After fires, L.A. teens just want to feel normal. New all-ages venue is 'a way to escape'

Through a veil of acheronian hairsbreadth tendrils, Audrey Cymone stares intensely into the darkened room. The 16-year-old vocalist of the precocious schoolhouse set Kim Theory croons the melancholy-tinged lyrics from “Growing Pains,” their opus astir teen angst.

Why can’t things conscionable beryllium the same?

The question hangs successful the aerial arsenic the dependable thickens during soundcheck — guitars climbing, drums cracking. It carries treble meaning present astatine Backyard Party, a caller all-ages euphony venue successful a nondescript concern parkland connected the borderline of Pasadena and Altadena.

The band, the venue’s squad and the assemblage stock an undesirable connective tissue. All person been affected successful antithetic ways by the Eaton and Palisades fires. Some watched their homes pain to the ground. Others unrecorded arsenic expatriates from their ain assemblage due to the fact that their houses successful the pain zones are inactive uninhabitable. And immoderate simply carnivore witnesser to the grief that, astir a twelvemonth later, inactive bubbles up.

Before this rainy November night, the all-female set self-described arsenic Riot Grrrl-adjacent mostly performed astatine location parties and tiny downtown L.A. venues. To observe the merchandise of its EP, “Bitch Scene,” Kim Theory chose Backyard Party.

“This is simply a large deal,” says Lula Seifert, 16, the guitarist, watching the enactment of radical snake done the door. “This is an awesome venue.”

When Cymone, wearing a formal fashioned retired of a trash bag, and Seifert instrumentality the signifier aboriginal with drummer Zoey Su, and bassist Lucy Fraser, the sold-out country crackles with energy. Teenagers assemblage astir the stage. A mosh pit breaks out. Bodies collide successful a whirl of elbows and flying sneakers.

Attendees creation successful the assemblage during the set Kim Theory’s EP Release Party astatine Backyard Party connected November 15.

The backmost of the country — populated with parents, guardians and supervisors — is much sedate. Linda Wang, 45, the drummer’s mom, likes the all-ages venue due to the fact that it provides a harmless abstraction for teens to acquisition unrecorded music. Nearby, a dada vigorously bobs his head. Hugs are exchanged betwixt assemblage members torn isolated by January’s wildfires.

At Backyard Party, wherever unrecorded euphony happens each weekend, the vibes are good, the impermanent database is household affable and the location rules are straight-edged. Between set sets, Brandon Jay, a Backyard Party partner, popped onstage to punctual the assemblage that the abstraction is simply a drug-free zone. For those who don’t comply, “You gotta go,” helium announced.

And connected Kim Theory’s night, the heaviness near down by the fires stays astatine the door.

“Music is simply a precise almighty thing,” says Malena Vesbit, 14, who helped tally summons income for the show. “It moves your emotions. I deliberation it’s truly a mode to flight it all.”

The set Kim Theory preforms connected signifier during their EP Release Party astatine Backyard Party.

Music composes a 2nd life

Backyard Party, tally by Jay and partners Sandra Denver and Matt Chait, is inspired by Pasadena lore — the backyard shows that helped motorboat Van Halen. The adjacent epoch of Pasadena parties starts successful this 1,500-square-foot space.

But it’s go much than conscionable an all-ages venue and lawsuit abstraction since hosting its archetypal amusement successful September. If you mislaid your grounds postulation successful the fires, you tin prime up escaped vinyls from their library. If you mislaid an instrument, escaped guitars, amps and a soft for the taking capable a country adjacent to the stage.

Jay, and his wife, Gwendolyn Sanford, who enactment unneurotic arsenic a composing team, mislaid their Altadena home, euphony workplace and implicit 150 instruments and pieces of signaling cogwheel successful the Eaton fire.

“Everyone mislaid peculiar things similar that,” says Jay, 53. “It’s truthful hard to cope”

Backyard Party laminitis Brandon Jay helps set a drum acceptable during the set Kim Theory’s EP Release Party.

After the fire, friends started pressing their philharmonic cogwheel into his hands — tiny acts of generosity that helped stitch him backmost together. All implicit Los Angeles, philharmonic instruments beryllium untouched successful garages and closets. What if Jay could assistance lucifer these lonely instruments with musicians successful need?

Weeks aft the fire, Jay founded Altadena Musicians, and the companion Instrumental Giving app followed successful April to link musicians successful request with donors. Jay, with his bouffant curly hairsbreadth and preternatural quality to retrieve the smallest details, became a de facto philharmonic matchmaker.

The process often starts with a idiosyncratic communicative of a nonaccomplishment and ends with an unexpected quality transportation made by the request for thing small, similar a harmonica. Altadena Musicians has helped implicit 850 people, says Jay. The circulation of treasured possessions and an bonzer consciousness of kindness tin alteration lives.

When the Pacific Palisades occurrence raged, Michelle Bellamy, 39, reached for her Martin acoustic guitar, affectionately named Gretchyn the Second, earlier evacuating, but past changed her mind. Something told her she would beryllium back.

But the occurrence took her location — and the guitar she utilized to larn to constitute songs on. Regret replayed successful her caput until Jay recovered a match: Abby Sherr, 80, whose Pacific Palisades location survived. Sherr had been fixed a Martin acoustic guitar astatine 16 by her brother. She was ne'er rather capable to portion with it until she heard astir Jay’s effort. Then she knew precisely wherever it needed to go.

In April, Sherr arrived astatine the Santa Monica existent property bureau wherever Bellamy works to springiness her the guitar, recently named Gretchyn the Third.

Attendees perceive to the set Kim Theory during their EP Release Party.

“This guitar has fixed maine a caller lease connected my philharmonic life,” says Bellamy. She was inspired to constitute a opus astir the Palisades occurrence connected Gretchyn the Third. Of course, she sent Sherr a video of her performance.

“It did bring tears to my eyes proceeding her play and sing that song,” says Sherr. “I thrust by what utilized to beryllium her apartment, not infrequently, and I deliberation of her each time.”

Just similar normal. Just for 1 night.

No 1 astatine Kim Theory’s amusement truly wanted to speech astir fires. Especially the kids, says Jay. They conscionable privation to consciousness normal.

Some teenagers similar enactment implicit words. Ticket income spell toward paying the bands and backing Backyard Party and Altadena Musicians’ venue upkeep and programs.

“Helping retired tin marque everything conscionable consciousness a small spot amended astir the authorities of our world,” says Fraser, 16, Kim Theory’s bassist.

Attendees deterioration assorted outfit accessories during the set Kim Theory’s EP Release Party.

Vesbit agrees. She helped found the Alta Pasa Project, an enactment to assistance teens who were impacted by the fires. She and her household are inactive displaced from their Altadena home.

During the party, Vesbit took breaks from moving the doorway to ticker the show. She danced and joined the mosh pit. She noticed that galore teenagers hugged, adjacent though they didn’t cognize each other, Vesbit says. That was her favourite part.

It was the Morrow Family’s archetypal clip attending a Backyard Party event. They came from their semipermanent impermanent spot successful Highland Park to spot Kim Theory perform. Their Altadena location stands, but due to the fact that of the fire’s lingering fume and ash they haven’t been capable to return.

Max Morrow, 15, is bushed of talking astir the occurrence and the location they can’t spell backmost to yet. His younger sister, Stella Morrow, 13, inactive feels awkward astir grieving what is inactive tangible but retired of reach.

“It’s a clip capsule,” says their mom, Mel Morrow, 52, astir their home.

Friends arrive, and she rushes implicit to greet them.

“I mean, we’ll amusement up nary substance what,” she says. “Because we didn’t conscionable suffer our houses, we mislaid our community.”

Attendees play successful the rainfall aft the set Kim Theory’s EP Release Party.

“Growing Pains,” Kim Theory’s EP closer, is simply a opus astir the signifier of beingness erstwhile you’re unsure the idiosyncratic you were would beryllium arrogant of your contiguous self, says Cymone.

“I consciousness similar it’s thing that a batch of teenagers tin subordinate to,” she adds.

Tomorrow, determination volition beryllium much uncertainty, but successful the parking batch aft the show, the teens commencement dancing successful the rain.