Bob Weir |
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Wed. December 23.1998 3:00 AM EST |
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Weir, Hornsby, Raitt, Hooker Fight Blindness With MusicSaturday's four-hour 'Blues Against Blindness' concert raised money for Seva Foundation. by Correspondent Jonathan Seff |
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John Lee Hooker, in an unbilled appearance, joined Bonnie Raitt at Northern California's Berkeley Community Theater. ( ) |
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BERKELEY, Calif. -- Ex-Grateful Dead singer/guitarist Bob Weir, rock pianist
Bruce Hornsby and blues singers Bonnie Raitt and John Lee Hooker brought star power
to Saturday's benefit for the Seva Foundation at the Berkeley Community
The cause, Seva, is a Berkeley-based organization that aims to wipe out unnecessary blindness -- that is, blindness from cataracts and other preventable or treatable causes. As a rule, more people attend benefit concerts for the music than the cause. But there were enough slides and speeches during the four-hour "Blues Against Blindness" show to make everyone in the house understand the pain and sadness that prompted the evening's entertainment. "I'm blind, so I am predisposed to support Seva," Andy Roberts, 38, said. "But the crowd was very attentive and supportive. My guide dog, Diedre, and I had a good time." Hooker's surprise appearance provided some of that good time. The unannounced bluesman came out from the wings while Raitt, the evening's last billed performer, was onstage. He took a seat to her left and stayed for two songs, including the blues standard "Hi-Heel Sneakers." The 78-year-old Hooker sweet-talked 49-year-old Raitt with such lines as, "If I can't have you, Bonnie, I don't want no one else." Also joining Raitt was Hornsby, who played piano on her performance of "I Can't Make You Love Me" (RealAudio excerpt). Raitt was preceded by Weir, who was joined by his Ratdog bandmate Rob Wasserman on upright bass. Old-timey bluesman Charlie Musselwhite and Jefferson Airplane/Hot Tuna guitarist Jorma Kaukonen joined them for three acoustic songs, then Weir plugged in to finish with the Grateful Dead standard "One More Saturday Night" (RealAudio excerpt), accompanied only by Wasserman. Master of ceremonies and San Francisco Bay Area activist Wavy Gravy (born Hugh Romney) prematurely introduced Weir earlier in the night, when in fact another Grateful Dead alumnus, Hornsby, was about to take the stage. Hornsby got the seated crowd moving as he wove together a number of songs, including "The Valley Road," with his virtuosic cascades on a grand piano. He even threw in a Christmas melody at one point. Kaukonen and his trio played some mellow blues, including a version of Rev. Gary Davis' doleful "Death Don't Have No Mercy." The first half of the show featured sets by the blues duo of Roy Rogers and Shana Morrison; Maria Muldaur, who ignored the show's acoustic billing by playing electric blues and soul; Musselwhite, who slowed down the pace with some solo acoustic Delta Blues; and San Francisco Bay Area guitarist Joe Louis Walker and his harmonica-playing pal Big Bones, who brought up the pace with some potent electric sounds. It was "a beautiful show," concert-goer Brent Smith, 30, said. "Bruce and Bonnie's positive energy filled the place." Smith added that it was "great that every seat bought a cataract surgery." Wavy Gravy had told the crowd that every ticket sold -- at $33 each -- would give someone in India or Nepal the chance to see. By show's end, the mood had transformed into something of a gospel Sunday. A choir that included Raitt, Hornsby, Weir, Musselwhite, Kaukonen and Muldaur sang the gospel classic "Amazing Grace," which included the apt line, "Was blind but now I see." |
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