A Night for Chelsea & Evan

Like many suburban bars, the calendar at O’Shea’s is sprinkled with karaoke nights, trivia events, seasonal parties, and tribute shows. The Dick Beldings, the local ’90s tribute band named for the principal of the high school in Saved by the Bell, played the bar’s annual Halloween party on Sat, Oct 26. Afterward, the band posted a heartbreaking message.

“It is with heavy hearts that we share the devastating news impacting our musical family. At 3:30am on Sunday, after a performance on Saturday night, Evan Ranallo, and his fiancée, Chelsea Cook, were struck by a wrong-way driver on the highway while returning home. Tragically, Chelsea did not survive the accident, and Evan remains in the hospital with injuries leading to a long recovery. We mourn the loss of the beautiful soul of Chelsea, whose laughter and humor will continue to ring and make us smile. We remain by the side of Evan and his family as they navigate their journey ahead. We ask for your support and patience during this difficult time for the families involved. Let’s come together to honor their memory and offer strength to those who need it most.”

Evan and Chelsea had been engaged only a few short weeks before the fatal accident. The statement was made jointly by the five bands under the Echo Play Media umbrella, all of which Renallo is a member in different positions. The bands have also rallied together to host a big benefit show this Saturday to help him financially.

You would think that simply googling “wrong-way accident on 820” would suffice, but when you do that, you’ll find that another wrong-way fatality happened over the Thanksgiving holiday on the same road.

WFAA said the Halloween incident involving Ranallo happened near Marine Creek Reservoir in Fort Worth: “Police said Johanna Newsome drove the wrong way onto the highway, colliding head-on with Ranallo’s pickup truck. The crash ignited a fire that tragically killed Newsome, her husband David, their two children, and Chelsea Cook.”

While there have been no updates as to how/why the Ford Focus was traveling the wrong way, TxDOT added large “Do Not Enter” and “Wrong Way” signs to the 820 ramp in question following Cook and Ranallo’s accident.

WFAA said Chelsea Cook’s family is thankful for the changes. Still, more measures to prevent wrong-way crashes, including enhanced enforcement, advanced technology, and physical barriers, are needed.

“We’re grateful that new signs have been put up, but there’s still much to be done,” Chelsea’s mother said in a statement. “TxDOT has had the End the Streak campaign for some time now. For over 24 years — since November 7, 2000 — there has not been a single day without a traffic fatality in the state of Texas. We would like to see TxDOT educate the public more effectively on the End the Streak effort.”

Not unlike the metal scene, the local players who do cover shows and participate in tribute bands are a close-knit community. They play in one another’s bands and join forces in times of crises to help however they can. In this case, it’s taking the shape of hosting a benefit show.

A Night for Chelsea & Evan is two events in one day, starting at 3pm on Saturday. You can attend the matinee/kid-friendly show from 3pm to 7pm, the main event from 8pm to 1am for those 21 and up, or both if you like, as the tickets cover the entire day. Both the matinee and evening shows will feature performances by The Dick Beldings and all the other Echo Play bands, including Arms of Sorrow, Elite: A Texas Deftones Tribute, So Long Goodnight, and The Tools. Arms of Sorrow guitarist Kevin Scott, who also plays bass in the other three bands, will sub for Ranallo in The Dick Beldings until the latter is ready to get onstage again.

As for those auction and raffle items, the benefit team will have all of them organized and can tell you which ones are which on the day of the event. But I can already tell you, it’s pretty epic. If you are able to attend, it’s a great value, considering all the holiday gifts you could walk away with by participating. The main items include electronics, like Apple AirPods and an LG Projector/RCA screen combo; gaming items, including a God of War: Ragnarok collector’s edition PS5 and a Seagate FireCuda Thunderbolt 3 gaming dock; gift cards/vouchers from Black Rose Tattoo Studio, Blue 13 Productions, Boneyard Studio, Buzzkill Pest Control, Hair by Karson Cutshall, Panther Island Brewing, Photography by Zack Burns, StretchLab, and Zahasky Tattoo; and musical instruments like a Bunny Brunel Carvin bass, a Dingwall bass, a Fender Telecaster, an Ibanez guitar, two Les Pauls (an Adam Jones and an Epiphone), and a Vox Astro bass; sports memorabilia, including a Dallas Cowboys helmet signed by Zack Martin, a Jordan Spieth-autographed Masters flag, an A’ja Wilson-autographed Las Vegas Acres jersey, and an MLB “The Immortal 8” Leaf Pearl card. Miscellaneous items are among the haul and just keep rolling in. So far, there is a Rosefield “The Ace” XS silver watch, a smokeless fire pit by Solo Stove Bonfire 2.0, a Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Legacy lightsaber, and a Yeti cooler.

There will also be a Mario Cart double-elimination tournament starting at 3pm indoors, so you can still enjoy the show. There’s a $10 cash buy-in, with the winner getting half of the pool and the other half going to Ranallo. All ages are welcome to participate.

Admission is $40 at the door or via Eventbrite.com, with 100% of the proceeds going to Ranallo. The Dick Beldings are also accepting contributions via Venmo (@TheDickBeldings90) for those who cannot attend but want to donate to the cause.

The photo at the top of this article shows the love that Evan and Chelsea shared, but if you could magically see the back-view of that moment, you’d find that his backward baseball cap has the logo of a movie he loves on the front: Jurassic Park. As this cap is standard stage wear for Ranallo, the film has become a motif for the benefit show flyer and includes a take on the iconic logo.

I, too, love Jurassic Park — and dinosaurs in general — because I’m “this many” years old. In fact, the film series, in its entirety, is viewed during the summer at my house, which makes me feel better about my grown ass not going to summer camp. (As they say, youth is wasted on the young.) For their next benefit event, I’d love to see the guys do a movie night with a bit of local help. (Looking at you, Movie Mutant. Got an open #WeirdWednesday coming up?)

A Night for Chelsea & Evan

3pm Sat w/The Dick Beldings, Arms of Sorrow, Elite: A Texas Deftones Tribute, So Long Goodnight, and The Tools at O’Shea’s, 310 Grapevine Hwy, Hurst. $40. 817-577-4006.