Reading the Riot Acts: ‘We’d Love to--but . . .’

Remember the optimism in May when Southern California’s top pop concert promoters put aside their competition to plan a series of concerts to help rebuild riot-damaged Los Angeles? They way they talked, the sky seemed the limit.

With hopes of raising upward of $1 million and reviving the city’s shattered spirit, the promoters set out after some of the biggest names in pop.

The idea was to have arena or stadium shows featuring L.A.-based stars the magnitude of Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan and Bonnie Raitt . . . maybe even a once-in-a-lifetime solo acoustic appearance by Neil Diamond in a relatively intimate theater setting. There was even talk of an Eagles reunion.

So what has happened?

Almost nothing--and no one is more discouraged than the promoters themselves.

Nearly three months after the riots, only two events have resulted from the promoters’ efforts: a Wiltern Theatre concert featuring Tom Waits, Fishbone and Los Lobos, and another Wiltern show headlined by comedian Jerry Seinfeld.

“We made overtures to probably 30 artists, and of those . . . the two that were able to do it were Waits and Seinfeld,” says Brian Murphy, president of Avalon Attractions and the catalyst for the benefit campaign.

“We’ve been beating our heads against the wall,” agrees Andrew Hewitt, who with promoter Bill Silva produces concerts in San Diego and at the Hollywood Bowl. “There was a lot of momentum, but unfortunately we didn’t get the artists to commit.”

It seemed that just about everywhere the promoters turned the answer was a variation on: “We’d love to, but. . . .”

* Nirvana: “We would have liked to have done it, but scheduling was a problem,” says manager John Silva.

* Springsteen: “Bruce legitimately wanted to do something, but he was in rehearsal and about to leave for his European tour,” says Hewitt.

* Jackson and Diamond: “Both of them were leaving to tour Europe,” says a source who works with both artists.

* Madonna: Discussions never went beyond initial contact, sources report.

* Ross: “She came to L.A. and tried to help put something together, but there wasn’t enough time before she went off to continue her European tour that she’s been on the last three months,” says a source close to the singer.

* Dylan: “Bob is in Europe,” says his spokesman Elliot Mintz.

* Tom Petty: His management was never contacted about this specific series, but his office was “inundated with requests. Every crackpot in town tried to capitalize on this,” a source says.

* The Red Hot Chili Peppers: “They’re on the ‘Lollapalooza’ tour, and they’ve played a lot of other benefits in L.A. recently,” says Paul Tollet of Goldenvoice Productions, one of the firms in the promoters’ consortium.

* The Eagles: “There is no such thing as the Eagles. They don’t exist,” said a representative of Don Henley.

Murphy is still holding out some hope, though.

“There are still a few artists who had expressed a great deal of interest in doing something in June or July but were out of the country who said that when they returned to the States they would be in touch and perhaps we could work out a concert,” he says.

But, cautions Hewitt, the artists may feel the urgency has faded: “People in L.A. have short memories, both the public and people in the industry.”