Thursday, December 13, 2012

DAY 13 Of a 31 Day Challenge The 121212 Concert

For the past two weeks, I have seen ads for a concert that was aired last night, the 121212 concert for Sandy Relief was perhaps one of the most amazing concerts to be aired.

This concert featured some of the most amazing singers of the last century, all gathered together in New York to help the city, New Jersey and Long Island with the recovery from Hurricane Sandy.  The singers all were in their prime and many came out of retirement to help.

To start the concert the Boss, Bruce Springsteen came out and set the tone, here is a man who is in his late 60's early 70's and he was at top form.  His voice as strong and clear as it was when he was in his prime.

Here is Bruce Springsteen in a duet with John Bon Jovi singing BORN TO RUN.


So who could possibly come out after the Boss?  Roger Walters.  Who?  Roger Walters was until 1994 the lead vocalist in one of the most progressive and powerhouse rock groups in the world,  The Group?  PINK FLOYD.

In 1994 Roger Walters split from PINK FLOYD and formed a group of his own, which of course he called PINK FLOYD,  For several months in 1994 you could find albums by two PINK FLOYD bands, in the end Roger Walters had to use his own name because the name PINK FLOYD was awarded to the original group.

Here is Roger Walters and Eddie Vedder singing Comfortably Numb, from THE WALL.


Next was something completely different, as MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS would have put it.  Adam Sandler and  Paul Shafer  from Late Night with David Letterman doing a rendition of  Hallelujah, only the way that Adam Sandler could.  Please not the language is a bit rough here, but it is still a great moment and down right funny at the same time.



After Adam Sandler's unique performance things got back to normal, well as normal as they can be when Mick Jagger and THE ROLLING STONES are the next singers on the scene.

Mick was amazing to watch, his voice is still as sharp and dynamic as it was when he was in his twenties and he still is as thin and able to dance the way he did back in the day.  I should be so lucky when I am in my 70's.



 John Bon Jovi was next on the ticket, it was amazing seeing someone younger than the majority of these singers, and someone who I remember first hearing in 1987 in Las Vegas.

Unfortunately I was unable to find a good quality of his performance from the concert last night, so I am borrowing this video from a previous concert he did, with Richie Sambora.  This version of WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE is just amazing and as powerful as the version he did last night.

I could not help but think how many young people only know this song because it was used as the main title theme for DEADLIEST CATCH, for seven years.  Amazing song, and Bon Jovi was amazing last night, considering he came out of retirement to sing.  Still can sing and as good as he did in his youth.


Up next was another classic British singer, a gentleman who has had many hits, and who still has a great voice,  Mr. Eric Clapton.

This is another video I had to use that is not from last nights' concert again because the sound quality was not that good on the recordings from last nights' concert.


 Next up was the only woman singer for the evening, Alicia Keys.  This lady was amazing and she had one of the shortest sets.  At the end of the concert, Sir Paul MacCartney invited her back on stage and she did one last song.  I had hoped to use that version, but again the sound quality is terrible, so here is another version of Alicia Keys  singing EMPIRE STATE OF MIND.


Next on the chart, was another amazing group from the late 1960's early 1970's THE WHO.  This group has had a major comeback thanks to the CSI Franchise, which has used their music for main title themes for all three of their series.

The Who stole the concert.  Until them, everyone had a limit of 2 to 3 songs overall.  The kept going for 11 songs and I honestly think they would have continued if they had not been given the cut symbol.

So here is one of the most phenomenal bands of all time.  THE WHO, singing Baba O'Riley aka as Teenage Wasteland.  Which of course is also the main title theme from CSI NY.




Kanye West however his music is so filled with hate and foul language, it will not appear here.

Next was a gentleman who has been singing since the early 1970's he has done countless albums and put out an all instrumental CD just a few years back.  He is the Piano Man, Mr. Billy Joel, who performs here ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG, a song that I used as an anthem when I was a single man on the prowl.


Chris Martin was up next,  This young man did a duet with Michael Stipe of REM .


And to end the concert, the one the only, Sir Paul McCartney doing one of most powerful songs, the main title to the James Bond film LIVE AND LET DIE.

Yes once again I am having to use an older video from the days of WINGS, because the sound quality on the video from the 121212 concert was so poor.



So there you have it, the 121212 concert for Hurricane Sandy relief in a nutshell.  Hope you enjoyed this concert as much as I did watching it last night.

Note the actual concert ran for close to five hours and was one hour over the original time it was to have ended.  Yet no one pulled the plug.  Also no one was censored because it was live, THE WHO were heard without being censored as was everyone else.

This alone was amazing because just a few years ago, the censors would have been all over this concert for language.

How the world has changed.

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