10/30/2009
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Billy Joel, John Fogerty, Jeff
Beck, Jackson Browne, Simon & Garfunkel and Crosby, Stills & Nash helped
get the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary Concerts off to a rollicking
start Thursday night (October 29th) at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Springsteen's set featured a full array of guests, with Billy Joel joining the E
Street Band (augmented by a full horn section) for his own "You May Be Right,"
"Only The Good Die Young" and "New York State Of Mind" and Springsteen's "Born
To Run," Sam & Dave's Sam Moore singing "Hold On, I'm Comin' " and "Soul
Man," Fogerty performing Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son" and
"Proud Mary" and Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman," Rage Against The Machine's Tom
Morello on "The Ghost Of Tom Joad" the Clash's "London Calling" and
Springsteen's "Badlands," Darlene Love recreating her classic Phil
Spector-produced hits "Fine, Fine Boy" and "Da Doo Ron Ron," and the full cast
plus Browne closing the set with Jackie Wilson's "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me)
Higher And Higher." CSN performed "Woodstock," "Marrakesh Express," "Almost Cut
My Hair," "Midnight Rider" with Bonnie Raitt, "The Pretender" with Browne,
"Mexico" with James Taylor, and "Teach Your Children" with all three guests.
Paul Simon paid tribute to Hall of Fame inductees Little Anthony & the
Imperials' with "Two People In The World," brought Dion on stage for "The
Wanderer," David Crosby and Graham Nash for the Beatles' "Here Comes The Sun"
(dedicated to the late George Harrison) and Art Garfunkel for "The Sounds Of
Silence," "Mrs. Robinson" (in medley with Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away") "The
Boxer," "Bridge Over Troubled Water," and "Cecelia." Beck joined Stevie Wonder
for "Superstition" and Sting played bass on a medley of Wonder's "Higher Ground"
and the Police's "Roxanne," while Smokey Robinson popped on for "The Tracks of
My Tears." Wonder also paid tribute to Marvin Gaye and Michael Jackson during
his set, breaking down in tears during the latter's "The Way You Make Me Feel."
The 25th anniversary concerts continue Friday (October 30th) with performances
by U2, Ozzy Osbourne, the Kinks' Ray Davies, Beck, Buddy Guy, Metallica, Aretha
Franklin, Annie Lennox, Lenny Kravitz and Jerry Lee Lewis. The shows are being
filmed and will be broadcast in the near future.
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