FireAid concert draws huge stars to raise money for Los Angeles

INGLEWOOD, California – The lights dimmed at indoor arena Kia Forum, American rock band Green Day began to perform, and as a large screen showing photographs of burnt homes flashed in the background, American singer Billie Eilish stepped onstage to sing with them.

“Los Angeles, we are still alive,” said Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day’s singer and guitarist. “This is California and we are all in this together.”

And with that, FireAid, the star-studded benefit to raise money for relief efforts after the devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area, was off and running. The two Billies were among the first of more than two dozen rock and pop stars who had come to do their part.

American actor Billy Crystal, who lost his Pacific Palisades home in the fire, stepped onstage in the same sweatshirt and beanie that he had fled his home in. He told jokes, noting that the benefit had a simple goal: “To raise more money than the Dodgers spent on free agents.”

But the 76-year-old was serious too, describing the searing grief of losing his home.

“From Altadena to Malibu to the Pacific Palisades, let’s show the world who we are,” he said. “We’re Los Angeles, one city, one heart.”

Crystal then introduced Canadian-American singer Alanis Morissette, part of a line-up so extensive that the concert was held in two separate arenas. About 40 minutes into the concert, American rapper and producer Dr Dre was onstage calling out “the city of LA” in a rendition of the late rapper Tupac Shakur’s California Love (1995), while American singer and drummer Sheila E. played drums.

After Dr Dre left the stage, Morissette introduced long-time Los Angeles denizen Joni Mitchell, who sang her classic ballad Both Sides, Now (1969) seated in a golden throne and clasping a cane, a picture of regal dignity.

“Something’s lost, but something’s gained,” the 81-year-old sang, in a rare public appearance since her aneurysm in 2015. Her performance became an emotional highlight of the night.

A second show at the nearby Intuit Dome began just before 8.30pm on Jan 30 (11.30am on Jan 31, Singapore time), when British singer Rod Stewart kicked things off with Forever Young (1988).

“I lived here for 50 years,” he said. “Los Angeles is in my blood.”

The rest of the show was expected to feature singers Olivia Rodrigo, Lady Gaga and others. Producers split the line-up along rough genre lines – with the more rock-oriented acts at the Forum, and the pop-oriented acts at the Intuit Dome.

Organisers said the show would be available on platforms including Prime Video, Apple TV, Hulu, Max, Paramount+, Peacock and YouTube. It will also be available on SiriusXM and iHeartRadio and screened at some AMC and Regal Cinema movie theatres.

As the gates opened on the evening of Jan 30 at the Intuit Dome, the earliest arrivals milled around the concourse buying concert merchandise, snapping photos at a Snapchat booth, and scooping up free macaroons in a pouch featuring an “I (heart)️ LA” sticker.

In interviews, concertgoers from across California described the show as a win-win. By buying a ticket, they said, they could both support fire victims and enjoy an all-star line-up.

“You don’t mind spending a lot of money if it’s a good show and goes to a good cause,” said Mr Cliff Wallace, 47, of Irvine, California.

Many said they knew people who had been directly affected: a boss’s home burned, a parent evacuated, students they teach displaced.

Ms Grace Hegenbart, 22, of San Diego, wanted to drive up for the concert because she understands how hard it is to recover from fire. Her grandparents’ home was destroyed by a wildfire in Mendocino County in 2017.

Ms Jenny Chaiyakal, 44, of Irvine, whose daughter found out about the concert through Eilish’s social media channels, called the concert a once-in-a -lifetime event and praised the stars for being “willing to donate their time and come together to support people in California”.

In the days leading up to the show, organisers said that they had raised more than US$60 million (S$81 million) from ticket sales and corporate sponsorships. They added that they plan to distribute donations with the advice of the Annenberg Foundation and that aid will be distributed both for short-term relief efforts and long-term initiatives to prevent future fire disasters in Southern California.

On Jan 30 night, Crystal announced that Irish band U2 had donated US$1 million to relief efforts and that Mr Steve Ballmer and Mrs Connie Ballmer would match that donation and all others made during the telecast.

Mr Ballmer, the former Microsoft chief executive and National Basketball Association franchise owner, was the driving force behind the construction of the Intuit Dome, where his Los Angeles Clippers play.

Planning for the concert came together extraordinarily quickly, spearheaded by Mr Irving Azoff, a long-time manager and power broker in music, and his family.

Within three days of the fires breaking out, the Intuit Dome had been secured, and the event had been announced with the cooperation of Live Nation and AEG Presents, which are usually bitter rivals as the world’s two largest concert promoters.

In a recent telephone interview with The New York Times, Mr Azoff said the urgency of the crisis drove the timing of the concert. With the Grammys on Feb 2 and the Super Bowl the next weekend, organisers felt that the show had to take place as soon as possible or be put off until the end of February.

“This is about fund-raising, and you need to get the money in the bank as quickly as you can,” he said.

Organisers have said that artistes were quick to join the effort, with Stewart the first to sign on, followed by American singer Stevie Nicks, who plans to perform an unrecorded song.

They were followed by more than two dozen artistes – young stars and older legends alike – with a focus on California-based acts, including Mitchell, Eilish, Rodrigo, No Doubt, Lady Gaga, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Green Day. The line-up was announced on Jan 16.

“We were very lucky in that our thing was booked almost entirely by people volunteering,” Mr Azoff said. NYTIMES

• Marc Hogan contributed reporting.