!2-12-12

Rumors of a Nirvana reunion headed by Sir Paul McCartney had taken the Internet by storm in an anticipation of the Hurricane Sandy Benefit Concert to be staged at New York’s Madison Square Garden. It was 12-12-12 and Macca was expected to take the stage following a superstar lineup featuring Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, The Rolling Stones, Kanye West, an unexpected duet between Coldplay’s Chris Martin and REM’s Michael Stipe, and numerous other world-renowned acts. A month earlier Hurricane Sandy had devastated thousands of Americans along the East Coast and the concert was a much needed relief effort. Notably, half of the dozen or so acts performing at the concert were in fact not American, but mainly hailing from Great Britain.

So, to take a step back for a moment, there was more than one moment of significance being generated on stage on 12-12-12. For starters, a wide variety of world-class acts came together to raise money for Hurricane Sandy, including a band that is apparently difficult to book, The Rolling Stones (though they only privileged the audience two songs). Alongside The Rolling Stones were five other artists who do not originally hail from the United States. Is this a sign that patriotism is waning and the concert organizers had to outsource jobs to international acts, or is there just resounding sense of support from non-Americans for the East Coast (more specifically New York City)? As Mick Jagger put it, "This has got to be the biggest collection of old English musicians ever in Madison Square Garden. If it ever rains in London, you've got to come help us." And, this raises another interesting point, while Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on much of the East Coast, why does it seem that there was only support being shown for New York. Yes, it is convenient enough that Madison Square Garden, a long-celebrated arena that has been host to a myriad of notable performers, is in fact in New York City, but what if the show had taken place in West Virginia, or Maine? Would there have been the same outpouring of support? Surely, The Rolling Stones, or The Who, or Billy Joel, a recluse in recent years, wouldn’t have come out for a show at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia. As the proceeds from the event went solely towards relief efforts, obviously it’s difficult to argue against the marketing of the show. I, personally, being an American, but not being of the East Coast, would say that I relate more with New York City than any other city of note in the East. It’s not because I’ve spent a lot of time there, or necessarily spent less time anywhere else on the coast, but it’s because New York City is a symbol of the United States. You heard it when Billy Joel sang his “New York State of Mind” and Alicia Keys closed the show with her own “Empire State of Mind” and the crowd rejoiced. And Paul’s choice to play “Helter Skelter” was eerily reminiscent of his Grammy Award winning performance of the song on his 2009 live album Good Evening New York City.

Despite the glaring peculiarities of the entire show, the concert still earned an estimated $30 million for Hurricane Sandy relief and generated a memorable moment in time.