Lifestyle
After fires, L.A. teens just want to feel normal. New all-ages venue is ‘a way to escape’
Through a veil of dark hair tendrils, Audrey Cymone stares intensely into the darkened room. The 16-year-old singer of the high school band Kim Theory croons the melancholy-tinged lyrics from “Growing Pains,” their song about adolescent angst.
Why can’t things just be the same?
The question hangs in the air as the sound thickens during soundcheck — guitars climbing, drums cracking. It carries double meaning here at Backyard Party, a new all-ages music venue in a nondescript business park on the border of Pasadena and Altadena.
The band, the venue’s team and the audience share an undesirable connective tissue. All have been affected in different ways by the Eaton and Palisades fires. Some watched their homes burn to the ground. Others live as expatriates from their own community because their houses in the burn zones are still uninhabitable. And some simply bear witness to the grief that, almost a year later, still bubbles up.
Before this rainy November night, the all-female band self-described as Riot Grrrl-adjacent mostly performed at house parties and small downtown L.A. venues. To celebrate the release of its EP, “Bitch Scene,” Kim Theory chose Backyard Party.
“This is a big deal,” says Lula Seifert, 16, the guitarist, watching the line of people snake through the door. “This is an awesome venue.”
When Cymone, wearing a dress fashioned out of a trash bag, and Seifert take the stage later with drummer Zoey Su, and bassist Lucy Fraser, the sold-out room crackles with energy. Teenagers crowd around the stage. A mosh pit breaks out. Bodies collide in a whirl of elbows and flying sneakers.
Attendees dance in the crowd during the band Kim Theory’s EP Release Party at Backyard Party on November 15.
The back of the room — populated with parents, guardians and supervisors — is more sedate. Linda Wang, 45, the drummer’s mom, likes the all-ages venue because it provides a safe space for teens to experience live music. Nearby, a dad vigorously bobs his head. Hugs are exchanged between community members torn apart by January’s wildfires.
At Backyard Party, where live music happens every weekend, the vibes are good, the guest list is family friendly and the house rules are straight-edged. Between band sets, Brandon Jay, a Backyard Party partner, popped onstage to remind the crowd that the space is a drug-free zone. For those who don’t comply, “You gotta go,” he announced.
And on Kim Theory’s night, the heaviness left behind by the fires stays at the door.
“Music is a very powerful thing,” says Malena Vesbit, 14, who helped run ticket sales for the show. “It moves your emotions. I think it’s really a way to escape it all.”
The band Kim Theory preforms on stage during their EP Release Party at Backyard Party.
Music composes a second life
Backyard Party, run by Jay and partners Sandra Denver and Matt Chait, is inspired by Pasadena lore — the backyard shows that helped launch Van Halen. The next era of Pasadena parties starts in this 1,500-square-foot space.
But it’s become more than just an all-ages venue and event space since hosting its first show in September. If you lost your record collection in the fires, you can pick up free vinyls from their library. If you lost an instrument, free guitars, amps and a piano for the taking fill a room next to the stage.
Jay, and his wife, Gwendolyn Sanford, who work together as a composing team, lost their Altadena home, music studio and over 150 instruments and pieces of recording gear in the Eaton fire.
“Everyone lost special things like that,” says Jay, 53. “It’s so hard to cope”
Backyard Party founder Brandon Jay helps adjust a drum set during the band Kim Theory’s EP Release Party.
After the fire, friends started pressing their musical gear into his hands — small acts of generosity that helped stitch him back together. All over Los Angeles, musical instruments sit untouched in garages and closets. What if Jay could help match these lonely instruments with musicians in need?
Weeks after the fire, Jay founded Altadena Musicians, and the companion Instrumental Giving app followed in April to connect musicians in need with donors. Jay, with his bouffant curly hair and preternatural ability to remember the smallest details, became a de facto musical matchmaker.
For the record:
1:33 p.m. Dec. 1, 2025A previous version of this article stated Altadena Musicians has helped over 850 people. It has helped roughly 1,200 people.
The process often starts with a personal story of a loss and ends with an unexpected human connection made by the need for something small, like a harmonica. Altadena Musicians has helped roughly 1,200 people, says Jay. The circulation of treasured possessions and an extraordinary sense of kindness can change lives.
When the Pacific Palisades fire raged, Michelle Bellamy, 39, reached for her Martin acoustic guitar, affectionately named Gretchyn the Second, before evacuating, but then changed her mind. Something told her she would be back.
But the fire took her home — and the guitar she used to learn to write songs on. Regret replayed in her mind until Jay found a match: Abby Sherr, 80, whose Pacific Palisades home survived. Sherr had been given a Martin acoustic guitar at 16 by her brother. She was never quite able to part with it until she heard about Jay’s effort. Then she knew exactly where it needed to go.
In April, Sherr arrived at the Santa Monica real estate office where Bellamy works to give her the guitar, newly named Gretchyn the Third.
Attendees listen to the band Kim Theory during their EP Release Party.
“This guitar has given me a new lease on my musical life,” says Bellamy. She was inspired to write a song about the Palisades fire on Gretchyn the Third. Of course, she sent Sherr a video of her performance.
“It did bring tears to my eyes hearing her play and sing that song,” says Sherr. “I drive by what used to be her apartment, not infrequently, and I think of her every time.”
Just like normal. Just for one night.
No one at Kim Theory’s show really wanted to talk about fires. Especially the kids, says Jay. They just want to feel normal.
Some teenagers prefer action over words. Ticket sales go toward paying the bands and funding Backyard Party and Altadena Musicians’ venue upkeep and programs.
“Helping out can make everything just feel a little bit better about the state of our world,” says Fraser, 16, Kim Theory’s bassist.
Attendees wear various outfit accessories during the band Kim Theory’s EP Release Party.
Vesbit agrees. She helped establish the Alta Pasa Project, an organization to help teens who were impacted by the fires. She and her family are still displaced from their Altadena home.
During the party, Vesbit took breaks from working the door to watch the show. She danced and joined the mosh pit. She noticed that many teenagers hugged, even though they didn’t know each other, Vesbit says. That was her favorite part.
It was the Morrow Family’s first time attending a Backyard Party event. They came from their long-term temporary place in Highland Park to see Kim Theory perform. Their Altadena home stands, but because of the fire’s lingering smoke and ash they haven’t been able to return.
Max Morrow, 15, is tired of talking about the fire and the house they can’t go back to yet. His younger sister, Stella Morrow, 13, still feels awkward about grieving what is still tangible but out of reach.
“It’s a time capsule,” says their mom, Mel Morrow, 52, about their home.
Friends arrive, and she rushes over to greet them.
“I mean, we’ll show up no matter what,” she says. “Because we didn’t just lose our houses, we lost our community.”
Attendees play in the rain after the band Kim Theory’s EP Release Party.
“Growing Pains,” Kim Theory’s EP closer, is a song about the stage of life when you’re unsure the person you were would be proud of your present self, says Cymone.
“I feel like it’s something that a lot of teenagers can relate to,” she adds.
Tomorrow, there will be more uncertainty, but in the parking lot after the show, the teens start dancing in the rain.
Ariana Grande arrives at the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif.
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The brightest stars in TV and film kicked off the 83rd annual Golden Globes tonight in Beverly Hills, Calif. with Ariana Grande, Noah Wyle, Teyana Taylor and George Clooney are just some the names who walked the red carpet. This year’s ceremony was hosted by comedian Nikki Glaser.
Here’s a glimpse of what some of the attendees are wearing tonight.
Michael B. Jordan
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Ryan Coogler and Zinzi Evans
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2026 Golden Globes
Nikki Glaser Shouts Out Rob Reiner …
Dons ‘Spinal Tap’ Hat at Close of Show
Published
Rob Reiner wasn’t forgotten at this year’s Golden Globe awards … because host Nikki Glaser paid tribute to him just weeks after his murder.
Here’s the deal … during the sign-off for the awards show, Nikki came onstage wearing a black and white “Spinal Tap” hat — the band which serves as the subject of Reiner’s iconic 1984 mockumentary of the same name.
Worth noting … the Golden Globes do not typically air an in memoriam — so this was the only time Reiner was mentioned at the show.
As you know … Rob and his wife Michele Singer Reiner were found dead in their Los Angeles home last month. Their son Nick Reiner has been arrested for murder in connection to the case.
TMZ.com
Nick’s arraignment was scheduled for last week … but, his lawyer Alan Jackson dropped out of the case — leaving Nick with a public defender and new arraignment date set for late February.
Jackson told a gaggle of reporters outside the courthouse that Nick’s not guilty … but, he simply can’t defend him. He did not provide a reason for his withdrawal.
Our new documentary “TMZ Investigates The Reiner Murders: What Really Happened” dives into Rob and Michele’s grisly deaths … as well as Nick’s history of mental health issues and even how his weight gain set him on a dangerous path.
“TMZ Investigates The Reiner Murders: What Really Happened” is now streaming on Hulu.
On-air challenge
Today’s puzzle is called “Pet Theory.” Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase or name in which the first word start starts PE- and the second word starts T-. (Ex. What walkways at intersections carry –> PEDESTRIAN TRAFFIC)
1. Chart that lists all the chemical elements
2. Place for a partridge in “The 12 Days of Christmas”
3. Male voyeur
4. What a coach gives a team during halftime in the locker room
5. Set of questions designed to reveal your traits
6. Something combatants sign to end a war
7. Someone who works with you one-on-one with physical exercises
8. Member of the Who
9. Incisors, canines, and premolars that grow in after you’re a baby
10. Nadia Comaneci was the first gymnast to score this at the Olympics
11. What holds the fuel in a British car
Last week’s challenge
Last week’s challenge was a numerical one from Ed Pegg Jr., who runs the website mathpuzzle.com. Take the nine digits — 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. You can group some of them and add arithmetic operations to get 2011 like this: 1 + 23 ÷ 4 x 5 x 67 – 8 + 9. If you do these operations in order from left to right, you get 2011. Well, 2011 was 15 years ago. Can you group some of the digits and add arithmetic symbols in a different way to make 2026? The digits from 1 to 9 need to stay in that order. I know of two different solutions, but you need to find only one of them.
Challenge answer
12 × 34 × 5 – 6 – 7 + 8 – 9 [or] 1 + 2 + 345 × 6 – 7 × 8 + 9
Winner
Daniel Abramson of Albuquerque, N.M.
This week’s challenge
This week’s challenge comes from listener Ward Hartenstein. Think of a well-known couple whose names are often said in the order of _____ & _____. Seven letters in the names in total. Combine those two names, change an E to an S, and rearrange the result to name another famous duo who are widely known as _____ & _____.
If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it below by Thursday, January 15 at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle.
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