Joe Walsh, multi-Grammy Award winning musician and Kennedy Center Honor recipient and VetsAid, his national 501(c)3 non-profit veterans organization, announce the lineup and on-sale date for their seventh annual festival offering. VetsAid 2023 will feature full sets from Jeff Lynne’s ELO, The War On Drugs, The Flaming Lips, Lucius and Walsh himself with a special guest appearance by Stephen Stills. The show will take place on Sunday, November 12, at the North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre near San Diego, CA.
Tickets will be available and on-sale to the public on Friday, August 18 at 10 PM, Pacific time at ticketmaster.com and be priced starting at $39.50. Further details will be available at vetsaid.org.
“VetsAid is back for 2023 and we’re taking it outside in beautiful San Diego to support California’s veteran population,” Walsh explains. “My good buddy Jeff is bringing the ELO experience for their first show since 2019. The War On Drugs is one of my favorite bands out there doing it and I’m thrilled to be able to welcome them. The Flaming Lips are a perpetual joy machine that will dazzle our audience; if you know, you know and if you don’t - you will! Lucius are two spectacular vocal artists and songwriters that will take your breath away. And to top it all off we have my dear friend and hero Stephen Stills joining as a special guest. My friends and I will see you under the stars this November 12th!”
Now in its seventh year, VetsAid hosted its inaugural show on September 20, 2017 with a concert at the EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, VA featuring performances by Walsh, Zac Brown Band, Keith Urban and Gary Clark Jr. In 2018, VetsAid traveled to Tacoma, WA with a sell-out event featuring Walsh, Don Henley, James Taylor, Chris Stapleton, Haim and special guest Ringo Starr. In 2019, Houston, TX welcomed VetsAid for a blockbuster show with Walsh, ZZ Top, The Doobie Brothers, Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, Sheryl Crow and Brad Paisley. The pandemic moved the festival online in 2020 and 2021 with intimate performances from Eddie Vedder, James Hetfield, Gwen Stefani and nearly 40 other artists from across the United States as well as the debut of new music from Walsh in his studio available via livestream. VetsAid 2022 was an instant sell-out all-Ohio affair with blistering sets from a newly reunited James Gang, NIN, The Black Keys and The Breeders with special guest Dave Grohl in Joe’s hometown of Columbus, OH. VetsAid is committed to curating an exclusive once-in-a-lifetime festival lineup in a different American city each year with a large veteran and military population.
As every year, all net proceeds from the concert will go directly to the veterans’ services charities selected through a vetting process coordinated in tandem with the Combined Arms Institute. To date, VetsAid has disbursed $3,000,000 in grants. In 2023, VetsAid plans to disburse grants exclusively to organizations based in Southern California or with operations on the ground in Southern California; grant applications are open now via the VetsAid website.
Veterans and their wellbeing have always been important to Walsh, a Gold Star son himself. His father was a flight instructor for the first US operational jet powered aircraft, the Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star, and died while stationed and on active duty on Okinawa when Walsh was 20 months old.
Walsh aims to use this platform to raise funds and awareness for the still urgent and significant needs of our returning soldiers and their families. Through the establishment of VetsAid and this annual benefit concert, he aims to give back to those who have given so much in sacrifice for this country.
