U2 rises to the occasion

Watching HBO's broadcast of the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame anniversary concert as I write this. Three hours into the show, with another 60 minutes to go, U2 has shown why they have the charisma and musicianship to hold their own against any band in any era. Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen and others joined U2 on stage for a couple of songs and performed flawlessly and with great energy, which is hard to do in these types of shows where super bands merge. While performers earlier in the evening forgot lyrics, were vocally out of key and in one or two cases simply looked and sounded pathetic, U2 (with and without Jagger and Springsteen) held their set together.

The surprise of the concert was hearing how well David Crosby can still sing. For a guy in his 60s who has been on the ropes in more ways than one, the CSN member really belted it out.

Buddy Guy has turned in one of the best guitar performances thus far. Wish my Stratocaster sounded like that.

Billy Gibbons is now performing Foxy Lady by Jimi Hendrix with a woman on bass who looks about 15 years old. Very weird.

I know this is sacrilege to some, but I am tired of Jeff Beck.

More later if the finale warrants it.