Bruce Springsteen will lead the crowd in first of two Hall of Fame shows at the Garden (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
Madison Square Garden
32nd St. between Seventh & Eighth Aves.
October 29 & 30, 7:30
Tickets: $79.50-$2,504.50
www.rockhall25.com
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, which is based in Cleveland (and now has an annex in SoHo), is celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary with a pair of concerts at the Garden that plan to tell the history of rock and roll music. Each night, four headliners will cover multiple periods of music, with specially curated sets and guest stars. On Thursday, October 29, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will be joined by John Fogerty, Tom Morello, Sam Moore, and Darlene Love, Stevie Wonder will play with John Legend, Jeff Beck, Smokey Robinson, and B. B. King, Paul Simon will take the stage with Dion, Little Anthony and the Imperials, and someone named Art Garfunkel, and Crosby, Stills and Nash will get mellow with Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, and James Taylor. On Friday, October 30, U2 gets down with Beck and Buddy Guy, Metallica rocks with Ozzy Osbourne, Ray Davies, and Lou Reed, Aretha Franklin gets some respect with Lenny Kravitz and Annie Lennox, and the Jeff Beck Band will headline a developing slot that opened when Eric Clapton had to cancel to get gallstone surgery. Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard are also expected to participate, while Van Morrison won’t be able to make it after all.
Currently, the only tickets left are going for the rather steep price of $2,504.50, with a convenience charge that nearly equals the price of the cheapest tickets. But keep your eye on Ticketmaster over the next few days, because new seats are almost always released for Garden shows as the date approaches. We were at the opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland in 1995, which included some of the above acts in addition to Bob Dylan, the Allman Brothers Band, Booker T. & the MG’s, Al Green, the Pretenders, James Brown, and George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars; the whole idea of the Hall of Fame might be stupid – the museum is fine but the induction thing is just plain dumb and meaningless – but they do know how to put on one helluva show.