Previous Next Latest

Epic Moments at the Rock Hall 25th Anniversary Concert

10/29/09, 11:31 pm EST

Photo: Mazur/WireImage

The first of two massive Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th anniversary shows at Madison Square Garden isn’t even over yet, and the monumental moments just keep coming on the stage of the storied New York venue. [Update] After six hours — that’s right, six hours — Bruce Springsteen brought the show to an end with a soul throwdown on “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher.” Check back tomorrow for our full reports, but here’s a taste of the action (follow along in our Rock Hall Concerts photo gallery):

• Jerry Lee Lewis reminds the crowd of rock & roll’s ’50s roots by settling in at a white baby grand for “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.”

• Crosby, Stills and Nash add another layer of perfect harmony when James Taylor joins in on “Love the One You’re With.” The capper: one of many awe-inspiring guitar solos by Stephen Stills.

• Bonnie Raitt joins CSN for her own “Love Has No Pride,” and later tells the press, “To go back in my catalog and do something I rarely do live was angelic for me.”

• CSN break into “Midnight Rider” by the Allman Brothers on the anniversary of Duane Allman’s death. It’s a poignant moment, followed by another: Jackson Browne hits the stage to perform “The Pretender.”

• Paul Simon invites David Crosby and Graham Nash back onstage for very special reason: to honor “a dear friend of mine” who “was the first person to ever have a benefit concert here at Madison Square Garden — it’s called the Concert for Bangladesh — and it’s a man who I really loved and admired greatly, George Harrison.” The song: “Here Comes the Sun.”

• Paul Simon shouts out a pair of New York City neighborhoods when he invites Dion DiMucci and Little Anthony and the Imperials to the stage.

• Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel’s voices mingle on “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” The pair throw their arms around each other at the conclusion of “The Boxer.” Will the U.S. see this reunion again? Garfunkel admits their recent shows together “were a lovely falling back together again” but they have “no such plans,” after their set.

• Stevie Wonder turns a technical difficulty into a hilarious quip: “Aw, shit … stuff happens, you know what I’m saying?” and changes his set before it even gets going to kick off with a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind.” He later pays homage to Michael Jackson with a stunning “The Way You Make Me Feel.”

• Smokey Robinson emerges for a loose, warm rendition of “Tracks of My Tears.” Moments later, John Legend arrives onstage to pay homage to Marvin Gaye with “Mercy, Mercy Me.” Not enough? B.B King is up next, earning Stevie’s praise as “the king of blues for every city in the world” with “The Thrill is Gone.”

• Sting strides onstage popping the bassline to “Higher Ground,” and the song morphs into “Roxanne” and back again.

• Two words: Jeff Beck. The guitar legend joins Wonder for “Superstition” and breaks into an otherworldly solo on the break, flinging his bare right hand at the strings and tapping away.

• Bruce Springsteen hits the stage with his famous plea, “Is there anybody alive out there?” He gives even himself a jolt with guest Sam Moore, who he praises as “one of the all time great bandleaders.”

• Springsteen welcomes John Fogerty for “Fortunate Son” and a pair of sweet covers for E Street: Fogerty’s own “Proud Mary” and Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman.”

• The E Street Band make their own Wall of Sound as Darlene Love joins Bruce and the gang for “A Fine, Fine Boy” and “Da Doo Ron Ron.” “We’re in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame now,” Springsteen exclaims.

• Tom Morello wah-s out a bone-crunching solo on a mind-blowing cover of “London Calling” with the E Street Band that nearly outdoes his earlier heroics on “The Ghost of Tom Joad.”

• Springsteen delivers a brief and hilarious speech about how New Jersey and Long Island were once a connected landmass as a way of introducing the night’s final very special guest: Billy Joel. E Street keeps cranking through “You May Be Right,” “Only the Good Die Young” and Joel’s hometown anthem “New York State of Mind.”

• Six hours after Tom Hanks took the stage to open the show, Springsteen brings the house down with “Born to Run” and reluctantly leaves after wringing the last possible “higher” out of “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher.” “That’s rock & roll!” he exclaims.

See these moments and more in pictures from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 25th anniversary concerts.

And grab the latest updates live on Twitter (keep an eye out for #rockhall25):


Previous Next Latest

Comments

tbs33 | 10/30/2009, 1:43 am EST

What about the biggest legend there, Little Richard?

alal | 10/30/2009, 3:36 am EST

geez that sounds like an awesome concert bruce, stevie and jeff rock

DannyBoy | 10/30/2009, 8:40 am EST

wow sounds INCREDIBLE…jeff beck? CSN? john fogerty? BRUCE? sting? damn and i was iffy about the crazy high prices and didnt go..sounds like i shoulda forked up the cash i cant wait to hear who shows up at tonights show!!

DannyBoy

Jersey Guy | 10/30/2009, 9:25 am EST

One word: AWESOME!

Brien Comerford | 10/30/2009, 9:44 am EST

Jeff Beck in the inimitable and nonpareil guitar virtuso !!

Dee | 10/30/2009, 10:29 am EST

Unreal show…too much to mention. Took me two hours to fall asleep afterwards.

Nicman612 | 10/30/2009, 11:00 am EST

The show was fantastic, can’t wait for tonight’s

scott | 10/30/2009, 11:08 am EST

i got “shivers down my back bone” just reading about it!

ck | 10/30/2009, 11:14 am EST

just curious how the show’s running time went so late, when i am always hearing about strict union rules for MSG and that concerts have to end somewhere around 10:30. not true? maybe they just paid the extra $$ to keep it running

Thundercrotch | 10/30/2009, 11:35 am EST

Got tickets for tonight….can’t friggin’ WAIT!!!!!

JayLee | 10/30/2009, 12:50 pm EST

Simply ah-MAH-zing show that did end at 1:40 a.m., tho some folks were racing out earlier to catch the last trains. Expensive? Oh yes, but worth every cent to witness rock history. Weird and wonderful collaborations — Sting & Stevie Wonder; Bruce & Billy Joel; Crosby & Nash & Paul Simon. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, out popped another surprise guest, like B.B. King or Smokey Robinson. A Boomer’s Rock ‘n Roll Heaven.

Luke | 10/30/2009, 2:26 pm EST

What about the biggest legends there, U2?

bigdrumboy | 11/1/2009, 11:23 pm EST

It was like being trapped on an AARP cruise with the radio stuck on the oldies station.

al | 11/2/2009, 3:04 pm EST

two words…springsteen sucked!

tr | 11/3/2009, 10:48 am EST

Ok – HBO will shrink everything down for a 4 hour show –
PLEASE let there be a DVD and CD of this ….

RayRay | 11/7/2009, 4:10 pm EST

I love it bigdrum.Like I said in a later post-Those old farts stumbling around on a stage all lookin like they’re going to a Keith Richards look-a-like contest.Half the time they’re forgetting the words and the other half they forget how to play their instruments.

bossfan | 11/11/2009, 6:49 pm EST

Bruce is the BEST

bossfan | 11/11/2009, 6:49 pm EST

Bruce is the BEST

vertigogiant | 11/16/2009, 10:29 am EST

does eny one know if there will be a dvd

Post A Comment

Caution: Off-topic comments will be deleted

Name:

Comments:



Advertisement

Advertisement