The Love Rocks Benefit Concert held at the Beacon Theatre this past Thursday, March 10, 2022 was absolutely phenomenal from the beginning, with emcee Bill Murray, and Ben Harper performing “When the Levee Breaks”, to the group finale of Bob Dylan’s “ Like a Rolling Stone”.The concert clocked in at just a shade under 4 hours and there are too many highlights to mention. I had never attended this particular benefit show before but when I saw that Keith Richards& the X-Pensive Winos were reuniting after thirty years, where I last saw them play at the Beacon Theatre, I knew I had to go. It has been awhile since I drove into Manhattan for any reason whatsoever, but my wife and I rolled the dice driving in from Long Island; the traffic was not horrible and amazingly I managed to park on the street about three blocks from the Beacon. As we sat down in the rear orchestra to the left of the stage, the lights went off and the concert began; perfect. All of the artists on hand played two or three songs, they were all aiming to impress and there were quite a few cover songs performed throughout the night. Keith Richards & the X-Pensive Winos were the “headliners” but surprisingly performed in front of the house band set- up about two thirds of the way into the show. “999” off of Main Offender, The Rolling Stones “ You Got the Silver” and finishing with the classic “Before They Make Me Run”; it was a relatively short set leaving you wanting more, but clearly a nice fit in this well choreographed ensemble show. The great Mavis Maples came on relatively early on performing a Talking Heads tune and Staples Singers classic and then Mavis was gone for the evening. Mellissa Etheridge followed both Mavis and Keith near the end with the Beatles’ “ Come Together” and one of her own tunes. Hozier sang Tom Petty’s “ Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around with the unbelievably talented Allison Russell, and then he later on during his own set performed David Bowie’s “Changes”. An unannounced bearded Jackson Brown came on near the end snd played “Running On Empty” with the phenomenal house band that included Larry Campbell. A variety of other artists were mixed in throughout the evening making it just a great night and one of the best concerts I have attended in years. The concert was live streamed so there is great video on YouTube to check out.
Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo
Rock on!
GQ