Silent Night – Barbra Streisand

White Christmas – Bing Crosby

Rocking Around the Christmas Tree – Brenda Lee

The Boss – Santa Clause is Coming to Town

121212 The Concert for Sandy Relief:
As the concert tonight for Superstorm Sandy relief ends, and the people file out of Madison Square Garden at 1:21am on 12.13.12, here are my thoughts about this semi-great event:

The Boss Came on Too Early!
He had to start the show, of course. Who else could? But, at 7:30 it was just too early. He should have come back after 10:00pm; after the amazing performance by The Who. But, he still was The Boss, performed as such, and spoke from his heart as only he could about Asbury Park (his adopted home) and the Jersey Shore. I’m sure Bruce thought of singing Fourth of July Asbury Park (Sandy), and many probably begged him to, but if he did, he made a wise decision not to. That just shows how smart and classy he is.

The Fat Cats On The Floor
It was sad and depressing to watch all the Fat Cats on the floor in front of the stage that they kept showing in droves. Was there anyone there under 50? Did 10% of these people even know the words to Born to Run? These so called Rock and Roll fans paid tons of money to stand there and feel as though they were doing something good for the Sandy victims, but they weren’t. They were only soothing their incredible egos so they could talk about it at the water cooler tomorrow or on Shitter or Wastebook!

The Mic Stupid
Bon Jovi, the other Jersey representative (where was Southside Johnny?) came out to sing Born to Run with Bruce but they didn’t have his microphone working properly until at least half way through the song. They messed that one up pretty good. Then Bruce came out to sing a song with Bon Jovi, but that was all for The Boss.

Twinkie Factory
As usual, Billy Crystal was great and started off the festivities with some very witty comments including jabs at Bloomberg and Chris Christie. Then later they showed Governor Christie with his family in the stands. I wonder what he paid for the 3 seats he needed just for himself? Do they charge him more on an airplane? If not, they should! And, kudos to Jon Stewart for saying “This is the greatest Chanukah party ever!”

Just Another Brick in the Wall
After Bruce, Roger Waters came out and absolutely stole the show, if you can do that before 8:30pm. He played and sang The Wall, Money, Us and Them, and then finished with the classic, Comfortably Numb with Eddie Vedder singing the lead. Shouldn’t there be a law that Comfortably Numb can only be performed and played after 11:00pm? An incredible performance, and the best of the night until Daltry and Townshend showed up.

Keith, Mick, and the Gravedigger
As hard as this is to say, it was sad to see Keith and his boys looking so old and decrepid. It sure wasn’t a Gas, Gas, Gas to me. In fact, it looked like they needed some Gas, Gas, Gas to fuel themselves up, or had some Gas, Gas, Gas, and needed to go to the bathroom after just 2 songs. The end is here boys. Face it. It’s very, very sad for everyone, but you need to stop playing.

Bell Boy Lives!
WOW! DOUBLE WOW!! While Mick and Keith can’t bring it any more, Roger and Pete certainly still can. Bell Boy with Keith Moon singing it with them on the screen behind them? Pure Genius! Maybe the London Olympics Committee wasn’t that nuts after all. This past spring they called Keith Moon’s agent to see if he would appear at the closing ceremonies. The fact that he’s been dead for 35 years didn’t seem to faze them. But, hey, maybe he’s not dead after all. Maybe that was him really singing tonight and he’s alive in Paris with Jim Morrison! That was spectacular, but it got even better. Baba O’Riley (Teenage Wasteland) took me right back to 1972, college, and The Spectrum where the “Cool One” and I saw The Who with some new group no one had ever heard of before named Lynryd Skynyrd. Then Love Reign O’er Me and Roger unbuttoning his shirt and swinging the microphone around? Man, it was 40 years ago if it was yesterday! Simply amazing and worth the price of admission alone. Age hasn’t gotten them, but death has. However, bringing The Moon back to life was fantastic! Bravo! Ole! Keith Moon and The Who Lives Forever!

My Wife Nancy?
Sir Paul McCartney exists in our lives for one reason these days. To end shows like these. He really looked extra thin. He must be working out with Bon Jovi who also looked incredibly skinny. But, good thing Bon Jovi didn’t give Paul one of his shiny black jump suits. If he did, they could have lip synched and performed as Milli Vanillli. Sir Paul played some interesting tunes for the event, but the strangest was a Valentine’s song he said he wrote for his wife Nancy (they call her McGill you know). His wife Nancy? Valentine’s song for Sandy victims in December? What about his long time wife and love of his life Linda who died of cancer? Very strange choice of words and song. He should have brought out Ringo to sing “It Don’t Come Easy” and “I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends”. That would have been much more appropriate and entertaining than Paul singing “Live and Let Die”. Don’t ya think?

Nirvana
A fantastic Nirvana reunion with McCartney playing Curt Cobain, but couldn’t they have picked a better song like Smells Like Teen Spirit, Lithium, or Come as You Are?

New York
A nice ending with Alicia Keys singing New York, but then she just thanked New York and gave best wishes to New York with no final mention of New Jersey. Still not a bad ending though to a very long show and evening that went pretty well for a live TV show.

Notables Missing In Action
Southside Johnny, Blue Oyster Cult, Dylan, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Neil Young, B.B. King, Leon Russell, Elton John, Jerry Garcia, 50 Cent, Snoop Dog, Nikki Minaj, Lil’ Kim, Spike Lee, The Donald, Tom Seaver, Mookie Wilson, Bill Buckner, R.A, Dickey, David Wright, Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, George Steinbrenner, Reggie Jackson, Billy Martin, Whitey Ford, Joe Namath, Wellington Mara, Eli Manning, Lawrence Taylor, Cazzie Russell, Earl The Pearl, Muhammad Ali, Ed Koch, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Son of Sam, and Son of God himself, Jesus Christ! And, most importantly, The Victims!!!