Jelly Roll Delivers an Emotional ‘I Am Not Okay’ & Propulsive ‘Hollywood Nights’ at FireAid Concert

Jelly Roll didn’t write “I Am Not Okay” specifically about the Los Angeles fires, but like many of the songs performed during the Thursday (Jan. 30) FireAid benefit concert, it took on added meaning given the emotional upheaval Los Angelenos have gone through the past month as fires have ravaged parts of the county.

Striding out on the Intuit Dome stage sporting an L.A. Dodgers cap, he declared he was “going to bring some country music” to the evening before launching into the song, whose refrain — “I’m not OK, but it’s all going to be all right” — struck the perfect chord for the evening. The song’s message of resilience and Jelly Roll’s confident, sympathetic delivery felt like a reassuring promise.

After he finished the tune, which Jelly took to No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart last year, he introduced himself to the audience calling himself Jason “Jelly Roll” Deford, before adding, “I think it’s important while I’m on this stage to sing a song about one of my favorite cities in America, but I can’t do that without someone from Los Angeles. I would like to bring my big brother Travis Barker out to play tonight.”

With that, the Blink-182 drummer settled in behind the drum kit and the band barreled through a propulsive, driving version of Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band’s “Hollywood Nights,” Seger’s 1978 classic about a Midwest guy who gets lost in the excesses of the Los Angeles hills and in the allure of one particular woman, as he who wonders after it all goes south, if it’s too late to go back home.

Jelly Roll was one of more than two dozen performers — including Stevie Nicks, John Mayer, Rod Stewart, P!nk and No Doubt — who took over the Intuit Dome and Kia Forum for the benefit, which is raising money for victims of the fires and for future fire prevention.