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Nearly 900 hundred fans packed into the Fonada Theatre in LA on Monday night to pay tribute to the late Elliott Smith. The sold out event, reportedly organised by Beck (who performed as special guest headliner), featured performances by The 88 (Elliott's sometime band members) Papa M, Tim Burgess, Beth Orton, Rilo Kiley, Future Pigeon, Alaska and Lou Barlow, who each performed a selection of Elliott's songs. Also rumoured to be playing were Earlimart, and Bright Eyes, but we can't confirm if they made it. The show was filmed and will be released as a DVD and live CD at some point next year.
Beck told the audience (before playing 'Clementine'): "I'm really happy to have this chance to pay tribute to Elliott and his incredible music." Beth Orton added: "So this is a celebration of Elliott's life. I didn't really know Elliott as a person... I'm doing this more for what he's leaving behind."
The evening also featured a speech from Elliott's sister, which fans on his official messageboard said was tearjerking.
Proceeds from the gig will go to the Elliott Smith Foundation, a charity formed in the wake of his death to help abused children. If you would like to make a donation using Paypal click here, and use the email esmfund@yahoo.com, or post it to:
ELLIOTT SMITH MEMORIAL FUND,
4470 Sunset #305,
Los Angeles, 90027.
In other news, organisers of the LA edition of All Tomorrow's Parties, which happens this weekend, have announced they will be staging another Smith tribute on their main stage on Sunday. Elliott was due to play at the festival being curated by Simpsons creator Matt Groening. Ex-band mates of Elliotts will play with various people fronting the band in his honour. Hopefully we'll get reports from the event to let you know what happened.
