Many artists have stepped up in the past few months to help raise money for the people affected by the LA wildfires. This past Sunday was yet another, gathering up performers to help support the community. This concert, dubbed “Let’s Get L.Aid,” was subtitled “a night of comedy and music.” Headliner “Weird” Al Yankovic, whose work covers both of those descriptions, wrapped up the show with a special performance of Tom Petty‘s “Free Fallin'”. (Petty was a long-time Los Angeles resident.) Yankovic brought out Puddles Pity Party and Tim Hedecker to join in the song.
With Heidecker (who introduced the song by saying simply “I wrote this,) on guitar and Yankovic on accordion, Puddles performed the song in his typical sad-clown voice, with the rest of the band playing it relatively straight. In fact, when you read the headline, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a jokey performance; it was strangely touching, as the audience joins in at the end. Al also performed Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” as part of his set… and it was a straight cover as well.
The performance capped off a night featuring Rufus Wainwright, the Beach Boys’ Al Jardine and Monty Python’s Eric Idle, who led everyone in a singalong of “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.”
