NEWS
Rock Hall Delivers Killer
Anniversary Shows
Franklin welcomed both Annie Lennox and
Lenny Kravitz to the stage, and U2 invited
the Black Eyed Peas for a few songs.
Some of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s
most prominent inductees returned the
favor on October 29th and 30th at Madison
Square Garden. The two nights of concerts
celebrated the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Foundation’s 25th anniversary.
Mick Jagger (1989) joined U2 with the Black
Eyed Peas near the end of the second day’s
festivities with a rendition of “Gimme Shelter.”
October 29th featured Bruce Springsteen
and the E Street Band (inducted 1999), Stevie
Wonder (1989), Simon & Garfunkel (1990),
Paul Simon (2001) and Crosby, Stills, Nash
& Friends (1997). The following night, U2
(2005), Aretha Franklin (1987) and Metallica
(2009) took the stage.
The shows were benefits for the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. Tickets
ranged from $750 to a $100,000 VIP Benefit
Package. A four-hour program featuring
some of the concerts’ highlights will be aired
on HBO beginning Sunday, November 29.
rockhall.org
Eric Clapton (2000) was originally scheduled
to play on the second night, but according to
Rolling Stone, Clapton had to pull out due to
recent gallstone surgery. Jeff Beck (2009) and
his band took his place.
Gearheads Help Gearheads
This fall, two major manufacturers’ forums
played host to some of the most heartwarming displays of generosity from strangers that
we’ve seen recently.
The generosity of forum members didn’t
stop there; and 12 days later, the grand
total was just under $9000. Erin is currently
in recovery and gigging with the DDII Big
Al bass he almost sold.
Erin Payne with his DDII Big Al
ernieball.com/forum
A highlight of the show was the copious surprise guests—mostly inductees—who joined
the “headlining” performers on stage. Smokey
Robinson (1987), Jerry Lee Lewis (1986), Sam
Moore (1992), John Fogerty (1993), Patti Smith
(2007), B.B. King (1987), Buddy Guy (2005),
Sting (2003), Lou Reed (1996), Ray Davies
(1990), Ozzy Osborne (2006), Billy Gibbons
(2004), and Billy Joel (1999) all made appearances. Crosby, Stills and Nash performed with
Jackson Browne (2004), Bonnie Raitt (2000)
and James Taylor (2000) to round out their
group sans Neil Young.
The night wasn’t exclusively Rock Hall alumni,
however. Bruce Springsteen played with
2010 rock hall nominee Darlene Love and
traded licks with Tom Morello. R&B star John
Legend accompanied Stevie Wonder, Aretha
Ernie Ball/Music Man
On August 12 at 9: 12 a.m., one of Ernie
Ball’s forum members, Erin Payne (a.k.a.
stingray96191), made a post about selling a
special order DDII Big Al bass he had saved
up to buy—one that hadn’t even come in
the mail yet. The 25-year-old had been diagnosed with brain cancer, and his accumulating medical bills were forcing him to sell this
and a few other basses he owned.
By 12: 40 p.m. that same day, Sterling Ball had
stepped in with a challenge. He said that if
the forums could raise the $2400 Erin needed
to pay his bills and keep his basses, he would
give him the Big Al at no charge. Sterling
put the first $100 in and the special PayPal
account hit its goal in less than six hours.
Seymour Duncan
Over on Seymour Duncan’s forums, forum
member Lewguitar was similarly struggling
with the expenses of cancer. After selling
most of his guitar collection to pay for his
insurance deductible and premiums, he
learned that his insurance company stopped
covering the Rocky Mountain Cancer Center
he had been receiving treatment with, and he
would have to foot the full cost to continue
with his doctors beginning in January.
Again, the forum started pouring out support.
As mentioned in our “On/Off/Standby” section
last month, another forum member (Newking)
won a custom guitar setup by Jol Danzig and
pickup replacements from Seymour Duncan
[the issue incorrectly identified the prize as a
guitar] and donated it to Lewguitar.
28 PREMIER GUITAR DECEMBER 2009
www.premierguitar.com
