Look To The Stars News: Pearl Jam

Neil Finn's New Album Gets Crowded For Oxfam

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:15:00 -0000

Crowded House frontman Neil Finn has invited a host of well known musicians to join him in recording a new album for charity.

Finn has invited the core band – and a few special guests – from his 2001 Seven Worlds Collide series of live shows and accompanying live album to create a new album at Roundhead Studios in Auckland, New Zealand, with proceeds going to support Oxfam.

Guests confirmed so far are Radiohead’s Phil Selway and Ed O’Brien, The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, Soul Coughing’s Sebastian Steinberg, multi-instrumentalist Lisa Germano, Wilco members Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Glenn Kotche and Pat Sansone, and New Zealand musicians Liam Finn, Don McGlashan and Bic Runga.

The album will be recorded over Christmas and New Year, and will be accompanied by live performances at Auckland’s Powerstation on 5, 6 and 7 January 2009.

Previous participants in Finn’s Seven Worlds Collide shows include Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam in 2001.

Pearl Jam Raises Millions For Robin Hood

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Rockers Pearl Jam have raised $3 million for charity after a gig in New York City on Monday night.

The band played an impressive 26-song set during a private show at the Big Apple’s 2,800-capacity Beacon Theater and raised the cash for the Robin Hood Foundation’s poverty fighting initiatives, bringing the Seattle-based band’s current tour to a successful and charitable close.

The show – to which some fans forked out $2,250 for a ticket – followed the band’s announcement last week that they are to back a campaign to raise money for patients fighting health insurance companies for payouts. A pre-concert fundraising party was held before the band’s concert in Connecticut on Friday, organized by Advocacy for Patients with Chronic Illness leader Jennifer Jaff.

The band were made aware of the plight of patients by Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready, who has battled Crohn’s disease – a bowel disorder – for the last 25 years.

“Jennifer Jaff is one of the best advocates for patients I have ever seen,” said McCready. “It’s super-important for her to fight against the insurance companies that will deny people any kind of coverage for their pre-existing conditions. The work she does is justified, and I just love it. We live in the greatest country in the world, and I have lived here my entire life, but we need to invest our money back into things that look at a broader scope, not just things that are going to make us money. If people are going to die because some legislation didn’t go through, that, to me, is abhorrent. That’s not what America means to me.”

Pearl Jam To Play Charity Gig

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:36:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Rockers Pearl Jam are to play a one-off charity gig next month.

The band, formed in Seattle in 1990, will play New York’s Beacon Theatre on July 1 to raise money for the Robin Hood Foundation, an organization that targets poverty in the city.

The band is well known for their social campaigning at gigs, with singer Eddie Vedder often changing lyrics of his songs to attack political issues.

Tickets for the gig come with a price – attendees must first donate $100 to the charity, and then purchase tickets starting at $250. The event is expected to raise $3 million for the Foundation.

Flea's Musical Dream

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:55:10 -0000

Written by Natalia Łajdych

When costs are cut in the educational system, the arty subjects always suffer the most – and so do the pupils. Literature is an important foundation to creating dreams, mathematics allows people to put all the dreams together in logical and strikingly illogical forms, and music creates the melody and spin for the dreams.

To help make the dreams come true, Red Hot Chili Peppers bass player Flea joined Keith “Tree” Barry to establish the Silverlake Conservatory of Music in 2001. Situated on Sunset Boulevard, the non-profit institution offers private lessons in most instruments to children and adults at reasonable prices, and also provides funding for those who cannot afford it.

There is a “20-Peace Orchestra”, where Duke Ellingtons-in-training can get a taste of classical, pops, big band, and Brazilian sounds. The Funk All-Stars Workshop lets students channel their inner James Browns with grooving jam sessions, and the Youth Chorale gives pint-sized singers the chance to learn harmonization and different styles of singing. The conservatory boasts eight air-conditioned studios so students can work up a cramp-free sweat while they jam, and there is also a recital area for clinics and performances – just in case that inner performance diva needs to break free.

Flea hasn’t thought about a nationwide program yet, but believes all children deserve the chance to study music as he did.

“Even a moderately simple understanding of music leads to a much richer life,” he said.

The breaking-the-barriers bassist is too humble to declare that the Silverlake Conservatory will be his legacy, but he is sure of one thing: “It’s the best idea I ever had.”

The crucial part of the Silverlake Conservatory of Music funding is the annual Hullabaloo concert, which provides money for scholarships to more than 100 low-income students whose families would not be able to afford instruments and lessons and also helps to expand the school’s summer camp program. The event’s name, “Hullabaloo,” was chosen to signify the youthful enthusiasm heard emanating from the SCM’s storefront location in Sunset Junction, Silverlake.

Attendees at last year’s event, which took place on May 5, 2007, were treated to a night of entertainment from actor Woody Harrelson and magician/musician Rob Zabrecky, as well as very special performances by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Charlie Haden, the Ditty Bops, students and faculty of the Silverlake Conservatory of Music, and other special guests. The evening also featured a silent auction to raise funds for the school’s programs.

Keep an eye on Look To The Stars for more information about this year’s Hullabaloo event.

Neil Young Organizes Benefit Concert

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 08:31:28 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Musician Neil Young is to host his annual Bridge School Benefit Concerts near San Francisco on October 27-28, with an eclectic lineup of acts already confirmed to play.

The two acoustic concerts, to be held at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, will feature performers such as John Mayer, Metallica, and Pearl Jam singer, Eddie Vedder. Tom Waits will also perform with the classical string ensemble, The Kronos Quartet. Waits and the Quartet first performed together earlier in 2007, as part of a concert to benefit Richard Gere’s Healing the Divide Foundation.

Proceeds from the October shows will benefit Bridge School, a non-profit educational institution in Northern California for children with physical disabilities and severe speech impediments. It was co-founded by Young’s wife, Pegi, in 1986, after three of the couple’s children were born with cerebral palsy and epilepsy. Young organized the first Bridge School Concert in 1986, and with the exception of 1987, has hosted the event every year since.

Many of the performers at the concerts return annually. Eddie Vedder has performed eight times with his band Pearl Jam, and is singing this year with Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ bassist, Flea, and ex Chilli Peppers/Pearl Jam drummer, Jack Irons. Other musicians to perform at this year’s shows include singer/songwriters Tegan and Sara, Regina Spektor, and 50s rocker Jerry Lee Lewis. Neil Young will also perform a set.

Tickets to the shows come in three price tiers – $150, $75, and $39.50, and are available through www.ticketmaster.com.

Richard Branson Attends Virgin Festival in Baltimore

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 12:55:09 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Soaring temperatures of over 100°F did not stop 80,000 music lovers from attending a massive two-day charity concert held at the Pimlico Raceway in Baltimore on August 4 and 5. The Baltimore Virgin Festival was part of a series of concerts being held this year, partly organized by Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin brand.

Concert goers were treated to performances by 40 groups and artists, including Sting and The Police, Ben Harper, The Beastie Boys, Iggy Pop, and The Smashing Pumpkins. $1.50 from every ticket sold was donated directly to Virgin Unite, the charitable arm of the Virgin Group, dedicated to “tackling some of the tougher social challenges by uniting people and Virgin’s global resources.”

The concert also featured a huge tent village which housed a mall of philanthropy booths, where concert attendees could find out more about non-profit organizations such as Oxfam, The Living Classrooms Foundation (which uses maritime settings to train at-risk youth), StandUp For Kids (which helps homeless children), and Youth Noise (a website where teens can talk about significant issues and raise money for their chosen causes).

Branson joined actress Daryl Hannah at the event, and stated that the festivities were extremely eco-friendly, with 99% of the fuels used to power the concert being the cleanest biofuel available.

The Virgin Festival in Baltimore followed a similar concert held in Vancouver in May, and the next event will be in Toronto in September.

Also rocking out on August 4 and 5 was another huge concert, the Lollapalooza Festival, an annual event founded in 1991. 165,000 people crammed Grant Park in Chicago to see 140 acts, including Pearl Jam, Ben Harper, and Snow Patrol. A portion of every ticket sale went to the Parkways Foundation, a non-profit organization working with the Chicago Park District.

Look To The Stars News: Pearl Jam

Neil Finn's New Album Gets Crowded For Oxfam

Related past articles

Pearl Jam Raises Millions For Robin Hood

Related past articles

Pearl Jam To Play Charity Gig

Related past articles

Flea's Musical Dream

Related past articles

Neil Young Organizes Benefit Concert

Related past articles

Richard Branson Attends Virgin Festival in Baltimore

Related past articles