Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bashes: big surprise parties
Other Columnists
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's bashes at Madison Square Garden played more like grand surprise parties than a 25th anniversary.
That's no small feat considering Friday night's scheduled headliners included U2, Metallica, Aretha Franklin and Jeff Beck - a surprise headliner himself, filling in for Eric Clapton, who was recovering from a bout with gallstones - Metallica and U2. Franklin was especially hard to beat with a powerhouse set ranging from the protest "Make Them Hear You" to a lovely "New York, New York," and, of course, "Respect."
Franklin's wide-ranging set was what organizers had in mind, offering a glimpse into the history of rock and roll through her experience. But even she had some surprises, as Annie Lennox joined her for "Chain of Fools" and Lenny Kravitz took on "Think."
U2 took their set in wildly different directions, first bringing out Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith for "Because the Night," then the Black Eyed Peas for a weird "Where Is the Love/One" combo, followed by Mick Jagger on "Gimme Shelter." Though it would be hard for Springsteen to top his surprise pairing with "The King of Long Island" Billy Joel from the Thursday night show, he tried with "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For."
Metallica would not be outdone - with Lou Reed leading them through "Sweet Jane" and "White Light/White Heat" and Ray Davies handling "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night" - in their genre-defining set, which also included the metal king himself, Ozzy Osbourne, doing "Iron Man" and "Paranoid."
The concerts were fundraisers for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, which supports the museum in Cleveland and the Rock Hall Annex in SoHo. An edited broadcast of Thursday and Friday's concerts will air on HBO on Nov. 29.
