One of the best concerts ever

Happy Birthday, Pete Seeger. For those too young to know him, you probably know his songs - "Turn, Turn, Turn", "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?", "Wimoweh", "We Shall Overcome" or his versions of others, especially those by Woody Guthrie like "This Land is your Land". He turns 90 this month and a few friends got together to pay tribute - with a few thousand fans in the audience. It was a fundraiser really for his Clearwater sloop, an educational ship that trolls the waters of the Hudson River urging environmental concerns. The packed Garden was happy to donate, myself included (thanks to friend and former clleague Jim Sauer). And what a lineup! I didn't recognize every name, but the fact that all of them felt touched in some way by his music, his activism, his life was astounding. After an brief appearance by Native American narrators, John Mellencamp led it off, followed by appearances by actor Tim Robbins (he sang later, too, with his son) and the NY Labor Chorus. One performer said he was glad we were singing under this president and not the former - several very liberal opinions were expressed, not the least of which was Billy Bragg singing part the "The Internationale". Ani DiFranco, Bruce Cockburn, Tom Paxton, Eric Wesberg, Dar Williams, Bernice and Toshi Regon, the blues man Taj Mahal, Steve Earle, Emmy Lou Harris, Kate and Anna MacGarrigle with their children, including Rufus Wainwright, Teddy Thompson, Joan Baez, Bela Fleck, a poetry reading by actress Ruby Dee, and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and that was just before intermission! Afterwards, we heard from TV producer Norman Lear, Tom Chapin with Oscar the Grouch (singing, appropriately "Garbage, Garbage" - Carol Spinney came out with Oscar later), Kris Kristofferson (who amazingly sang the old camp song "There's a Hole in the Bucket..." with Ani DiFranco), the Irish singer Tommy Sands, Richie Havens, Jay Ungar and Molly Mason (who will be in Chatham later this month), Arlo Guthrie, Del McCoury, John Hall (from the group Orleans), Ben Harper, Pete's sister Peggy who read from her journals, Rambling Jack Elliot, Roger McGuinn (of the Byrds), Dave Matthews, Bruce Springsteen (who did an amazing version of "The Ghost of Tom Joad" with Tom Morello, and, of course, Pete Seeger, whose voice was never the greatest and is showing his age, but his banjo picking and his enthusiastic gait strutting on and off stage several times sure didn't look 90. And I'm sure I missed a few.
Those who left after the finale of "This Land" missed Pete's grandson Tao Rodriguez-Seeger leading the entire cast and garden in "Bring 'Em Home" and "This Little Light of Mine", two others popularized by Pete. And he introduced us to the family - his older (!) brother John (95 - good genes in that family), Peggy, and his grandchildren.
I'm not a big fan of arena shows - but this show was filled by true fans of Pete and these artists - they were respectful of those they didn't know that well (very few catcalls of "Bruuuuce" at inappropriate times) and they were fanatic about those they did. And the artists were amazing too - no egos demanding more time or "headlining". It was truly one of the best concerts ever.

Where does the time go?

Wow - I really thought retirement meant relaxing - nothing to do but read, write blogs. Hmm. I have certainly managed to keep busy. Some travel. In January, we went to Disney World and stayed at our "home" in Sarasota Springs Resort. I directed a production of Neil Simon's "Fools" that ran in March in Westfield. I helped build the set and hang the lights for Cranford's "Peter Pan" that opened May 1st. And did a little work around the house. And garden.
We've also seen several concerts and shows. We're new fans of Two River Theatre in Red Bank, watching their fabulous productions of "Mary's Wedding" and "Melissa Arctic". And we're getting set for new travels coming up in August. Hmm. Good thing I'm retired.