And The Top Radiohead Benefit Donor Is... Dangerbird?

D-Bird's Peter Walker

As Thom Yorke announced at Radiohead's fantastic surprise show at the Fonda on Sunday night, the benefit gig raised -- "fuck me," exclaimed Yorke -- $572,754 for victims of the godawful Haitian disaster. Tickets were sold by auction, which made it possible for inspired attendees to pay exorbitant amounts of money if they so chose.

Yorke subsequently disclosed the name of the patron who bought the night's priciest pair of tickets at $2000 a pop. Was it Justin Timberlake? Or Drew Barrymore? Daniel Craig, Jessica Biel, Paul Thomas Anderson, or Charlize Theron? Surely, the biggest, bestest donation came from one of the night's numerous A-listers, or perhaps some ancient industry bigwig, right?

Well, then who the hell is Peter Grousbeck? West Coast Sound's ear perked up when that same ear failed to recognize the handle attached to the actual purchaser of those golden(-colored) tickets. A cursory Google search revealed a few other charitable donations from that name, but little else. A little deeper digging revealed this:

'The Almanac' of Menlo Park

That clipping comes from The Almanac, a newsletter that circulates in "the Midpeninsula south of San Francisco." With due respect to that fine publication, we can't imagine you'd ever read it otherwise, so we've skipped on the link. A call confirmed what WCS's sleuthing (and Thom Yorke's blatant announcement) seemed to imply. A statement from publicist Juliana Plotkin, on behalf of Dangerbird Records, after the jump.

"Dangerbird co-founder Peter Walker and his wife Brie Grousbeck were indeed the high bidders for Radiohead's Haiti relief benefit concert in Los Angeles last night. They, along with the rest of the team at Dangerbird, stand behind the relief efforts to help a struggling nation in need and more so, back purpose beyond profit."

So once again, the folks behind the Silver Lake label are doing incredible things. Kudos to you, Peter Walker, Brie Grousbeck, and Dangerbird Records.

Now, a final question: In a city as fat on the entertainment industry as this, how is it that the co-owner of an independent record label was the highest bidder?