Two for Tuesday Video Spotlight: Bon Jovi and Springsteen at 12.12.12

and



I haven't written a post in a few weeks so I decided to come back with a big one.  These videos are from the famous 12.12.12 Concert at Madison Square Garden.  Clocking in at just under 6 hours this was an incredible concert for a great cause: Hurricane Sandy relief.  This concert was a "Who's Who" of rock icons and pop culture and had so many notable moments: Paul McCartney playing with the surviving members of Nirvana, Adam Sandler proving he can still be quite funny, Brian Williams proving he should stick to news casting and not be doing comedy, Roger Daltry showing off a hernia scar, Eddie Vedder and Roger Waters stealing the show with an incredible performance of "Comfortably Numb", Kanye West nearly ruining the show with a widely panned, overindulgent performance, Billy Joel proving he's one of the most under appreciated legends in rock music, and countless others.

But for me this was the above videos were the highlight of the night.  Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen are my two favorite musicians.  As much as it is ripe for making stereotypical New Jersey jokes, I just can't help it.  I love them both and have seen them live more times than I can count.  To see these two take the stage together was just incredible to watch live.  Even though ticket prices were astronomical for this concert, when I was watching this on TV as soon as I saw them on the stage together I knew I made a mistake by not getting tickets for this once in a lifetime concert.

Bruce kicked off the night with a great performance, and it was during his last song of his set that he played the iconic "Born To Run", and invited Jon Bon Jovi out to play with him.  Later during Bon Jovi's set, Bruce returned the favor and played with Bon Jovi performing their massive hit "Who Says You Can't Go Home?".  One of  the things I noticed about these videos is that Bruce seemed a lot more comfortable with Bon Jovi than Jon did playing with Bruce and the E Street band.  I think the reasoning is pretty simple: Jon grew up idolizing Bruce, and even though Jon is one of the biggest names in music he's still humbled to be playing with one of his heroes.  I think that's pretty cool.  Bruce has stated on countless occasions his admiration and respect for Bon Jovi, but by the time Bon Jovi hit it big, Bruce was playing to sold out stadiums all over the world.  All in all these are just two incredible performances from two very proud and beyond-talented New Jerseyans who wanted to help out their home state in a time of need.  What more needs to be said.  Crank it up and enjoy.