[image via Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Global Citizen Festival]
– David Melamed
Global Citizen, a charity devoted to fighting extreme poverty, pulled out all the stops for their second annual Global Citizen Festival last weekend. Held in Central Park’s Great Lawn, on what proved to be an absolutely picturesque day, the festival was championed by talented musicians and their earnest plea to promote the charity’s noble cause. The simple union of music and philanthropy brought warmth to the hearts of the 50,000-plus in attendance. Last year’s festival raised $1.3 billion for Global Citizen’s fight against poverty, and, judging by the success of this year’s effort, one can only expect that this year’s festival will have a similar outcome.
In lieu of purchasing general admission tickets, fans interested in attending the festival had to earn points by watching videos and signing petitions on the Global Citizen website. One could then redeem these points for entries in the ticket lottery, and hope to be selected (or buy VIP tickets). By this approach, Global Citizen was able to both raise awareness, and give music fans a free opportunity to witness some of the top performers in the industry today.
The music began with Kings of Leon, who played a straightforward, energetic rock and roll show. Kings of Leon isn’t much for stage presence, as they barely interacted with the crowd, but their music spoke for itself. They opened the set with “Supersoaker, “the first track from their new album Mechanical Bull (which I reviewed last week, here). The full set contained several songs from the new album, and ended with their two most familiar hits, “Sex on Fire” and “Use Somebody.”
While the Kings of Leon set was played well, and enthusiastically, it seemed that their music was somewhat out of place with the festivities. It was enjoyable, sure, but Caleb Followill’s yearning “yooooouuuuuuu… your sex is on fiiiiiire…” felt slightly inappropriate, sandwiched between distinguished individuals speaking about world poverty. Nonetheless, their renditions of “Family Tree” and “Don’t Matter” aptly conveyed the excitement of Mechanical Bull to a live audience.
Afterwards, Elvis Costello surprised the audience with an acoustic appearance. He played two songs, “Tripwire” and “(What’s So Funny ‘bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding,” a Brinsley Schwarz cover that Costello popularized in the late 70’s. Costello’s solo performance was a touching display of his philanthropic nature.
Next up was the R&B icon Alicia Keys, who dazzled the audience with her tremendous vocal prowess. She opened the set with “You Don’t Know My Name,” a Grammy-award winning number-one hit from 2003 that spurred excitement from Keys’s fans. Keys debuted a new song, “Better Me, Better You,” for the occasion, singing “I’m here to make a statement” triumphantly. She closed with “Empire State of Mind, Part II: Broken Down,” a nod to the New Yorkers assembled for the performance. Keys’s soulful singing was inspired throughout the performance.
During the next interlude between scheduled performers, the audience was once again treated to a surprise guest: Janelle Monáe. Monáe performed her song “Smile,” a soaring R&B number that rose to the occasion. Monáe’s voice hit peak after peak, rising and falling in her eloquent, soulful manner.
Shortly thereafter, it was John Mayer’s turn to delight the audience of global citizens. Mayer started off the set with some fast-paced rocking tunes, including “Queen of California” and “Wildfire.” Mayer then introduced his next song as a Grateful Dead cover, and launched into the bluesy riff of “Goin’ Down the Road Feelin’ Bad.” While the song is technically a standard blues song, Mayer did follow the Dead’s arrangement, using the blues jam as a vehicle for inspired guitar solos and call-and-response vocals.
The final four songs of Mayer’s set are arguably some of his most well known, “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room,” “Waiting for the World to Change,” “Paper Doll,” and, the finale, “Gravity.” “Waiting for the World to Change” was very warmly received, given the song’s popularity and the context of the performance. It’s message of change resonated with the crowd, and helped to carry the philanthropic enthusiasm through the intermission and into the final performance of the night, Stevie Wonder.
After an almost-excessive introduction by U2-frontman Bono (what would a charity music event be without Bono?), Stevie Wonder was greeted with overwhelming adulation from the audience. The band played the melody to “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)” as Wonder thanked the audience, before donning a key-tar and singing the Marvin Gaye cover emphatically. This song segued into “Master Blaster (Jammin’),” which kept the global citizens smiling and dancing under the night sky.
Stevie Wonder then stopped his performance to welcome the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon. In his introduction of Ki-moon, Wonder said, “There are rock stars, and there are rock stars. I can assure you that the secretary general is a genuine rock star. He’s a rock star in the quest to bring hope to the hopeless, consensus where there is conflict, and peace and rights to those who suffer from hatred and despair.” Ki-moon returned the compliments, declaring Wonder as “an amazing United Nations messenger of peace.”
The Global Citizen Festival is scheduled to coincide with the General Assembly of the United Nations, to allow for such awe-inspiring interactions as that between Stevie Wonder and Ban Ki-moon. Wonder declared, “we can end extreme poverty in our lifetime— because together, we can work it out, and we will reach our higher ground.” This, of course, provided the dramatic segue into Wonder’s emotionally-charged masterpiece “Higher Ground,” with chilling vocals by Janelle Monáe. The give-and-take between these established singers was a breathtaking musical moment.
Wonder continued to perform hit after hit, including “Sir Duke,” “My Cherie Amour,” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours).” He played covers of The Beatles’ “Day Tripper” and John Lennon’s “Imagine,” with the latter invoking a particularly emotional response. He roused the audience with “Superstition,” and sent them off smiling with his set-closing performance of “I Just Called to Say I Love You.”
The music of Global Citizen Festival 2013 was a success, but the festival itself has room to grow. There was a surprising lack of food and drink vendors, resulting in massively-long lines (my friend waited over two hours to purchase a bottle of water). But these infrastructure problems were overshadowed by the beautiful weather, venue, and music that the festival provided. There are few better ways to spend a sunny, early-Autumn afternoon than lounging in Central Park… that this charity event hosted live music from elite musicians AND raised money for the eradication of poverty ultimately made for an exceptional experience.
Stevie Wonder performing “Imagine”: