Bruce

Gamboge used back channels to score tickets to the "Music for Youth: Celebrating the Music of Bruce Springsteen" benefit last night at Carnegie Hall. We got to see a bunch of famous, semi-famous, and un-famous musicians perform Bruce songs, plus experience our first times at the world's fanciest music venue. A ton of people performed and I don't think I could remember them all, but it included: M. Ward, Pete Yorn, Steve Earl, Badly Drawn Boy, The Hold Steady, Elysian Fields, Bacon Brothers, North Mississippi All-Stars, Juliana Hatfield, and Patti Smith.

Last but not least, Bruce himself took the stage and performed acoustic renditions of Promised Land and Rosalita. A completely electric performance. The energy in the hall picked up big-time for Bruce; Blackberrys were put away right-and-left. For the last song, all the other less famous/good musicians gathered onstage for a stunningly bad reprise of Rosalita. Well, bad but pretty awesome.

Other than Bruce, most of the performances were collectively kind of awkward. But there were highlights: Pete Yorn's acoustic version of "Dancin' in the Dark" (see below) was inventive and excellent, and The Hold Steady absolutely killed "Atlantic City" (as you would expect). Craig Finn even managed to steal Bruce's encore; his energy lifted the entire room during "Rosalita". Have been trying to see The Hold Steady for a while, and this performance added some urgency.