The Press Release:
Guitarists Dave Navarro (Jane’s Addiction) and Billy Morrison (Billy Idol) have confirmed the star-studded line-up for the second annual “ABOVE GROUND” benefit concert on Monday, September 16 at The Fonda Theatre in Hollywood.
Navarro and Morrison have announced the initial guests joining them for the night, which include host (actor) Joe Manganiello and musicians Billy Idol, Perry Farrell and Etty Lau Farrell (Kind Heaven Orchestra), Gavin Rossdale (Bush), Steve Stevens, Juliette Lewis, Steve Vai, Billy Duffy (The Cult), Wayne Kramer (MC5), Mike Garson (the legendary and longtime keyboardist for David Bowie, including his role in the Spiders From Mars line-up), with more to be announced. The performers will tip their hats to two of the greatest albums of all time: David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and the Stooges’ self-titled debut album (celebrating its 50th anniversary this month), on which the world was introduced to Iggy Pop.
As with last year’s successful event, this immersive evening of art and music will celebrate the vinyl album as an art form, and at the same time raise awareness and funds for the treatment of mental health, with the profits being donated to MusiCares®, a charity of the Recording Academy™. View a trailer for the event here and read an interview with Navarro and Morrison here.
Tickets for the event are on sale now. Click here to buy tickets. “ABOVE GROUND” is being produced with assistance from Law Rocks, which promotes music education programs. During the intermission between performances, there will be speeches from people in the mental health field along with art items for auction, live graffiti from prominent street artists including @Teachr1, @PlasticJesus, @VYALone and @MegZany, and information booths.
About MusiCares: MusiCares provides a safety net of critical assistance for music people in times of need. MusiCares’ services and resources cover a wide range of financial, medical and personal emergencies, and each case is treated with integrity and confidentiality. MusiCares also focuses the resources and attention of the music industry on human service issues that directly influence the health and welfare of the music community.
About Law Rocks: Law Rocks’ mission is to promote music education for underprivileged youth and raise funds for local nonprofit organizations by combining the power of music and the generosity of the global legal community. Law Rocks accomplishes this mission through epic battle of the band fundraising concerts in cities across the globe that star legal professionals-turned-rockstars. Since its 2009 founding, Law Rocks has toured to 21 cities around the world, held more than 100 concerts, and raised 3.2 million dollars. For more information, visit https://lawrocks.org/ and follow Law Rocks on Instagram
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PiercingMetal Thoughts: Sadly we are not able to attend but we are certain that this will be an extraordinary benefit. We hope that they raise a lot of money in addition to higher levels of awareness. That’s all I have to say on the matter but you can surely chime in down below if you’d like to add something to the mix. See you next time.
Official Websites:
Above Ground: https://www.facebook.com/AboveGroundOrg/
Law Rocks: https://lawrocks.org/
MusiCares: https://www.grammy.com/musicares
Dave Navarro: https://www.facebook.com/DaveNavarro6767/
Billy Morrison: http://www.billymorrison.net/