“We don’t want Altadena to be given up or forgotten,” said Dawes frontman Taylor Goldsmith shortly before taking the stage at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on Wednesday night for a sold-out benefit concert to raise funds for the rebuilding effort on the one-year anniversary of L.A.’s Eaton and Palisades fires. “This community is a really special thing worth protecting.”
Along with Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman, Taylor’s brother, the band’s drummer Griffin Goldsmith, and Grammy-winning guitarist Eric Krasno, who has worked with Lettuce, Soulive and the Tedeschi-Trucks Band, among others, were the principal movers behind Wednesday night’s all-star affair, which featured the Killers’ Brandon Flowers, Stephen Stills, Brad Paisley, Mandy Moore, Lucius, Rufus Wainwright, Judith Hill, Everclear, Aloe Blacc, Jenny Lewis, Lord Huron, and East L.A. fixtures Ozomatli.
Not everyone on the impressive lineup was directly impacted by what happened — Flowers is a Utah resident, and Paisley has a place in Santa Barbara — but a great many lost their homes in the fires, which took the lives of 19 people and destroyed more than 9,000 structures. That included host John C. Reilly, who offered some expletive-laced comments directed at both our current President — “Remember what Trump said after the fires? ‘They should rake their leaves.’ Know what I say to that? Fuck you!” — and Southern California Edison, the latter subjects of a massive class action lawsuit for their alleged role in the tragedy.
Beneficiaries of the benefit concert, which raised $450,000, include the Altadena Builds Back Foundation, and by extension, Habitat for Humanity, the one-time home of the late President Jimmy Carter, dedicated to helping in the rebuilding effort.
“Their feet are on the ground,” acknowledged Krasno of both organizations. “It’s not just for homeowners either, but for all those renters who can’t afford to return in terms of providing low-income housing. They are putting together plans with the intent of expediting the process. This is not a quick fix. It’s going to take a decade, but it was cool to connect with people who are actually making a difference.”
Griffin Goldsmith saw his Altadena house burn down just two weeks before the premature birth of his son (“like a phoenix rising from the ashes”), which forced his family to move to nearby Eagle Rock. He is unsure whether he will return, based on the outcome of the SCE lawsuit. “We’re keeping our options open,” he said. “Right now, we’re just taking it day by day, making sure my kid is safe and my wife is getting a few hours sleep. Just trying to keep our eye on the horizon.”
Opening with a Native American chant from Tina Caldorone and a performance from the local Pasadena Waldorf Kids Choir, local mainstays Ozomatli took the stage with an announcement: “Are you ready for a revolution?” The band launched into a spirited “Come Ves,” featuring a sitar solo, before being joined by Black Eyed Peas’ Tabu and young daughter Jet Gomez for “Stand Strong,” a new song they wrote especially for the event.
Everclear’s Art Alexakis, wearing an Altadena Strong T-shirt, was raised in Santa Monica (“In Ocean Park… the poor section known as Dogtown,” he shared), but now lives in the community, where he was forced to spend five months in a hotel while his home was cleared from smoke damage. “Anyone listen to KROQ in the Nineties?,” he asked to a chorus of cheers. The veteran band launched into a four-song set that started, appropriately enough, with the alt-rock hit “I Will Buy You a New Life,” segued into “Strawberry” (“Don’t fall down now, you will never get up”), which reflected on his 36 years of sobriety, then “Father of Mine,” and his hometown tribute, “Santa Monica.”
After a series of speakers, including representatives from the Altadena Town Counsel, Habitat for Humanity, Altadena Builds Back, Black Freedom Fund, and Altadena Girls, a “safe haven for teenage girls” launched by a mother-daughter team that moved to the town after losing their home in a Nashville flood, Dawes took the stage to recreate their version of “I Love L.A.” with Brad Paisley — an encore of their performance opening last year’s Grammy Awards ceremony.
Taylor Goldsmith’s wife, the actress and singer Mandy Moore, was among the female performers of the night — “My favorite performer,” he noted — delivering a modern take on her 1999 hit, “Candy.” Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis served up the appropriate-for-the-occasion “Rise Up with Fists,” her 2006 collaboration with the Watson Twins. And Judith Hill, probably best known for her role in 30 Feet from Stardom as Michael Jackson’s backup singer, was one of the evening’s true highlights, offering a gut-wrenching blues plaint on her own “Cry, Cry, Cry” and accompanying herself on searing guitar. Later on, the shimmering L.A.-by-way-of-Brooklyn duo Lucius donned glittering gospel robes for their stunning “Dusty Trails.”
Musician Mandy Moore performs onstage during the Concert for Altadena at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on January 07, 2026 in Pasadena, California.
Scott Dudelson/Getty Images
Seeing as the concert was very much a group effort, the night’s remaining performances featured a number of collaborations: Stephen Stills, a master on his trusty Strat but struggling to hit the high notes on “For What It’s Worth” and “Love the One You’re With,” was helped on the vocals by Blacc and Paisley. Taylor Goldsmith joined Paisley on “Raining Inside,” an eerily prophetic song they started working on before the fires. And alt-folk buzz band Lord Huron launched into “Strangers,” a nugget from the Kinks’ 1970 album Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One.
Highly touted for the event was Brandon Flowers, performing the Killers’ 2006 hit, “When We Were Young” and a rousing cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Promised Land.” Rufus Wainwright, meanwhile, offered his stunning cover of the Beatles’ “Across the Universe,” telling the audience, “Here’s a song I didn’t write, but I sure wish I did.”
Taking a cue from benefit efforts of the past which imparted how popular music can be a force for positive social change, the night ended with an all-star jam that included “With a Little Help From My Friends” (the Joe Cocker arrangement) and Pink Floyd’s “Shine on You Crazy Diamond,” during which Lucius, well, shined.
Stephen Stills, Brad Paisley, Taylor Goldsmith, Holly Laessig, and Jess Wolfe perform during “A Concert for Altadena” at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on January 07, 2026 in Pasadena, California.
Taylor Hill/FilmMagic
“Songs today speak to a much more complex world than ‘The Times They Are A-Changing,’” said Taylor Goldsmith. “As brilliant as that is, I’m not sure if it would speak to what’s going on today in the same way. Music plays a more nuanced role now. It needs to match an emotion rather than explicitly speak to a situation. Can songs save the world? It’s possible, but in much more of an esoteric way.”
A Concert for Altadena might not foment revolution, but as Griffin pointed out, “I don’t think anyone will leave this show tonight thinking we did anything but good. We’re just trying to support those in the community who need it most. I’m not inherently an optimist, but I’m pretty hopeful about Altadena. This tragedy ultimately brought people together.”
