photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

"Not even kidding. lou reed watched @dasracist perform tonight & flipped the fuck out. at carnegie hall. how was your night?" - El-P

"The night wrapped up with Lenny Kaye leading the Patti Smith band through a brief tribute to the garage-rock compilation Nuggets, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, and Lou Reed, who performed three songs. Reed conducted the string quartet and the drummer to improvise with him at moments, which felt awkward in the beginning; the ending, however--as the string quartet jammed in tandem with Smith's guitarists and Reed himself--was pretty impressive. At the very end Laurie Anderson and the whole evening's cast returned to the stage for a curtain call, during which the room sang "Happy Birthday" to Philip Glass." [Village Voice]

Video of the Happy Birthday moment and pictures from all of last night's benefit at Carnegie Hall, below...

Continue reading "2012 Tibet House benefit pics (Philip Glass, Das Racist, James Blake, Antony, Lou Reed, Stephin Merritt, Rahzel & more)"

photos by Chris La Putt

Performances by Iggy Pop, Patti Smith and Gogol Bordello brought the crowd at Carnegie Hall to its feet on Friday night, as the musicians took part in the 20th annual Tibet House benefit.

The concerts, whose musical acts are organized by composer and Tibet House Vice President Philip Glass, are scheduled to coincide with the Tibetan New Year and bring in anywhere from $100,000 to $250,00 for the nonprofit group every year.

The evening began with chanting from several Drepung Gomang Monastery monks, followed by comments from Glass about the difficulty in finalizing a final roster of performers every year given all the participants' busy schedules. Next, Robert A. F. Thurman, the president and one of the co-founders Tibet House, likened the Tibetan people to the Na'vi, the blue, cat-like aliens featured in James Cameron's sci-fi film "Avatar." He noted that both groups of individuals deserved and needed saving, and repeated the film's catch phrase "I see you" for double effect. [Wall Street Journal]

Other artists that performed at the show Friday night included Bajah + the Dry Eye Crew and Regina Spektor. Patti Smith also introduced Iggy Pop whose shirtless set included a stint crowd surfing in the Carnegie Hall audience. More pictures from the show below...

Continue reading "Tibet House Benefit 2010 in pictures (Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Regina Spektor, Gogol Bordello & more)"