This past Monday night, an eclectic and talented group of musicians came together at Carnegie Hall to celebrate Tibetan culture at the XXII Annual Tibet House Benefit Concert. The evening began with traditional prayers from eight Tibetan Monks, before Robert Thurman (president of Tibet House) took the stage to remind all in attendance of the importance of the upcoming year to Tibetan society.
[All Photos by Jeremy Gordon]
Standout performances included amusing stories by Laurie Anderson (on her unfortunate spiritual trip with American naturalists), meditations and songs by singer Dechen Shak-Dagsay, and an electric performance by violinist Tim Fain. Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields played a banjo-ukulele for his set (and announced his fear of turning into the WB Frog on the stage), and Das Racist attempted to rap disjointedly over Rahzel’s beatboxing while gyrating and wrapping themselves in the American Flag.
Toward the end of the evening, legendary musician Lou Reed teamed up with the Patti Smith’s band (sans Patti Smith) to headline the show and performed a rather underwhelming three song set before he was joined on stage by all of the performers to honor composer and curator Phillip Glass on his 75th birthday.
Here’s a full gallery of Jeremy’s photos from Carnegie Hall…
