Wikipedia

The Concert for New York City

The Concert for New York Citywas abenefit concertthat took place atMadison Square GardeninNew York Cityin response to theSeptember 11 attacks.Aside from performing for charity, the concert honored the first responders from theNew York City Fire DepartmentandNew York City Police Department,their families, and those lost in the attacks and those who had worked in the ongoing rescue and recovery efforts in the weeks since that time.

The Concert for New York City
GenreBenefit concert
DatesOctober 20, 2001
Location(s)Madison Square Garden,New York City,U.S.
FoundersPaul McCartney

The concert was organized byPaul McCartneyand included many legendaryBritishcontemporaries, includingThe Who,David Bowie,Elton John,Eric Clapton,and Rolling Stones bandmatesMick Jagger and Keith Richards.Americanartists includedBon Jovi,Jay-Z,Destiny's Child,theBackstreet Boys,James Taylor,Billy Joel,Melissa Etheridge,Five for Fighting,Goo Goo Dolls,John MellencampwithKid Rock,and a humorous performance byAdam Sandleras "Operaman".Paul Shafferacted asmusical directorfor the show and various celebrities and political figures includingHoward SternandRudy Giulianiappeared between the acts.

Many athletes also appeared between the acts includingJoe Torre,whose Yankees were on their way to competing in their fourth consecutiveWorld Series.The concert also included several short films made by New York City's most notable filmmakers such asWoody Allen,Martin Scorsese,Spike Lee,andKevin Smith.

Over 60 stars that participated in the concert signed unique memorabilia backstage atMadison Square Gardenthat were later auctioned off to support theRobin Hood Foundation.The autographed items included three large posters of the concert and three customized 24 "drumheads. Other items included a complete drumset and guitar.

Audience reaction

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Much of the crowd itself was extremely emotional, with victims' families and colleagues holding up portraits of the dead. Three speakers were booed: actressSusan Sarandon(for plugging New York mayoralty candidateMark Green), actorRichard Gere(for speaking about non-violent tolerance), andHillary Clinton(for her perceived anti-police views). Gere did acknowledge the crowd's jeering at his pacifist stance, stating, "That's apparently unpopular right now, but that's all right." Sarandon nearly fell when she was intentionally tripped by the wife of a missing police officer, whose foot came through the barricade fence at the most opportune of moments.[1]

Adam Sandler's appearance asOperamanwas a comic highlight of the evening. He sang a humorous song about the greatness ofNew York City,the end ofRudy Giuliani's term as mayor, theNew York Yankeeswho were in the middle of playing in the2001 ALCS,the musical acts that preceded him on stage (in which he mentioned thatDestiny's Childgave him a "bone-ah" ), andOsama bin Laden's alleged cowardice, including the line "Osama says he's tough, Osama says he's brave/Then tell me why Osama is shitting in a cave!"

Musically, the audience responded most fervently toThe Who,roaring as they came on stage with a roiling "Who Are You",drowning out the band on the famous" It's only teenage wasteland "refrain of"Baba O'Riley,"and reaching a peak of excitement with"Won't Get Fooled Again."The backdrop for the band consisted of an American flag alongside a British flag, showing solidarity. VocalistRoger Daltrey's final words to the crowd of first responders and their families were: "We could never follow what you did." Previously, during the opening chords of "Behind Blue Eyes", Daltrey said, "I'm not worthy of wearing this," when tossed a law enforcement officer's cap.Forbesdescribed The Who's performance as a "catharsis" for the law enforcement in attendance.[2]This performance would turn out to be bassistJohn Entwistle'sfinal performance in America with The Who; he died of aheart attackonly eight months later. Multi-instrumentalistJon Carin,who had worked with the band during the group's1996–1997 tours,played keyboards in place of longtime keyboardistJohn "Rabbit" Bundrick.

Other highlights includedDavid Bowie's opening tandem ofPaul Simon's "America"and his own"Heroes",dedicated to his local ladder company, and New York's ownBilly Joel's "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)"where Joel says after singing it," I wrote that song 25 years ago, I thought it was gonna be a science fiction song. I never thought it would really happen. But unlike the end of that song...we ain't going anywhere! "Elton John's sentimental "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters"was also well-received, among other performances. After The Who's performance, FDNY firefighter Mike Moran spoke to the audience, explaining that his brother was killed on 9/11, and that the victims would not be forgotten. He ended by saying" In the spirit of theIrishpeople,Osama bin Laden,you can kiss my royal, Irish ass! "which was met with wild cheering and applause. Moran removed his cap and concluded with," This is my face, bitch! "which was, again, met with cheers from the crowd.

When Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, the two surviving members of The Who, were given theKennedy Center Honorsin December 2008 for their contributions to American culture, a tribute performance of "Baba O'Riley" was delivered byRob Thomas.In the end refrain of "teenage wasteland", a full choir of FDNY firemen was revealed behind a curtain - bellowing the refrain - in gratitude for The Who's performance at The Concert for New York City, seven years prior.

Lineup and songs

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In order of appearance:[3]

Short films

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The following short films were shown during the concert, here sorted by director:[3]

Sounds from a Town I Love

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Sounds from a Town I Love(sometimes incorrectly referred to asSounds from the Town I Love)[4][5][6]is a 2001 comedy short film of approximately three minutes, written and directed byWoody Allen.The film was first shown duringThe Concert for New York City.[7]The film consists purely ofcell-phoneconversation snippets of twenty-three random people walking through the streets ofNew York City.[7]Ranging fromcomplainerstoneuroticworriers conversing about bizarre or amusing situations, they and their comments are unrelated to one another. The film ends with a message from Woody Allen: "I love this town."

John Cusackintroduced the film with a message from Woody Allen: "I apologize in advance for my short movie. The cause was so worthwhile that I could not say no when approached to contribute something to this wonderful show. I did the best I could. If you hate it, I will try to make it up to you somehow in the future." In addition to longtime Allen collaboratorsMarshall BrickmanandTony Roberts,among the people seen in the film areAustin Pendleton,Griffin Dunne,Michael Emerson,Bebe Neuwirth,andCelia Weston.[8]

Critical reaction

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In 2004,Rolling Stonemagazine selected this concert, along with the earlierAmerica: A Tribute to Heroestelethon, as one of the 50 moments that changed rock and roll.[citation needed]It was also voted the #4 greatest moment in the history ofMadison Square Garden.[9]On December 7, 2008,Pete TownshendandRoger Daltreyof The Who receivedKennedy Center Honorsfrom thePresident of the United States,and after several musicians performed their music, the finale was a surprise chorus of New York City police officers and rescue personnel who had been touched by their performance.[10]

Broadcast

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The concert was broadcast live onVH1,and over $35 million was raised. An additional $275,000 was also raised with a connecting auction. The five-hour broadcast was executive produced by Greg Sills and Fred Graver. The producer was Paul Flattery and the director wasLouis J. Horvitz(who has directed many of the Academy Award broadcasts). It was written by Stephen Pouliot and Paul Flattery. The concert was recorded by David Hewitt and Mark Repp on Remote Recording's Silver Truck. It was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special, and Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety or Music Program (bySNLvet Keith Raywood). The entire uncut version of the 51⁄2hour concert was rebroadcast onVH1 Classicon January 1, 2008.

A one-hour highlight show was broadcast onCBSthe following month. An album andDVDof the event was released in January 2002.[3]

An encore of the entire concert ran on September 11, 2011, to commemorate the 10th anniversary, commercial-free and unedited, from 4 to 10 pm.

Another encore of the concert aired on October 20, 2021, onMTV ClassicandMTV Livein celebration of the 20th anniversary of the concert, commercial free.

CD release

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A double CD of the event was released bySonyon November 27, 2001, containing 32 tracks. The compilation is not been available on streaming and digital services, as of 2024.

Home video release

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The concert was released bySonyboth on DVD and VHS on January 29, 2002, both only inNTSCformat for the US/Canadian market. The two-tape VHS set has a total running time of 296 minutes, while the double DVD runs a shorter time of 245 minutes.

Charts

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^Opie & Anthony - WNEW
  2. ^"The Night The Who Saved New York".Forbes.RetrievedJune 17,2020.
  3. ^abcSeibert, Perry."The Concert For New York City [2 Discs]".All Movie Guide.RetrievedAugust 14,2009.
  4. ^"The Concert For New York City".barnesandnoble.com.RetrievedAugust 7,2009.
  5. ^"CONCERT FOR NY (DVD) DVD".bestprices.com.RetrievedAugust 7,2009.
  6. ^"Concert for New York City DVDs (2001)".cduniverse.com.RetrievedAugust 7,2009.
  7. ^ab"Sounds From a Town I Love (2001)".geocities.com. Archived fromthe originalon October 27, 2009.RetrievedAugust 7,2009.
  8. ^Woody Allen, Stig Björkman (2005).Woody Allen on Woody Allen(revised, illustrated ed.). Grove Atlantic Press.ISBN9780802142030.
  9. ^"MSG 50 Greatest Moments".Archived fromthe originalon February 9, 2009.RetrievedAugust 29,2007.
  10. ^John Clarke,"Dave Grohl, Chris Cornell Pay Tribute to the Who at Kennedy Center",Rolling Stone,December 8, 2008. Retrieved September 14, 2011
  11. ^"Various Artists Chart History (Billboard200) ".Billboard.Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  12. ^"Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2002".Billboard.RetrievedJuly 26,2021.

References

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