HAVING BECOME ONE of Indianapolis’ premier live music events, Tonic Ball celebrates its 25th anniversary on Friday, November 20, bringing together hundreds of local musicians to cover songs from their favorite artists across five Fountain Square stages, with proceeds benefiting local hunger relief nonprofit Second Helpings.
Originally started by former Well Done Marketing creative director Ken Honeywell in 2002, the first-ever Tonic Ball was held at Radio Radio, with local bands covering the music of Gram Parsons. Since then, the event has expanded many times over, organically growing alongside the Fountain Square neighborhood it’s held in every year.
“The first year, we had 150 people there,” Honeywell recalls. “The second year, Radio Radio was packed. The third year, we had a line out the door of people with tickets who couldn’t get in. The year after that, we had a line out the door and around the block, so we had to do something.”
Now in its 25th year, Tonic Ball will take place across five Fountain Square venues, including the Fountain Square Theatre, Hi-Fi, Radio Radio, Square Cat Vinyl, and White Rabbit Cabaret. To commemorate the event’s milestone installment, local musicians will cover all 60 artists that Tonic Ball has honored over the years, from the Beatles to Johnny Cash to OutKast.
“When you’re planning a typical Tonic Ball, you have somewhere between 55 and 60 bands performing across five stages,” says Joe Ball, chair of the Tonic Ball committee. “I happened to look back at all of the tributes we had covered, and I realized that there were about 60 of them. I was like, ‘Well, the numbers line up. What if we just have a little retrospective? What if we did every single tribute that we’ve previously done?’ It’s big, and Tonic likes doing big things. We really like celebrating what the event has become over the last 25 years.”
From the beginning, Tonic Ball has raised funds for local hunger relief nonprofit Second Helpings, ensuring all involved know their money is going to a great local cause while they enjoy themselves.
“When Tonic Ball was first conceived, Second Helpings was only three years in as an organization, so the two entities have grown up alongside each other over the last 25 years,” Ball says. “Second Helpings is such a natural fit for our community and our committee because the need is always there. It’s an unfortunate need, but that need is there and it’s growing. So we really want to do all we can for food rescue, for hunger relief, and for the culinary jobs training. Those three things just seem like such a natural fit for the folks who are on the committee. We have an approach that Tonic Ball can be a great front door to that organization.”
Having played nearly every Tonic Ball over the years, local musician Brian Deer says the event’s overall atmosphere mixed with the cause it supports has always been a recipe for success.
“Everybody knows that by buying a ticket or playing the event you’re doing good for an organization that truly makes a huge impact in Indianapolis—it’s such an amazing mission,” Deer says. “That alone should be enough, but the bands are also super invested in it because they get to play in front of larger crowds. That wasn’t always the case, of course. But as it’s grown, that’s made it even more fun.”
In reflecting on the 25th anniversary of Tonic Ball and how the event has blossomed from year one to now, Honeywell couldn’t be prouder.
“Ultimately, it’s really humbling,” he says. “I don’t think we ever imagined it getting this big or being such an important source of annual revenue for Second Helpings.”
