ReAct Now: Music & Relief


Let me preface this by saying that I am not a huge fan of MTV...

But, I was pleasantly surprised by last night's Katrina benefit concert. Of course it was the higher-ups behind the machine that is MTV / Viacom that put this benefit together; however, I believe it was the various musical artists that made it so special. It didn't hurt that it ran commercial-free, even if we did have a screen crawl.

It goes without saying that I enjoyed Pearl Jam's "Given to Fly"...however, I think my favorite contribution came from Nine Inch Nails' frontman, Trent Reznor, with his solo performance of "Hurt." Wow...it gave me chills. I wouldn't consider myself a huge NIN fan, but there is something about their music that definitely grabs me. Trent's performance was an indication of that. I just thought it was genuine and very emotional.

For me, other notable performances came from John Mayer, Beck, U2, Green Day, Alicia Keys, Coldplay, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Buckwheat Zydeco, Goo Goo Dolls, Audioslave, & Jewel.

I have already downloaded a few of these tracks, with all proceeds going to Katrina relief. These audio downloads can be found at Sony's Connect music store. More tracks are said to be available in the coming days. You can also view the performances "On Demand" from MTV Overdrive. Both of these sites require the use of Internet Explorer to view or download any material.