post-Inauguration Hangover Party Saturday night will benefit ACLU, Planned Parenthood

The Frost Heaves and Hales, pictured performing at Iron Horse in Northampton, will join Rival Galaxies on Saturday, Jan. 25 for a “Post-Inauguration Hangover Party” at The Rendezvous in Turners Falls, starting at 9:30 p.m.

The Frost Heaves and Hales, pictured performing at Iron Horse in Northampton, will join Rival Galaxies on Saturday, Jan. 25 for a “Post-Inauguration Hangover Party” at The Rendezvous in Turners Falls, starting at 9:30 p.m. CONTRIBUTED BY DANIEL HALES

Western Massachusetts bands The Frost Heaves and Hales and Rival Galaxies are throwing a Post-Inauguration Hangover Party at The Rendezvous in Turners Falls tonight (Saturday, Jan. 25) at 9:30 p.m. The event is a benefit to raise money for the ACLU of Massachusetts and the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts.

Western Massachusetts bands The Frost Heaves and Hales and Rival Galaxies are throwing a Post-Inauguration Hangover Party at The Rendezvous in Turners Falls tonight (Saturday, Jan. 25) at 9:30 p.m. The event is a benefit to raise money for the ACLU of Massachusetts and the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

Staff Writer

Published: 01-24-2025 10:18 AM

Tomorrow (Saturday, Jan. 25) at the Rendezvous, the band The Frost Heaves and Hales will play a show that band member Daniel Hales thought he’d never do again.

Back in 2016, Hales played a benefit concert at The Rendezvous in Turners Falls with the band after the first inauguration of President Donald Trump in an effort to raise money for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and bring a people together for a night of music and connection.

Eight years later, Hales will take the stage at The Rendezvous again alongside dance-punk band Rival Galaxies for the “Post-Inauguration Hangover Party” to get people together while raising money for the ACLU of Massachusetts and the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts.

Hales said it’s “not an event we wanted to repeat,” but it’s a “necessity to do it again.”

The goal of the show, Hales says, is “trying to address some of the issues that we know that [Trump’s] going to undermine, like women’s right to choose, women’s right to autonomy over their own bodies … Setting up an event where we could be proactive about doing something to protect people’s rights, potentially before they get taken away, just gave a sense of empowerment.”

The idea for the show came after the 2024 election when the band felt “baffled and stunned” and wanted to do something productive with those feelings.

Hales said they wanted to incorporate the same donation element of the show that they did in 2016, but they felt the need to add Planned Parenthood to the donation pool following the reversal of Roe V. Wade, and because of their concern that more reproductive rights will be stripped away in the second Trump presidency.

Hales said that he and the band members share a concern about President Trump’s plans “to enact other discriminatory policies that violate the rights of immigrants, trans people, and women — among others,” and said he feels the ACLU is capable of addressing the issues legally, and through public education and advocacy.

After The Frost Heaves and Hales set on Saturday, Rival Galaxies, an energetic band with a synth-forward sound, will take the stage to bring the dance party.

Rival Galaxies leader Michael Fucilli said he feels people experienced a “hangover” feeling after the election, and the opportunity to play a fun party for a good cause appealed to him.

“The Frost Heaves approached us. We’re a newer party band in the local western Massachusetts scene, and we just want to put on a really fun show, and try to help out,” Fucilli said.

Fucilli said he is looking at the post-inauguration party as something that “transcends politics.”

“If we can provide some sort of escape for that,” he said, “doesn’t matter what side of the aisle, we’re just trying to have some fun and let loose.”

Saturday’s Post-Inauguration Hangover Party at The Rendezvous (73 3rd St. in Turners Falls) will have no cover charge, but there is a minimum $5 suggested donation, which will be donated to the ACLU and Planned Parenthood. The Frost Heaves and Hales will start at 9:30 p.m., followed by Rival Galaxies.

For more information on the party, visit The Rendezvous Facebook page.

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.