Did you guys watch 121212Concert?

[DammitJanet]

Oh my gosh was it the best thing ever!!!!! All those wonderful stars getting up in Madison Square Garden putting on such a great concert for the benefit of those effected by Hurricane Sandy. A wonderful charitable organization is overseeing the fundraising and disbursement of funds to those effected is called Robinhood and they give 100% of the funds raised to the victims.

This concert went on from 7:30 until after 1:30 am. The opening act was Bruce Springsteen and it ended with Paul McCartney. There was every one else in between from The Rolling Stones, Billy Joel, Alicia Keys, The Who, and many more. It was broadcast all over the world.

I was absolutely amazed. It was wonderful. They will be selling dvd's of the concert and this is one middle aged woman who WILL be buying one...those were my idols of childhood. Especially Billy Joel. I saw him 5 times when I was a teen in concert and he was just as good last night as he was when I was a teen.

 

[donna723]

Janet, I sat here and watched every last single minute of it and I thought it was WONDERFUL! That was some of my main people there! The Stones haven't slowed down a bit but it was disappointing that they only did two songs. And my main man, Eric Clapton, was magnificent, as usual. And Paul McCartney was wonderful but sounded like he was a bit hoarse. But in my humble opinion, it was The Who that brought down the house! And I loved their tribute to Keith Moon! Many years ago, before Keith Moon died, I was lucky enough to see The Who perform from very close up, right by the stage, and they were unbelievably good! Keith Moon, at one point, picked up one of his drums and threw it at one of their roadies, bouncing it off the guys' head, because that was the only way he could get his attention! He earned that nickname, "Moon the Loon"! Brought back a lot of memories.

Well, I didn't really watch EVERY single minute ... I hit "Mute" when Kanye West came on and used that time to take the dogs outside. He was more than a little out of place and didn't belong there with all those true legends. Made me mad that he was on for so long and the Stones only did two numbers!

 

[1905]

It was awesome!!! I heard Pink Floyd ....my favorite of all time!

 

[DammitJanet]

I agree about Kanye West. I thought he was a complete idiot up there. I couldnt understand a word he said but I decided to overlook one bad apple...lol. After all, NYC does have a few bad parts in it. I know they could have found someone better like Ice T from Law and Order SVU who would have been much more applicable after The Who played the song from SVU...lol.

I have a feeling The Stones simply cant play as many sets any more. Bless their hearts but they are getting very old. I dont mean to be mean but they really are showing their age. I give Mick Jagger major points for being able to still run around the stage like that but, God love him, he just now looks more like he is trying to hard. Im sure the kids who are about 20 are trying to figure out why all the young girls of the 60s and 70s went so gaga over him...lol.

 

[donna723]

I don't know, Janet. I don't think it was their age that stopped them. The Stones can still keep up. It was only a few years ago that they played a full concert in Nashville - I know lots of people that went to that one. They've always looked a bit "rough", even when they were all young!

A bit of a funny ... sort of. I have always LOVED Eric Clapton and now he's doing a concert in Nashville. I would KILL to go to that, even though I knew we'd never actually do it. Just for fun I went online to see what tickets would cost. OMG! The very cheapest seats, waaay up in the nosebleed sections, were $99. The best seats, in the two sections right in front of the stage, were $895 EACH! As a comparison, "way back when" we once paid $8 for very good seats to see Jimi Hendrix! Doesn't help that my ex (the first one) was just telling me how he once spent an entire evening playing and jamming in a lounge with Eric Clapton! (Had I known that was coming, I might not have divorced the fool!) The ex was (and still is) a singer and guitar player and this band he was sitting in with was playing in a very nice lounge in West Palm Beach. The first few nights they saw this guy with short hair and a full beard sitting at the bar all evening, not drinking much, just sitting there. They didn't even recognize him. Nobody did. On about the third night, the lounge owner comes on stage and says that Eric Clapton was there and was going to sit in! And then this guy from the bar gets up and comes onstage ... and it was Eric Clapton! They played all night and were still playing when the place closed down ... and on and on till the middle of the night, playing just for themselves! The ex said it was the best music he ever heard, like a religous experience! Turns out that he had a home there and after his little boy died, he had come and just hole'd up in this house - he was very slowly inching his way back in to the world and was getting a lot of it out in his music. Very sad but wonderful too, in a way.

 

[Nancy]

I'm sorry I missed it but I'll be in line for the dvd too.

 

[JKF]

I did watch most if it but fell asleep around 11:30 or so. I thought it was fantastic! The Stones were great! They still "have it". I especially liked watching Bon Jovi and Bruce play together. I had a smile plastered on my face the whole time!

 

[Calamity Jane]

Went to bed in the middle of Alicia Keyes appearance, so I missed Billy Joel, McCartney, Chris Martin and lots of others. I loved Adam Sandler - he was so profane, but he sure was original, and his lyrics were from a real New Yorker's perspective in the hilarious way that only he could do it. He just makes it look so easy. Mick Jagger is a testament to the benefits of aerobics! His face may be old, but he is as skinny and limber as he was 50 yrs. ago. The performances by everyone I saw before falling asleep were all phenomenal - the sound was great, so much energy...Eddie Vedder sounded terrific. $30 million was raised so far.

 

[DammitJanet]

I heard it has hit the billion dollar mark. I hope so. I gave my 10 bucks. Tony is furious with me that I didnt stay on the phone to talk to a celebrity but I didnt feel like I needed to brag to some celeb that I was Janet from NC and I just had to say I was pulling for all the people up there. Maybe if I had given more but I didnt need the recognition just for doing the right thing. Feeling good about myself is all I need. A check mark by my name in the big book of Karma is good enough for me. Tony doesnt get that.

 

[donna723]

I would assume that the totals will continue to climb. Proceeds from the sale of the CD's will keep coming in for years!

 

[trinityroyal]

I'm sorry I missed it. I was in a meeting that ran very late on Wed evening, and I just fell into bed when it was over.

Honestly, I'm not surprised that the Stones and the other stone-ager bands still have it. One of my family members (on husband's side) is a pretty well-known musician. He's in his late 70s now, and still puts on great shows. He just performs less often and tours closer to home.

Donna, you might get a kick out of this. Back in the early 60s, my family member had a band that was a great training ground for musicians who went on to great fame. Eric Clapton was a member for a little while, but he wasn't working out so my family member had to let him go.

 

[donna723]

I guess it's because I came up through the '60's but those guys from back then STILL sound a whole lot better than most of what's out there today! If you go to YouTube, there is an entire Cream reunion concert from a couple of years ago that you can watch ... a bunch of "old guys". Sounds sort of pitiful until you realize that those "old guys" are Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, and Eric Clapton! And they sound just as good, if not better, than they did back then! I'm getting dangerously close to it myself but when you think of what a 70-year old man would be like, it's safe to assume that the images of Paul McCartney or Mick Jagger are not what comes immediately to mind. And my own personal much adored rock god, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, is 68 now and is still better than anybody who came up before him or after him! NOBODY is better than he is! And he's not exactly a rock musician but has anybody heard Charlie Daniels lately? He just turned 76 and he's still going strong!

 

[Calamity Jane]

There must be something about being a true musician that just keeps you young. You can play music pretty much all your life, and it must release endorphins or something, because all these "old" guys are still going strong. He wasn't in the Sandy performance, but even Rod Stewart is ancient, but he's like the hardest working guy in show business. He still "brings it" each and every show. God bless these people, they're an inspiration!

 

[trinityroyal]

Not exactly rock, but I went to a Tom Jones concert about 6 or 7 years ago. Mr. Jones was about 71 or 72 at the time, but he danced and sang like a 25 yr old. I agree -- the talented ones still have it, regardless of their age. It's like the old blues musicians from the 30s and 40s. Many of them kept playing as long as they could, into their 70s and 80s, and still sounding as great as when they first got started.

Somehow I can't imagine Justin Bieber continuing to perform at 70-odd...

 

[donna723]

I think that being a "true musician" is not something you become, work like a job, then retire from. You just "are" a musician, you don't become one. And I've known LOTS of them! Of course, some are better than others, but the really super talented guys I have known were practically born to it. When I was married to my first husband (the singer and musician) we had a very close friend who played guitar in some of the same groups as my husband (now ex) ... one of the most talented guys I've ever known. He got his first guitar when he was 8 or 9. By the time he was 12, he was playing in clubs on the weekends with a very good, solid rock band. They would sneak him in and he would usually play with his head down so his long hair covered his little baby face! By the time he was in his teens, he was a local legend and most people had no idea that he was that young. His band played in a music festival where he was noticed by Johnny Winter, the legendary blues guitarist, who asked him to join his tour. The day after his high school graduation, he was on a plane and joined Johnny Winter on his European tour. He recorded and toured for years with both Johnny and Edgar Winter and when being on the road that long started to get to him, he'd drop out for a while, then go back. When he finally packed it in for good, he went on to a whole new career but he always was first, last and always, a musician. He's in his 60's now and still plays occasionally, mostly just for fun or for benefits, etc. But he was a "born" musician and still is.

My ex is another one. Born in to a musical family, he was mainly a very talented vocalist. And even now, in his 60's, he still is, just as good as he ever was. Besides the many bands he played in, he did a lot of studio work, substituting his voice when a groups singer couldn't quite cut it in the recording studio. You'd be surprised how often this is done and it's sometimes the reason that some bands never sound as good in person as they do on their albums. He went on to do other things too but he was always a musician and singer first. And he still plays when he feels like it, and he still does some studio work, substituting his voice for some tone-deaf 20 year old who just can't get it right in the recording studio! You don't just "retire" from playing music, no matter how old you are!