RE: Little Steven show and review of Tibet House Benefit concert

["Peter Knerr" <peter.knerr>]

Cainebj writes:

>from Launch.com

>Thursday March 08 11:00 AM EST
>Springsteen Guitarist Reunites ? & The Mysterians For New Performance
Series

>3/8/01, 10 a.m. ET) – Rock'n'roll aficionado Little Steven has
announced the upcoming reunion of ? & the
Mysterians at a show in New York City. Steven, in conjunction with
Cavestomp! The Garage Rock Festacular!, is
presenting a regular performance series called "Underground Garage
Saturdays" at the Village Underground in New York City, and the first show
will feature a reunion of ? & the original Mysterians.

>Also on the bill are Richard & the Young Lions, singer David Aguilar of the
California group the Chocolate
Watchband, and young garage-rockers the Greenhornes. The show, which will be
hosted by longtime Patti Smith
guitarist Lenny Kaye, is set for March 31 at 9 p.m. ET, with tickets costing
$15.  ...

---------------------------
Thanks for the news about Lenny Kaye hosting the "Underground Garage
Saturdays" show on March 31.  Thanks too for the reference to Launch.com.  I
was not familar with this site so I was poking around in it and I came
across this review of the recent Tibet House Benefit concert.

Here's the URL :
 http://www.launch.com/music/content/1,5850,186157,00.html?vo=

For your convenience, I've included the text of the article:

Tibet House Benefit 2001, New York
By Alec Downie
Feb 26, 2001

Inspired by his personal experiences with the mass exodus of Tibet that
followed the Chinese invasion of 1959, composer Philip Glass assembled a
remarkable group of artists--including David Bowie, Patti Smith, Moby, Dave
Matthews, Emmylou Harris, Natalie Merchant, Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and
Grammy nominee Nawang Khechog--for a sold-out benefit concert at New York's
Tibet House on February 26, to help preserve Tibet's fragile culture, which
is in grave danger of becoming extinct.

Professor Bob Thurman (father of Uma) opened Tibet House's 13th gig
celebrating the Tibetan New Year ("The Year Of The Iron Snake") by hopefully
announcing, "We will see Tibet's freedom some time in our lifetime." Philip
Glass then spoke of this evening as being "a collective of world music and
collaboration" and made an impassioned plea for support, prior to
introducing the Drepung Gomang Monks, who provided a moving fusion of horn
playing and chants. This was followed by a mesmerizing and memorable
demonstration of Qawwali (which might be described as a mysterious form of
primeval rap) by Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

A late addition to the lineup was Dave Matthews, who arrived onstage stating
that Khan's performance was the "most difficult spot I've ever had to
follow." But Matthews gave it his best shot, playing two touching acoustic
numbers--including the title track from his new album Everyday, which
featured a charming reprise of "Only Fools Fall In Love" and "The
Stone"--before softly introducing a living legend.

That legend was Emmylou Harris, who was fabulous with her red outfit,
ghostly complexion, and voice like velvet. She slid beautifully through a
scaled-down "Red Dirt Girl" with Ethan John accompanying her on guitar, then
was joined by Matthews for a chilling duet version of "My Antonia," before
concluding her set with a delicate solo rendition of "Michaelangelo."

Natalie Merchant was up next. After apologizing for being dwarfed by her
giant Steinway piano, she sang a new song written for the occasion called
"Three Wishes," then offered an outstanding reworking of the 1845 hymn "The
Weeping Pilgrim," reinforced by a wonderful collective of Harris, Nawang
Khechog, and Dana Bryant.

After two funky jazz poems by the vibrant Bryant, "Heat" and "Religion,"
Khechog appeared alone onstage, solemnly repeated the message "Man be nice
to each other," and played a sad flute solo of such majesty that it
succeeded in leaving the audience in stunned, silent awe.

Khan returned to perform more Qawwali, then used his immense vocal talents
to accompany Patti Smith in a heart-rending improvisational performance of
the Ginsberg poem "Magic Song." Earlier that day, Patti had described how it
was Ginsberg's legacy that had motivated her to work again after she
suffered the losses of both her brother and her husband; during rehearsals,
David Bowie had firmly declared, "If anyone has the right to do Allen, it is
Patti."

Glass cast aside his duties as concert director to perform a sensitive solo
version of Etude 10 on piano, before the shy figure of Moby shuffled onto
the stage to sing his haunting Play hit, "Porcelain." Looking slightly lost,
with acoustic guitar in hand and only violinist Martha Mooke for company, he
described the song's subject matter as "being in love with someone and
knowing you should have nothing to do with them." His performance was
inspired, and it wowed the audience with both its simplicity and splendor.

Moby then unassumingly introduced "the best musician of the 21st century,"
and a smiling Bowie strolled into the spotlight. The reception was
thunderous, the kind of roar that is usually only heard in New York when a
homerun is hit at Yankee Stadium. And Bowie didn't disappoint, performing a
majestic, if somewhat predictable, "Heroes," with a superb backing band
featuring Tony Visconti on bass, Moby on guitar, Glass on piano, Sterling
Campbell on drums, and a Martha Mooke string quartet. Bowie teased the crowd
with an anecdote about his early years as a would-be Buddhist before singing
"Silly Boy Blue," a song written about Tibet that he had not performed since
1965; as the song reached its crescendo, Bowie was joined onstage by the
Monks, who drowned the platform in a spectacular sea of saffron.

Following Bowie was a daunting task indeed, but a tall, gaunt 18-year-old
named Jackson (who bore uncanny resemblance to his parents, Patti Smith and
the late Fred Smith of the MC5) did Mom and Dad proud by easing through a
skilled three-minute guitar solo. Mother Patti then reappeared onstage to
hug her son and launch into the old standard "Sea Of Love"; in the
interlude, she lamented how the Chinese government is dumping nuclear and
chemical waste high up in the Himalayas: "Do you know what? When the snow
comes, it melts and flows down returning to your great Chinese seas--like
pissing in the water, it all comes back!" An obligatory final gathering
onstage of fist-shaking and hand-clapping celebrities followed, for a
stirring rendition of Patti's "People Have The Power"; it is rare that
another artist eclipses the one and only David Bowie, but in this case,
Patti Smith's song was a fitting finale for this celebration of Tibetan
culture.

The concertgoers then slipped away in their yellow taxicabs. Hopefully the
harrowing words of Khechog ("Time is running out. Please help us. Tibetan
people have the right to live as you do, in freedom...") remained with them
long after the music had ended.

....Peace,
....Peter