A feat in both streaming and fundraising, the nearly six-hour FireAid benefit concert featured surprises, support and strength for the Los Angeles community.
After Green Day opened the show with prominent Angeleno Billie Eilish at the Kia Forum, the long night went off without a hitch. Nirvana reunited with Joan Jett, St. Vincent, Kim Gordon and Dave Grohl’s daughter Violet, filling Kurt Cobain’s lead vocal spot. Katy Perry brought the Intuit Dome to their feet with resilient hits like “Roar” and SoCal anthem “California Girls.” And Lady Gaga concluded the show with an original song for fire victims.
The concert featured heartfelt stories from fire victims, including one blind Altadena boy and his mother whose house is now ashes, a 16-year-old girl who rode her horse through Topanga Canyon to safely evacuate and a son who carried his disabled mother to safety before their condo burned down.
Stevie Nicks paused her set to deliver a speech about her own Palisades community, her neighbors and her 1938 wooden house that survived.
Between thrilling performances by music legends, video packages that depicted the devastation and destruction and first-hand accounts encouraged viewers at home and in-person to donate. An estimate of total money raised was not available at the time of writing.
Every penny of money raised from the FireAid benefit concert will pour directly into the Annenberg Foundation to be distributed for short-term relief efforts and long-term initiatives to prevent future fire disasters throughout Southern California.
Plenty of fire victims and first responders were among the attendees of Thursday night’s mammoth show.
Kikka Hanazawa’s Palisades home suffered damage in the fires, and she was eager to bring her friends and neighbors to the FireAid Benefit Concert. The co-founder of Fashion Girls for Humanity gathered a group of 18, all of whose homes were directly impacted by the Palisades fires, and loaded a party bus for the concert. She spearheaded the charge, acquiring tickets for everyone and their children with the help of some of her work colleagues.
“This is the first night where we’re eating outside of the home,” she told TheWrap as she dined in the club level of the Intuit Dome.
Her striped dress and tweed coat felt a little dressy for the event, she said, but it was all she had. The dress was at the dry cleaners outside of the fire zone and survived unlike the rest of the fashion entrepreneur’s closet.
Hanazawa, who happens to be next-door neighbors with rock legend and FireAid performer Stevie Nicks, said she hosed down the “Landslide” singer’s hillside before evacuating just two weeks ago.
Between the group of 18, seven or eight houses did not survive. Several of the group’s members are parents and brought their kids with them to the Intuit Dome concert.
“My kids are nomads right now,” Hanazawa said, as all of her kids’ neighbors and school friends are now scattered across the city. She said she was grateful that this event provided an opportunity for them all to be together.
Shawn Silletti, another member of the party bus crew pictured to the left of Hanazawa above, chimed in: “We’ll laugh, we’ll cry, we’ll dance and have a good time together again.” Silletti also lost her Palisades home but was ready to find a glimmer of hope and joy with her crew again.
The Intuit Dome was filled with all types of Angelenos: families, Gen Zers, date night couples and more.
One father-daughter duo sported “Stay Strong” Hawaiian shirts. Timothy Kubo and his daughter, who live in San Bernardino, attended the concert to support the fire relief efforts but also to see Olivia Rodrigo, his daughter’s favorite artist.
Another mother-daughter duo Monica and Lena Salazar told TheWrap it meant a lot that people with influence were “using their status” to show they care. It was 13-year-old Lena’s first concert.
The Intuit Dome kicked off a little later than the Forum, but fans in their seats still danced and sang along to the Forum’s musical guests, including No Doubt, a surprise Nirvana reunion and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Kamala Harris was in attendance at the Clippers’ home stadium and even entertained pictures from fans in the crowd. Though the former vice president did not take the stage, the Brentwood resident’s presence, alongside her husband Doug Emhoff, was known.
Several of the artists’ in the Dome were born and raised in L.A., including Gracie Abrams, Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo. The twenty-something singers reflected on how this city has always been home. Abrams told the audience how she grew up in the Palisades and is still mourning for her community before performing a Counting Crows cover of “A Long December.” Rodrigo reminisced on her own love letters to L.A. before performing her 2021 hit “deja vu.” And lifelong Pasadena resident Eilish stunned with an all-acoustic set of songs from her Grammy-nominated album, “Hit Me Hard and Soft.”
The FireAid concert simulstreamed on over 25 broadcast partners Thursday. The nearly six-hour concert is available to stream in full on YouTube. To donate visit the FireAid LA website.
