Pixies' Black Francis Hosts All-Star Charity Gig in Los Angeles
Pixies frontman Black Francis wielded his weighty Rolodex and called on an all-star cast to perform at a marathon benefit concert last night at Los Angeles club the Echoplex. The five-and-a-half-hour extravaganza featured sets by Tenacious D, OK Go, members of the Pixies, Grand Duchy, Flea, David J and Kevin Haskins of Love and Rockets and 'Weird' Al Yankovic, to name a few. All of the artists donated their time and talents to help Winston Bertrand, a 10-month-old boy born with severe lymphatic malformations that require extensive medical treatment.
The benefit was the brainchild of Francis and his wife, Violet Clark. "When I found out that the baby was born with all these challenges, it blew my mind," Clark told Spinner. "My husband and I were like, 'What can we do? We've got to do something.'" Their idea took shape in the dark Echo Park club, with a sold-out gig that gave 100 percent of the proceeds to Baby Winston and his family. A second event featuring comedy takes place at the Echo tonight.
L.A.'s own the 88 kicked off the evening, delivering a brief and lively set. Francis and Clark then took the stage as Grand Duchy, performing a handful tracks from their recent debut album, 'Petits Fours.' "Thanks for coming out to Winston Calling," Francis told the crowd. Next up was David J of Bauhaus and Love and Rockets, who offered up a cabaret-style performance of his own material as well as a cover of 'Monkey Gone to Heaven,' which saw him dueting with Francis on a spoken-word rendition of the classic Pixies track.
Tenacious D soon kicked things up a few notches with a humorous performance that saw Jack Black furiously hitting the upper registers while Kyle
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