(EXPERIENCE MAGAZINE) — The SAVE Nonprofit brought suicide awareness and education to Agoura Hills on December 4th. Legendary musician, singer and songwriter, Josh Homme, brought his A-list pals together for one night at the Canyon Club. Known for his bands Queens of the Stone Age and the Eagles of Death Metal, Josh rarely gives performances in the States. He really cares about SAVE. This was a heart felt event with everyone in attendance reflecting on love ones that have died through suicide. During the evening, each guest was invited to come to the the front of the stage and say the name of their loved one or friend who died through suicide. Some people cried. It was a very moving evening. David Forseth was the emcee for the event . He did a great job of keeping it going. SAVE Executive Director, Erich Mische, really did a stellar job at explaining what SAVE is about. He came all the way out from Minnesota for the event. SAVE is one of the first organisations dedicated to the prevention of suicide. SAVE is founded on the belief that suicide is preventable. As Erich says, “Your friend or loved one who is considering suicide can be saved with one hug. We know this because of people who were saved from suicide by someone reaching out.” You can read more about SAVE here.
The red carpet before the event was a lot of fun and these are all top notch musicians. Josh Homme walked the red carpet as well as Jesse Hughes and Troy Van Leeuwen. These guys have gone through so much since an Eagles of Death Metal show at the Bataclan theater in Paris in 2015 where 80 people were killed. Jesse was on the red carpet wearing a bright yellow suit and posing for all kinds of photos. Also on the red carpet was Brett Scallions (Fuel, Radiobot), Kevin Martin (Candlebox), Orianthi, Billy Morrison (Billy Idol), Julia Lage (Vixen), Jonathan Mover (Aretha Franklin, Alice Cooper) and Richie Kotzen (Poison, Mr Big). Lisa Woodard does such a great job with the red carpet. There were top L.A. photographers covering the event. All photos for this articles are by Alex Kluft.
Kevin Martin led the singing on the Brett Scallions portion of the show. He has an incredible vocal range. He got all kinds of Led Zeppelin nuances in.
Julia Lage from Vixen! Check her out! She’s on all the socials. She didn’t miss one note. She’s fun to watch too.
Richie Kotzen was amazing on Fool Around and Fell in Love. I’ve seen Richie play a dozen times but he was on fire on this night. Great guitar solo and soulful singing.
Brett Scallions led the acoustic jam. He was great on Running Down a Dream. Brett is very charismatic and did a fine job of leading the group. Billy Morrison from Billy Idol’s band was just incredible on Wonderwall. Such a nice melody. He has great voice. Jonathan Mover was keeping the beat going. He’s a great drummer.
I saw Orianthi on the red carpet and I asked her if she was playing acoustic guitar tonight. She said no, she brought her electric guitar. She played a stellar rendition of All Along the Watchtower. Blazing solo. A real show stopper. Ori is incredible.
The main event was seeing Josh Homme playing and singing. The crowd was really excited to see him and experience this moment. Josh is usually playing to crowds of 50,000 people or more and this event was much more intimate with just a few hundred people. Josh is an incredible singer. It’s hard to describe what makes him different. People really love seeing him perform. Towards the end of the evening, Josh quieted the crowd down and really tried to explain what suicide prevention means to him. It was from the heart.
It was such a heart felt night of suicide awareness and incredible music. It was such a treat to come together at the Canyon Club to raise awareness for suicide prevention.
