By Lisa Burke
May 12th 2016, Fonda Theatre, Hollywood CA: The debate about whether rock ‘n roll is dead or dying has been discussed for too many years now, and with many upcoming internet sensations such as Justin Bieber running around on the loose, sometimes we lose hope and can not see what is right in front of us. I am here to help you see again, and to remind you that there are still filthy rich rockstars out there giving their time and money to help the future of rock ‘n roll. Last Thursday May 12th 2016 at the Fonda Theater, I attended the ‘Adopt The Arts’ Benefit show hosted and co-founded by Matt Sorum with some initial host help from Hal Sparks. Matt Sorum is a better rockstar for putting hard work into this noble cause and gets my vote as a true artist of his craft. This was also a ceremony to honor Rock ‘N Roll Hall Of Fame inductees Glenn Hughes and Robin Zander, best known for their vocals in Deep Purple and Cheap Trick respectively.
The ‘Adopt The Arts’ program is designed to provide awareness in music and art at public schools for children who may not otherwise receive this extremely healthy and creative exposure. It’s a really great cause and it is one of many out there, and Robin Zander and Glenn Hughes among others were in attendance as living proof that rock ‘n roll is still very much alive today.
This event at the Fonda Theater was sold out but that did not mean the room was filled to capacity, just filled to their ideal number for this special charity event, yet the upstairs was in full operation, with open outdoor astro turf covered patio with Hollywood Vodka backdrop photo opportunity occupying it as a sponsor to the event. In the downstairs lobby, art pieces and prints among other items were for sale at auctioned prices, and the floor in front of the stage was filled with circular tables that were reserved for the wealthy who were bidding on guitars and other signed items during the intermission. The event started off musically with Franky Perez from Apocalyptica singing ‘Whole Lotta Love’ by Led Zeppelin with Damon Fox and Billy Duffy from The Cult, along with Matt Sorum on stage to help out. As typical of a jam song with a sightly random mix of a supergroup as this was, Franky Perez sang his best song of the night here and Damon Fox was really blowing people away with his talent on the keyboards. Back in the heyday of rock ‘n roll in the ’70s era, according to Glenn Hughes, the top competitive bands were Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, so that was where Led Zeppelin comes into play and appropriately so, as they opened and closed out the night with them. Shortly after an intro video showing various significant moments in the life of Glenn Hughes, he accepted his award and told a very humbling story about how important it is to help children in anyway possible and that just because he never had his own children, except for the fur baby kind, it didn’t mean he couldn’t help others, since he was gifted and financially able. Apparently this was also his first night returning to the stage since he had knee replacement surgery on both knees, and if you didn’t know then you didn’t know as he still moved gracefully and his vocals were mostly a hit. He sang one of the highlights of the evening, Deep Purple’s ‘Highway Star’, with help from members of Stone Temple Pilots who should definitely be commended on their performance. Of course, Glenn Hughes assured us that he was not the new singer of STP but later on I discovered that Corey Taylor could be, when he sang a great rendition of ‘Sex Type Thing’ with the STP boys. Back to Glenn’s finer moments, he also sang ‘Superstition’ by Stevie Wonder that ended in a fun drum solo by Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Basically, the two drummers of the evening were Chad Smith and Matt Sorum and the two main singers were Glenn Hughes and Robin Zander with extras Corey Taylor and Franky Perez, and notable guitarists and bass players were Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath), Gilby Clarke (Guns N’ Roses), with a special surprise appearance from Joe Perry (Aerosmith, Hollywood Vampires). The second highlight and best performance of the evening was when Robin Zander, Glenn Hughes, Joe Perry, Chad Smith, and Matt Sorum among others were on stage performing Aerosmith’s ‘Come Together’ followed by ‘Rock ‘N Roll’ by Led Zeppelin. With the dual singing and dual drumming along with the irony in the song choices and lyrics, it was a beautiful end to the evening. Two great drummers alternating and then playing simultaneously was a beautiful act to witness, and although it was hinted as a ‘Animal vs Dave Grohl’ style competition for a moment, it was definitely a wonderful collaboration. Robin Zander and Glenn Hughes each did individual solo performances with an acoustic guitar in their hand and Robin happened to pick ‘The Flame’ by Cheap Trick which was another beautiful moment of this enchanting evening, while Glenn chose to successfully perform ‘Mistreated’, written by David Coverdale and Ritchie Blackmore. Robin Zander also performed other Cheap Trick songs including ‘Surrender’, ‘Dream Police’, and ‘I Want You To Want Me’, and as far as vocals go, his were still on top of his game. The only moment of slight disappointment was when Geezer Butler came out to play what should have been a great rendition of Black Sabbath’s ‘War Pigs’ but Franky Perez was the vocalist. He has talent but singing Black Sabbath is not one of them, and simply due to the nature of his vocals the song came out far too pretty, and with Ozzy Osborne less than three blocks away who along with Corey Taylor was making an announcement about Knotfest and Ozzfest coming together just a few hours earlier that same day, I was a little sad and surprised Ozzy didn’t come out himself to sing it the way it was intended.
It was still a great evening overall, consisting primarily of jams that were well structured and well performed, and seeing Glenn still looking and performing great all in black at 64 years old with Robin Zander dressed head to toe in white at age 63 showing us what rock ‘n roll is all about, it seemed impossible for anyone to have had a bad time. During Zander’s performance there was an intoxicated doe-eyed girl front row who kept reaching out to touch him to the point where security kept having to hold her back, which more than likely just shows that money doesn’t buy you manners. Another rockstar performer of the evening was midway through the show when the very talented and intelligent auctioneer sold two guitars at $11,000 a piece in three minutes among other items and guitars, where all proceeds go to the children so they don’t forget about the amazing opportunities that can be achieved by following their dreams and making music. Talking ridiculously fast while selling something and still managing humor is no easy task, and this man achieved it brilliantly. The final moral of this story is that it is important to remember and realize that even if the cash prize for being a rockstar has diminished over the years in one sense, the creative impact on making the world a better place remains priceless as the true ultimate prize.
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