For the first time ever, we've got a front-row seat, eye-witness account of what it was like to be at The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony.
Our buddy Ron Onesti had what can ONLY be described as a dream-come-true experience while he was in Cleveland the other night to witness this year's inductees being enshrined in The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. (Ironically on Sunday we were up on stage at The Arcada Theatre helping to co-host The Rhythmic Arts Foundation benefit concert, waiting for Ron to arrive back from his trip. Obviously we had NO idea at that point in time what kind of weekend HE was having ... we were just jealous that he got to go! ... but this first-hand account blows away ANYTHING we could have EVER dreamed up in our wildest imagination!!!)
Tell us about it, Ron!
Paul, Ringo, Yoko … and me!
“This cannot be happening,” I kept saying to myself … over and over and over. I kept singing to myself two songs -
The Bad Company hit “Rock ‘N Roll Fantasy” cuz at that moment,
that’s what I was livin’ ... and The Righteous Brothers’ “Rock ‘N Roll Heaven” … cuz
that’s where I was!
My brother Rich and I were fortunate enough to be able to
attend this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in its home
town of Cleveland. To say that the
experience was surreal would be a gross understatement. What was to happen that night was to go down
in the record books as any rock fan’s storybook dream night. But wait … let me start at the beginning because
so much more happened that evening!
It all started a few months ago when I visited the Rock Hall
& Museum. I am there relatively
frequently as a member, and this time I was working out a deal that would allow
me to put together a VIP experience there for my friends and customers. The guy from the hall I was working with told
me about this year’s inductees, and one of them was going to be Joan Jett and
the Blackhearts.
Ironically, I was producing a corporate show in San Francisco
the next week, and I hired Cheap Trick AND Joan Jett to perform there. I had worked with her before so when I got
there, I most excitedly congratulated her and, to my absolute thrill, she
invited me to the ceremonies!
So we got our VIP lanyards (numbers 100 and 101) and made
our way to the city where famed disc jockey Alan Freed coined the phrase “Rock
and Roll” in the early fifties.
Tickets
for this presentation were at a premium ever since the Hall announced that
Ringo was going to be inducted by Paul McCartney.
We checked in and were given small tickets with a number 4
printed on them. That was JOAN’S table! Being an inductee, her table was the first
table in front! There were ten thousand
people in attendance, and I was in front!
And after I got there, well, that’s when the magic started!
I first ran into “Little Stevie” Van Zandt, Silvio on The
Sopranos, and a Rock Hall of Fame inductee member of Bruce Springsteen’s E
Street band. We chatted about the
reasons The Young Rascals will never do another reunion tour again. At that point, I thought that would be the
celebrity experience of the night for me.
Next, I saw “The Killer,” Jerry Lee Lewis, sitting with his
wife. I said hello and asked him if he
had seen Chuck Berry recently, since I did a show with he and Little Richard
years ago. He replied, "Chuck doesn’t
really come to these things like I do ... he is a lot older than me!”
At that moment, another Hall of Famer,
Darlene Love, came to say hello to Jerry.
I told her that I just had Ronnie Spector at The Arcada and that I would
love to do a concert with both of them.
“Just call me and I will be there, honey,” she said!
I turned around and there were pictures being taken. I moved a bit to see who it was. It was Alice Cooper! I have done several shows with him in the
past, and he stopped to talk to me. In
fact, he remembered the last show we did together. “It was a racetrack in Chicago,” I said. He corrected me and said, “No, it was in
Cicero.” He remembered!
The next group of guys I ran into was Stevie Ray Vaughan’s
band “Double Trouble,” including Stevie’s older brother Jimmie Vaughan, who
played our Arcada just a few months ago.
It was very cool to witness the personal side of these things. As the video of Stevie was played, the family
wept and winked at each other. It was a perspective rarely seen by the
public. I went over and gave Jimmie a
hug.
As I was standing there, Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters
frontman Dave Grohl tapped me on the shoulder to get past me. I kind of belted out, “Dave!” He said, “What’s up,” and we talked about the
night a bit and then he took a great picture with me! He was very cool, and quite humble. I reminded him that Mick Jagger of the Stones
said that the Foo Fighters was his favorite band! He shook his head, almost humbly embarrassed.
Then, the unimaginable happened! I looked next to Joan Jett's table and at it
was at that moment I realized I was actually standing right next to RINGO
STARR! I extended my trembling hand out
with no expectations, and he shook it and said, “Hey, how are ya?” We chatted about his manager and a mutual
acquaintance of ours. He was so thrilled
to be inducted. “I’ve been waiting by
the phone all along,” he said. “It’s
great to join the club!” What he was
referring to was the fact that all four Beatles were inducted as a band, but
John, Paul and George had already been inducted as individuals.
Then I bumped into a lady with a stylish white top-hat
on. She turned around and I nearly
dropped to one knee. I said, “Oh my
goodness, excuse me … YOKO!” That’s right!
Yoko Ono!
She was quite sweet, smiling
and nodding a lot, sporting dark glasses low on her nose, but looking me in the
eye. I told her that we at The Arcada
Theatre will be celebrating John’s (Lennon) 75th birthday on October
9th. She looked down as the
sadness of his tragic demise was still embedded into her expression.
Then John Mayer walked onto the stage to induct Stevie Ray
Vaughan. His older brother, Jimmie
Vaughan was there on stage with the rest of “Double Trouble,” Stevie’s
band. They all jammed performing the
Stevie classic, Pride And Joy.
I was standing ten feet from the performance, just having a
great time. Then, people all turned
around and starting looking at me. It
got crazy! I’m like, “I must be a pretty
popular guy, or they must really like
my jacket!”
I looked to my left, and it wasn’t me they were gawking
over. I was standing right next to Sir
Paul McCartney! He came from back stage
and started clapping and singing to the music … right next to me!
So for the next couple of hours, we exchanged comments about
Stevie Wonder, who inducted Bill Withers, and about the performance by the
megaband, Green Day. “I really love
these chaps,” he said.
All the while this was happening, my brother Rich and I kept
looking at each other like, “This is NOT happening!” With my thirty years in the biz, working with
so many big names, I never had a “Beatles’ experience. On that night, I was “Beatled” to the nth
degree, more than I could have ever dreamed.
So this night was long, tiring and loud. It was surreal and it was unbelievable. It was a great show with some heartwarming
moments. And, I stood the entire
five-and-a-half hours. In a nutshell, it
was a wonderfully stressful night. But I
got by with a little help from my friends …
Our buddies over at Vintage Vinyl News filed THIS report about the set list that night, honoring this year's inductees ...
The Set List:
This list comes from Vintage Vinyl News, who
described it as "a work in progress based on the best information we could get
... so there may be a few changes".
Taking that for what it's worth, here is a
recap of the evening's events:
Induction of Joan Jett and the
Blackhearts
Bad Reputation - Joan Jett
& the Blackhearts / Cherry Bomb - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
with Dave Grohl and original Blackhearts drummer Gary Ryan /
Crimson And Clover - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Tommy
James, Dave Grohl and Miley Cyrus / Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Chairman Jann Wenner with opening
remarks, including introducing Jerry Lee Lewis who is in attendance /
Induction by Miley Cyrus /
Acceptance by Joan Jett and
members of the Blackhearts
Induction of
the Paul Butterfield Blues
Band
Born in Chicago - Tom
Morello, Jason Ricci, Zac Brown / Induction by Peter Wolf / Acceptance by Elvin Bishop and the living members of the band
Induction of Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble Induction by John Mayer / Jimmy Vaughan acceptance for his later brother
/ Pride &
Joy - Doyle Bramhall II, Gary Clark, Jr., Jimmy Vaughan, John Mayer, Double
Trouble / Texas Flood - Doyle Bramhall II, Gary Clark, Jr., Jimmy
Vaughan, John Mayer, Double Trouble / Six Strings Down - Doyle
Bramhall II, Gary Clark, Jr., Jimmy Vaughan, John Mayer, Double Trouble
Induction of Green Day
Induction by Patrick Stump / Acceptance by each member of the band /
American
Idiot - Green Day / When I Come Around - Green Day /
Basket Case - Green Day
Induction of
the "5" Royales
Induction by Steve Cropper / Acceptance by Fred Tanner, brother of members
Eugene and Johnny Tanner / Dedicated to the One I Love - Leon Bridges /
When
a Man Loves a Woman - Leon Bridges in dedication to the late Percy Sledge
and others who passed this year.
Induction of Lou Reed
Induction by Patti Smith / Acceptance by Laurie Anderson / Vicious - Karen O and Nick
Zinner / Satellite of Love - Beck, Nate Ruess and Karen O
Induction of Bill Withers
Induction by Stevie Wonder / Acceptance by Bill Withers / Ain't No Sunshine - Stevie
Wonder / Use Me - John Legend / Lean on Me - Bill Withers,
Stevie Wonder and John Legend
Induction of Ringo Starr
Induction by Paul McCartney / Acceptance by Ringo Starr / Boys - Ringo Starr and
Green Day / It Don't Come Easy - Ringo Starr and Joe Walsh /
With
a Little Help From My Friends - Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, Joe Walsh,
Green Day, Joan Jett, Miley Cyrus / I Wanna Be Your Man - Ringo
Starr, Paul McCartney, Joe Walsh, Green Day, Joan Jett, Miley Cyrus, John
Legend, Stevie Wonder, Beck
Nothing was noted here about the Final Jam
Session that typically takes place after the ceremony ... I find it nearly
impossible to believe that Joan Jett didn't perform her signature tune "I Love
Rock And Roll" at some point during the evening or that Ringo didn't do a couple
more solo tunes. The chance to see the two surviving Beatles together again up on stage ... I can't even begin to imagine the thrill and electricity of that moment ... a lifetime memory for sure, even if it did mean that in order to get there, you had to endure Miley Cyrus' taped nipples salute to "JJ" (Joan Jett). Unreal, Miley. (Remember when it used to be about the music???)
-- Kevin Mazur / Getty
I'm not sure if I feel good or bad about the fact that Tommy
James got to perform his hit "Crimson And Clover" with Jett ... since he himself
is not a member of The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, yet another GROSS oversight
on behalf of the organization.
HBO will begin broadcasting highlights of this
year's induction ceremony on May 30th ... so be sure to tune in for that! (My guess is we'll be seeing Ron Onesti at the "head table" quite a few times throughout the program!!!)
