On September 20th, 2005, Madison Square Garden hosted this
concert for the Gulf Coast to support the long-term relief and rebuilding
efforts following Hurricane Katrina. The live concert featured New Orleans
musical legends joined onstage by many of music's biggest names. The DVD
includes show-stopping performances from Allen Toussaint, Bette Midler,
Buckwheat Zydeco, Cyndi Lauper, Dave Bartholomew, Diana Krall, the Dirty Dozen
Brass Band, Elton John, Elvis Costello, Irma Tomas, Jimmy Buffett, John
Fogerty, Lenny Kravitz, the Meters, the Neville Brothers, Ry Cooder, Simon &
Garfunkel, and others. If anything good can be said to have come
out of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina catastrophe, it's From the Big Apple to the
Big Easy, an ideal union of musicians, songs, and a worthy cause that results
in one of the best benefit concerts in years. The music at this Madison Square
Garden extravaganza (another show took place that same September night at
Radio City Music Hall) on behalf of the people of New Orleans and the battered
Gulf Coast isn't just good, it's right. What we witness over the course of
some three hours is more than the usual passel of big stars showing up to do
the right thing and drum up some cash and support for the unfortunate and the
dispossessed; some of these folks actually are the dispossessed, and the
majority have an authentic connection to the Crescent City. The Neville
Brothers, Allen Toussaint, the Meters, Irma Thomas, the Dirty Dozen Brass
Band, Clarence "Frogman" Henry: these are performers who are steeped in the
astonishingly rich tradition of the place that gave us Louis Armstrong, Fats
Domino, and so many others who helped weave the dense fabric of American
music. And while the show takes a little while to hit its stride, by the time
it climaxes with "When the Saints Go Marching In" you'll be partying like a
drunken reveler during Mardi Gras. Highlights are almost too numerous to list
here, but they'd have to include Thomas' "Time is on My Side" (the early
Rolling Stones hit) and the Dixie Cups' "Iko Iko," both included in a segment
devoted to what actress Jessica Lange calls "the bad girls of the Big Easy";
guitarist Ry Cooder's "Hello Josephine," part of a blues set with Buckwheat
Zydeco and Lenny Kravitz; John Fogerty, who breathes rocking new life into
"Born on the Bayou" and "Proud Mary"; the Dirty Dozen's rollicking "St. James
Infirmary," one of New Orleans' signature songs; and a gorgeous "Bridge Over
Troubled Water," which finds Art Garfunkel (reunited with Paul Simon for the
occasion) sharing the lead with the angel-voiced Aaron Neville. And that's to
say nothing of Bill Clinton, who helped spearhead relief efforts with George
H. W. Bush and whose appearance receives the most prolonged ovation of the
night. The concert raised a reported $9 million, and 100% of net proceeds from
the sale of this two-DVD set will continue to raise money and awareness for
Katrina victims. That alone would justify buying From the Big Apple to the Big
Easy, but the music makes it a no-brainer. --Sam Graham