12/12 Concert: Who Washed Up and Who is Washed Up

Last night at Madison Square Garden a host of the greatest acts in Rock n Roll got together at the Concert for Sandy Relief. A benefit to raise funds to help with the devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy there was no shortage of great acts that wanted to lend a hand.

Watching the whole show gives me a chance to review entire show. Some acts were better than expected, some were fantastic and some disapointed.

The show opened strong with Bruce Springsteen and his full band going through Land of Hope and Dreams,Wrecking Ball, and My City of Ruin before being joined on stage by fellow Jersey boy Jon Bon Jovi for a duet on Born to Run. Springsteen was great as always, during Born to Run many who have not seen Jake Clemons, Clarence's nephew and replacement on sax got a chance to do so, and the band was sharp. Looking for audience participation Springsteen seemed a little disappointed a couple of times, particularluy on Wrecking Ball but there is no such thing as a bad performance.

Chris Christie was in the audience and received one of the biggest chairs of the evening. It was a pleasure to see a politician actually be received emphatically by a cross current of crowd.

Next up was Roger Waters. Waters was in a word, fantastic. Playing The Thin Ice and then Another Brick in the Wall to open Waters voice was in fine form. In truth it sounded like Pink Floyd records. I do not know the name of the fellow playing lead guitar but on Money and Us and Them Waters allowed him to take the lead vocals, and then ended with Comfortably Numb joined by Eddie Vedder. Waters was wonderful but certainly when he stopped singing the songs lost some luster. It was a great performance however.

Adam Sandler played a comedic version of Hallelujah which was only slightly funny. Kristin Stewart introduced Bon Jovi and I have to say that charitably she looked terrible. If one was not being charitable the words to be used might include meth and addict.

Bon Jovi's performance was far from overpowering. Jon's voice was not strong. The best part of their set was Dead or Alive and the best part of that was Richie Sambora's backing vocals as he still sounds incredibly strong.

Eric Clapton had a mellow set, in a word there is just nothing exciting about seeing Eric Clapton at this time.

The Rolling Stones played a short two song set. You Got Me Rocking and Jumping Jack Flash were not surely the songs we would have chosen but they were entertaining. The boys look a little old, the holes in Mick and Ronnie's cheeks look like they need more silly putty than you can buy in one store but that said they still play great.

Without a doubt the highlight of the show was the performance by The Who. Having seen them at the Super Bowl a couple of years ago it would seem a bit surprising to say this but both Roger and Pete seemed revitalized. Pete's guitar playing was tremendous, and Roger's voice though showing a crack or two still was very above the curve. When Roger started to unbutton his shirt I got nervous, that is alot of old but when it came fully unbuttoned it was fine. Roger still looks good and they are still The Who. Their set was killer. Opening with Who Are You and then going into a very sweet Keith Moon tribute called Bellboy that actually featured video of Moon singing with Daltrey and Townsend saluting from the stage while watching the video screen. Next came the Pinball Wizard/See Me Feel Me with Townsend seemingly delighted with both the song and his night. The crowd roared with the opening riffs and Daltrey started playing with the aforementioned shirt, feeling the years float away. Baba O'Riley never disappoints, Daltrey's harmonica solo at the end is amazing, a song from the last album Tea and Theatre delivered a small segue to Daltrey howling Love Reign Over Me. This set was the strongest of the night, the crowd went crazy.

Occasionally, in between sets, Brian Williams would take us backstage to the phone banks to see the celebrities taking the calls. At this juncture we were treated to many members of the cast of The Sopranos taking calls. Williams talked to James Gandolfini, watching the interview one had to wonder where does Tony stop and James begin.

Kanye West played next and was awful. I just do not understand as I saw one person tweet The Stones got two songs and West had a full allotment. Diversity rules I guess. Alicia Keys played before The Who I should add but I used this time to get a few things done that I needed to.

Billy Joel was next and with the exception of The Who was clearly the second star of the night. Playing Only the Good Die Young, Big Shot, and Movin Out one was easily transported to those early teenage years when Joel ruled the charts. Opening with Miami 2017 and playing New York State of Mind Joel showed that his catalog of music might well be one of the most underrated around. A fantastic performance.

Chris Martin played a couple songs and was joined by Micheal Stipe for Losing My Religion. The set was forgettable but Martin with his patter and talking showed himself to be very warm, wry, and gracious.

Ending the night was Paul McCartney and I would have to put his performance as a bit subpar. Maybe I was tired, it was on towards one but I thought his song selection was weak with Let Me Roll It, 1985, and My Valentine taking up space on the set lists with songs we wanted t her such as Blackbird, Helter Skelter and Live and Let Die. Much was made of the " Nirvana reunion" with Paul fronting for one song all the surviving members of the band for a new song called Get Off My Back. It was the highlight of the set, Paul seemed energized and Dave Grohl on the drums showed why he is clearly the most energetic man in rock today.

Alicia Keys ended the show with Empire State but I shut the television off. All in all the show was good not great, acts like Bon Jovi, Paul and Eric Clapton were a letdown, while Bruce, Billy, and the crazy good The Who stole the show. The Stones and Roger Waters also deserve praise.

Hopefully a great deal of money was raised on this night of East Coast bias.