Seminal Los Angeles punk legends X – featuring the original lineup of Exene Cervenka, Billy Zoom, John Doe and DJ Bonebrake – will headline the concert to benefit the strange combo of the American Red Cross and the Free The West Memphis Three campaign.

The hellish lineup also includes The Damned, Misfits, Supersuckers, Zen Guerrilla, The Amazing Crowns, Speedbuggy, Hellbound Hayride, Blazing Haley, Throw Rag, Bleeders, and Zeke.

In addition to music, there will be car, motorcycle and hearse club shows on the venue grounds adjacent to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre.

The tie-in of Blood Drive 2000 to the American Red Cross may be obvious, but the link to the West Memphis Three support effort may be less so to the casual observer.

Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelly Jr. – the West Memphis Three – were convicted for the 1993 murders of three children in the Robin Hood Hills woods of eastern Arkansas.

Many of their supporters believe the trio is innocent of the charges (Echols was sentenced to die by lethal injection). They accuse Arkansas police of conducting a sloppy investigation based on unsupported suspicion that Echols was involved in a “cult.” Misskelly reportedly has an IQ of 72.

At issue is a belief that they were singled out in a case of community “satanic panic” – a hysteria over perceptions of satanic cultism and goth culture, rock music and teen fashions such as black concert T-shirts.

Many of the artists participating in Blood Drive 2000 – including Doe, Supersuckers and Zeke – have also recorded tracks for a benefit album for the imprisoned men, Free The West Memphis 3, due in stores October 10.

Other artists involved in the CD include Steve Earle, Tom Waits, Eddie Vedder, Joe Strummer, Nashville Pussy, L7, Murder City Devils, and Killing Joke.