#benefit-concert

#benefit-concert

In early January, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, a concert benefit for Palestine and Sudan conjured all the fury of an acoustic night at the local coffee shop. Musicians played stripped-down songs on a stage decorated with rugs, floor lamps, and couches. Members of the audience, mostly 20-somethings and teens, leaned in and filmed intimate performances by their favorite cult artists.

Broadway Bound Kids, the nonprofit that provides performing arts education to New York City students K-12, will be hosting their fourth annual benefit concert, Empower State of Mind, on Feb. 2 at City Winery in Manhattan at 7:30 pm. The evening will include show-stopping performances by theater legends who have starred on the Broadway stage. The participating performers include Kate Baldwin (Chicago), Kelsee Kimmel (Hell's Kitchen), Storm Lever (Six), Olivia Donalson (Six), Daniel Quadrino (Wicked) and Jacob Keith Watson (Ragtime), among others.

If it looks like fascism, sounds like fascism, acts like fascism, dresses like fascism, talks like fascism, kills like fascism and lies like fascism, boys & girls it's fucking fascism. It's here, it's now, it's in my city, it's in your city and it must be resisted, protested, defended against, stood up to, exposed, ousted, overthrown and driven out. By you and by me.

Tickets are on sale for concerts featuring the works of African American composers to benefit Eastside College Preparatory School in East Palo Alto. The theme for the concerts is "Hold Out for Joy: Music of Hope and Resilience by African American Composers." Composers featured in these concerts include William Grant Still, Harry Burleigh, Margaret Bonds, Betty Jackson King, Zenobia Powell Perry, Regina Baiocchi, Joshua McGhee, Valerie Capers, and Earth, Wind & Fire.

For the all-covers encore, the brought out Scrawl's Marcy Mays and Sue Harshe for The Velvet Underground's "We're Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together" and Paul Revere & The Raiders' "Kicks," and then the welcomed former SNL cast member Ana Gasteyer for "Dream A Little Dream Of Me" and "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me." Marcy and Sue came back out for the last two songs of the night: "Tie A Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Ole Oak Tree" and holiday classic "Silver Bells."

Shortly after having to cancel shows in Hollywood, Florida due to illness, Stapleton announced the San Francisco show at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, which is happening Saturday, February 7, 2026, with "special guest" Sierra Farrell. The show is being sponsored by the Bay Area Host Committee (BAHC) for the Super Bowl, and part of the proceeds will go to Mayor Daniel Lurie's poverty-fighting nonprofit, Tipping Point Community.

Berkeley's Freight & Salvage (aka The Freight) will feature five-time Grammy Award-winner and global music icon Angelique Kidjo when its annual benefit concert returns Oct. 9 this year. Joining Kidjo will be Bay area-based Brazilian singer-songwriter Badi Assad. Proceeds from ticket sales, a live auction and donations will support ongoing operations and The Freight's Golden State of Song education program.

The corporate Salesforce conference Dreamforce has named Metallica as its headliner for the big concert they have every year, and Benson Boone will play too, but the bigger news may be that Dreamforce is moving to mid-October. If you follow the legacy metal band Metallica these days, you likely know the current iteration of the band never meets a corporate promotion deal they don't like. Though to be fair, the once-SF-based band also does a lot of charity work.

Brian Eno announced Together for Palestine, a benefit concert at London's Wembley Arena on September 17, featuring artists like Damon Albarn and James Blake.

The event honored Fred Walecki, who had recently been diagnosed with Stage 4 throat cancer and had undergone a complete laryngectomy.

Central Texas communities are recovering from a devastating flood that claimed over 130 lives, prompting CBS Texas to host a benefit concert for impacted residents.