12-12-12 Hurricane Sandy Relief Concert

How epic was that?!?!?!

FREAKING EPIC!!!!

I wish I could have attended that. Ugh. I wish. The lineup was absolutely phenomenal (except for a few individuals). It blew my mind. Actually, my mind is still blown... and probably will be for a while. It was just too much epicness to take in, in one night. Holy crap!!

The lineup

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

Roger Waters (with Eddie Vedder later appearing)

Adam Sandler with Paul Schaffer

Bon Jovi

Eric Clapton

The Rolling Stones

Alicia Keys

The Who

Kanye West

Billy Joel

Chris Martin

Paul McCartney

(I'm really surprised U2/Bono didn't make an appearance on this. I know it was put together on short notice, but you would think Bono would have contributed something to this... whether it be live in the flesh or via Skype or something?!
Also, Led Zeppelin would have been perfect for this. Don't ya think? Having Zeppelin perform would have made this 1 billion times more epic than it already was!)

Starting the concert off with Bruce Springsteen was absolutely brilliant. Bruce killed it!! Bruce's set consisted of: "Land of Hope and Dreams", "Wrecking Ball", "My City in Ruins" › "Jersey Girl", and "Born to Run" with Jon Bon Jovi. My personal fave was "Wrecking Ball". I also really loved "Born to Run"... Bruce and Jon Bon Jovi singing together was absolutely amazing! Jersey boys unite... haha!

Next came Roger Waters. Anything Roger Waters does is amazing... and weird. He opened with "In The Flesh?" Then he did "The Happiest Days of Our Lives". "Another Brick in the Wall Pt 2."... and it was amazing... until the hip-hop dancers came on. The dancers weren't necessary. It was actually kind of stupid. Although, I did like the saying on their shirts: "Fear Builds Walls." But yeah, no. "The Ballad of Jean Charles de Menezes" was next. "Money" was absolutely fantastic. "Us and Them" was also superb... but I'm not going to lie, I was waiting for Eddie Vedder to make an appearance. I knew it was coming. Actually, before I get to Eddie Vedder, Roger had this dude singing with him... I have no clue who he was, but the dude had pipes! Okay, now for Mr. Vedder! He sang with Roger Waters during "Comfortably Numb", which was the last song of his set. It was magical. It really was. I loved it. I also thought Eddie Vedder was going to do some solo stuff, because they kept hyping his name. I was a little disappointed to find out he was only doing this one duet.

Adam Sandler took the stage next, but only for a few minutes. He re-wrote "Hallelujah" and turned it into a comedic spoof titled "Sandy, Screw Ya!" I thought it was hilarious, and much needed. Paul Schaffer played the piano, of course!

Up next: Bon friggin' Jovi. Say what you will about Bon Jovi, but I friggin' love Bon Jovi. They started their set with "It's My Life"... I was all over that. All over that. "Wanted Dead or Alive" came next... I love that song, but it's not one of my favorites. I was still giddy with glee, though. Oh yes, very much so. Bruuuuuce! Did someone say Bruce? Jon Bon Jovi did! Those Jersey boys reunited for the second time! Bruce came in and sang with JBJ on "Who Says You Can't Go Home"... I liked that duet way better than the Bon Jovi/Sugarland chick's duet. Her voice annoys the f*ck out of me. They ended their set with "Livin' on a Prayer". That song is absolutely perfect. ♥

Eric Clapton was up next... but I was eating dinner. I know a lot of people think that Clapton is the shiz, but I've never been one of those people. I'm sorry. It was a totally stripped-down performance, there was no glitz or glamour. It was just Clapton, a drummer and a bassist. That's it. He performed three songs: "Nobody Loves You When You're Down and Out", "Got to get Better in a Little While", and "Crossroads". I'm not familiar with those first two songs, but I know that last one!

"Jumpin' Jack Flash, it's a gas, gas, gas!" The Rolling Stones were next... but they only played two songs. TWO SONGS. "You Got Me Rocking" and "Jumpin' Jack Flash". I'm not a huge Stones fan... I'll leave that up to my Mother, but how are they only going to play two songs? That was a tease. A massive tease. Alicia Keys and Kanye West were on longer than the Stones... that's just gross. Also, how in the hell does Mick Jagger still have the body of a twenty year old? Let alone all of that energy? I'm twenty-six, and I'll probably never have half of Mick Jagger's energy. That's also gross... haha! 

Alicia Keys. Okay, I think she has a great voice and everything... but how does she come after The Rolling Stones. Technically, the Stones "opened" for Alicia Keys. How does that happen? How? She also performed two songs: "Brand New Me" and "No One"... but it didn't seem like a concert performance. It seemed more like a church sermon or a motivational speaking rally. Speaking...singing...speaking...singing...speaking while singing... but all in all, it was beautiful. And it was waaaaaaaay better than Kanye.

Before I get to The Who, I think I need to share this!

These were trending topics on Twitter last night, during/after The Who's performance! 

Okay, so, The Who kicked ass and took names. Seriously. However, I must say this: Roger Daltrey, please keep your shirt buttoned up. Please? This isn't the '70s anymore. That was just too much... and kinda scary. But my gawd did they kick ass!! "Who Are You" was the opener, and it was a damn good opener! "Bellboy" was next... yes, Bellboy!!! Fully equipped with Keith Moon on the jumbo screen!!! It was absolutely epic!! Up next was "Pinball Wizard" › "See Me, Feel Me"... I absolutely adore "Pinball Wizard"!! Buuuuut I adore "Baba O'Riley" much, much, more... and that was the next song they played! ♥ "Love Reign O'er Me" was next!! They ended their set with "Tea & Theatre... I missed half of that, but I got "Baba", so I was good. Of course it didn't end there... no, sir! As they were finishing up/leaving the stage, Pete Townshend took to the mic and told everyone to "Have a fucking beer!!!" So much for censorship... d'oh! 

But wait! There's more! Brian Williams served as a correspondent throughout the show, and as soon as The Who walked off stage, he thought he would be comical and make a few remarks on Roger's unbottoned shirt and Keith Moon dropping the f-bomb. Yeah, you read that right. Brian Williams called Pete Townshend, Keith Moon. Epic freaking fail. Half of Twitter knew the mix up but the other half clearly did not. I saw a few tweets from people blasting "Keith Moon" for 'cursing during such an important event'... okaaaaay then. Keith Moon has been dead for about 34 years now, but yeah, okay. Stick to talking about the nightly news, BW. Oh, and also, what's with Brian Williams and 'flinging dead cats around the room'... I mean, really? He couldn't have used another example? What a f*cking tool.

Up next was Crapye Trash. I mean, Kanye West. Get that shit out of here. And what in the frack was he wearing? A leather skirt? A leather kilt? With leather pants underneath? Leather leggings? I don't friggin' know, but he looked absofuckinglutely ridiculous. How does someone like that get to be on the same bill as Springsteen, Roger Waters, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Billy Joel, and Sir Paul McCartney? How? That should be a privilege... and Kanye is so not deserving of that privilege. I immediately hit the mute button and turned my back to the TV screen... I would've had zero knowledge of what he was wearing, if it wasn't for a friend asking me what he was wearing. (Thanks, Chee! I loved those nightmares.) Here's the setlist, abbreviated versions of: "Clique", "Mercy", "Power","Jesus Walks", "Run This Town", "Diamonds From Sierra Leone", "Touch the Sky","Gold Digger", "Good Life", "Runaway", "Stronger". Yeah, he got to play a zillion songs... ummm less Kanye and more Stones. Please? Also, The Who should never "open" for Kanye West. Ever.
 
Billy Joel. I don't love Billy Joel but I don't hate Billy Joel, either. When it comes to Billy Joel, I think I am on team neutral. Yeah. I absolutely adore "Piano Man"... but that wasn't in his setlist. These songs were in the set, though! "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)", "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)", "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", "New York State of Mind", "River of Dreams", "You May Be Right" and "Only the Good Die Young". Billy Joel was 500x better than Kanye... and all Mr. Joel had was a piano. No auto-tune was needed. It's called real talent.

Chris Martin (for those who don't know, he's the lead singer of Coldplay) performed nexy... that was only a tad awkward. He sang "Viva la Vida" while playing an acoustic guitar. Then, he brought Michael Stipe on stage, and they sang "Losing My Religion". That was perhaps the biggest surprise of the night... as Michael Stipe wasn't even listed as a performer... nobody knew he was appearing! Chris ended with "Us Against The World". He also gave us one of the best quotes of the night: "I know you really wanted One Direction, but it's past their bedtime." 

Three words: SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY!!!!! I know his performance at the Olympics was a bit rough... but I thought he did a superb job at this concert. Superb. His voice cracked a little during "Blackbird"... but at least  he wasn't wearing a black leather skirt. Ha! Okay, so, Paul opened up with "Helter Skelter", which was totally badass. Absolutely badass. "Let Me Roll It" came next, followed by "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five" ♥ Diana Krall joined him in singing "My Valentine". "Blackbird" was next and it made my heart flutter! I absolutely adore that song. Then came the moment a lot of people were waiting for. A moment that could have been really epic... or a moment that could have been epically bad. For me, it was an epic moment. The surviving members of Nirvana (Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic) and Pat Smear took to the stage to perform "Cut Me Some Slack". My mind was blown. My mind is still blown. You either loved it or you hated it. Courtney Love hated it and I loved it. The Nirvana boys left and it was back to being Paul and his band... "I Got a Feeling" was performed next, and "Live and Let Die" was the final song of the set. Paul McCartney at 70 can still sing way better than Axl Rose... just sayin'.

Alicia Keys came back out and sang "Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down" with Paul McCartney for the finale.

I cannot get enough of this concert. I watched an encore this morning and I'm watching one now. Where else are you going to find all these classic rock legends on one stage?

The money raised from the Wednesday night performance at New York’s Madison Square Garden is going to the Robin Hood Relief Fund, which aids East Coast families in need with their recovery from Hurricane Sandy’s destruction. 

For more information or to donate, please visit: http://www.robinhood.org/rhsandy

Peace, Love, & Music,

~Lizzy Lepp