HOLLYWOOD -- It was called "special night of music, reflection and celebration." Tuesday night was an evening to benefit Yoko Ono's "Imagine No Hunger" campaign with John Lennon and Beatles songs, and celebrities to an invitation-only audience at Hollywood's Hard Rock Cafe, a couple of doors down from Grauman's Chinese Theater. We were in the audience and here's a report on what happened.
The evening, which featured catered food, started around 6:30 p.m. with "Power to the People" from Edgar Winter sitting in with Bow Thayer and Perfect Trainwreck while the crowd was still filing in. The band followed up with "Instant Karma." Singer Paula Bowers-Sanchez followed with a nice version of "In My Life." Each performer picked Lennon tracks to sing.
Next came guitarist Micki Free, whose thumping version of "Cold Turkey" was one of the best songs of the night.
Alex Band, formerly of the Calling, sang "Real Love" and a reprise of his song with the Calling, "Wherever You Will Go." Booker T. came on next and sang "Watching the Wheels."
Dave Stewart did a moody version of "Mind Games,' then Edgar Winter followed with "Come Together" (which Ringo, in the audience, bopped along with) and "Revolution."
Stewart came back and sang "Imagine." The final song was "Give Peace a Chance," and the stage became filled with celebrities, including Ringo Starr, Barbara Bach, Joe Walsh and Edgar Winter. Ringo flashed his trademark peace signs throughout the final song.
"Let's hear it for the band," Ringo said, then followed with, "Let's hear it for you" as the song ended.
Also seen in the audience were film director David Lynch, Joe Walsh's wife Marjorie Bach, comedian George Lopez, guitarist Orianthi, Ringo photographer Rob Shanahan and actress Angie Everhart.
Eric Burdon was one of the performers listed on the invitation to the show and was originally scheduled to perform "Working Class Hero" according to a pre-show setlist, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Admittance to the show was either five non-perishable food items or a donation to support the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and WhyHunger. Among the items sold to benefit the campaign were rubber wrist bands with John Lennon's image and signature for $1. Also available are Imagine pins ($12) and T-shirts ($32). You can purchase items to help the Imagine There's No Hunger campaign at http://www.hardrock.com/promo/imagine10/.
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