Rock ‘gods’ unite for charity

CLOCKWISE, FROM LEFT: West, Bon Jovi, Springsteen, McCartney and Jagger

The devastation wrought in 2012 by Hurricane “Sandy,” with sustained winds between 178-208 kph at its peak, wasn’t a pretty sight—it left some 280 people dead and $65 billion worth of damages.

To contextualize, it was not as deadly as last year’s Supertyphoon “Yolanda,” the strongest storm ever recorded at landfall (with maximum sustained winds breaching beyond the 300 kph mark), leaving more than 6,200 people dead in its wake. The depths of grief aren’t easily quantifiable, however.

More than those numbers, it’s the overwhelming grief that untimely deaths bring which leaves a scar and stays with us forever. To quote John Irving, “When someone you love unexpectedly dies, you don’t lose (him) all at once—you lose him in pieces. Gradually, you accumulate parts of him that are gone.”

Red flags

But, the musical documentary, “12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief,” deftly captures the indomitable nature of the human spirit as it chronicles how Harvey Weinstein and his partners put up a star-studded benefit concert in three weeks’ time to raise funds for the victims of “Sandy.” The movie underscores the mounting dangers of irresponsibly ignoring the red flags raised by environmentalists concerning climate change. It informs as much as it entertains!

Yes, it was impressive to see Ellen DeGeneres gather Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lawrence, Lupita Nyong’o, Brad Pitt, Bradley Cooper, Jared Leto and Kevin Spacey for one record-smashing, Twitter-trending selfie at the Oscars.

But, can you think of something more exhilarating than having Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, Jon Bon Jovi, Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones, The Who, Kanye West, Billy Joel, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Michael Stipe of R.E.M. and Alicia Keys perform on one concert stage?

Stellar descent

The participation of McCartney was the linchpin that began the stellar descent on the Madison Square Garden arena—especially after he asked Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear of the defunct Nirvana to perform “Cut Me Some Slack” with him!

Other highlights: Martin singing “Losing My Religion” with Stipe; McCartney harmonizing with Keys as they rehearsed “Empire State of Mind”; Clapton singing “Got To Get Better In A Little While”; Springsteen sharing “Born To Run” with Bon Jovi; Waters singing “Another Brick In The Wall” and “Comfortably Numb” with Eddie Vedder; Jagger rocking the stage with “You Got Me Rockin’” and West performing “Stronger.” —How cool is that?

Segment hosts and telephone operators included Kristen Stewart, Susan Sarandon, Billy Crystal, Steve Buscemi, Jake Gyllenhaal, Whoopi Goldberg, Adam Sandler, Blake Lively, Katie Holmes, Leonardo DiCaprio, Chelsea Clinton, Michael J. Fox, Jimmy Fallon, Jon Stewart, Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz and Quentin Tarantino.

The film hits close to home because it reminds us of how people from countries all over the world—including those perceived to be “unfriendly”—trooped to Eastern Samar to offer a helping hand to victims of the Nov. 8 calamity.

On Dec. 12, 2012, Tinseltown decided to set its differences (and egos) aside to help those who needed urgent assistance—and raised $59 million overnight!