Selected Miscellaneous Shows

Tree-Part Harmony at Benefit - Star-studded line-up goes back to musical roots at rainforest concert...

Sting played the pied piper for his annual Rainforest benefit show at Carnegie Hall last night, leading his all-star cast on a trip back to their childhoods.

The only things missing from the first half of the lengthy show were the Muppets and a glass of warm milk.

The idea of the concert, now in its eighth year, is for the cast to do some- thing they don't usually do onstage.

The motif, if there was one last night, was songs of childhood. Beyond that, it was dealer's choice, so Bonnie Raitt sang 'If I Loved You' from 'Carousel', which her father, John, premiered in New York 50 years ago.

Elton John chose a stirring rendition of 'Abide With Me' an old British football anthem, accompanied by the Salvation Army Band.

James Taylor did a charming new song about waking up little Susie. Different Susie than the Everly Brothers woke up, but Taylor did admit: "Even though it's a new song, it sounds like all my old songs.'

Sting did a serious-sounding anthem worthy of his English village, and Shawn Colvin sang a much gentler, wistful Welsh lullaby, 'All Through the Nigh'.

The audience got its biggest kick when the cast joined together in various configurations starting with a short rendition of 'It's a Lovely Day', sung in less-than-close harmony by Sting, Taylor and John.

Maximum fun occurred when Lyle Lovett sang 'Long Tall Texan', with John, Taylor, Raitt and the others all wearing 10-gallon hats except for Sting, who wore a 12-gallon fluorescent lime-green chapeau. If you see him coming into a theater with this baby, don't let him sit in front of you.

Other artists included Bobby McFerrin, who combined a cappella songs with classical music, and Italian idol Zucchero.

The Rainforest Foundation was launched in 1989 by Sting, his wife, Trudie Styler, and Chief Raoni Mentuktire of the Menkragnoti Kayapo tribe in Brazil.

The annual concerts have helped raise more than $6 million, which has launched health-care and education programs as well as protecting from development a Switzerland-size area in the Brazilian Amazon.

The Foundation's primary goal is to enable the indigenous people of the region to keep living there, without the invasion of roads and technology that harm the fragile environment and have destroyed whole tribes.

Within the next year, the Foundation plans to expand its work from South America to several sites in the South Pacific.

The Foundation also lobbies around the world to build awareness of rainforest preservation, and last night's concert is one of the most visible parts of that effort.

Artists who have played the show in the past include Diana Ross, Bruce Springsteen and other friends of Sting. This year's concert is being supplemented by a CD, 'Carnival', including 17 tracks, by John, Madonna, Paul Simon, Bette Midler, Luciano Pavarotti and others.

(c) New York Daily News by David Hinckley

The Carnegie Rainforest Foundation Extravaganza...

For this year's extravaganza, Trudie and Sting rounded up the 'usual suspects' - Elton John and James Taylor as well as newcomers to the cause, Lyle Lovett, Shawn Colvin, Zucchero, Gary Shandling and Stevie Wonder!

We were welcomed to the 'carnival' by a fifteen piece circus outfit, with jugglers, belly dancers, drummers and people walking around the theatre on their hands. The first half was a platform for the album, an eclettic collection from the 'the carnival of the animals' with Bobby Mcferrin, to the stirring rendition of 'Abide With Me' performed by Elton John accompanied by the Salvation Army band.

The idea of the concert was for the performers to play songs that took them back to their childhood. Sting's contribution, a song called 'Water Of Tyne' was written about his native Newcastle. He was joined on stage by fellow geordies Jimmy Nail and Kathryn Tickell.

The fun song of the night was 'Long Tall Texan' performed by Lyle Lovett with the others wearing 'ten gallon' hats for the occasion. Far be it for me to accuse Sting of having a big head but he was wearing a fluorescent green twelve gallon hat!

The second half proved to be more up tempo that the first with artists singing more well known hits. Elton John kicked off by with the Temptations 'My Girl' before delivering the flip side, 'My Guy'. Sting delighted the audience with his version of 'Tears Of A Clown' and 'Ain't Too Proud To Beg'. he also joined Stevie Wonder on 'Living In The City'. Trudie joined the rest of the cast on-stage for the final song of the evening - Stevie Wonder's 'As'.

Dinner afterwards was another star-studded affair. Celebrities, including Sidney Poitier, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Helena Christensen, Julia Roberts and designers Calvin Klein and Gianni Versace all made their way to the hotel in limousines (while Wanda and I took the bus!). Everyone dug deep into their pockets for the after dinner auction. Money was raised for the Rainforest Foundation by the sale of such wonderful items as a boat ride with Billy Joel, a child's electric mercedes benz and full sized version for the grown-up child. Sting tried hard to bid for a walk on part in the US TV show 'Friends' but was outdone by a man offering a healthy $7,500!

Altogether a lot of awareness was raised for the cause. Even the Empire State building joined in the fun by turning green for the occasion! Thanks to the talents of the performers and to Trudie for producing yet another wonderful show, we all went home satisfied that not only did we all have a wonderful night, but we also helped to raise a lot of money for the Rainforest Foundation.

(c) Sue Bett for Outlandos/Sting.com