> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Memorial benefit concert cancelled - URL: https://www.smdp.com/memorial-benefit-concert-cancelled/ - Published: 2008-06-14T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T19:54:29.000Z - Author: Guest Author - Tags: Events, Downtown, #archive-import *Students, parents disappointed, but grateful* *By ALICE OLLSTEIN Special to the Daily Press* DOWNTOWN Saturday night at the Orpheum Theater, students, parents and community members would have been lining up for a rock concert honoring the lives of Eddie Lopez and Dillon Henry,both of whom would have graduated next week. On June 6, the concert was canceled “due to unforeseen circumstances.” Lopez, who attended Santa Monica High School, was mistaken for a gang member and shot to death on Feb. 28, 2006\. He was 15 years old. Henry, who went to Palisades High School, died in a car accident on July 6, 2007\. He was 17. Friends and family have done much to honor both boys in the past few years, such as holding memorial services and tree planting ceremonies, as well as starting charities, but little could be called a celebration. “Everything we’ve been doing so far has been sad, with a tone of grief and mourning,” said Samohi senior Josh Miller, a former friend of Lopez who helped plan the Orpheum concert. “But Eddie was a fun guy who loved music, so we wanted to celebrate his life for once.” Lopez and Miller met while playing Little League baseball at age 10, and later became pitchers on the Samohi team. “I hit my first homerun off him,” Miller said. “We used to joke about that.” According to Miller, the time was right to plan a memorial event. The foundation he started for Lopez in 2006, Resilient Youth, had been getting a flood of donations and media attention, all of which is necessary for executing a successful event. Then Los Angeles promoter Bill Silva took on the event because, according to Miller, he was moved by the story of Lopez and Henry. “When \[Silva\] was young, some big promoter helped him do an event,so he wanted to give back by helping us,” Miller said. “I also think the story of Eddie really touches people.” Silva approached the Orpheum, a 2,000 seat venue in Downtown L.A., and explained the story of Dillon and Lopez. The Orpheum agreed to host the concert, and included several discounts. Later, they waived the cancellation fee. The tickets were originally priced at $55, but were lowered to $30 when students complained that they couldn’t afford a ticket. Ticketmaster also chipped in, waiving their online purchasing fee for the first time since the Hurricane Katrina benefit concert. They will now reimburse all ticket purchases at no cost. While the concert was originally planned as a benefit for Lopez alone, Miller later joined forces with Henry’s mother, Harriet Zaretsky, to plan the event. Zaretsky had been thinking of planning a concert herself to honor her son, and there was, as Miller described, “a lot of friend overlap” between the two boys. A mutual friend introduced Miller and Zaretsky, and they set to work on publicity and promotion. A week before the concert, however, after placing ads in L.A. Weekly and all over both high school campuses, those planning the concert decided to cancel due to low ticket sales. “We weren’t doing that badly \[with sales\], but we weren’t getting enough kids,” explained Miller. “It would be awkward to have tribute aspects if the majority of the audience would have no idea who Dillon and Eddie were.” “We thought we’d have a better market with the kids, but they thought it was sold out and didn’t buy for different reasons,” said Zaretsky. “There were a lot of costs involved with the Orpheum and in the end, we had not sold enough tickets to go forward. It would have been a deficit.” She further noted that 2,000 seats is a lot to fill. Miller explained that while RJD2, the headline act, is “huge for the high school scene” and “a steal” for $30, he understood why many couldn’t purchase a ticket. “A lot of Eddie’s friends have prom going on, so they have to get tickets and tuxes, which cost a lot,” Miller said. “And a lot of students couldn’t afford it no matter what.” On Friday night students held a “Dance for Life” at the Marina del Rey Marriott to benefit Dillon’s List and the Children’s Miracle Network. A tribute video about Henry and Lopez was screened, one that would have been shown at the Orpheum concert. “It was an incredible event-to-be for two incredible boys,” Zaretsky said of the canceled concert.“We did everything possible to make it happen, but it was an ambitious undertaking. I’m sure it’s not the first concert that’s ever been canceled.” Students felt the loss as well. “It would have been a night in which both senior classes at Palisades and Santa Monica High School could have come together and celebrated these two extraordinary lives that we have lost,” said Daniel Gerena, a close friend of Lopez. “My sincer-est apologies to both the Lopez and Henry families for not being able to deliver the night their sons deserved.” Zaretsky expressed appreciation for all the events planned to honor her son and benefit his new charities, including a bike ride for children, an American Idol spin-off and the Orpheum concert. “I want to thank everyone who worked on the concert to support the foundation and make the world a better place,” she said. *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 14, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/061408.pdf?ref=smdp.com)