2012: A Few Highlights

The Stones' 50th Anniversary/GRRR! Released

In July 1962, a band played their first gig at the Marquee under the name "The Rollin' Stones".  Their setlist consisted completely of covers from musicians such as Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. 50 years later, The Rolling Stones have established themselves as one of the most influential, important bands in history.   Mick Jagger (vocals), Keith Richards (vocals/guitar), and Charlie Watts (drums) have been in the band since it's conception, and Ronnie Wood (guitarist) joined in 1975 replacing Mick Taylor.  In 1989, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and some call them the greatest band of all time.  Rolling Stone magazine has since ranked them fourth on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.  

The Stones released the album 'GRRR!', a compilation of their ultimate hits throughout the years, and every song is a gem.  It's all about the Stones' music that everyone knows, rather than the more obscure tracks. Two new songs also feature on it, Doom and Gloom and One More Shot (both recorded 2012).  It's very worthwhile to get if you want a broad overview of the band without getting all of their albums.  But if you already have a majority of the Stones' discography, hold off on it.  Chances are you already have most of the songs!  

Watts, Richards, Jagger, Wood

The Stones also launched off their highly anticipated 50th anniversary tour on November 25th in London.  Tickets to all of their concerts sold out in mere minutes.  I attempted to get tickets to one of the two Newark shows, but I made the mistake of getting on to website two minutes after the ticket sales began.  They were joined by many throughout their (ongoing) tour such as Mary J Blige, Lady Gaga and Bruce Springsteen, the last two appearing in the pay-per-view special where people were able to watch their December 15th concert in Newark in the comfort of their own homes (for a sum of forty-five dollars).

The Plug is Pulled on Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney

When Bruce Springsteen invited Paul McCartney out onto stage at 10:30pm, a whole half an hour after the supposed end of the show time, fans were still whipped into a frenzy.  But after renditions of the Beatles' hits Twist and Shout and I Saw Her Standing There, the organizers of the concert shut the microphones off, forcing the two singers to leave without a good-bye to the audience.

McCartney and Springsteen at Hyde Park

In my opinion (and many others), why not let the two finish?  Although both stated that they understood the reasoning behind the actions, I'm sure everyone in the audience would have enjoyed more songs from the two legends.  But rules are rules, and apparently the Hyde Park council has decided to decrease their amount of concerts in 2013 from thirteen to nine, and restrict the audience to 65,000 (the previous amount being 80,000).


12/12/12 Benefit Concert for Sandy Relief
Personally, this is my favorite event of the year as I was lucky enough to get tickets and floor seats! But more on that later.  This concert might possibly be the last concert on this massive scale.  Let's just go over the list of names featured:

• Bruce Springsteen
• Roger Waters
• Bon Jovi
• Eric Clapton
• Eddie Vedder
• The Who
• The Rolling Stones
• Billy Joel
• A surprise performance by Michael Stipe
• Paul McCartney

Other artists present were Kanye West, Alicia Keys and Chris Martin.  But as Mick Jagger put it, "This has got to be the largest collection of old english musicians assembled in Madison Square Garden."  He couldn't be more right, and those old english musicians created one of the most special nights for an amazing cause.  The entire concert was streamed live over the internet and to televisions all over the world, and it was estimated that about one billion people tuned in.  

Bruce Springsteen opened with a heartfelt Land of Hope and Dreams and got the audience excited when he closed with Born to Run alongside his Jersey friend Bon Jovi.  Personally, I don't listen to a lot of Springsteen, but live he was amazing.  It was an amazing way to kick off the show.  Roger Waters followed soon afterwards keeping the energy of the audience up with the classics In the Flesh, Another Brick in the Wall, Money and Us and Them.  Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam joined him onstage at the end for a rendition of Comfortably Numb, which had the entire audience on their feet singing along.  Being a big Pink Floyd fan, this performance was one of my favorites.  Roger Waters still has the same distinct voice after all these years.

Waters sang many of Pink Floyd's classics

Everyone who listens to Eric Clapton can come to an agreement that he is a god of guitar.  When he took the stage for his opening number Nobody Loves You When You're Down and Out, it was just him and his acoustic on a stool on the massive stage.  And he blew everyone away.  While he didn't perform my two favorites, Layla and Sunshine of Your Love (Cream), he sang his famous Crossroads.  And after Clapton was the act that the whole audience had been anxiously waiting for.  When the name of The Rolling Stones was announced, the crowd went absolutely wild.  They took the stage to a energetic You Got Me Rocking, and then brought the energy level even higher with Jumping Jack Flash.  Mick Jagger, now 69, lived up to his reputation as the world's best frontman; he didn't stay in one spot the entire time.  But then as soon as we were ready for more, they were gone.  It was the only disappointment of an otherwise amazing night.

But our sorrow over their short setlist was came to an abrupt end.  The Who took the stage to deliver what was, without a doubt, the best performance.  Who Are You had everyone up on their feet screaming the lyrics.  But then the back to back duo of Pinball Wizard and Baba O'Riley.  It was insanity; the energy had just skyrocketed to entirely new level.  And without me knowing, a photographer nearby took a photo of me singing along to Baba O'Riley.  Right before the final performance of the night, the photographer tapped me on the shoulder and held his iPhone up to me.  On it was the New York Times website, and I was on the cover.  "I took this picture of you during Teenage Wasteland (the name was wrong- but I knew what he was talking about), and it's on the cover of the website right now!"  I couldn't believe it.  And here it is, picture number seven! 

Me featured in the New York Times!

At the end of the night, Paul McCartney came on and it was what I had been waiting for for years.  The Beatles being my favorite band, I had desperately wanted to see Paul in concert.  He came out singing Helter Skelter, transitioning into Let Me Roll It (my favorite McCartney solo song) and playing other timeless classics such as Blackbird, I Got a Feeling, and Live and Let Die.  But most surprisingly, Dave Grohl and the rest of Nirvana joined him onstage and sang a new song!  The reunion of Nirvana was the perfect way to close out a night of epic proportions, and followed by Alicia Keys' Empire State of Mind, everyone walked out of MSG amazed with the unforgettable, five and a half hour concert that they had just experienced.

Other Events:

• Death of Whitney Houston (Feb. 11)
• Black Sabbath reunites
• Download 2012