On Sunday, December 4th, LA-based musical collective The Tribe returned to Cal State University, Northridge’s Plaza del Sol Performance Hall for its second annual all-star charity concert.
The “Peace, Love & Understanding”- themed show was sponsored by The Get Together Foundation and Rock Cellar Magazine. 100% of the proceeds benefited the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation — a California-based nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing burns and fires and providing services to those who have been affected by a burn injury — and the ABC7’s and Southern California Firefighters’ Spark of Love Toy Drive, which has collected more than nine million toys for underserved children and teens in its 24 years.

For those unaware, The Tribe is a collective of session and touring musicians and vocalists that puts on all-star musical fundraising events at least twice a year for various causes. Since 2015, The Tribe has raised over $63,600 for local charities, and for Haiti Relief following Hurricane Matthew, through sold-out shows at LA-area venues, including a two-night multimedia event at the El Rey Theatre and a Beach Boys tribute at The Canyon in Agoura Hills.

Said the Tribe’s Executive Producer, Kevin Wachs:
“It’s been so wonderful to gather this talented bunch of musicians once again. We are very grateful to the many people who contribute both on and off stage to making The Tribe’s events magical and beautiful.”
Proceeds from previous Tribe shows have gone to City of Hope, MusiCares®, The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, TreePeople, The Beauty Bus Foundation, The Rescue Train, Project Play!, and Pure Water for the World.

The Peace, Love & Understanding concert featured an incredible ensemble of musicians, star singers, and backing vocalists led by Musical Director Jeff Alan Ross.


Mary Wilson of The Supremes got the crowd on its feet (and many of them onstage dancing) during a medley of hits, including “Baby Love,” “Stop! In the Name of Love,” and “You Can’t Hurry Love.”

Peter Asher regaled the crowd with the story of how he convinced Paul McCartney to finish writing “A World Without Love” so Peter & Gordon could record it…

…before playing the song with the full band (and sparking a major sing-along moment with the crowd).

Audience participation while #peterasher sings “A World Without Love” at our #peaceloveandunderstanding charity gig. #peterandgordon #britishinvasion #charityconcert #rockcellarmagazine #rockcellar #PeaceLoveUnderstanding #fundraiser #sparkoflove

A video posted by @rockcellarmag on Dec 4, 2016 at 9:31pm PST

Carnie Wilson sang “Get Together,” a Youngbloods tune that her band, Wilson Phillips, previously covered in 2004.

Rosemary Butler, who’s sung with Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, and Linda Ronstadt, got a “dance train” going in the audience during her rendition of The O’Jays “Love Train,” while American Idol finalist Carly Smithson of We Are the Fallen brought the house down with her performance of Barbra Streisand’s “The Woman in the Moon.”
The night was filled with great singers, including Debbi Peterson (The Bangles) and John Wicks (The Records) of Broken Sky performing Robert Palmer’s “Every Kinda People,” Kiki Ebsen (Christopher Cross, Boz Scaggs) doing “What the World Needs Now Is Love” together with The Tribe’s background vocalists, who also complemented Adam Daniel’s version of U2’s “One.”

The Honeys (Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford and Ginger Blake) performed Ringo Starr’s “It Don’t Come Easy,” which was a definite crowd-pleaser.

Rob Bonfiglio offered the audience a tender moment with “Give Me Love, Give Me Peace on Earth,” and Marcella Detroit aka Marcy Levy (Eric Clapton, Leon Russell) delivered a stirring rendition of the night’s titular song, “(What’s So Funny ’Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding.”
The evening also included one of the Tribe’s newest member, Bill Cinque (Neil Diamond, Graham Nash, Stevie Nicks), who wowed the crowd with the unexpected Three Dog Night cover “Easy to be Hard,” and John Pratt’s rendition of Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is” was truly a moment.

The fantastic John Pratt singing some @foreignerlive at our #PeaceLoveUnderstanding charity gig tonight. #JohnPratt
A video posted by @rockcellarmag on Dec 4, 2016 at 8:28pm PST

The concert began when Steve Goddard opened the show with his powerful rendition of “Peace Train,” but not before poet Stephen Kalinich (The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, Mary Wilson) recited his “Love Alone Can Heal.”

Gary Stockdale showed the audience true soul with his performance of The Rascals’ “People Got to be Free.”

The concert also featured a special cameo acoustic performance by trio King Washington and Jeff Alan Ross’s original tune, “Love is Raining Down.”

The musicians and singers that comprised the house band were stellar, including Rob Bonfiglio (Wilson Phillips) on guitars, Marc Mann (Danny Elfman, Jeff Lynne) on guitars and keyboards, who also sang lead on “Across the Universe,” drummer Steve Ferrone of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, the Average White Band and countless others, Dave Pearlman (Dan Fogelberg, Phil Everly) on pedal steel, Kevin Wachs also on drums, Jay Cohen and Chad Watson sharing the bass role, Michael Stern on guitars, background vocalists Lauri Reimer and John McNeely; Al. Keith on percussion, and Scotty Mitchell on saxophone.

88.5 FM KCSN midday host Jim Nelson was the emcee, and it’s safe to say all who attended had a great time.
The Tribe is already planning its next charity event for some time next spring. For more information give The Tribe a ‘Like’ on Facebook, and call the Get Together Foundation at 818-727-7884 to learn more about the organization.
Enjoy additional photos from the night below: