Concerts
“From the Big Apple to the Big Easy.” Madison Square Garden Arena, New York City: September 20th. Elton John, Rod Stewart, Jimmy Buffett, Bette Midler, Fats Domino, The Neville Brothers, Stevie Nicks, Lenny Kravitz, John Fogerty, Loggins & Messina, Earth, Wind & Fire, The Original Meters, Allen Toussaint, and the The Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Rebirth Brass Band. Additional artists to be announced. MSG is underwriting all costs and donating an additional $1 million plus 100 percent of all proceeds will be distributed to the Bush Clinton Katrina Fund, Habitat for Humanity, MusiCares Hurricane Relief fund and the Children’s Health Fund.
“Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit.” Jazz at Lincoln Center, September 17th at Rose Theatre in Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City. Hosted by Bill Cosby and featuring Wynton Marsalis, Peter Cincotti, Elvis Costello, Paquito D’Rivera, Abbey Lincoln, Diana Krall, Jon Hendricks and more to be announced. Carried live on XM Satellite Radio on Real Jazz Channel. All profits go to relief funds.
“MTV’s $2 Bill.” September 10th, Henry Fonda Theatre, Hollywood, Calif., with Kanye West, Paul Wall, Common and others. Proceeds from the sale of $300 VIP tickets will be donated to the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, America’s Second Harvest and similar organizations. In conjunction with MTV’s “ReAct Now: Music & Relief” event, the concert will air September 18th.
“ReAct Now: Music & Relief.” MTV-hosted concert special and telethon September 10th starring The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Green Day, Usher, Alicia Keys, Dave Matthews Band, Rob Thomas, Ludacris, Gretchen Wilson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Sheryl Crow, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Alan Jackson, Hank Williams Jr., Kid Rock, Kanye West, 3 Doors Down, Kelly Clarkson, Brian Wilson, Melissa Etheridge, The Neville Brothers, Trent Reznor, Cash Money’s Baby and Lil’ Wayne, Mötley Crüe, Simple Plan, Dashboard Confessional, Goo Goo Dolls, Staind, Good Charlotte, Audioslave, Common, John Mayer, Marc Broussard, Maroon 5, and The Radiators. Funds raised go to American Red Cross, Salvation Army and America’s Second Harvest, among others.
“Shelter From The Storm.” September 9th telethon featuring Sheryl Crow, the Dixie Chicks, Randy Newman, Neil Young, Rod Stewart, Alicia Keys, and Paul Simon. To be carried by major television networks in more than 95 countries.
Willie Nelson. September 21st, Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. Additional artists to be announced. Grand opening of “Willie’s Place,” Nelson’s theatre, will send proceeds from September 26-27 debut concert to regions hardest hit by Katrina in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida.
Marcia Ball, The Radiators, Aaron Neville Quintet. Belly Up Tavern, Solana Beach, Calif. New Orleans-based artists Marcia Ball (September 9th), The Radiators (September 16th), and Aaron Neville Quintet (September 23rd). Net proceeds go to American Red Cross.
Rust Records. Organizing series of concerts starting September 16th in Morehead City, N.C., with BlackHawk and Shane Owens at Midnight Rodeo. Other concerts are expected to be held in Nashville, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Dothan, Ala., and Abilene, Texas.
Pledging
Conscious Alliance. Accepting collections at Earthdance, Vegoose and “Power to the Peaceful” festivals, The String Cheese Incident fall tour, Dave Matthew Band concerts at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, and at all 2005-06 shows at Denver’s The Fillmore Auditorium.
The St. Pete Times Forum: Tampa, Fla., arena is serving as a donation collection center in conjunction with the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey and Storm arena football teams. Donations will also be accepted during September shows by the Scream Tour, Reggaeton Exploitation, and Ice Fest.
Clear Channel Communications: Hosts StormAid.com, the online site the company operates and used for its fund-raising efforts after last year’s South Asian tsunami. Many individual stations conducted local fund raisers as well.
National Association of Broadcasters: “Broadcast Unity for Katrina Relief” initiative to raise $100 million. NAB individually donating $1 million to American Red Cross.
Wolfgang’s Vault: Bill Graham Presents archives. Donated $50,200 to Minnesota Helps Fund, and will donate 10 percent of revenues from rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia sales for the remainder of the year.
Napster: “Download to Donate” compilation CD donates 100 percent of profits from CD and individual song sales to the American Red Cross.
Note: This list is intended only to highlight industry-wide efforts to benefit the survivors of Hurricane Katrina and is by no means comprehensive.