IMG_5116 Dave Navarro (Janes Addiction)

IMG_5114 Tom Morello (RATM)

My other company Bamboosk8 contributed some charitable goods that went directly to the LAYN organization kids at the shelters and some stuff for the celebrity gift bags - check out www.layn.org for more on helping out kids who have been abandoned by their families and need hope.  We also gave 2 bamboo skate decks to Slash for his kids!! 

What a spectacular night of rock star celebrities coming all together to help out this wonderful cause.  Imagine if you can, Slash on guitar with Dave Navarro from Janes Addiction, Travis Barker of Blink 182 on drums, Duff from GnR/Velvet Revolver on bass, Ozzy Osbourne singing, Billy Idol singing, Chester from Linkin Park singing, Andrew from Wolfmother singing, Tom Morello on guitar, Perry Farrel of Janes Addiction singing, Steven Adler from Guns and Roses fame on drums, and many more…  a mixture of covers from Led Zepplin to Black Sabbath to Janes Addiction. Wow!  The event was hosted by George Lopez, who was incredibly funny.  I wish I could tell you all the hilarious dirty jokes he said, but this wouldn’t be the forum for that.  Another funny moment was when Slash’s wife and one of the kids was on stage asking people to text to LAYN to donate $10 and not too many people were dialing, so the kid grabs the mic and say’s, “start texting mother fr’s.”  The crowd just erupted in laughter and finally pulled out their phones.  The event was hosted at Avalon in Hollywood on Vine Street – across from Capitol Records building.  It started out with each of the celebrities doing the red carpet horse and poney show for all the TV cameras and other press before going in and rocking out.   I was fortunate to meet up again with some of my guitar heroes – Dave Navarro of Janes Addiction (who is never that friendly to strangers with his “I’m too cool for the world attitude”) and Tom Morello of Rage against the Machine (who is always super cool).  The silent auction involved a variety of items up for auction including a really great one in my opinion – Anthony Keidis donated his 4x gold Canadian (4 million copies) certification and autographed it.  It was a huge framed item that I believe only went for $600.  Other items included autographed guitars, bamboo stuff, vacations, etc.  Tickets for this event ranged from $85-500 for the VIP experience, with around 800+ tickets sold.  Thank you Fez for making it happen!!

So where do I begin when it comes to the music?  I’m a huge music fan…

I will start off by saying this – OZZY Osbourne takes it to mach 10 within 3 seconds of getting on the stage and the crowd just couldn’t keep up.  His pitch was still relatively well but its his passion that just wreaks havoc on the crowd considering his age and mental state (?) – he comes alive like a little kid with eyes that just possess you.  It was awesome!!   Billy Idol was rocking hard as the crowd chanted “Rebel Yell” – always great to see him; I hope he never lets that punk attitude die.  Watching the chemistry of Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro as they did “mountain song” and “jane says” was memorable, as it always is to see them connect again.  Andrew from Wolfmother – what a voice; enough said!  They covered Wolfmothers hit “woman”…which is so Led Zepplin but still so cool.  Chester from Lincoln Park – hits some high notes but not that impressed overall – granted, he just flew in from France, so I got to give him cred.  Tom Morello on guitar – who else can scratch a guitar with metal and make you hum along to it?  Always great to see Tom, who is incredibly upbeat and even watching him from the side of the stage – he was so into watching Billy Idol and Ozzy…feeling every bit of the emotions put out.  I can remember seeing Rage Against the Machine in 1992 with House of Pain in Detroit – I knew it wouldn’t be long before they took over the world.  I then attended about 7 more shows over the years until they split, then came back, then split, then came back.  Travis Barker – this dude is sick… he played 90% of the night with 110% – seriously, he’s one of the best drummers out there and always a super cool guy with no ego.  I had just saw Travis a few weeks back at the Tony Hawk charity event in Beverly Hills.  Duff from GnR fame… always keeping the groove locked down.  Even GnR’s Steven Adler came out to hit the skins as they covered “Paradise city”.

The night ended around 11:30 to all of the celeb’s being bombarded by paparazii outside of the venue… thankfully no one got hurt.

Great job Slash, LAYN, Fez, and others involved!!!!  May this money donated multiply in blessings for children in need.

 http://www.bamboosk8.com/news/2009/11/los-angeles-youth-network-charity-event-11229/  – more photos