BY DIGITAL WAX MEDIA STAFF

Two separate venues played host to a litany of star performers on Thursday for the FireAid Benefit Concert.

 

Held at Inglewood’s Kia Forum and Intuit Dome venues, 28 high-profile acts took to the stage to raise funds for those affected by the wildfires which have impacted the Los Angeles area recently.

 

From hometown heroes such as Red Hot Chili Peppers and Billie Eilish to veterans of the classic era such as Rod Stewart and Joni Mitchell, all hands were on deck Thursday to bring about awareness and assistance for the individuals impacts by the wildfire occurrences in early January.

 

Also among the acts to take the stage was singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams, who had a notably successful 2024 touring as an opening act as part of pop music megastar Taylor Swift’s wildly successful The Eras Tour – undoubtedly netting millions of new fans and listeners along the way.

 

 

For her FireAid performance, the singer took it back to the mid-1990s for a performance of American rock band Counting Crows’ 1996 classic, “A Long December” with Aaron Dessner of The National. The tune was originally released as part of the group’s sophomore studio album, Recovering the Satellites, released three years before Abrams was born.

 

The band themselves made note of the performance, even utilizing social media to offer encouragement and praise to the young pop star for her take on one of the band’s most well known tracks.

 

“A beautiful cover by Gracie Abrams and Aaron Dessner of ‘A Long December,’ the band remarked of the cover by way of the “@countingcrows” account on social media platform Instagram. “Sending love to you, LA..”

 

 

The band themselves are no strangers to the west coast, having originated in the San Francisco Bay Area and having since undoubtedly graced many stages in the Los Angeles area. Abrams herself fosters a strong connection to the area, having been born in Los Angeles herself.

 

 

Thursday’s FireAid event would feature an array of other headline-making acts as well, including a surprise reunion of California rock band No Doubt, through which pop star Gwen Stefani initially gained recognition in the industry.

 

The energetic Anaheim rockers weren’t the only one’s who decided to get the band back together for the benefit concert, however. Legendary rock/grunge act Nirvana was also the subject of a surprise reunion performance. Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl assumed his former role behind the drum kit, joining Foo Fighters/Germs guitarist Pat Smear, and bassist Krist Novoselic, in backing a rotating cast of singers including St. Vincent,  Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon, Joan Jett, and Grohl’s own daughter Violet, each of whom stepped in to perform in lieu of late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain.

 

The show would also see performances by the likes of Stevie Wonder, John Fogerty, Katy Perry, and Lady Gaga, the latter of which closed out the show with the bombastic “Shallow” from the 2018 musical romance film,  A Star is Born.

A number of resources have been made available for individuals around the country to provide assistance to those affected by the L.A. Wildfires.

 

Photo: Singer Adam Duritz by: Zach Klein – Used Under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic License