Last Night's Rainforest Benefit @ Carnegie Hall-This Year's Theme "Top 40 Hits from Proms"

When I first saw this, I didn't know what it was from...it seemed like a weird 70s variety show as it has singers, dancing men in underpants, Elton John, a draq queen (oh wait, that's Lady GaGa heh). But nope this is Debbie Harry, Bruce Springsteen, Lady GaGa, Elton John, Shirley Bassey, and Sting at last night's Rainforest Concert at Carnegie Hall in NYC.

Every year, this benefit has a "theme;" given the setlist from this year, I believe it may have been "prom songs" or "Top 40 Hits of the Last Few Decades" because it includes Madonna's "Material Girl," Springsteen's "Dancin in the Dark," Elton John's "Philadelphia Freedom," among others. Obviously the person filming is a Lady Gaga fan given all the zooming in on her and such. And I'm such a girl, I kept looking at Gaga's boots thinking, "Those kind of look like the Alexander McQueen "Claw" boots, I wish they'd do a decent shot of them."

The video below is from the "all-star jam" at the end that was...wait for it...Journey's "Don't Stop Believin." Do not adjust your computer, what you are about to see really is real.

"Gulf Aid," A Benefit Concert for NOLA, Announced

Gah it's been a stupid crazy busy around here this week with the day job having all sorts of deadlines so we apologize for the radio silence. Thanks for sticking with us, all three of you (that includes you Mom, hi!) Anyway on to it...

Times are not good here. The city is crumbling into ashes. It has been buried under a lava flood of taxes and frauds and maladministrations so that it has become only a study for archaeologists. Its condition is so bad that when I write about it, as I intend to do soon, nobody will believe I am telling the truth. But it is better to live here in sackcloth and ashes than to own the whole state of Ohio.-(19th cent writer Lafcadio Hearn about NOLA, roughly 1879, when thousands died from yellow fever)

We love us some New Orleans around here so the whole crazy oil rig explosion madness down there is heart-breaking. Just when they're starting to really get it back together after Katrina, to then get hit with this...I heard recently from people down there who said the smell of oil is just permeating everything and everywhere throughout the city. What's next, a deluge of locusts?

The great radio station down there, WWOZ, announced they're holding a benefit concert at Mardi Gras World's River City Plaza in New Orleans this Sunday (5/16), from noon-10pm, "to raise funds for efforts to stop the oil from destroying our wetlands, as well as to provide financial aid to fishermen and their families."

If you like NOLA-style music, it's quite a lineup. Thus far, they have:
Mos Def, John Legend, Lenny Kravitz, Allen Toussaint, Ani DiFranco, The Voice of the Wetlands Allstars (featuring Tab Benoit, Dr. John, Cyril Neville, George Porter Jr., Waylon Thibodeaux, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Johnny Sansone, and Johnny Vidacovich), Beausoleil, Steve Riley and The Mamou Playboys with Jon Cleary, Marcia Ball, Zachary Richard, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk, Soul Rebels Brass Band, Irvin Mayfield's Playhouse Revue, Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers, Jeremy Davenport, Rebirth Brass Band, Big Sam's Funky Nation, Shamarr Allen, and MyNameIsJohnMichael, with more to be announced.

Tickets are $50 and available here. Funds will be distributed to organizations to focus on two key elements of recovery: the wetlands/coastal environmental issues and the well-being of fishermen and the regional seafood industry.

If you're not in the area, WWOZ will be broadcasting live from the concert (listen here). Be sure to send in a few pennies too, which you can do online or by mail (Gulf Relief Foundation, P.O. Box 6917, Metairie, LA 70009).

Give a Listen: Trouble in Mind-Richie Havens/Preservation Hall Jazz Band/Buy Preservation: An Album To Benefit Preservation Hall & The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program

"Shane MacGowan & Friends" Benefit Song for Haitian Relief Coming 3/8

Benefit songs don't always stand the test of time. I have to admit that to this day, hearing the original "We Are the World" still makes my eardrums cry in pain (even WITH Springsteen in it) because it was played soooo daaaamnn much then. And let's be honest, it's not a song you'd listen to on repeat even if you liked it. The smart move would be to find a song that's a classic and get some popular artists to get folks to buy it.

As we mentioned a little while back, Nick Cave, Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan, and Mick Jones of The Clash, among others, took the latter approach in order to raise money for Haitian relief. "Shane MacGowan and Friends" got together recently to do an all-star cover of "I Put a Spell On You," which will be available as a download next month. They released the video from the recording yesterday and...call it a way cooler antithesis to that "We Are the World" remake. And what's better, it's a good version of the song. Really good. And MacGowan's scratchy voice and caterwalling yells add such a cool element. Screamin Jay Hawkins, the song's originator, would be proud. That's the beauty of classic songs, they become classic because they're just downright great. So you get a classic song, sung by some of the best artists around, AND it benefits a good cause? What more do you need?

"I Put a Spell on You" will be available on 3/8 here. All proceeds will go to Concern Worldwide, an Irish-based international humanitarian organization, which has been working in Haiti for more than 16 years.

Shane MacGowan, Mick Jones, Nick Cave, and Chrisse Hynde, Among Others, Releasing Benefit Single for Haiti

Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan and Mick Jones of The Clash have organized a group of musicians to cover the Screamin Jay Hawkins song "I Put a Spell On You" as a benefit single for Haitian relief. Sort of a punk "alternative" to Simon Cowell, who is also putting out a benefit single, as is Quincy Jones' remake of "We Are the World," Jones and MacGowan brought in other musicians, such as Chrissie Hynde and Sex Pistols Glen Matlock among others, with Nick Cave as producer.

The single is set for release in late February. Money raised is going to Concern Worldwide, an Irish-based international humanitarian organisation, which has been working in Haiti for more than 16 years.

Read more: Shane MacGowan, Nick Cave and Johnny Depp team up for Haiti single

Seen Your Video: "Hard Times Come Again No More" by Mary J. Blige on Hope for Haiti Benefit

I feel silly even writing what I'm about to write, but the beauty of a voice carrying a piece of music made me weep this weekend. Sure, music is a big part of my life and sure, I've been "moved" by music, like getting goosebumps or not breathing for a second when a song or a lyric has especially hit home. But never, ever, have I been moved to tears by the beauty of a voice. And oddly, it happened by way of an artist whose music I never follow-Mary J Blige.

Though I'm not a fan of her music, I have always thought that Blige had an amazing voice; how could you not? The power and emotion that she employs makes a listener feel like you and Mary are having a heart-to-heart, like she's really feeling everything she's singing. Blige also doesn't seem to employ vocal gymnastics and go all over a register to be impressive (I'm looking at you Beyonce).

But this weekend I was watching clips from Friday's Hope for Haiti Benefit broadcast and I randomly clicked on hers. The waterworks weren't immediate, but about half way through her version of "Hard Times Come Again No More," I felt myself getting choked up. The song, written in 1854 by Stephen Foster, is a song of endurance, of sympathy, and of strength of character. The song has been done wonderfully by a good many others, but the stunning magnificence and grace that is Blige's voice, coupled with a song about perseverance and appreciation of life itself, just put it over the edge. It seemed so silly at first, having tears fall over a singer's voice. But it gave me a great reminder that music can (and has) moved people to move proverbial mountains, as well as make one's heart sing if you just listen.

Let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many tears,
While we all sup sorrow with the poor;
There's a song that will linger forever in our ears;
Oh Hard times come again no more.

Tis the song, the sigh of the weary,
Hard Times, hard times, come again no more
Many days you have lingered around my cabin door;
Oh hard times come again no more.
While we seek mirth and beauty and music light and gay,
There are frail forms fainting at the door;
Though their voices are silent, their pleading looks will say
Oh hard times come again no more.

There's a pale drooping maiden who toils her life away,
With a worn heart whose better days are o'er:
Though her voice would be merry, 'tis sighing all the day,
Oh hard times come again no more.

Tis a sigh that is wafted across the troubled wave,
Tis a wail that is heard upon the shore
Tis a dirge that is murmured around the lowly grave
Oh hard times come again no more.

Seen Your Video: Justin Timberlake/Mark Morris Cover "Hallelujah" @ Hope for Haiti Benefit

It's easy to rag on Justin Timberlake: the denim tux he wore with Brittney, the hair, the boy-band heritage. One thing you can't rag on him for though is his voice: this man can sing. I knew The Hope for Haiti Benefit was happening but apparently, I'd missed the "when" (it was last night). Timberlake and Mark Morris covered Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah“ and while everyone and his mom seems to have covered this song, a select few (Cohen, Jeff Buckley) do it with the justice it deserves. This Timberlake/Morris version should now be added to that "few" column. It's mindblowingly beautiful.

The version can also be purchased on iTunes.

NYC's Bell House Hosting Strength Through Unity Benefit for Haiti on Jan. 27

Wow, what a tremendous lineup! The Bell House in NYC just announced the "Strength Through Unity: A Benefit for the Victims of the Earthquake in Haiti." The benefit is set for Wednesday, 1/27 and 100% of the proceeds will be split between the Save the Children and Partners in Health charities.

Lineup is to include...
Jimmy Fallon, Cold War Kids, Ted Leo, Eugene Mirman, The Wrens, Sondre Lerche, Todd Barry, and Here We Go Magic. AC Newman (New Pornographers), Rhett Miller (Old 97s), and Nicole Atkins will perform as The Seekers.

Tickets are $50 and go on sale Monday, 1/18 @ noon here.

DMV Helps Haiti Benefit Concert Set for 930 Club This Monday

BL&L doesn't typically cover rap events but when one is for a cause this important, you have to do what you can. DC rapper Wale is gathering a bunch of friends and other DC artists for a benefit to raise funds for residents of Haiti this Monday, 1/18, at the 930 Club. Organized by DMV Helps Haiti, 100% of all ticket sales will be donated to the Partners in Health Organization and Yéle Haiti, which was founded by Wyclef Jean.

Coined "DMV Helps Haiti Benefit Concert", the lineup will include Wale w/ D.C. Don Juan, Tabi Bonney, Phil Ade, XO, Kingpen Slim, K-Beta, Que (formerly of Day26), and special surprise guest. Tickets are $20 and $100 (VIP), and went onsale today at 2 pm here.

If you don't plan to go, please still donate. Those poor people need all the help they can get. The video below, shot by a Christian NGO worker Troy Livesay who lives in Port-au-Prince, is in the Delmas 91 area, as Livesay makes his way to a makeshift survivor's camp.



Click here to make a donation to Yéle Haiti Foundation.

Click here to make a donation to Partners in Health Organization.

"Raise the Roof" Benefit for Brooklyn Cultural Center Announced; Charles Bissell (The Wrens), TMBG, and Nada Surf to Perform

They Might Be Giants, Charles Bissell of The Wrens, and Nada Surf (acoustic), will play a "Raise the Roof" show on Wednesday, 10/28, to benefit the Northside Town Hall Community & Cultural Center in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

From The Wrens' site:

People often think of Williamsburg as full of trust fund hipsters, but the reality is that a significant percentage (about a third) of Community Board 1 is under the poverty level, and there are other major challenges -- displacement due to gentrification, out of control development, no infrastructure to support the influx of new people, environmental and open space issues, just to name a few.

The Northside Town Hall Community and Cultural Center is a joint project of two longtime North Brooklyn neighborhood groups, Neighbors Allied for Good Growth (NAG) and The People's Firehouse, Inc (PFI.).

In the fall of 2008, after a comprehensive proposal process with New York City, NAG and PFI were awarded the rights to re-develop the former Engine Company 212 firehouse. The firehouse will now be reborn as the Northside Town Hall Community and Cultural Center and serve as home to both NAG and PFI, as these organizations continue to serve, organize, and advocate for the community.

Regular tickets are $25, VIP tickets are $75, and both can be obtained here.

A Little Plea....

Readers:
This site is typically meant for just music and music-related items but for this particular instance, I'm using my pen, err, keyboard to lend a hand.

I have this friend named Lindsay, and she's been my friend since I moved to Washington in 2002, when we bonded over sarcastic commentary and Red Sox baseball. She's an old soul, very wise beyond her years, easygoing, and ranks as one of the funniest people I know. Her family is very close, especially she and her younger brother Nate.

A year ago last month, Nate, a uniformed Diplomatic Security officer at the Department of State, was driving to work on his motorcycle on 395-N, when a drunk driver hit him head-on going the wrong way, killing him instantly. He was 25 years old.

Lindsay set out to keep Nate's memory alive in a variety of ways; one was to establish the Nathan B. Marti Scholarship Fund at Nate's alma mater, Radford University in Virginia.

On Tuesday, July 15, 2008, a fund raiser is being held to support the Fund at Dogfish Head Alehouse in Falls Church, VA. Dogfish Head is some yummy beer and they are donating 15% of all money raised the entire day to the Fund. There will be a silent auction with all sorts of things including sports tickets and memorabilia. (And you know, good Wooosta, MA family they are, there will be one or two cool Red Sox items in there). You can find more details, like time and directions and such here.

And if you can't make the event, consider making a donation . If you do, I'm pretty much certain that Nate will be there at the gates of heaven to welcome you when you arrive with a smile and a cold beer because he was just that kind of guy.