“California, Los Angeles, Altadena, the Palisades — we are in this together,” Green Day’s frontman Billie Joe Armstrong screamed to a sold-out crowd at L.A.’s Kia Forum on Thursday for the FireAid wildfire benefit concert.
As the first act of the star-studded evening, the iconic rock band kicked off the show with their 2009 track “Last Night on Earth,” bringing out fellow artist Billie Eilish to perform. The group reiterated that everyone was “in this together.”
Actor and comedian Billy Crystal, who lost his home in the Palisades Fire, took the stage after Green Day to officially welcome the crowd. He spoke about his own experience, telling concertgoers that he was wearing the clothes he evacuated from his home in, which he wore for a week. He announced that all donations of the night would be matched by Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and his wife Connie Snyder, the first of which came from U2, according to Crystal, who donated $1 million dollars.
Alanis Morissette and Anderson .Paak kept the evening going. Morissette performed her 1998 song “Thank U” with messages of gratitude.
“As far as I’m concerned, this is one of the greatest nights in Los Angeles city tonight,” Paak told the crowd. The artist also gave the crowd a big surprise in the form of a special appearance of legendary rapper Dr. Dre.
“This is a magical moment for me. I’ve got so much love, you guys. This summer will be the mark of 40 years that I’ve been in this business. I appreciate all the love you’ve been giving me. I appreciate all the first responders and all the firemen who put their lives on the line. It’s all about love for me today,” the rapper said before jumping into his and Tupac’s iconic 1995 hit “California Love.” The crowd went wild as he performed with .Paak and singer and drummer Sheila E.
Legendary singer Joni Mitchell serenaded the crowd, the 81-year-old singer making a rare live appearance. The benefit also included words from those directly impacted by the fires, including Dr. Eshele Williams, her sisters and mother from Altadena, with ties to the community dating back to 1948 when their grandmother bought a home in the area. Dr. Williams explained that between the five of them on stage, four lost homes in the fire.
“We grabbed what we could, pictures, our grandmother’s special clock. We collected our father’s ashes and his flag from serving in the military,” she told the crowd. “We love our community and right now we are all grieving immense loss.”
Folk rock band Dawes performed a rendition of their 2011 song “Time Spent in Los Angeles.” The group’s frontman Taylor Goldsmith, married to actress Mandy Moore, and its drummer Griffin Goldsmith, his brother, were both directly impacted by the fire. Griffin lost his home in the fire, while Taylor lost his studio, including almost all of their instruments.
Dawes also brought out Stephen Stills to perform together before facilitating one of the biggest surprises of the night – a reunion between Stills and Graham Nash. The iconic members of Crosby, Stills and Nash performed their 1970 song, “Teach Your Children.”
“Take care of yourself, take care of one another,” Nash finished.
A slew of industry figures were spotted at the show already. Apple’s Eddy Cue was spotted with one of the show’s producers, Irving Azoff. Almost Famous filmmaker Cameron Crowe was also seen in the same viewing area. Manager Roger Davies was seen at the Forum venue ahead of client Pink’s performance.
Live Nation, AEG and the Azoff Company partnered with the Intuit Dome and Kia Forum in Inglewood to host the benefit show, described as an evening of music and solidarity. The concerts are being broadcast by select AMC Theatres, Apple Music and the Apple TV App, Max, iHeartRadio, KTLA+, Netflix/Tudom, Paramount+, Prime Video and the Amazon Music Channel on Twitch, SiriusXM, SoundCloud, Veeps and YouTube, demonstrating how the music business is unifying around the local disaster.
Proceeds from the concert will go toward a 501(c)(3) created for the event that will focus on rebuilding infrastructure, supporting displaced families and advancing fire prevention technologies and strategies to ensure L.A. is better prepared for fire emergencies.
FireAid is being produced by Shelli and Irving Azoff and the Azoff family, in conjunction with Live Nation and AEG Presents.
This post will be updated throughout the show.
