Music News

After crooning his marvelous “Dead of Night,” the masked country troubadour introduced “a cover I’ve always wanted to do”: Leonard Cohen’s “Chelsea Hotel #2.” It was an interesting choice, a shade unexpected, but well-suited to his rich, resonant tone. After that, Allison Russell (who performed separately later) joined him for a duet on their swampy “Chemical Sunset” collab, singing it together on stage for the second time ever.

Prior to singing “Peaceable Kingdom” in tribute to late activist Rachel Corrie and all children who have lost their lives to war, Patti Smith electrified Carnegie Hall with an emphatic reading of a selection from Allen Ginsberg’s immortal Howl. The words were first published 69 years ago, but on Smith’s tongue, they sound like they were written for today and tomorrow.

The biggest treat of the night just may have been Michael Stipe tackling a timely David Bowie cover (like Ginsberg, Bowie had previously performed at a Tibet House benefit). After reading Max Ehrmann’s “Desiderata” with support from Laurie Anderson, Stipe sang a foreboding take on Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World.” His timbre worked wonderfully on the chorus, and when Tibetan musician Tenzin Choegyal joined Stipe to riff on the wordless, mournful outro, it was a harrowing, spine-tingling moment.

After Anderson’s performance of “Junior Dad” (originally recorded by Lou Reed and Metallica) featuring a recording of her late husband’s words, she shared advice for dealing with the “wild” times we’re living through now. “Lou and I came up with three rules to live by when there’s just not enough time to think,” Anderson said. “Number One: Don’t be afraid of anyone. Can you imagine what your life would be like if you weren’t afraid of anyone? Number Two: Get a really good bullsh-t detector and learn how to use it. Number Three: Be really tender.” Aye-aye, captain.

Allison Russell, who I have yet to see deliver a less-than-mesmerizing live performance, reworked her Luther Dickinson collaboration “Superlover” for the benefit show. With her banjo in hand (and Ganessa James and Abena Koomson-Davis contributing to a superb three-part harmony), Russell offered up a plea for love, changing the lyrics (which originally referred to Inglewood and Nairobi) to call for greater love and understanding in Israel and Palestinian territories.

Prior to Tune-Yards taking the stage, a soft but audible group of people in the audience could be heard singing “Happy Birthday.” Laughing, the group’s Merrill Garbus acknowledged that it was her big day before performing two new songs from a just announced album, Better Dreaming. Titled “Limelight” and “How Big Is the Rainbow,” the songs were full of looped vocals, syncopated rhythms and irresistible idiosyncrasies – exactly what you would hope for from the return of Tune-Yards.

Gogol Bordello, the NYC punk band fronted by the Ukrainian-born Eugene Hütz, closed out the evening with a cacophonous celebration of power in the hands of the people and words of support for Ukraine in the midst of its war against Russia. Referring to the “self-evident” righteousness of the Ukrainian cause (Russia invaded Ukraine three years ago and invaded and annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014), Hütz churned out a punk rock din influenced by Romani and Ukrainian music. The Carnegie Hall crowd danced, cheered and raised fists in solidarity, and most of the benefit’s other performers came out to join them on “We Mean It, Man.”

Rousing as it was, it all went down as news broke that President Trump had paused all military aid to Ukraine following a meltdown meeting with Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy. As Laurie Anderson said of 2025 events earlier in the evening, “It’s happening so fast, we don’t always know what to do.” For those of us who read the news after returning home from Carnegie Hall, it was as good of a time as any to put her and Lou Reed’s aforementioned three rules to work.