Quick Take:
THE HERE & NOW: Santa Cruz County gets some much-needed love from an impressive lineup of musical talent on Dec. 5. Benefit fire relief efforts have already distributed more than $600,000.
Nearly four months after a series of historic and catastrophic fires ravaged Santa Cruz County, a lineup of star musicians will gather in a virtual concert to benefit fire relief efforts under the banner “Love You Madly.”
On Dec. 5, the 90-minute “Love You Madly” online show will feature performances and personal messages from Bonnie Raitt & Boz Scaggs, Sammy Hagar, Colin Hay, Los Lobos, Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon and many others.
Also booked for the event is Laurie Lewis, the String Cheese Incident, Joe Satriani, the T Sisters, Twiddle, Prairie Prince, Rogue Wave, and Victor Krummenacher, a co-founder of the legendary Santa Cruz band Camper Van Beethoven. There will also be artwork and photography, as well as reports on the fire relief effort. The event will be hosted by famed music journalist Ben Fong-Torres, and others.
The show is a continuation of the “Love You Madly” fire relief program launched in September, which featured a number of musicians releasing original shelter-in-place performance videos every week to raise money for those displaced by the ruinous CZU fires in August.
The program is the work of Santa Cruz music producer Jon Luini and Event Santa Cruz promoter Matthew Swinnerton. The fund, which has already distributed more than $600,000 for fire relief, was administered by The Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County. The foundation is a Lookout Santa Cruz civic partner.
The Dec. 5 livestream will be presented on Nugs.TV (2nu.gs/loveyoumadly). For more information, go to www.santacruzfirerelief.org.