"Something's Phishy in here," Patti Smith playfully mused at Monday's annual Tibet House benefit concert at Carnegie Hall, addressing the waves of adulation that were being lavished upon guitarist-singer Trey Anastasio. The Phish frontman was in town for his first major solo performance and inciting more of a crowd buzz than veterans R.E.M. and Smith in the process. It got worse shortly after Anastasio's solo set, when Smith was setting up an all-star finale to sporadic shouts of "Trey!"

"Is that a tray of cold cuts?" Smith quipped, adding in a mocking tone, "perhaps if you called for him, he will come." But if Anastasio, fit for church in a new-looking suit, was embarrassed by the worship (he must be used to it with his mega-cult jam band) or Smith's sarcastic jabs, he shrugged it off. When he returned for the evening's final anthem, he did try to duck closer to his amp, but Smith pulled the aw-shucks redhead forward to share her mic in singing a triumphant "People Have the Power."

Smith truly possessed the power -- and the best one-liners -- to cap Monday's two-hour-plus concert for New York's Tibet House Cultural Center. Though her band played acoustic, New York's punk-turned-spiritual earth mother delivered an edgy "1959" (contemplating the year that China cracked down on Tibet), the visceral lurch of the new "Boy Cried Wolf" and the swirling affirmation of "Ghost Dance," where she intoned "we shall live again," with harmonies from Michael Stipe. Earlier, accompanied only by artistic director Philip Glass on piano, Smith also mesmerized the house with a reading of Allen Ginsberg's "Cremation," her voice cracking through memorial observations, finally to declare "I wanted to dance."

There was indeed a sense of celebration to the evening. "No matter what our strifes or sorrows, we're alive," Smith declared before "People Have the Power," though it took a long time for the staid audience to heed her call to rise and sing. Even if the crowd reaction was unbalanced, Glass assembled a neatly varied program, which began with a purification dance by colorful Tibetan troupe Chaksam-Pa (doing overtone chanting in tasseled masks). Cibo Matto fared better with a lilting "Tempo Tempo" (with Sean Lennon on acoustic guitar) than the chaotic hip-hop of "Sci-Fi Wasabi" or Miho Hatori's wavering duet of "Moon River" with Shawn Colvin. At least Colvin redeemed herself with the pretty, Buddism-inspired "84,000 Different Delusions," and a cover of Neil Finn's "Private Universe," with guests Peter Buck on bass and Smith drummer Jay Dee Daugherty.

R.E.M. also borrowed Daugherty and bassist Tony Shanahan from Smith's band for their three-song set, which began with Patti guesting on "E-Bow the Letter." Honoring the event's collaborative vibe rather than tuning up for their summer tour, R.E.M. included the melancholy new song "At My Most Beautiful" (with Colvin on harmonies, and Glass joining Mike Mills at the piano), but Stipe's voice resonated most for the Eddie Vedder tune "The Long Road," (from Dead Man Walking) opposite didgeridoo-like drones from Newang Khechog's universal horn.

The meditative instrumentals of Tibetan flutist Khechog (with piano partner Peter Kater) and hypnotic Gambian griot Foday Musa Suso (on the harp-like kora) lent a mid-show lull, giving Phish fans a chance to go to the pot. But soon Anastasio (whose earlier appearance for a light duet with Glass had created a commotion) was back to tap Khechog and Suso's melodic textures for Phish tune "Brian and Robert." Seemingly naked without his usual bandmates, Anastasio then dug into a solo "Dirt" (ironically, a humble song about escape from the pressure of society) before hitting stride with sweet lullaby "Billy Breathes," sung in a half-spoken whisper over Kater on piano. Overall, Anastasio's acoustic guitar work was stronger than his vocals, but if his solo bow didn't live up to the Phish fan hype, it nonetheless succeeded with a naive, pastoral charm.

"Trey likes to take a little break," a member of Chaksam-Pa told the crowd when his group followed Anastasio's set for a couple of Tibetan folk songs, further addressing the night's overzealous applause. But while Phishy catcalls were more awkward than rock & roll in the hallowed hall, the distraction factor may have been overstated, as the Tibet House benefit thoughtfully united a diverse cast for an inspired cause. And it's a cause that won't fade away, as Khechog invited the audience to join him March 10 at a United Nations rally where he will begin a week-long hunger strike to honor the fortieth anniversary of Tibetan resistance to Chinese rule.

PAUL ROBICHEAU
(February 23, 1999)