Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – Night Two

Posted by The G on October 31, 2009 under G Reviews | 3 Comments to Read

All photos by G.

Last night, at the first of two Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York, my mind was blown with seeing some amazing artists performing some amazing duets.  Tonight, my head exploded!  Because there is so much to absorb, please settle for an abbreviated review and a few pictures.

Over the course of a much shorter show (4 hours instead of 6), history was made again.  Tom Hanks introduced the show and first act Jerry Lee Lewis (who sang Great Balls of Fire).  Aretha Franklin then took the stage and sang New York, New York plus Respect and then was joined on stage by Annie Lennox for Chain of Fools.  Lenny Kravitz then joined for Think.  Jeff Beck played some killer guitar next and was joined on stage by Sting and Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top.  Beck finished off his set with an amazing instrumental version of A Day In The Life by The Beatles.  Metallica went on next and they were joined by Lou Reed (for Sweet Jane and White Light/White Heat); Ozzy Ozbourne for Paranoid and Ray Davies of the Kinks for You Really Got Me and All Day and All of the Night.  Before exiting, a killer rendition of Queen’s Stone Cold Crazy and Metallica’s own Enter Sandman was played.  Finally, U2 took the stage and played Vertigo, Beautiful Day before being joined by the biggest surprises of the night – Bruce Springsteen (for I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For).   Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen and U2 played Because The Night, but did several takes to get the lyrics right.  The Black Eyed Peas joined next for a medley of Mysterious Ways and Where is The Love.  The Peas exited the stage but Fergie stayed and started singing the opening bars to Gimmie Shelter, the Rolling Stones classic.  All of a sudden, Mick Jagger emerged to sing the song!  They also did U2’s Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of.  It was a night of magic!

UPDATE:  Here’s the set list: 

Jerry Lee Lewis:
“Great Balls of Fire”

Aretha Franklin:
“Baby, I Love You”
“Don’t Play That Song”
“Make Them Hear You”

Aretha Franklin and Annie Lennox:
“Chain of Fools”

Aretha Franklin:
“New York, New York”

Aretha Franklin and Lenny Kravitz:
“Think”

Aretha Franklin:
“Respect”

Jeff Beck:
“Drown in My Own Tears”

Jeff Beck and Sting:
“People Get Ready”

Jeff Beck:
“Freeway Boogie”
“Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers”

Buddy Guy with Jeff Beck:
“Let Me Love You”

Jeff Beck:
“Big Block”
“Rice Pudding”

Billy Gibbons and Jeff Beck:
“Rough Boy”

Jeff Beck and Billy Gibbons:
“Foxy Lady”

Jeff Beck:
“A Day in the Life”

Metallica:
“For Whom the Bell Tolls”
“One”
“Turn the Page”

Metallica and Lou Reed:
“Sweet Jane”
“White Light/ White Heat”

Metallica and Ozzy Osbourne:
“Iron Man”
“Paranoid”

Metallica and Ray Davies:
“You Really Got Me”
“All Day and All of the Night”

Metallica:
“Stone Cold Crazy”
“Enter Sandman”

U2
“Vertigo”
“Magnificent”

U2, Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith with Roy Bittan:
“Because the Night”

U2 and Bruce Springsteen with Roy Bittan:
“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”

U2 and Black Eyed Peas:
“Mysterious Ways”/”Where Is the Love”/”One”

U2, Mick Jagger, Fergie and Will.i.am:
“Gimme Shelter”

U2 and Mick Jagger:
“Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of”

U2:
“Beautiful Day”

A severely edited version of the show will air on HBO in November, but for now, some pictures after the jump.

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Lou Reed, The Edge and Laurie Anderson Live at Carnegie Hall

Posted by The G on October 7, 2009 under G Reviews | Be the First to Comment

All photos by G.

Lou Reed and The Edge live at Carnegie Hall

Lou Reed and The Edge live at Carnegie Hall

On October 4, 2009 at Gavin Friday’s AIDS benefit concert at Carnegie Hall in New York, we were treated to a special performance by The Edge of U2, Lou Reed of the Velvet Underground and performance artist Laurie Anderson!  Before the show, I was standing next to Lou Reed on the street and he completely ignored me, which was a disappointment, but old man grumpus more than made up for it when he rocked the stage.  Oddly enough, the Velvet Underground classic “Sweet Jane” was performed, but Mr. Reed didn’t sing a note.

See more photos of Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson after the jump.

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Bono, Lady Gaga, Courtney Love, Scarlett Johansson and Rufus Wainwright at Carnegie Hall!

Posted by The G on October 5, 2009 under G Reviews | 8 Comments to Read

All photos by G.

Bono performing live at Carnegie Hall!

Bono performing live at Carnegie Hall!

As usual, I was in the right place at the right time, and tonight’s place to be was Carnegie Hall in Manhattan for “Gavin Friday and Friends,” a benefit concert to raise money for AIDS research.

This star-studded sold-out event featured performances by U2 (performing T. Rex’s “Children of the Revolution”), Lady Gaga, Courtney Love, Rufus Wainwright, Scarlett Johansson, Antony, Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, Maria McKee, Shane MacGowan (of the Pogues) and Lydia Lunch, just to name a few.  There’ll be more pictures to come – so bookmark this site and tell a million of your friends –  but for now, feast your eyes on these pictures (including a rare solo-piano performance from Lady Gaga).

See them plus the set list after the jump.

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