By Lance Henderson

With advertiser support dwindling, What’s Up! magazine, Bellingham’s premier local monthly music magazine, has fallen on hard times. So it is doing what any rock-and-roll business would do — throw a benefit concert.

To help keep What’s Up! alive, Ghost and the Grace will headline a show with Rooftops, So Adult, Femme Uke and Boris Budd with Shawnee Kilgore at the Nightlight Lounge on Saturday, Oct. 24. Doors open at 8 p.m. and there is a $5 suggested donation.

Brent Cole, owner of What’s Up! magazine, said the recession has really hit small businesses, which are the magazine’s main advertisers.

“We don’t have any large financial backing,” Cole said. “All we have is our very meager savings so when we hit rough times, it hits us really hard,” Cole said.

The magazine puts out 5,000 copies a month and can be found at most of the hot spots in downtown Bellingham. Cole said his publication is valued in the community for what it brings to the local music scene.

Cole said he is excited for Saturday’s benefit show, but also said that there is no substitute for local advertising support.

“Benefit shows are a great help, but it is really local advertisers who support this magazine and who will determine if it stays around as a benefit to the community,” he said.