Sufjan Covers the National Anthem at Carnegie Hall

Last Wednesday the Tortoise and I decided to check out the Tibet House benefit concert. So we each shelled out $40 to see Philip Glass, Band of Horses and Sufjan Stevens, among many others. We were told in advance that our tickets were sort of considered obstructed view, but having never been to Carnegie Hall, I wasn't aware of the magnitude of this claim. I was sort non chalant about this. Except that what was obstructed was our view of the piano on the far side of stage right. Well, the piano's not a big deal, right?
Unless you wanted to see Sufjan sing, Philip play or any grouping in between, then no, its no problem. Great if you are contented to listen. OK, admittedly a disappointment, and frankly, a bit of rip off. I know, I know, it's a benefit. What can I say? I still paid for it, so me bitching retrospectively doesn't affect the outcome of ticket sales. At any rate, Everyone was good, y'know, it was sort of a killer line-up. Included in the line-up of "among many others" were Tom Verlain and Ray Davies. While I really enjoyed Philip Glass's performance and Sufjan's wonderful cover of the national anthem, it was actually Ray Davies who made the evening for me.
While Band of Horses was fun, it doesn't have that unversal appeal that "Lola" has. In fact, my favorite part of the evening was Davies' sing along, in which the whole audience sang "L-O-L-A Loooooola" together. I doubt it was the first time Carnegie hall has experienced this, but it is pretty unusual for me to sing loudly in an atmosphere such as that one. In all truth, the sound quality in those sorts of spaces isn't good for rock. It bounces around too much, and loses a lot by the time it reaches the nose-bleed section. Having played classical violin for years, I can say with confidence that its excellent for an orchestra. It made the group sing along crystal clear and very fun. He closed the whole concert with a group rendition of "All Day and All of the Night". It was cool and fun.
I'm going to go ahead and admit that this is a lame review, but I just don't have that much to say, I couldn't see, and each band played about 4ish songs. Sorry Guys:(

<3 The Elephant