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| John Fogerty of the Jim Irsay All-Star Band @ Bill Graham Civic (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Jim Irsay played Santa Clause to an adoring Bill Graham Civic on Saturday night in San Francisco. For the last few weeks, many had been asking “A free concert featuring Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Buddy Guy, Ann Wilson, R.E.M.'s Mike Mills and John Fogerty? What’s the catch?” Even standing outside the event entry – there were still many in line questioning how the event could be real. But for those who believed and braved Saturday’s storms, Irsay brought an entertaining, rocking early Christmas present with lots of amazing toys to look at too.
At Saturday’s press conference before the concert, Irsay addressed a question regarding why he would put together a free concert. “Humbly, I don’t need the money. A billion dollars means you could have spent $1,000 every day since Christ was born and still have plenty of money left.” He went on to express that he would love to see some of the wealthier rockers embarking on last money-grab tours do some free events for the fans who had made them so wealthy over the years. One of the philosophies of Irsay’s events (San Francisco was the eighth time the Jim Irsay Band and Collection has appeared together) is that it allows for some of his amazing artifacts to be viewed in person and for some special guitars to actually be brought out and used for the reason they were created. On this night, there were two special memorabilia appearances. The bass used by John McVie on Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain” was brought out for a tribute to the recently passed Christine McVie with Heart’s Ann Wilson leading the vocals. Later, Jerry Garcia’s famous Tiger guitar was used by Kenny Wayne Shepherd on the Dead’s “West La Fadeaway.”
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| Jim Irsay @ the Bill Graham Civic (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The night featured an all-star band approach with a combination of classic covers and original artists participating in some of their greatest songs. Occasionally, Irsay himself stepped forward to center stage to sing lead – no doubt a dream for the deep music lover. The concert started out with an intro of “Born to Run” that led into a full-throttle cover of Warren Zevon’s “Lawyers, Guns and Money.” Heart’s Ann Wilson was up next to lead “The Chain” with drummer Kenny Aronoff matching one of history’s most famous bass lines with thunder from his drums that would have made Mick Fleetwood proud. The band then went into a rollicking “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” before bringing R.E.M.’s bassist Mike Mills forward to lead his former band’s hits “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville” and “Superman.” Mills was a frequent participant throughout the night and seemed to relish in the joy of the artists gathered as the band went into “You’re No Good.”
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| R.E.M.'s Mike Mills @ the Bill Graham Civic (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Next up, Chicago Blues legend Buddy Guy at 86 years-old demonstrated to an adoring crowd and stage full of musical colleagues that his talents continue to age like fine wine and show no signs of fading away. Guy played a three-song set that featured “Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues,” “Talk to Me” and Shepherd’s “Down for Love” augmented by frequent and stunning jams and mutual-admiration guitar-dueling between Guy and Shepherd. Guy exited to one of the night’s loudest ovations.
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| Blues legend, Buddy Guy @ the Bill Graham Civic (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Irsay returned to the stage for Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s “Hey Hey My My (Into the Black)” before going into a Johnny Cash-inspired cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt.” Irsay, who had very public battles with opioid addiction, brought his concerns of the opioid epidemic and those who struggle with mental health issues front-and-center throughout the day. His foundation made two large donations to San Francisco charities prior to the event and Irsay made multiple warnings regarding the dangers of hard drugs. “Look, I was a junkie” he stated at one point. He was quick to point out that he was not against people partying and even joked that event tickets might have acid in the corners in the tradition of San Francisco, but brought up the deaths of Kurt Cobain and Jerry Garcia as evidence of the powerful addiction and destruction of opioids.
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| Ann Wilson & Kenny Wayne Shepherd @ the Bill Graham Civic (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Wilson returned to the stage for Zeppelin’s “Rock ‘N’ Roll” and “Immigrant Song” – showing she still has her amazing vocal power and range before transitioning the tone into a sweet, meandering “Into the Mystic.” Next up, Garcia’s Tiger made its appearance as Shepherd strapped it on for Grateful Dead’s “West LA Fadeaway” with Irsay introducing the song with deep insights into how Robert Hunter’s lyrics were inspired John Belushi’s speedball overdose death at the Chateau Marmont in 1982.
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| Stephen Stills @ the Bill Graham Civic (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Stephen Stills took the stage for “Carry On.” Stills, who has faced more than a few health challenges in the last few years, battled a few early technical one - with bandleader Shepherd recognizing the problem and deftly launching into a breathtaking solo until the issue was fixed and Stills could demonstrate his guitar prowess on his Buffalo Springfield classic “For What It’s Worth.” Irsay returned to the stage for a musically powerful and visually stunning performance of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” with Shepherd echoing David Gilmour’s monumental solo.
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| Mike Mills, Jim Irsay, Kenny Wayne Shepherd @ the Bill Graham Civic (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
John Fogerty, the night’s guest of honor and a Berkeley native took the stage like he had been shot out of a cannon for “Up Around the Bend.” Fogerty brought incredible energy, charm and good spirit to lead the group through six Creedence Clearwater Revival classics with “Suzy Q,” “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” (so appropriate for the recent Bay Area weather), “Down on the Corner,” “Fortunate Son,” and finally a rousing “Proud Mary” that had the crowd roaring with appreciation at the vintage performance from a hometown hero.
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| Kenny Wayne Shepherd playing Jerry Garcia's Tiger guitar @ the Bill Graham Civic (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The concert closed out with Irsay returning to the stage and the Jim Irsay Band delivered a sizzling “Gimme Shelter” with Shepherd’s guitar and Wilson’s wailing vocals providing a memorable closer.
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| The Jim Irsay Guitar Collection @ the Bill Graham Civic (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
In addition to the concert, Irsay also brought an impressive collection of his memorabilia that was exhibited in a side hall. He brought 30 guitars from his impressive collection – including the instruments of Prince, Bob Dylan, Kurt Cobain, Bo Diddley, Jimmy Page and the Beatles’ McCartney, Lennon and Harrison. Additional musical highlights included Ringo Starr’s Beatles drumkit, Miles Davis trumpet, James Brown’s “Godfather of Soul” robe and Elton John’s piano. There were historical artifacts and documents aplenty – including Jack Kerouac’s original scroll of “On the Road,” JFK’s rocking chair, Muhammed Ali’s robe from his first appearance with his Muslim name and Hunter S Thompson’s “Red Shark” Chevy convertible. On this magical night in San Francisco perhaps the only thing missing from Irsay’s memorabilia collection was Santa’s sleigh. It was magical and memorable night for all of those lucky enough to enjoy Irsay’s generous holiday gift.
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| Jack Kerouac's 'On the Road' scroll @ the Bill Graham Civic (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
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