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The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is turning 25.  And in honor of their birthday, they had a two night concert series which will air on HBO on November 29^th.  Note to self: become friends with an HBO subscriber between now and then.  For the mere price of $200, my Mom and I got to be flies on the Madison Square Garden wall to witness a magically musical night.  I’m not sure if that makes sense, but roll with it. 

Crosby Stills and Nash, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, John Legend, Sting, B.B. King, Bruce Springsteen, John Fogerty, Darlene Love, Billy Joel… just to name a few.  I will create a playlist of my favorite songs from the concert. 

Highlights of the night included:

Tom Hanks being the host.

The energy from the crowd during “Love The One You’re With”.  CSN, BR, JB and JT took it on together.  Awesome.

Paul Simon performing “Here Comes The Sun” in honor of the quiet Beatle.  This one made my Mom cry.

Getting 10 good minutes of Stevie Wonder’s back-and-forth head rock while the crew worked out his microphone issues.

Stevie Wonder and John Legend performing one of my favorite songs, “Mercy Mercy Me”.  Followed by an MJ tribute in which Stevie broke down in tears halfway though.

Realizing how similar Sting and Stevie sound when they performed “Higher Ground” and “Roxanne”.

The couple that was sitting next to us, who had been standing up dancing all night long, dancing crazy but totally in sync.  While the crew was setting up the stage for Bruce, they got into a Long-Island-Iced-Tea-induced argument. One of them even threatened to leave.  Twice.  But, when Bruce came on, they set their differences aside, put back on their dancing shoes and continued where they left off.  Which brings me to my next highlight…

Bruce Springsteen.  The E Street Band.  Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.  All of whom played for 2 hours.

I think I fell in love with Bruce all over again as he sang such classic soul songs as “Hold On, I’m Coming” and “De Doo Ron Ron”.  It was definitely a happy Bruce and the way he was dancing on stage… Oh girl, I think I have a crush.

Surprise guest #1: John Fogerty.

Surprise guest #2:  BILLY FREAKING JOEL.

That last highlight is the point in which I was SURE I had died and gone to Heaven.   My Mom and I casually joked all night about the gentleman sitting in front of us who looked identically to Billy.  Maybe it was him.  When Bruce brought Billy out I threw my hands up into the air like I had just won a Gold Medal.  My Mom and I shared a hug and I declared that this was the best moment of my life. 

NYSOM.

B2R.

And for the final encore, Bruce brought everyone back out for an incredible rendition of “(You’re Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher”.  This song almost made my top songs list, and I’m pretty sure after this concert I’m going to have to add it and a couple of others. 

The show started at 7:30pm.  We walked out of the Garden around 1:30am.  Grabbed a pretzel and walked back to the hotel.  I was so exhausted (in a good way of course) that I felt hungover on Friday.  28 is starting to feel old.