In Case You Missed It: The Best Concert Ever?
The Second Disc very rarely covers “new” releases, even if they’re newer releases by vintage artists. But when our good friend Eric Luecking of Record Racks (a darn good site if I say so myself) reminded me a few days ago of the recently-released Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 25th anniversary concert DVD, it seemed alright to break that unofficial embargo of “new” stuff.
In case you missed this when it was released on September 28, The 25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Concerts is a three-DVD (or double Blu-Ray) set features footage from two historic concerts held in New York City’s Madison Square Garden on October 29-30, 2009. The best of the sets were broadcast on HBO; that entire special is here along with a whole host of bonus performances – some five hours of music altogether.
And who was there? Maybe it’s best to list who wasn’t there. Performances included the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis, Simon & Garfunkel, U2, Aretha Franklin, Sting, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, Metallica, Jeff Beck and a whole lot more. There are surprise guests, surprise collaborations and enough good old-fashioned rock and roll to satiate even the stuffiest of music fans.
So if you’ve got a friend or family member who would flip for this for Christmas, make sure it’s in their stocking. You definitely won’t regret it. A full list of the performances on the discs is after the jump.
Various Artists, The 25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Concerts (Time-Life, 2010)
Discs 1 and 2: Original Concert Special
- Introduction – Tom Hanks
- Great Balls of Fire – Jerry Lee Lewis
- Woodstock – Crosby, Stills & Nash
- Almost Cut My Hair – Crosby, Stills & Nash
- Love Has No Pride – Crosby, Stills & Nash with Bonnie Raitt
- The Pretender – Crosby, Stills & Nash with Jackson Browne
- Love the One You’re With – Crosby, Stills & Nash with James Taylor
- For Once in My Life – Stevie Wonder
- The Tracks of My Tears – Stevie Wonder with Smokey Robinson
- The Way You Make Me Feel – Stevie Wonder with John Legend
- The Thrill Is Gone – Stevie Wonder with B.B. King
- Higher Ground/Roxanne – Stevie Wonder with Sting
- Superstition – Stevie Wonder with Jeff Beck
- Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard – Paul Simon
- You Can Call Me Al – Paul Simon
- Here Comes the Sun – Paul Simon with David Crosby and Graham Nash
- The Wanderer – Paul Simon with Dion DiMucci
- Two People in the World – Little Anthony and the Imperials
- The Sounds of Silence – Simon & Garfunkel
- The Boxer – Simon & Garfunkel
- Bridge over Troubled Water – Simon & Garfunkel
- Baby I Love You – Aretha Franklin
- Don’t Play That Song – Aretha Franklin
- Chain of Fools – Aretha Franklin with Annie Lennox
- For Whom the Bell Tolls – Metallica
- Sweet Jane – Metallica with Lou Reed
- Iron Man/Paranoid – Metallica with Ozzy Osbourne
- All Day and All of the Night – Metallica with Ray Davies
- Enter Sandman – Metallica
- Vertigo – U2
- Magnificent – U2
- Because the Night – U2 with Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith and Roy Bittan
- I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For – U2 with Bruce Springsteen
- Gimme Shelter – U2 with Mick Jagger and Fergie
- Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of – U2 with Mick Jagger
- Beautiful Day – U2
- People Get Ready – Jeff Beck with Sting
- Let Me Love You Baby – Jeff Beck with Buddy Guy
- Foxy Lady – Jeff Beck with Billy Gibbons
- A Day in the Life – Jeff Beck
- Hold On I’m Comin’ – Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band with Sam Moore
- Soul Man – Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band with Sam Moore
- The Ghost of Tom Joad – Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band with Tom Morello
- Fortunate Son – Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band with John Fogerty
- Pretty Woman – Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band with John Fogerty
- Jungleland – Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band
- A Fine Fine Boy – Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band with Darlene Love
- New York State of Mind – Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band with Billy Joel
- Born to Run – Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band with Billy Joel
- (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher – Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band with Darlene Love, John Fogerty, Sam Moore, Billy Joel and Tom Morello
Disc 3: Bonus material
- Mexico – Crosby, Stills & Nash with James Taylor
- Teach Your Children – Crosby, Stills & Nash with Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and James Taylor
- Uptight (Everything’s Alright) – Stevie Wonder
- I Was Made to Love Her – Stevie Wonder
- Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours – Stevie Wonder
- Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) – Stevie Wonder with John Legend
- Mrs. Robinson/Not Fade Away – Simon & Garfunkel
- Turn the Page – Metallica
- Iron Man/Paranoid – Metallica with Ozzy Osbourne (Unedited)
- Mysterious Ways – U2
- Where is the Love/One – U2 with The Black Eyed Peas
- Freeway Jam – Jeff Beck
- Big Block – Jeff Beck
- London Calling – Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band with Tom Morello
- (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher – Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band with Darlene Love, John Fogerty, Sam Moore, Billy Joel and Tom Morello (Unedited)
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5 thoughts on “In Case You Missed It: The Best Concert Ever?”
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I love the fact that all of the U2 songs get their own disc… Disc 2 of the Night 2 set. What a cool little live EP.
This looks like a terrific set, and a great souvenir of the concerts. I was lucky enough to attend both evenings, and these CDs indeed capture most of the high points. (Curious omission: anything by Aretha Franklin, one of Night Two’s headliners. I suspect Aretha herself may have put the kibosh on her inclusion.)
Tracks 22-24 are by Aretha Franklin, according to the track listing.
22. Baby I Love You – Aretha Franklin
23. Don’t Play That Song – Aretha Franklin
24. Chain of Fools – Aretha Franklin with Annie Lennox
Sorry, Gary — I was referring to the CD edition of this release and should have been more specific. (I think Don was referring to the CDs, too, where the U2 tracks are on one disc.) The Blu-Ray/DVD set/television special described by Mike significantly reshuffled the performance order of the two nights.
Hugely disappointing that more of the music wasn’t included on the DVDs. I saw the 4-hour HBO telecast when it first aired, and while I liked it I was bummed out over how much music was left out. It was probably foolish of me to hope that ALL of the music from both nights would make the DVDs, but that’s what I wanted.
Specifically, I really wanted all of the songs Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen did together. Hearing Billy do “Only the Good Die Young” and “You May Be Right” with the E-Street Band would’ve been a treat. Given the star power of those two, the omissions are surprising. If anything, “Born To Run” was disappointing since it seemed like Billy hadn’t rehearsed it enough with the band.
Most of the highlights seem to be here though. Bruce with Fogerty, and then Tom Morello (man, can Morello play!), Beck with Buddy Guy, Beck playing “A Day In the Life,” and Jagger with U2 (specifically “Gimme Shelter”).