{"id":36626,"date":"2021-08-22T22:38:28","date_gmt":"2021-08-22T17:08:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/districtchronicles.com\/exclusive-concert-wrap-up-clive-davis-pulls-off-a-semi-blockbuster-anderson-cooper-loses-his-mind-patti-smith-heads-to-a-steakhouse\/"},"modified":"2021-08-22T22:43:33","modified_gmt":"2021-08-22T17:13:33","slug":"exclusive-concert-wrap-up-clive-davis-pulls-off-a-semi-blockbuster-anderson-cooper-loses-his-mind-patti-smith-heads-to-a-steakhouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/districtchronicles.com\/exclusive-concert-wrap-up-clive-davis-pulls-off-a-semi-blockbuster-anderson-cooper-loses-his-mind-patti-smith-heads-to-a-steakhouse\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive Concert Wrap Up: Clive Davis Pulls Off a Semi-Blockbuster, Anderson Cooper Loses His Mind, Patti Smith Heads to a Steakhouse"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"Yes, it rained. And rained and rained. But not for the first two hours. For the first two hours, Clive Davis\u2019s Central Park concert was a masterpiece. And then the weather intervened.<\/p>\n

But wait: before the rain, the concert was glorious. Everything with the New York Philharmonic, especially Jennifer Hudson tackling \u201cNessum Dorma\u201d as a tribute to Aretha, she deserves the highest praise.<\/p>\n

Rob Thomas and Santana performing \u201cSmooth,\u201d the \u201cLayla\u201d of its generation. Rob glowing from sweat, coming off the humid stage after his mic mix was a mess \u2014 the perils of live performance. But \u201cSmooth\u201d really solidified the audience. Even Maluma\u2019s posse was dancing to it in the family section just below the stage.<\/p>\n

And there was nothing like seeing 60,000 people sing along to \u201cSeptember\u201d with Earth Wind & Fire, Philip Bailey had them in the palm of his hand. Verdine White, in his bejeweled jacket, rocking those guitar solos, brother Maurice smiling down from heaven. Pure pleasure.<\/p>\n

Backstage Clive\u2019s minions \u2014 Barry Manilow, Patti Smith, Elvis Costello \u2014 waiting so patiently, knowing the ran was coming, staying and doing interviews with a giddy Anderson Cooper, who seemed to lose his mind from talking to people who weren\u2019t survivors of an earthquake or who\u2019d been duped by Trump.<\/p>\n

And yet: my love for Patti Smith grew exponentially last night. When she finally realized there would be no show, and she was starving, the Punk Queen allowed herself to be spirited off to Smith & Wollensky steakhouse on Third Avenue and East 49th St.<\/p>\n

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She did tell Cooper she was off site, but when the skies opened up and I was stuck on stage like a passenger on the Titanic for two hours with Clive, Mayor DeBlasio, their respective posses, the crew, half of the NYPD, musicians, and roadies protecting instruments, we all thought Patti was just across a narrow path with Elvis and Barry.<\/p>\n

I was only disabused of this idea when finally, at 9:45pm, when it was clear the rain wasn\u2019t letting up, I ran to the Central Park Police outpost on the 86th transverse in my flimsy pink plastic poncho and looked for passage back to the mainland. There I heard the transportation director say to someone on a headset, \u201cPatti Smith? She\u2019s not here. She went to a steakhouse.\u201d<\/p>\n

I said, \u201cIs that a euphemism for something?\u201d The guy says, \u201cNo, they all left. They\u2019re at Smith & Wollensky. They\u2019re not coming back.\u201d\u00a0 When I\u2019d been on stage, the crew was convinced Patti was coming back to do one last number. How wrong we were. How smart Patti was. I hoped she was having the creamed spinach.<\/p>\n

Yes, two hours on the physical stage because the sky burst open and we were suddenly, all of us, trapped in the middle of Central Park on a metal riser, only partially covered, with lots of electrical items plugged in, and lightning striking indifferently all around us. There was no way to leave until the rain let up, which many who walked by insisted would happen \u201cin 20 minutes. I can see it on the radar.\u201d And of course, this never happened.<\/p>\n

Clive, the Mayor (who is a giant, by the way), and their lieutenants found shelter in a very small. contained office to the side where Big Decisions were being made. The Mayor, all ten feet of him, would emerge and bark at an aide, \u201cI don\u2019t understand, I thought you took care of this!\u201d Maybe he thought that even Clive Davis could control the weather.<\/p>\n

I asked an aide, Would this be a good time for me to ask the Mayor why there is nowhere to park anywhere in the city between the bike lanes, bike stands, turning lanes, and signs that say \u201cCommercial Parking Only.\u201d The aide narrowed his eyes and said, \u201cAre you kidding?\u201d (I was and wasn\u2019t.) Another said, \u201cTry it, See what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mayor wanted the concert to resume, even if it was just to tape an ending. Barry Manilow and Elvis Costello were said to be up for it. The Killers, however, required 30 minutes to prepare if this was going to happen. No order of show could be ascertained. And that\u2019s when I bailed.<\/p>\n

The show as presented, just over two hours, was magnificent. JP Saxe and Julia Michaels, Kane Brown, Journey, LL Cool J, Jon Batiste, Stephen Colbert, Polo G, a plucky Gayle King in an outstanding yellow dress, plus all the aforementioned acts\u2013 you couldn\u2019t have asked for more. So we didn\u2019t see Paul Simon or Bruce Springsteen, who lived around the corner and were wise enough not to come to the park. (You\u2019ve seen them, we\u2019ll see them again. ) Let\u2019s be thankful for what we got.<\/p>\n

The whole production backstage was run so smoothly, no one wanted to go home. The people I abandoned may still be there now. The VIP tent \u2014 for people who contributed a lot to get seats, and the artists\u2019 posse\u2019s\u2013 was still in high gear as I passed them on the way out.<\/p>\n

The staff was so helpful and friendly, from security to volunteers to minimally paid day workers who just wanted to be there. Wasn\u2019t that what Welcome Home NYC was about? I met Diane, a 40ish grandmother who was working part-time at the stage entrance, told me she had three jobs but had to be there. I wound up having a sandwich and stale cookies with John Galanopoulos, the famous Times Square hot dog vendor who\u2019d been invited on stage with Gayle King. I danced with Rob Thomas\u2019s mother-in-law, who lost both of her 90ish year old parents this year, one to COVID. And Berkeley Reinhold, the lawyer for Lollapalooza, whose name I loved. And Alberto, who worked security with a huge smile even in blazing heat.<\/p>\n

Was it worth it? Every single minute of it. But next time, I\u2019ll bring an umbrella.<\/p>\n

And Clive? As I left he was returning from meeting with Barry Manilow about possibly filming an ending. \u201cWhere are you going?\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m leaving,\u201d I explained, I was worried about my car.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat? Now?\u201d he declared in disbelief, ever hopeful, the ultimate rock and roll teenager. (Cue Southside Johnny\u2019s \u201cI don\u2019t want to go home.\u201d)<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re leaving us just when things are getting good!\u201d<\/p>\n

Or to quote Patti Smith and Bruce Springsteen: Because, the night.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Yes, it rained. And rained and rained. But not for the first two hours. For the first two hours, Clive Davis\u2019s Central Park concert … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":36627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/districtchronicles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36626"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/districtchronicles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/districtchronicles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/districtchronicles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/districtchronicles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/districtchronicles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/districtchronicles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/districtchronicles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/districtchronicles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/districtchronicles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}