Musician, Survivor Rocks Cancer With Lincoln Hall Benefit Concert

About eight years after his initial cancer scare, Dan Stock thought he was in the clear.

The 37-year-old even had a clean scan just four days before his latest diagnosis—multiple softball-sized tumors littered about his lower body. He began an aggressive radiation treatment, spending one week in the hospital and one week at home. That was nine months ago.

Now, there’s not much doctors can do, Stock said. 

“It’s a lot of day-to-day pain management,” he said. “But I’m certainly still on the positive train.” 

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So positive, in fact, that during treatment at Northwestern University’s Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, he thought about giving back. He's ramping up to do so now by hosting a Feb. 7 concert at Lincoln Hall, 2424 N. Lincoln Ave., in which all proceeds will benefit the cancer center.

And his connections don't hurt—he has been a producer and engineer at Uptown Recording since 2001. He’s also a singer and guitarist in the hard rock band, Bruiser, and plays almost every musical instrument a person can name. 

“I wanted to create a big show that has the bands that really trusted me and my direction,” Stock said. “Sort of a, 'Thank you, thank me,' and also give thanks to this cancer center that’s been working to save my life for the last 10 years or so. Some people write a check after they die. This is something for me that I can do now.”

Staying true to the music theme, DANSTOCK will feature four bands Stock produced at Uptown Recording.

“We’ve never seen an outpouring like this,” close friend Margaret O’Conor, of Lincoln Square, said. “It came together so fast, it was insane. Everybody that’s ever known Dan is coming out with everything they can.” 

The concert is a nod to Stock's nine-year cancer battle—one that perhaps, will bring hope to others diagnosed with the disease.

His fight began in 2004, when doctors found a small tumor on his lower back. He had surgery and thought his health problems were over.

Several cancer-free years went by. He and his wife Angie had a daughter, Charlie, who's now 4 years old.

A speed bump came in 2010, when the musician had a seizure. While in the hospital, doctors discovered an egg-sized tumor on his brain that was removed and tested positive for melanoma—the most serious form of skin cancer, which can also grow internally. The disease is becoming increasingly common in people younger than 40 years old, according to the Mayo Clinic. 

One year later, a third tumor was found, this time attached to a small node on Stock’s spinal column. He went through radiation in the fall of 2011.

The family had about five months of relief. When Stock went in for a scan in early April, it came back clean. 

“About four to five days after, it exploded into the legs, muscle tissue, abdomen and femur,” he said. “I had softball-sized tumors grow in my thighs. It came out of nowhere.” 

Stock started a therapy meant to slow the growth of the tumors and get them to a workable size. He’d spend seven days in the hospital, a week at home and seven days back at the hospital. 

“He’s done things in treatment that people never get through, in terms of aggressive cancer,” O’Conor said. “This guy was a monster; he went through everything.” 

O’Conor met Stock through a friend in 2008 when she sat on the advisory council at Chase Park. The two families have children who were born one month apart. Stock’s daughter, Charlie, and O’Conor’s son, Shea, started taking classes together and playing with one another at the park. 

O’Conor describes Stock as a "hardcore father" who's protective of his daughter even through treatment.

“Through this, he’s just been super strong and this concert was about really leaving a legacy with music," she said. "He’d never really come across a benefit for cancer that was rooted in rock."

Tickets to the Feb. 7 show can be purchased online. They cost $20 each for general admission $100 each for VIP entry.

Headliners include Board of Governors, Farkus, Nature Show and Carta Marina. Stock has worked with all four bands at Uptown Recording and describes their music as solid, original rock, without touching the metal genre. 

“The concert is to give back to the center and have some fun with my bands,” Stock said. “I’m just hoping to have a good time and keep living.”

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