On Thursday evening, New York’s Beacon Theatre once again hosted the all-star Love Rocks NYC benefit concert, an annual gathering that raises money for God’s Love We Deliver, a local nonprofit that provides meals for those living with illnesses. The marathon concert, which marked the third annual Love Rocks offering, featured an array of big-name performances and collaborations, topped by a guest-heavy headlining slot from legendary Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant. The show also included segments from comedians Martin Short, Bill Murray and Chevy Chase.
Each guest vocalist/musician was backed by a house band led by musical director Will Lee and featuring Eric Krasno, Paul Shaffer, Larry Campbell and more. The night kicked off with a couple of Grace Potter-led covers of Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Proud Mary,” followed by a performance by guitarist Jimmie Vaughan of “All Your Love (I Miss Loving),” a tune played by his late brother Stevie Ray.
After Larkin Poe covered The Band’s “Ophelia,” Lukas Nelson led the way on his own “Forget About Georgia” and “Find Yourself,” before blues legend Buddy Guy took the stage for “Damn Right I Got the Blues” and “Cognac.” Songs from Ivan and Cyril Neville and Alice Smith preceded Marcus King’s rendition of “Cry Baby.”
Next, Keb’ Mo’ was paired with guitarist and former Yankees baseball player Bernie Williams for Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions’ “We’re a Winner,” Sleepy John Estes’ “Leaving Trunk” and “All Around the World,” with the last two featuring Taj Mahal. Hozier was up next, delivering a cover of Jackie Wilson’s “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” and his own hit “Take Me to Church,” followed by “Nina Cried Power” featuring Mavis Staples, who also appeared on the album version of the tune. Staples then took over for “Wade in the Water.”
Sheryl Crow, one of the night’s main acts, took the stage next, with guitarist Doyle Bramhall II. The duo led the house band in Crow’s “If It Makes You Happy,” “Everyday is a Winding Road” and “All I Wanna Do” and capped off their segment with a cover of the Allman Brothers Band’s “Midnight Rider” featuring help from Lukas Nelson. Williams then made a second appearance, joining up with ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons for “Legs” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady.”
One of the big draws of the evening was the reunion of Heart sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson, who hadn’t played together for nearly three years but shared the stage last night on “These Dreams” and “Crazy On You” (Crow also nodded to the band last night by donning a Heart t-shirt on stage).
Plant was the final act of the evening, and made his set count with a number of guests. After running through Elvis Presley’s “Don’t,” the Zeppelin singer brought out Jimmie Vaughan for “A Mess of Blues” before welcoming Crow for “Rich Woman” (which appeared on Plant’s 2007 collaboration with Alison Krauss, Raising Sand) and Zep’s “Black Dog.” Plant then took on his old band’s “Thank You,” followed by “Shake, Rattle and Roll” featuring Mahal, Vaughan, Nelson, Potter and the Wilson sisters. The night later closed out with all of the Love Rocks performers joining together for a rousing finale of “Feelin’ Alright.”
See last night’s setlist below, along with a collection of fan-shot videos courtesy of YouTube user sgbson818 (see more videos here) and photos from Marc Millman.
Feelin’ Alright
Chevy Chase, Martin Short, Bill Murray
Ann & Nancy Wilson
Love Rocks NYC
Beacon Theatre, New York, NY
Grace Potter
White Rabbit
Proud Mary
Jimmie Vaughan
All Your Love (I Miss Loving)
Larkin Poe
Ophelia
Lukas Nelson
Forget About Georgia
Find Yourself
Buddy Guy
Damn Right I Got the Blues
Cognac
Ivan Neville
Street Parade
Alice Smith
Fool For You
Marcus King
Cry Baby
Keb’ Mo’ & Bernie Williams
We’re a Winner
Leaving Trunk (w/ Taj Mahal)
All Around the World (w/ Taj Mahal)
Hozier
(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher
Take Me to Church
Nina Cried Power (w/ Mavis Staples)
Mavis Staples
Wade in the Water
Sheryl Crow & Doyle Bramhall II
If It Makes You Happy
Everyday is a Winding Road
All I Wanna Do
Midnight Rider (w/ Lukas Nelson)
Billy Gibbons & Bernie Williams
Legs
Foxy Lady
Ann & Nancy Wilson
These Dreams
Crazy On You
Robert Plant
Don’t
A Mess of Blues (w/ Jimmie Vaughan)
Rich Woman (w/ Sheryl Crow)
Black Dog (w/ Sheryl Crow)
Thank You
Shake, Rattle and Roll (w/ Taj Mahal, Jimmie Vaughan, Lukas Nelson, Grace Potter, Ann & Nancy Wilson)
All
Feelin’ Alright
3 Comments comments associated with this post
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Bob Condon
March 10, 2019 at 10:38 pmA superb all star show. Thank you for publicizing it and sharing it. I would’ve liked to have seen you give attribution to the legendary Otis Rush who wrote and performed that in 1958. The world needs to be turned on to Otis, as the Vaughn bros were in person in Chicago and at Antone’s club in Austin. It is sad that when you google all your love I miss loving that “song by Stevie Ray” pops up first. I don’t think Jimmie or Stevie would like that any more than I do.