Edward “Ted” Frye, better known to his friends as Cupcake, had all of his tools stolen from his locked truck box early in the morning of August 1st while he was taking a nap in between working at a Mr. Hat Presents show and a private birthday show for his friend Paul. Cupcake normally works door and security for live music events at The Ivy Room and for Mr. Hat Presents, but during the pandemic he has been keeping a roof over his head by doing odd jobs with his tools. With indoor shows once again being cancelled, Cupcake’s friends who he has supported for many years in the music community are rallying to help him replace his tools so that he can recover from this theft. Please give what you can, every little bit helps and 100% goes to Cupcake!

You might recognize our friend Cupcake as the friendly gentle giant who greeted you and made you feel welcome at The Ivy Room and at Mr. Hat Presents concerts. He is essential to the success of these small businesses and the concerts they produce. Last weekend, Cupcake spent a long day helping to produce a concert for Mr. Hat Presents, and after loading up all of the gear, he went to a friend’s house in Oakland to take a nap for a few hours before working another long day helping our friend Paul Hernandez produce a birthday concert on Lake Merritt. While he was sleeping, someone cut the bolts on his locked tool box in the back of his truck and stole all of his tools that he spent years saving to collect. These tools allowed Ted to keep a roof over his head during the pandemic thus far, despite losing his regular work as head of security and manager at The Ivy Room.

Cupcake has supported the Bay Area music community for many years, working the door and behind the scenes and using his stature and gentle demeanor to help music lovers feel safe. This theft is a big blow to him at a time when he and many others who work in the music industry have been largely out of work for a long time, with more of the same perhaps on the horizon. I hate to ask people for financial help during a time like this, but we are a large community, so if many of us can do a little bit that is affordable, I am hopeful we can raise enough to help our friend replace his essential tools and recover from this robbery.

Cupcake made this post on Craigslist regarding the stolen tools: https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/tls/d/oakland-snapon-dewalt-rigid-blue-point/7359956077.html

If we are able to somehow recover the tools (unlikely but we are not giving up hope), all contributions will be refunded.

Organized by Greg Keidan, Mr. Hat Presents, and Paul Hernandez, sound engineer, The Ivy Room.