September 29, 2005 | Read Time: 1 minute
The music industry has responded to Hurricane Katrina with a flurry of fund-raising concerts that
industry observers say is unprecedented.
Beginning with the “Shelter From the Storm” event, broadcast on 26 television networks September 9, musicians from every genre have been participating in fund-raising events. The September 9 show raised $40-million, according to Reuters.
At least 70 Katrina benefit shows have been scheduled at venues for which Ticketmaster handles sales, according to the nation’s leading ticket seller. These range from star-studded megashows like two in New York City on September 20 — which featured performers like Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Elton John, Bette Midler, and Simon & Garfunkel — to smaller concerts scattered around the country in places like the Oglethorpe Speedway Park, in Pooler, Ga. At least two are being held in Canada.
Mr. Matthews already has raised $1.5-million by staging a benefit concert at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre outside Denver on September 12. Everyone involved — including performers, vendors, truck drivers, stage hands, and city and county public-safety workers — donated their services, keeping the expenses of staging the show to a minimum, according to the show’s promoter, Chuck Morris Presents. The money will be donated to the Bama Works Foundation, which was set up by Mr. Matthews to carry out his band’s charitable work, and will be distributed for both short-term disaster relief and long-term rebuilding.
Next month, the band Pearl Jam will play at Chicago’s House of Blues to raise money for the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, and the Jazz Foundation of America. The ticket price: $1,000 each.
Ticketmaster plans to pull together all the benefit shows listed with its company on one page of its Web site, at http://www.ticketmaster.com/hurricanekatrina/.
