Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Slash and Billy Idol Rock for Children’s Charity

Steven Tyler and Joey Perry of Aerosmith perform in West Hollywood.

A West Hollywood clothing store on a Sunday afternoon might not seem very rock & roll. But with Alice Cooper and Eddie Van Halen chatting in a corner, Billy Idol mugging for photos while his son DJ'd, and Steven Tyler and Joe Perry cranking up Aerosmith's greatest hits, John Varvatos' WeHo storefront was arguably the most rocking spot in America this past weekend.

The occasion was Varvatos' 10th annual benefit for Stuart House, a facility to help children who have been sexually abused. With past performances including Chris Cornell, Dave Matthews, Cooper, ZZ Top, Cheap Trick and more, the event has become a tradition for rockers.

"We see all of our old friends. It's almost like the old love-ins," Cooper told Rolling Stone. "I just saw Eddie – first time I've seen him in 15 years. He looks great."

The curator of this little piece of rock history was designer Varvatos, who, in addition to being a fashion entrepreneur, has turned his diehard fandom into relationships with Matthews, Cornell, Perry Farrell and more. "John's cool, so he attracts cool," Tyler told Rolling Stone.

500 Greatest Albums of All Time: Aerosmith, 'Rocks'

But the real impetus for Tyler and Perry to perform an hour-long set in the middle of the afternoon for celebrities like Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner (who were co-hosts for the event) was the Stuart House.

"It's about John's passion for children and this endeavor he's doing," said Tyler. "It's about the swept-under-the-rug thing with kids where they're so young, they don't know what's going on, they've been abused sexually and they think it's their fault, which is a travesty beyond travesties," he said.

Perry seconded his bandmate's testimony. "We have kids. We're parents ourselves," he said. "We read about kids that don't have the good fortune, and John's the kind of guy that when he hears about that stuff, he gets out there and does whatever he can to help them."

Tyler and Perry were "an immediate yes," said Varvatos, and they took the gig seriously. The night before, during dinner, Tyler told him, "We are going to blow your face off."

That they did, leading a makeshift supporting band through such Aerosmith classics as "Sweet Emotion," "Dream On," "Walk This Way" and their cover of the Beatles' "Come Together." For the finale Tyler said, "Where is that man? Somebody said Slash was in the audience." Before the guitarist could make his way to the stage, Tyler called out the crowd for being noisy. "As you can tell, this is a fucking L.A. audience," he yelled. "So fucking quiet!"

The audience responded to Tyler's challenge, matching the band's ferocity as Slash joined Tyler, Perry and friends for a raucous rendition of "Mama Kin." Just before walking off the stage out to Melrose Avenue, Tyler made sure to remind everyone caught up in the moment why they were there in the first place. "Let's hear it for the kids," he said. "Let me hear those wallets shake."

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Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Slash and Billy Idol Rock for Children’s Charity

Steven Tyler and Joey Perry of Aerosmith perform in West Hollywood.

A West Hollywood clothing store on a Sunday afternoon might not seem very rock & roll. But with Alice Cooper and Eddie Van Halen chatting in a corner, Billy Idol mugging for photos while his son DJ'd, and Steven Tyler and Joe Perry cranking up Aerosmith's greatest hits, John Varvatos' WeHo storefront was arguably the most rocking spot in America this past weekend.

The occasion was Varvatos' 10th annual benefit for Stuart House, a facility to help children who have been sexually abused. With past performances including Chris Cornell, Dave Matthews, Cooper, ZZ Top, Cheap Trick and more, the event has become a tradition for rockers.

"We see all of our old friends. It's almost like the old love-ins," Cooper told Rolling Stone. "I just saw Eddie – first time I've seen him in 15 years. He looks great."

The curator of this little piece of rock history was designer Varvatos, who, in addition to being a fashion entrepreneur, has turned his diehard fandom into relationships with Matthews, Cornell, Perry Farrell and more. "John's cool, so he attracts cool," Tyler told Rolling Stone.

500 Greatest Albums of All Time: Aerosmith, 'Rocks'

But the real impetus for Tyler and Perry to perform an hour-long set in the middle of the afternoon for celebrities like Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner (who were co-hosts for the event) was the Stuart House.

"It's about John's passion for children and this endeavor he's doing," said Tyler. "It's about the swept-under-the-rug thing with kids where they're so young, they don't know what's going on, they've been abused sexually and they think it's their fault, which is a travesty beyond travesties," he said.

Perry seconded his bandmate's testimony. "We have kids. We're parents ourselves," he said. "We read about kids that don't have the good fortune, and John's the kind of guy that when he hears about that stuff, he gets out there and does whatever he can to help them."

Tyler and Perry were "an immediate yes," said Varvatos, and they took the gig seriously. The night before, during dinner, Tyler told him, "We are going to blow your face off."

That they did, leading a makeshift supporting band through such Aerosmith classics as "Sweet Emotion," "Dream On," "Walk This Way" and their cover of the Beatles' "Come Together." For the finale Tyler said, "Where is that man? Somebody said Slash was in the audience." Before the guitarist could make his way to the stage, Tyler called out the crowd for being noisy. "As you can tell, this is a fucking L.A. audience," he yelled. "So fucking quiet!"

The audience responded to Tyler's challenge, matching the band's ferocity as Slash joined Tyler, Perry and friends for a raucous rendition of "Mama Kin." Just before walking off the stage out to Melrose Avenue, Tyler made sure to remind everyone caught up in the moment why they were there in the first place. "Let's hear it for the kids," he said. "Let me hear those wallets shake."

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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All-Star Roster Honors the Rolling Stones at Carnegie Hall Charity Show

Taj Mahal and Jackson Browne perform during The Music of The Rolling Stones: Hot Rocks 1964-1971 at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Six songs into Tuesday night's all-star charity tribute show, The Music of the Rolling Stones Hot Rocks 1961-1971, Marianne Faithfull took the Carnegie Hall stage to perform her breakthrough single, "As Tears Go By." When the song first hit the airwaves in the summer of 1964, Faithfull was a 17-year-old ingenue with a voice that won her the adoration of every man in England. She's lived about a hundred lifetimes since then, and her singing is now weathered and significantly deeper. 

"This is the first song that Mick and Keith wrote," explained Faithfull, who is now 65. "And they wrote it for me, so I was very happy." It's a song of extreme loneliness and despair, and in many ways it carries more weight today than when it first came out. Her riveting performance earned one of the evening's many standing ovations.

New York concert promoter Michael Dorf has been organizing these tribute shows, which raise money for a variety of music-education programs, since 2004. Past shows have paid homage to Bob Dylan, Neil Young, The Who, R.E.M., Bruce Springsteen and Elton John. Bruce Springsteen and R.E.M. both stunned audiences when they appeared at their respective shows, but no member of the Rolling Stones made the trip to Carnegie Hall, despite persistent rumors in the audience that Keith Richards would be there. But with a bill that included everyone from Jackson Browne to Peaches and Glen Hansard, few people left the two-and-a-half hour show disappointed. 

Previous tributes have let the performers pick any song from the featured artist's back catalog, but this year they were confined to the Stones' 1971 hit compilation, Hot Rocks 1964-1971. It would have been nice if they'd had the option to choose later hits like "Memory Motel" or "Beast of Burden" (let alone deep cuts like "Out of Control" or "Rain Fell Down"), but those first seven years were an amazing period of growth and innovation for the band. In that time, they went from "Time Is On My Side" to "Sympathy For The Devil." (And in the past eighteen years, they've released a measly two albums.) 

The show featured Hot Rocks almost entirely in sequence, but Italian singer Jovanotti (playing with members of TV On The Radio) opted to perform "You Can't Always Get What You Want" with a youth choir. The kids have bedtimes, so they went on first. They earned huge applause from the moment they sang the opening lines, "I saw her today at the reception." If you closed your eyes, you would have thought you were listening to the album. They nailed the high harmonies and had everyone in the concert hall singing along. 

Most of the earlier acts stuck closely to the Stones' original arrangements. The Black Crowe's Rich Robinson did a slightly jammed-out rendition of "Play With Fire," David Johansen looked more like Mick Jagger than ever as he strutted around the stage and belted out "Get Off My Cloud," and Ronnie Spector drew equally from Irma Thomas and the Rolling Stones for her cover of "Time Is On My Side." 

Juliette Lewis had the difficult job of tackling "Satisfaction." She approached it with tremendous confidence, running onstage in a glittery white jacket, short shorts and white heels. It was a sultry version with lots of pomp and attitude, weakened only when she completely forgot the lyrics to the third verse. For a few horrible seconds it felt like group night on American Idol, but she bounced back like a pro and ended strong. 

Steve Earle looked absolutely thrilled to have the chance to play "Mother's Little Helper," telling the crowd, "Marianne just sang the first song I ever sang in front of people. This is the first song I ever learned on guitar, which is why I'm so pumped." Earle played a country-tinged version of the tune, and it was a clear high point of the evening.

One of the wild card slots went to Art Garfunkel, who hasn't sung in public (to our knowledge) since he was sidelined by vocal paresis in the summer of 2010. The 70-year-old emerged midway through the night to play a stripped down "Ruby Tuesday." In a rare turn, he opted to leave his wig at home. "No hair tonight!" he joked. Garfunkel sounded somewhat throaty and fragile, but really not at all different than he has during the last decade. It was just one song, but hopefully Garfunkel's vocal troubles are behind him and Simon and Garfunkel can finally play their postponed concert dates. 

As the night went on, the arrangements became more daring. The Mountain Goats delivered a jazzy, piano-based "Paint It Black" that brought the song's dark pessimism to the surface. Glen Hansard encouraged the audience to snap their fingers along to a moody, slow "Under My Thumb" that used a stand-up bass as the main instrument. Rickie Lee Jones deconstructed "Sympathy For The Devil" and played it solo acoustic, growling out the words as many in the audience provided the "woo-woo" refrain.

Taj Mahal received one of the longest standing ovations for his bluesy take on "Honky Tonk Woman," performed with his daughter. "One of the good things about the Stones is that you can deconstruct their songs back to the blues and country thing they came from," he said. "That's what we're going to do tonight."

He was followed by Rosanne Cash, who showed off her powerful pipes on "Gimme Shelter." The main set ended with Marc Cohn doing an acoustic "Wild Horses" with Jackson Browne, who played a stripped down version of "Let's Spend The Night Together" earlier in the set. 

The Hot Rocks compilation ends with "Wild Horses," but after Cohn and Browne's performance, Faithfull returned to sing "Sister Morphine," a song she co-wrote with the Stones in 1969. Faithfull would learn the dangers of hard drugs all too well in the years following that collaboration, and she now sings about the "scream of the ambulance" and "sweet cousin cocaine" as someone who knows exactly what she's talking about. It was spellbinding. 

The night wrapped up when every performer not named Art Garfunkel returned to the stage for a loose rendition of "Tumbling Dice." It's the biggest hit from Exile On Main Street, which was released less than a year after Hot Rocks. There are enough great songs on Exile, let alone the band's output in the last 40 years, to make for a great tribute show. If Dorf ever runs out of great catalogs to honor with concerts, he should definitely consider The Rolling Stones 1972-2005. 

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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All-Star Roster Honors the Rolling Stones at Carnegie Hall Charity Show

Taj Mahal and Jackson Browne perform during The Music of The Rolling Stones: Hot Rocks 1964-1971 at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Six songs into Tuesday night's all-star charity tribute show, The Music of the Rolling Stones Hot Rocks 1961-1971, Marianne Faithfull took the Carnegie Hall stage to perform her breakthrough single, "As Tears Go By." When the song first hit the airwaves in the summer of 1964, Faithfull was a 17-year-old ingenue with a voice that won her the adoration of every man in England. She's lived about a hundred lifetimes since then, and her singing is now weathered and significantly deeper. 

"This is the first song that Mick and Keith wrote," explained Faithfull, who is now 65. "And they wrote it for me, so I was very happy." It's a song of extreme loneliness and despair, and in many ways it carries more weight today than when it first came out. Her riveting performance earned one of the evening's many standing ovations.

New York concert promoter Michael Dorf has been organizing these tribute shows, which raise money for a variety of music-education programs, since 2004. Past shows have paid homage to Bob Dylan, Neil Young, The Who, R.E.M., Bruce Springsteen and Elton John. Bruce Springsteen and R.E.M. both stunned audiences when they appeared at their respective shows, but no member of the Rolling Stones made the trip to Carnegie Hall, despite persistent rumors in the audience that Keith Richards would be there. But with a bill that included everyone from Jackson Browne to Peaches and Glen Hansard, few people left the two-and-a-half hour show disappointed. 

Previous tributes have let the performers pick any song from the featured artist's back catalog, but this year they were confined to the Stones' 1971 hit compilation, Hot Rocks 1964-1971. It would have been nice if they'd had the option to choose later hits like "Memory Motel" or "Beast of Burden" (let alone deep cuts like "Out of Control" or "Rain Fell Down"), but those first seven years were an amazing period of growth and innovation for the band. In that time, they went from "Time Is On My Side" to "Sympathy For The Devil." (And in the past eighteen years, they've released a measly two albums.) 

The show featured Hot Rocks almost entirely in sequence, but Italian singer Jovanotti (playing with members of TV On The Radio) opted to perform "You Can't Always Get What You Want" with a youth choir. The kids have bedtimes, so they went on first. They earned huge applause from the moment they sang the opening lines, "I saw her today at the reception." If you closed your eyes, you would have thought you were listening to the album. They nailed the high harmonies and had everyone in the concert hall singing along. 

Most of the earlier acts stuck closely to the Stones' original arrangements. The Black Crowe's Rich Robinson did a slightly jammed-out rendition of "Play With Fire," David Johansen looked more like Mick Jagger than ever as he strutted around the stage and belted out "Get Off My Cloud," and Ronnie Spector drew equally from Irma Thomas and the Rolling Stones for her cover of "Time Is On My Side." 

Juliette Lewis had the difficult job of tackling "Satisfaction." She approached it with tremendous confidence, running onstage in a glittery white jacket, short shorts and white heels. It was a sultry version with lots of pomp and attitude, weakened only when she completely forgot the lyrics to the third verse. For a few horrible seconds it felt like group night on American Idol, but she bounced back like a pro and ended strong. 

Steve Earle looked absolutely thrilled to have the chance to play "Mother's Little Helper," telling the crowd, "Marianne just sang the first song I ever sang in front of people. This is the first song I ever learned on guitar, which is why I'm so pumped." Earle played a country-tinged version of the tune, and it was a clear high point of the evening.

One of the wild card slots went to Art Garfunkel, who hasn't sung in public (to our knowledge) since he was sidelined by vocal paresis in the summer of 2010. The 70-year-old emerged midway through the night to play a stripped down "Ruby Tuesday." In a rare turn, he opted to leave his wig at home. "No hair tonight!" he joked. Garfunkel sounded somewhat throaty and fragile, but really not at all different than he has during the last decade. It was just one song, but hopefully Garfunkel's vocal troubles are behind him and Simon and Garfunkel can finally play their postponed concert dates. 

As the night went on, the arrangements became more daring. The Mountain Goats delivered a jazzy, piano-based "Paint It Black" that brought the song's dark pessimism to the surface. Glen Hansard encouraged the audience to snap their fingers along to a moody, slow "Under My Thumb" that used a stand-up bass as the main instrument. Rickie Lee Jones deconstructed "Sympathy For The Devil" and played it solo acoustic, growling out the words as many in the audience provided the "woo-woo" refrain.

Taj Mahal received one of the longest standing ovations for his bluesy take on "Honky Tonk Woman," performed with his daughter. "One of the good things about the Stones is that you can deconstruct their songs back to the blues and country thing they came from," he said. "That's what we're going to do tonight."

He was followed by Rosanne Cash, who showed off her powerful pipes on "Gimme Shelter." The main set ended with Marc Cohn doing an acoustic "Wild Horses" with Jackson Browne, who played a stripped down version of "Let's Spend The Night Together" earlier in the set. 

The Hot Rocks compilation ends with "Wild Horses," but after Cohn and Browne's performance, Faithfull returned to sing "Sister Morphine," a song she co-wrote with the Stones in 1969. Faithfull would learn the dangers of hard drugs all too well in the years following that collaboration, and she now sings about the "scream of the ambulance" and "sweet cousin cocaine" as someone who knows exactly what she's talking about. It was spellbinding. 

The night wrapped up when every performer not named Art Garfunkel returned to the stage for a loose rendition of "Tumbling Dice." It's the biggest hit from Exile On Main Street, which was released less than a year after Hot Rocks. There are enough great songs on Exile, let alone the band's output in the last 40 years, to make for a great tribute show. If Dorf ever runs out of great catalogs to honor with concerts, he should definitely consider The Rolling Stones 1972-2005. 

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Dave Matthews Unplugs for Charity

Dave Matthews performs at the John Varvatos Stuart House Benefit held at John Varvatos in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles sees a lot of parties and intimate performances, but John Varvatos' annual Stuart House benefit, held at his West Hollywood store and the surrounding street, is a special one. Held in the daytime with a kids' tent, it creates an incredibly relaxed atmosphere, one that makes for some very intimate celebrations.

The 2012 edition featuring Dave Matthews was so low-key that Avatar star Zoe Saldana was near the front of the stage, dancing throughout the set. So mellow that Alice Cooper and Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston held an uninterrupted summit of cool in the Varvatos store with neither fans nor security in sight.

That mood absolutely carries over to the performances. A few years ago Chris Cornell, who, like Matthews, had appeared in a Varvatos ad campaign, performed unplugged, busting out covers like "Hotel California." Unplugged in daylight, you never know what you might get.

Varvatos was hoping for the unexpected from Matthews. "I’m looking for Dave to pull something out of the bag of tricks there and surprise us all, something I haven’t heard him do in a while, something I haven’t heard him do in an intimate setting," the designer told Rolling Stone.

Cooper, out to support fellow Detroiter Varvatos, had some of his own songs he thought Matthews could do if he went the cover route. "There are a bunch," Cooper told us. "More the mid-tempo stuff, something like 'Poison' or 'Is It My Body.' That would be something good for him, a little sexier. I don’t think he would do the hard rock stuff, but even the ballads, 'I Never Cry,' 'You and Me' or 'Only Women Bleed,' he could probably do pretty well."

Much as we would have loved to see Matthews rock some Cooper numbers, there were no covers. But Varvatos definitely got his wish: Matthews said early on during his set that he was going to play some stuff he hadn't played in a while, joking, "If I make mistakes, I did it on purpose, because I'm an artist."

Among the songs he broke out in a 40-minute set were a sterling, mistake-free "#41," "Stay or Leave," "You And Me" (his own, not Cooper's) and "Crush." Matthews had a lot of fun with the setting, telling  the crowd that he's been working on a new album and weaving jokes and stories in between performances. At one point he gave a shout-out to a little girl seated on her father's shoulders.

He closed with a new song written in Chicago, he said, while with his family. He told of picking up the "guy-tar" while his family was about to go swimming. His little boy asked him if he was coming. "But I was selfish," Matthews said. "I've been swimming with him since." The result was a new song he said "I think is about swimming. It's got some drinking references in it, too."

Stuart House is part of the Santa Monica Rape Treatment Center, explained Varvatos. "It treats kids who have been sexually abused," he said. "They’re at the forefront in terms of working with children and trying to help them through. We’ve just been here as a conduit to help raise money and get the awareness up."

The event raised over $700,000. After Matthews finished his set, he headed over to the packed kids' tent to entertain them.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Dave Matthews Unplugs for Charity

Dave Matthews performs at the John Varvatos Stuart House Benefit held at John Varvatos in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles sees a lot of parties and intimate performances, but John Varvatos' annual Stuart House benefit, held at his West Hollywood store and the surrounding street, is a special one. Held in the daytime with a kids' tent, it creates an incredibly relaxed atmosphere, one that makes for some very intimate celebrations.

The 2012 edition featuring Dave Matthews was so low-key that Avatar star Zoe Saldana was near the front of the stage, dancing throughout the set. So mellow that Alice Cooper and Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston held an uninterrupted summit of cool in the Varvatos store with neither fans nor security in sight.

That mood absolutely carries over to the performances. A few years ago Chris Cornell, who, like Matthews, had appeared in a Varvatos ad campaign, performed unplugged, busting out covers like "Hotel California." Unplugged in daylight, you never know what you might get.

Varvatos was hoping for the unexpected from Matthews. "I’m looking for Dave to pull something out of the bag of tricks there and surprise us all, something I haven’t heard him do in a while, something I haven’t heard him do in an intimate setting," the designer told Rolling Stone.

Cooper, out to support fellow Detroiter Varvatos, had some of his own songs he thought Matthews could do if he went the cover route. "There are a bunch," Cooper told us. "More the mid-tempo stuff, something like 'Poison' or 'Is It My Body.' That would be something good for him, a little sexier. I don’t think he would do the hard rock stuff, but even the ballads, 'I Never Cry,' 'You and Me' or 'Only Women Bleed,' he could probably do pretty well."

Much as we would have loved to see Matthews rock some Cooper numbers, there were no covers. But Varvatos definitely got his wish: Matthews said early on during his set that he was going to play some stuff he hadn't played in a while, joking, "If I make mistakes, I did it on purpose, because I'm an artist."

Among the songs he broke out in a 40-minute set were a sterling, mistake-free "#41," "Stay or Leave," "You And Me" (his own, not Cooper's) and "Crush." Matthews had a lot of fun with the setting, telling  the crowd that he's been working on a new album and weaving jokes and stories in between performances. At one point he gave a shout-out to a little girl seated on her father's shoulders.

He closed with a new song written in Chicago, he said, while with his family. He told of picking up the "guy-tar" while his family was about to go swimming. His little boy asked him if he was coming. "But I was selfish," Matthews said. "I've been swimming with him since." The result was a new song he said "I think is about swimming. It's got some drinking references in it, too."

Stuart House is part of the Santa Monica Rape Treatment Center, explained Varvatos. "It treats kids who have been sexually abused," he said. "They’re at the forefront in terms of working with children and trying to help them through. We’ve just been here as a conduit to help raise money and get the awareness up."

The event raised over $700,000. After Matthews finished his set, he headed over to the packed kids' tent to entertain them.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Deadmau5 and Rihanna Perform at Post-Grammy Charity Fundraiser

Jason Merritt/Getty Images and Valerie Macon/Getty Images

The shiny metallic streamers were already six inches deep on the floor by the time Deadmau5 came onstage last night at L.A.’s House of Blues, where the Canadian electro star headlined a wee-hours post-Grammy gig that also featured performances by Rihanna, Calvin Harris and Sebastian Ingrosso of Swedish House Mafia. With ticket prices ranging from $250 to $1,000, the concert was billed as a fundraiser for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Yet it also served as one more sign of what Skrillex had called a “crazy year” for dance music when he won the first of three Grammys earlier Sunday. Put it this way: Last night Rihanna was onstage for approximately seven minutes, while Harris (who wrote and produced Rihanna’s hit “We Found Love”) played for an hour. And nobody seemed to mind.
Not that Rihanna’s seven minutes weren’t a bite-sized thrill. Rocking a checked mini-dress and blonde Farrah Fawcett 'do, she jumped, fist-pumped and perhaps even a sang a bit of her way through jacked-up versions of “Where Have You Been” and “We Found Love” with help from Harris and two backup vocalists. Confetti fell from the ceiling during the climax of the latter tune, and then Rihanna was gone, good deed done and no doubt some after-after-party to get to.
The gearheads’ sets were no less festive, with Ingrosso, Harris and Deadmau5 all dropping Daft Punk tunes to the crowd’s immense delight. Harris even threw in Fatboy Slim’s always-welcome “Praise You,” not to mention a few bars of “By the Way” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. (Maybe the Scottish disco revivalist is gunning for Deadmau5’s spot in next year’s rock-meets-electronica Grammy thing.) The masked one himself actually removed his signature costume piece a few minutes into his set, but he never abandoned his dedication to the seemingly endless crescendo. Fresh from a huge television spot, Deadmau5 started high and kept climbing.

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Deadmau5 and Rihanna Perform at Post-Grammy Charity Fundraiser

Jason Merritt/Getty Images and Valerie Macon/Getty Images

The shiny metallic streamers were already six inches deep on the floor by the time Deadmau5 came onstage last night at L.A.’s House of Blues, where the Canadian electro star headlined a wee-hours post-Grammy gig that also featured performances by Rihanna, Calvin Harris and Sebastian Ingrosso of Swedish House Mafia. With ticket prices ranging from $250 to $1,000, the concert was billed as a fundraiser for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Yet it also served as one more sign of what Skrillex had called a “crazy year” for dance music when he won the first of three Grammys earlier Sunday. Put it this way: Last night Rihanna was onstage for approximately seven minutes, while Harris (who wrote and produced Rihanna’s hit “We Found Love”) played for an hour. And nobody seemed to mind.
Not that Rihanna’s seven minutes weren’t a bite-sized thrill. Rocking a checked mini-dress and blonde Farrah Fawcett 'do, she jumped, fist-pumped and perhaps even a sang a bit of her way through jacked-up versions of “Where Have You Been” and “We Found Love” with help from Harris and two backup vocalists. Confetti fell from the ceiling during the climax of the latter tune, and then Rihanna was gone, good deed done and no doubt some after-after-party to get to.
The gearheads’ sets were no less festive, with Ingrosso, Harris and Deadmau5 all dropping Daft Punk tunes to the crowd’s immense delight. Harris even threw in Fatboy Slim’s always-welcome “Praise You,” not to mention a few bars of “By the Way” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. (Maybe the Scottish disco revivalist is gunning for Deadmau5’s spot in next year’s rock-meets-electronica Grammy thing.) The masked one himself actually removed his signature costume piece a few minutes into his set, but he never abandoned his dedication to the seemingly endless crescendo. Fresh from a huge television spot, Deadmau5 started high and kept climbing.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Madonna's Charity to Begin Work on Schools in Malawi

Madonna appears on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" at NBC Studios in Burbank, California.Kevin Winter/NBCUniversal/Getty Images

Madonna's troubled Raising Malawi charity will soon break ground on the construction of schools in the impoverished African nation, but the schools will be run by the community rather than the singer's organization. Work on the first school will begin on March 30th in the Kasungu region, and all 10 of the planned schools are planned to be completed by June of 2013. Raising Malawi is contributing $300,000 to the non-governmental organization BuildOn to create the schools. BuildOn has already built 50 schools in Malawi and 427 schools around the world.

"This remains a very big priority in my life and I am excited that with the help of BuildOn we can maintain our ongoing commitment to move forward efficiently," Madonna said in a statement to the Associated Press. "I have learned a great deal over the last few years and feel so much more confident that we can reach our goals to educate children in Malawi, especially young girls, in a much more efficient and practical way."

Raising Malawi has faced some difficulties in achieving its goals toward building schools for girls in the nation in the past year. The organization dropped plans to build a $15 million school in March, resulting in the firing of several board members who were accused by auditors of extravagant expenditures on cars, housing and various luxuries. The group also encountered problems in acquiring land for the project.

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Madonna's Charity to Begin Work on Schools in Malawi

Madonna appears on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" at NBC Studios in Burbank, California.Kevin Winter/NBCUniversal/Getty Images

Madonna's troubled Raising Malawi charity will soon break ground on the construction of schools in the impoverished African nation, but the schools will be run by the community rather than the singer's organization. Work on the first school will begin on March 30th in the Kasungu region, and all 10 of the planned schools are planned to be completed by June of 2013. Raising Malawi is contributing $300,000 to the non-governmental organization BuildOn to create the schools. BuildOn has already built 50 schools in Malawi and 427 schools around the world.

"This remains a very big priority in my life and I am excited that with the help of BuildOn we can maintain our ongoing commitment to move forward efficiently," Madonna said in a statement to the Associated Press. "I have learned a great deal over the last few years and feel so much more confident that we can reach our goals to educate children in Malawi, especially young girls, in a much more efficient and practical way."

Raising Malawi has faced some difficulties in achieving its goals toward building schools for girls in the nation in the past year. The organization dropped plans to build a $15 million school in March, resulting in the firing of several board members who were accused by auditors of extravagant expenditures on cars, housing and various luxuries. The group also encountered problems in acquiring land for the project.

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Rihanna and Deadmau5 Headline Charity Gig in Los Angeles

Samir Hussein/Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images

Roc Nation and Three Six Zero Group are teaming up to present a charity concert featuring performances from Rihanna, Deadmau5, Calvin Harris and Sebastian Ingrosso of Swedish House Mafia at the House of Blues in Los Angeles. The one-off gig, which will take place on February 12th, will benefit the Children’s Orthopaedic Center and The Mark Taper–Johnny Mercer Artists Program at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Tickets for the event will go for $1000 each, and will go on sale today at 5 p.m. PT. The bill will also include sets by Chris Lake and Michael Woods,  but given that this show will be taking place on the same night as the 54th Annual Grammy Awards, there's some possibility that other stars may turn up, either on stage or in the audience.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

Amazon Music and MP3 Center

Read more »

Rihanna and Deadmau5 Headline Charity Gig in Los Angeles

Samir Hussein/Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images

Roc Nation and Three Six Zero Group are teaming up to present a charity concert featuring performances from Rihanna, Deadmau5, Calvin Harris and Sebastian Ingrosso of Swedish House Mafia at the House of Blues in Los Angeles. The one-off gig, which will take place on February 12th, will benefit the Children’s Orthopaedic Center and The Mark Taper–Johnny Mercer Artists Program at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Tickets for the event will go for $1000 each, and will go on sale today at 5 p.m. PT. The bill will also include sets by Chris Lake and Michael Woods,  but given that this show will be taking place on the same night as the 54th Annual Grammy Awards, there's some possibility that other stars may turn up, either on stage or in the audience.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

Amazon MP3 Download Center

Read more »