At the benefit show A Concert for Altadena, generations of stars marked loss and looked forward

When Liz Wilson saw the Eaton occurrence advancing, from her location successful Pasadena past year, she knew that beingness would ne'er beryllium the aforesaid successful her country of Southern California. On Wednesday, the one-year day of the disaster, A Concert for Altadena felt similar the astir optimistic spot to be.

“People didn’t conscionable suffer their homes, they mislaid their community,” Wilson said, successful the lobby of the Pasadena Civic Auditorium wherever scores of section acts had gathered for the payment show. Organizers booked it to rise funds for the Altadena Builds Back Foundation, and to springiness locals thing hopeful to be connected the achy time of Jan. 7.

“This is not conscionable a fundraiser, but a mode to reconnect and amusement enactment for assemblage that’s surviving,” she said. “Altadena was and is an arts community, that’s a large portion of it. We person truthful galore friends and neighbors continuing to fig retired if they’re coming back, if they’re capable to rebuild. The much distant you get from it, you whitethorn forget. But we haven’t.”

The day of the Eaton and Palisades fires, opening 1 of the city’s astir hard years successful caller history, was mostly marked by quieter reflections connected the nonaccomplishment and however overmuch enactment inactive laid ahead. But Altadena successful peculiar was a historical assemblage for musicians and artists. For them, getting unneurotic for a amusement felt similar a earthy mode to grant the juncture and look ahead.

Kevin Lyman, the Vans Warped Tour laminitis and USC euphony manufacture professor, is simply a two-decade Altadena nonmigratory who was displaced from his location for 4 months aft the Eaton fire. He organized the performance for the assemblage to usage the time to reconnect, and support absorption connected the enactment near to do.

“In this business, I’ve got to beryllium an optimist, and each time I spot much trucks coming into Altadena with lumber and workers. You spell distant for a fewer days and spot a framework of a caller home. But past you spell to the adjacent block, and determination are 5 bare lots,” helium said.

“One of the hardest parts is that if you’re surviving up there, you tin spell 2 miles distant and beingness conscionable goes on,” helium added. “You’ve got to punctual radical that we’re inactive here, radical inactive tin inactive usage help. Artists that survived and reestablished themselves are present supporting artists that haven’t been.”

Altadena nonmigratory and histrion John C. Reilly hosted the night, noting the resilience of rebuilding efforts and tossing barbs astatine the inferior institution Southern California Edison, whose instrumentality ignited the fire: “A institution that prioritized profits for shareholders implicit improving infrastructure,” arsenic helium enactment it. He pilloried President Trump’s reactions to the blaze: “He told america to spell rake leaves? Go f— yourself, dude.”

The nighttime highlighted ground-level activism from organizers similar Heavenly Hughes of My Tribe Rise, who led the assemblage successful a raucous chant of “Altadena’s not for sale.” But the unrecorded performances recovered poignancy successful the city’s tone arsenic a euphony town. L.A. Latin stone radical Ozomatli started the nighttime with a jubilant jam down the aisles, portion Everclear’s Art Alexakis noted betwixt riffs that aft the Eaton occurrence displaced him, “I had to unrecorded successful a edifice for 5 months, but I’m lucky.”

Travis Cooper drove down from Northern California for the show, moved by the ways Altadena held to its taste individuality aft the Eaton fire. His parents mislaid a location successful a occurrence successful Redding a fewer years back, truthful “I tin subordinate to however devastating that feels,” helium said. “Even the menace of it increasing up was horrific, truthful to person that really hap was different level. But my parents had radical donate clothes, places to stay, and that meant a batch to them, truthful we wanted to travel enactment this assemblage too.”

The header enactment of the nighttime was the Altadena folk-rock radical Dawes, whose founders mislaid homes and cogwheel successful the Eaton fire. They’ve go emissaries for the vicinity wrong the euphony industry, performing astatine past year’s Grammys conscionable weeks aft the fire.

At the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, they led a circular robin of acts including Brad Paisley, the Killers’ Brandon Flowers, Aloe Blacc, Jenny Lewis and Rufus Wainwright. They were accompanied by vocal virtuosos Lucius and blues-rock rippers Judith Hill and Eric Krasno, each fixtures successful the section euphony assemblage trying to rebuild itself successful the aftermath of the Eaton fire.

Altadena is simply a profoundly intergenerational community, and the assemblage felt the decades of L.A. euphony past successful Stephen Stills coming retired for Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth” adjacent to a younger enactment similar Lord Huron covering the Kinks’ “Strangers.”

Dawes is simply a seasoned L.A. act, and songs similar “All Your Favorite Bands” had caller texture successful the airy of however the occurrence upended the lives of truthful galore artists. “I anticipation the satellite sees the aforesaid idiosyncratic that you ever were to me,” Taylor Goldsmith sang. “May each your favourite bands enactment together.”

For those bands inactive trying to enactment together, the nighttime was redemptive. Jeffrey Paradise, the Poolside frontman who mislaid his location successful the Palisades fire, DJed the concert’s authoritative after-party. He’s since relocated to Glassell Park, and acknowledged that the fires are inactive a challenging topic, for him and for friends trying to enactment those displaced.

“It’s hard to speech astir due to the fact that truthful galore things are mixed up successful it,” helium said. “It was the worst twelvemonth of my life, but besides large and heartwarming to spot enactment from people. It’s truthful hard to reply however you’re doing due to the fact that I don’t person an casual answer,” helium said.

A performance similar this was 1 mode to admit the gravity of past year’s loss, but besides to rise wealth to assistance everyone get backmost to the land, radical and euphony they love.

“It’s a disaster, and we’re getting done a disaster. I privation to beryllium resilient and assistance others, and bash what I tin to determination forward,” helium said. “It forces you to reinvent who you are and redefine what matters. I don’t person an enactment not to.”