Bruce says Pete can "kick your ass"

Bruce Springsteen gave testimony to the power of Pete Seeger and the power of song when he said at Pete's huge Madison Square Garden Birthday last night:

"He's gonna look a lot like your granddad that wears flannel shirts and funny hats. He gonna look like your granddad if your granddad can kick your ass."

Well, all right. Sounds like it was a great party.

Big blowout for Seeger's 90th

Tickets go on sale Monday for Pete Seeger's 90th birthday party in Madison Square Garden.

There will be many tribute peformances, and the list is impressive:


Pete Seeger
Richie Havens
Bruce Springsteen
Steve Earle
Dave Matthews
Taj Mahal
Eddie Vedder
Tom Morello
John Mellencamp
Warren Haynes
Juanes
Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet
Ani DiFranco
Bernice Johnson Reagon
Arlo Guthrie
Dar Williams
Bela Fleck
Guy Davis
Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses)
Jay Ungar & Molly Mason
Ben Harper
Kate & Anna McGarrigle
Billy Bragg
Larry Long
Billy Nershi (String Cheese Incident)
Mike & Ruthy Merenda
Bruce Cockburn
Native American Indian Cultural Alliance
Emmylou Harris
NYC Labor Chorus
Joan Baez
Scarlet Moore
Keller Williams
Silvio Rodriguez
Kris Kristofferson
Tao Rodriguez-Seeger
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Tom Chapin
Michael Franti
Tom Paxton
Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers)
Tommy Sands
Preservation Hall Jazz Band with Del McCoury
Tony Trischka
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
Toshi Reagon

Happy Birthday, Shane

Like his idol, Brendan Behan, Shane MacGowan lives life in a slurry of whiskey and words. He's just finished another round of Christmastime gigs in Britain and Ireland with his bandmates, the Pogues, and he's left critics with no shortage of words to describe his self-destructive auto-auto de fe. MacGowan has created some beautiful songs, which he now tramples like lilies fallen beneath the wheels of commercialism.

MacGowan turned 51 this Christmas Day, and we all wonder how. How has he escaped the damage he's swallowed. How has he not fallen victim to one of the many accidents he's been a party to. How has his body not refused, even once, to mount the stage and bellow those songs that his audience now knows better than he does.

MacGowan and the Pogues return to America in 2009 for a St. Patricks season set of gigs on the East Coast.

Double nickels birthday bash

So I spent the whole day, along with Lucy, Paul and Sowgol getting prepared for my own "surprise" party at the barn in the back of Paul and Sowgol's house. It was also Paul's surprise party, but he was truly surprised.

It was great to see so many friends, but between conversations, dancing and sips of Doghead 60 Minute, I never took my camera out of my pocket, so I'll have to wait until Megan sends me some of hers before I can share them.