“If I lose everything in the fire, I’m sendin’ all my love to you,” sang Billie Eilish and Billie Joe Armstrong in the sadly all-too-apt opening song of this mammoth charity concert to raise money for victims of the Los Angeles fires. Green Day’s Last Night On Earth was actually released in 2009 but took on new meaning following the wildfires that raged across 50,000 acres of the city, killing 29 people and destroying over 10,000 homes and businesses.
If the 40 years since Live Aid have taught us anything, it’s that musicians will rally around for a charity gig when needed, particularly if the word “…Aid” is part of the title. And so FireAid – billed as “an evening of music and solidarity” – saw performances from a dizzying array of musicians including Joni Mitchell, Pink, Rod Stewart, Stevie Nicks and, er, Earth, Wind & Fire. It also saw a surprise, brutal and brilliant Nirvana reunion, with a quartet of female vocalists – St Vincent, Kim Gordon, Joan Jett and Violet Grohl (Dave’s daughter) – taking over Kurt Cobain’s vocal duties (on Breed, School, Territorial Pissings and All Apologies, respectively). It was extraordinary.
Indeed, so stuffed with star wattage was FireAid that it took place across two LA venues: the Kia Forum and the Intuit Dome. Short sets from each artist were interspersed with videos featuring first responders and victims. As with all such lengthy endeavours – the concert is actually still going on, stretching into its fifth hour – it combined moments of huge poignancy with spells of longueurs.
Billy Crystal underlined the starkness of the situation by appearing on stage in the same clothes – the hoodie, the beanie hat, the works – that he was wearing when he fled his Pacific Palisades house of 46 years on the night of January 7. Everything was destroyed. Still, Crystal joked about looking like someone who’d just robbed a 7/11 and said that humour should co-mingle with pain. Indeed, he said the one possession his family found in the embers was a rock from the garden with the word “laughter” inscribed on it. Then U2 donated $1 million (doubled by ex-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who is matching every donation), Alanis Morissette barrelled on and we were properly off.
Rapper Anderson .Paak brought raucous funk energy and was joined by Prince collaborator Sheila E on drums and rapper Dr Dre, who performed Still D.R.E. and 2Pac’s California Love. “This is one of the greatest nights in Los Angeles history tonight,” Paak said, slightly over-egging things. Then came the first highlight.
Joni Mitchell’s performance was hugely moving – Scott Dudelson
At 81, Joni Mitchell’s voice is weak and weathered. But sitting on an elaborate gold-edged Louis XIV-style throne, and wearing shades, holding a jewelled cane and with her white hair cascading from beneath a black hat, Mitchell owned the Kia Arena. Her rendition of Both Sides Now was stunning, largely – oddly – due to her vocal vulnerability. Mitchell’s observation that “something’s lost but something’s gained in living every day” was met with a huge cheer. It felt like a dose of regal perspective from one of the all-time greats.
The song was recorded in LA. And this is where this concert was most effective. The host of songs recorded in, or written about, LA reminded us about the place’s musical pedigree and what could all too easily be lost. Stephen Stills sung Buffalo Springfield’s For What It’s Worth before being joined by Graham Nash for Teach Your Children, the Black Crowes and Slash performed Led Zeppelin’s Going to California, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers did Californication. Olivia Rodrigo sang Deja Vu (“Car rides to Malibu…”) while Stevie Nicks gave us a sublime Landslide. Nashville singer Jelly Roll’s cover of Bob Seger’s Hollywood Nights was a belter.
Olivia Rodrigo performing at the Intuit Dome as part of the FireAid concert – Invision
There were some strange moments, such as when John Fogerty sang Have You Ever Seen The Rain? (Not enough, would be my guess.) The section about saving dogs could have been trimmed. But overall, the tone was well-judged. Katy Perry was appropriately understated, as was Pink – what a voice. The big surprise, though, was Nirvana. Could this be the start of a fuller reunion? Let’s see. Rotating female singers was a masterstroke (have they taken a leaf out of the reformed Linkin Park’s book?). And, boy, did Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear still rock.
Eilish and her brother Finneas performed a delicate acoustic set towards the end, while a youthful-looking Stevie Wonder delivered pure sonic balm (joined by Sting for Superstition and then Flea for Higher Ground). Lady Gaga finished things off with Shallow and Always Remember Us This Way from A Star is Born and a new song she’d written especially, apparently called All I Need is Time. Sitting at a grand Steinway, she channelled the emotive showmanship of Freddie Mercury.
But it was the Red Hot Chili Peppers – who wisely avoided covering Jimi Hendrix’s Fire as they famously did at Woodstock ’99 as the festival burned – who best summed this epic night up. The song was, inevitably, Under the Bridge, a paean to Los Angeles. “The city she loves me,” sang Anthony Kiedis, touching his chest as he looked out over the crowd. “Lonely as I am, together we cry.”
Donate at: fireaidla.org
