Dave Matthews Band Cover Peter Gabriel, Honor LeRoi Moore at New York AIDS Benefit

"I cannot tell you how excited I am to be in the greatest city in the world to introduce one of the greatest bands of the world!" said actress Julia Roberts, clad in a Barack Obama T-shirt, as she introduced the Dave Matthews Band at New York's Madison Square Garden last night. The occassion was a benefit for the Stand Up for a Cure organization, which raises money for cancer and HIV/AIDS research, among other causes. Matthews and Co. didn't disappoint with a powerful two-and-a-half hour set, featuring crowd favorites ("Ants Marching" and "Two Step"), guest spots (singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson joined the group on "Spoon") and a pitch-perfect rendition of Peter Gabriel's "Sledghammer" with gospel-style backup vocals from drummer Carter Beauford and trumpet player Rashawn Ross. Longtime collaborator Tim Reynolds also delivered rip-roaring solos on jams like "Cornbread."

Of course, Matthews made sure to pay tribute to recently deceased saxophonist LeRoi Moore, who died last month from complications due to an ATV accident. And when he opened up to the crowd about his departed friend — "We've had to great honor of playing this room a few times in the past, but this is the first time without our good friend LeRoi Moore. We want to salute him. We miss you very much, LeRoi" — the crowd responded with a standing ovation and hair-raising chants of "LeRoi! LeRoi! LeRoi!"

Related Stories:
• Dave Matthews, Mike Gordon "Join The Band" With Little Feet
• Dave Matthews Band Saxophonist LeRoi Moore Dead at 46
• Friends Remember Dave Matthews Band Saxophonist LeRoi Moore

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

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