Concert for Beloved Local David Mendoza Draws Hundreds, Shows Power of Collective Grief

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Over 400 people attended a memorial concert Sunday, in honor of their late friend David Mendoza.

“Dave was always someone who connected people in his life. And now he's connecting people, you know, now that he's gone,” said Sarah Morisano, who lives in Los Angeles.
  
Dave was a dedicated teacher, working for the Santa Barbara Unified School District for 22 years.
 
He taught music to elementary school kids and math to high schoolers.
 
He was a loving husband and father of two.
 
He passed away in May at 49-years-old.
 
His wife Angie Bertucci says he was unlike anyone she’s ever met.
  
She honored his legacy by bringing his bands back together during the weekend of Fiesta.
  
“I really wanted to pick songs that not only were meaningful to him and to us, but songs that could bring the audience and that we could all sing and cry and shout together, you know?” said Bertucci.
 
The concert was a way for friends to process their grief collectively.
 
“There's something really powerful in having your grief be witnessed. And I feel a sense of like holding on to the unexpected nature of the death. And I felt a relief through the tears, the relief being able to hold your hand, to be able to look and see an entire theater full of people, like there's something in that that feels like an acknowledgment at the gravity of the loss,” said Pauline Peck, who lives in Santa Barbara.

“I brought in a sound healer to kind of set a vibration and a tone and then invite people to, like, take this, like, collective breath and really, like, remind us that we have to help each other,” said Angie Bertucci.
 
“It helped everyone just move through it and like and not just feel the sadness of it, but also just like the the part that he touched all of our lives in a positive way,” said Jeff Citro, who lives in Santa Barbara.

Now that the concert has wrapped, Angie is taking it day by day, now a single mom and sole breadwinner for her two kids.
 
“It's living the rest of my life right now without him. That's so hard. But being in that world, man, playing our music, talking with our friends, like that's a good stuff,” said Bertucci.
 
To support David Mendoza’s GoFundMe click here.

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