These days I wish I was back in college but not for the reasons you might be thinking. To be a student at NYU or USC is pretty special right now.
On the east coast, NYU with the assistance of Steven Van Zandt’s Rock and Roll Forever Foundation in partnership with the GRAMMY Museum are introducing Rock and Roll: An American Story (RRAAS), an interdisciplinary middle and high school curriculum that explores Rock and Roll from its roots in blues, country music, gospel, and R&B to its latest incarnations today.
Out west at USC, the university announced plans with Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre to develop an Arts Academy after a $70 million donation from the music heavyweights. The money will be used to create the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation will enroll 25 students beginning in 2014.
Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney jamming together; what I would have done to have been there and witness a collaboration that 80,000 fans at Hard Rock Calling in London were privileged to. Too bad it was marred by the unfortunate stance taken by festival organizers and authorities.
I saw it over the weekend, tweeted it a couple times as soon as I saw it but wasn’t really going to blog post about it until I realized that I need to vent a little bit.
This is a perfect example of some of what’s wrong with so many things today. And yes, I know I’m referencing music but you know what, this is the universal language that speaks and unites strangers all over the world.
You went over curfew, so what. It’s a music festival and you have two of the greatest entertainers to ever exist sharing a stage and giving fans one of the most magical and memorable performances to date. Live Nation, take the fine and pay it, make a statement apologizing for going over but don’t deprive the world of seeing improvisation at its finest take place. And it’s not like we are taking about anyone, we’re taking SIR Paul McCartney (oh and how do you not put in place a buffer for Springsteen when he is known for his marathon concerts). For a destination where the spotlight will be shining bright with the summer Olympics about to take place, way to give yourself a self inflicted black eye leading up to it.
Also I love this, Springsteen guitarist Stevie Van Zandt quotes from The Guardian:
But Van Zandt, who also starred in the US drama series The Sopranos, turned to Twitter in rage. In a series of tweets from StevieVanZandt, he said: “One of the great gigs ever in my opinion. But seriously, when did England become a police state?
“We break curfews in every country but only English cops needs to ‘punish us’ by not letting us leave until the entire crowd goes. Is there just too much fun in the world? We would have been off by 11 if we’d done one more. On a Saturday night! Who were we disturbing?” he asked.
“The cops got nothing more important to do? How about they go catch some criminals instead of fucking with 80,000 people having a good time? English cops may be the only individuals left on earth that wouldn’t want to hear one more from Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney!
“I’m sorry but I have to be honest I’m pissed. Like I said, it didn’t ruin the great night. But when I’m jamming with McCartney don’t bug me!”
Van Zandt also compared the occasion to the last live Beatles performance in 1969 on the roof of their Apple record company offices in London’s Savile Row. It was cut short by police. “Ha! @raindogs70 just reminded me how the Beatles’ rooftop concert ended. Not much has changed in 43 years!”
All of this reminds me of the movie Pirate Radio (The Boat That Rocked for those of you in the UK) and how Government wanted to shut down rock and roll. Looks like things really haven’t changed…..
Almost a week later and I am still thinking about Bruce Springsteen’s performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. I must admit, I only started watching his show because The Roots are the house band and now I absolutely love the show. The Boss was a great interview and gave an even better performance (which was pretty much a given). While Fallon dressed as Neil Young and the two of them did a rendition of Willow Smith’s “Whip My Hair,” here is a clip of Springsteen and The Roots performing “Because of the Night.” I mean c’mon Bruce Springsteen and The Roots sharing the stage together, how rad is that?!
Also a couple days later, Rolling Stone caught up with ?uestlove and I found his comments pretty awesome. Here’s an excerpt:
“During rehearsal, when the producer said, ‘Ladies and gentleman, ‘Because The Night’ with the Professor and Little Steven, here’s Bruce Springsteen and The Roots’ — I couldn’t move,” ?uestlove tells Rolling Stone. “And they were looking at me like, ‘Okay count the song off.’ And I was like, I said, ‘Holy shit. I heard that.'”
He adds: “I mean, I’ve done some intense playing on our show, but that was the most intense playing I’ve ever done. He completely surpassed any expectation I’ve ever had for any mythical god of rock figure.”
And click here to read Patrick Doyle’s full piece.
Do You Hear The Music? 