This "Concert For George" was not your typical concert experience in as much as it was quite reverential in it's presentation, and the audience was sufficiently well heeled and admirably attired befitting it's location at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The concert took place on November 29, 2002, a year to the day following George Harrison's death from cancer. Eric Clapton was the nominal master of ceremonies, and the performance opened with an array of Indian styled music affirming Harrison's love of it's spiritual aspect. Ravi Shankar was on hand with his daughter Anoushka, both performing individually with Anoushka conducting the Indian portion of the larger orchestral setting. I could have done without the Monty Python portion of the tribute, though Harrison did executive produce and appear uncredited in "Life of Brian", so I can understand why they were there. Considering their reputation, their bit was tastefully done, although Michael Palin's monologue made me a little squeamish before things got back on track.
As for the principal concert, it was astonishing how the selection of numbers, mostly written by Harrison himself, were so wonderfully arranged to offer resonance to the life and death of the former Beatle. There was an interesting juxtaposition in the placement of the Beatles' song 'Here Comes the Sun' right after Eric Clapton sang 'Beware of Darkness'; I thought that was wonderfully done. One has to wonder if Harrison might have been thinking about his own mortality when he wrote 'All Things Must Pass', it was sung by Paul McCartney, immediately followed by 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps', both a tribute and a lament for the iconic musician. It was good to see both McCartney and Ringo Starr back together in a concert setting, along with contemporaries like Clapton, Billy Preston, and a fellow I really didn't know named Joe Brown. Harrison's fellow Traveling Wilbury's artists Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne were also on hand, and it would have been great if Bob Dylan had showed up. Probably the most ironic aspect of the show was seeing young Dhani Harrison on stage performing with all of the much older musicians. Paul McCartney acknowledged a comment made by George Harrison's widow that Dhani, so uncannily resembling his father, looked like it was George on stage who stayed young, while all the rest of his contemporaries got old. I think if George Harrison had though about something like that, he might have written a song about it.
As for the principal concert, it was astonishing how the selection of numbers, mostly written by Harrison himself, were so wonderfully arranged to offer resonance to the life and death of the former Beatle. There was an interesting juxtaposition in the placement of the Beatles' song 'Here Comes the Sun' right after Eric Clapton sang 'Beware of Darkness'; I thought that was wonderfully done. One has to wonder if Harrison might have been thinking about his own mortality when he wrote 'All Things Must Pass', it was sung by Paul McCartney, immediately followed by 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps', both a tribute and a lament for the iconic musician. It was good to see both McCartney and Ringo Starr back together in a concert setting, along with contemporaries like Clapton, Billy Preston, and a fellow I really didn't know named Joe Brown. Harrison's fellow Traveling Wilbury's artists Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne were also on hand, and it would have been great if Bob Dylan had showed up. Probably the most ironic aspect of the show was seeing young Dhani Harrison on stage performing with all of the much older musicians. Paul McCartney acknowledged a comment made by George Harrison's widow that Dhani, so uncannily resembling his father, looked like it was George on stage who stayed young, while all the rest of his contemporaries got old. I think if George Harrison had though about something like that, he might have written a song about it.