Bob Dylan's 30th Anniversary Concert Revisited

On October 16, 1992 at Madison Square Garden, Sony Music put on a pay per view all star concert to celebrate Bob Dylan's 30th Anniversary on Columbia Records. Dubbed "Bobfest" by Neil Young from the stage, the four hour show featured a wide variety of artists performing Dylan songs. It was too bloated, but there were many highlights. Here are some videos (with some mp3s) of the best performances.

Eddie Vedder was joined by Pearl Jam bandmate Mike McCready and Saturday Night Live bandleader G.E. Smith for this seering version of "Masters of War."



Eddie Vedder - Masters of War

The night allowed for a variety of musical styles, usually to great effect. The best example of this was the O'Jay's reprising their classic cover of "Emotionally Yours."



The O'Jays - Emotionally Yours

There were also some fun collaborations. Here are Mary Chapin Carpenter, Shawn Colvin, and Rosanne Cash taking turns on "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere."



Booker T & the MG's backed up most of the artists on this night. Here they really got to show their stuff with Neil Young on a fantastic "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues."



Neil Young - Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues

Another great moment was when George Harrison played what I believe is his only live performance of a song he covered early on in his solo career, "If Not For You."



The highlight of the show was when Neil and George joined Roger McGuinn, Tom Petty, Eric Clapton, and the guest of honor, Bob Dylan, among others on "My Back Pages."



Of course, no all star concert would be complete without an even more gigantic singalong, this time on "Knocking on Heaven's Door."



After all of that, Bob came back to the stage alone for one last encore, singing "Girl from the North Country," before exiting to a huge standing ovation.



Hopefully, this concert will be available on DVD at some point, but in the meantime, you can order the live album below. Thanks for checking this out.

Buy Bob Dylan: The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration from amazon.com

Neil Finn's First "7 Worlds Collide" Project in 2001

Neil Finn is the legendary singer/songwriter who has made a lot of great music with Split Enz, fronting Crowded House, and on his own excellent solo albums. This past winter, he again brought together a large group of musicians, including members of Radiohead and Wilco, to play a series of shows in his native New Zealand. This time, the group took the band name of 7 Worlds Collide and recorded a double album of new songs, Sun Came Out. There will be a post on this blog next week about this album, (I have to listen to it first!) but in the meantime, you can order it here.

Before that, I thought it would be a good idea to look back at Neil Finn's first "7 Worlds Collide" project in 2001. Neil put together a great group of musicians, including:

Tim Finn, his brother and collaborator in Split Enz, Crowded House, and Finn Brothers
Johnny Marr, guitarist and songwriter for The Smiths
Eddie Vedder, lead singer of Pearl Jam
Lisa Germano, a solo artist & former violinist for John Mellencamp
Ed Obrien, guitarist in Radiohead
Phil Selway, drummer in Radiohead
Sebastian Steinberg, bassist in Soul Coughing

The musicians rehearsed for a few weeks before playing a week's worth of shows in New Zealand. The final concert in Aukland was recorded for the DVD and CD release Neil Finn and Friends - 7 Worlds Collide: Live at St. James.

In this first video, Neil explains the process of putting everything together before the band opens the final show with the Crowded House classic "Fall at Your Feet."



Along with Neil's own songs, the band played music from each other's careers. One of the highlights was Neil singing lead on the Smiths' song "There is a Light That Never Goes Out." This video is followed by the mp3 from the live album.



Neil Finn & Friends - There is a Light That Never Goes Out (Smiths cover)

Eddie Vedder was an important part of the shows, usually taking lead on some of his favorite Split Enz tunes. The first two videos here are followed by mp3s.



Neil Finn & Friends (w/ Eddie Vedder) - Take a Walk (Split Enz cover)


Neil Finn ft Eddie Vedder - Stuff and nonsense

Mauro|MySpace Videos

Neil Finn & Friends (w/ Eddie Vedder) - Stuff & Nonsense (Split Enz cover)

The coolest part of the DVD was when when Eddie joined Neil's son Liam's band Betchadupa (where Liam played drums) midset to cover a few Split Enz songs. What makes this especially cool in retrospect is that since then, Liam had made a great solo album, I'll Be Lightning, and has been the opening act on many of Eddie's solo shows these past few years. Here's their first time working together:



Liam's uncle Tim joined in on this wild performance of "I See Red."



The project also showcases Neil's phenomenal second solo album, One All. Here they perform one of the most beautiful songs you'll ever hear, "Last to Know."


Last To Know - Neil Finn

Neil Finn|MySpace Music Videos

Another great moment in the concert film came when everyone got together near the end for "Weather With You," another classic song from Crowded House.



To check out an older post about Neil and Tim Finn's first band Split Enz, (w/ some covers by Pearl Jam), go here.

Thanks for checking this out. Look for a post on the new 7 World Collide project next week.

Buy the CD and DVD Neil Finn & Friends - 7 Worlds Collide: Live at St. James on amazon.com

Eddie Vedder & The Doors - 1/12/93 - LA, CA

On January 12, 1993, the Doors were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder filled in for the late Jim Morrison and joined surviving band members Robby Krieger (Guitar), Ray Manzarek ( Keyboards), and John Densmore (Drums) at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, CA for this fun three song set.

Here is the video and the mp3s (in 320 kbps) of their performance together.



Eddie Vedder and the Doors - Roadhouse Blues




Eddie Vedder and the Doors - Break on Through




Eddie Vedder and the Doors - Light My Fire


Thanks for checking this out. Look for more posts here on Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam leading up to the release of the new PJ album Backspacer this fall.

Pearl Jam and The Who

Most of us have been lucky enough to go to a Pearl Jam show where they belted out "Baba O'Reilly" in the encore. Over the years, Pearl Jam has continued to pay tribute to The Who. Here are a few of the best examples of that.

Eddie Vedder guested on the Who's 2000 cd/dvd release Live at the Royal Albert Hall. The three songs Eddie performed with the Who.

"I'm One"



The Who w/ Eddie Vedder - "I'm One

"Let's See Action"



The Who w/ Eddie Vedder - "Let's See Action"

One more mp3 I sadly don't have video for. Buy the dvd!

The Who w/ Eddie Vedder - "Getting In Tune"

Last year, Pearl Jam played two songs on the show "VH1 Rock Honors: The Who."

Pearl Jam - Love Reign O'er Me / The Real Me
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Pearl Jam - "Love Reign O'er Me" (2008 VH1 Rock Honors: The Who)

Pealr Jam - "The Real Me"

One more video that is too good not to includue here is Pete Townshend and Eddie Vedder performing "Heart to Hang On To" on The Late Show with David Letterman.




Buy The Who - Live at The Royal Albert Hall at amazon.com

Eddie Vedder - "Arc" - Chicago 2008

Eddie Vedder would close the opening set of his 2008 theater tour with this performance. He used different microphones and tape loops to create something amazing.



Pearl Jam - "Arc" (from the album Riot Act)