NEW YORK — The basic lineups for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 25th anniversary concerts that took place at Madison Square Garden, Thursday and Friday, were announced in July. Additional artists were confirmed at various times since then. By showtime one knew, for instance, that Ray Davies of the Kinks was going to sing a song or two with Metallica, that Lenny Kravitz was going to do the same with Aretha Franklin, and that guitar heroes Jeff Beck and Buddy Guy were going to jam together.
But U2 — either cagily staying silent in order to build suspense, or unsure who they would play with — did not make any of its guests known ahead of time. There were rumors, of course, but no one knew for sure what was coming until the band took the stage.
There was no shortage of stellar guests on either night. B.B. King, Sting, Smokey Robinson, Jeff Beck and John Legend all appeared during one set alone (Stevie Wonder's, on Thursday). But U2 trumped everyone, welcoming Mick Jagger, as well as Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith and the Black Eyed Peas, onto the stage.
Jagger strutted out from the wings after U2 had started playing the Rolling Stones song “Gimme Shelter,” and belted it as a duet with the Black Eyed Peas’ Fergie. Next came an even more surprising number: a slow-burning duet by Jagger and Bono on U2’s “Stuck In a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of”; the song came off like a cousin of the Stones’ “Beast of Burden.”
Fergie and her Black Eyed Peas bandmates also joined U2 for a medley of U2’s “Mysterious Ways” and the Black Eyed Peas’ “Where Is the Love?,” with a little bit of U2’s “One” thrown into the mix.
Springsteen and Patti Smith resurrected their songwriting collaboration, “Because the Night” — which they hadn’t sung together, in public, since 1977. The musicians were out of synch on the first take, and aborted another take after a few bars. But eventually they nailed the song, with Springsteen playing some wild guitar riffs under Smith’s vocals, toward the end.
Springsteen, who presented a full set of his own on Thursday, stayed onstage to sing “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” with Bono.
Before this song, Bono shared some big thoughts, asking crowd members to think about “all the pilgrims and pioneers that got us all here,” musing that “this business of building idols” is “a dangerous thing,” and defining rock as “political, sexual, spiritual liberation.”
“Let’s have some fun with that,” Springsteen deadpanned.
Friday's show was shorter and tighter than Thursday's. Metallica was in typically ferocious form, and skillfully executed collaborations that both stayed in their comfort zone ("Iron Man" and "Paranoid," with a pumped-up Ozzy Osbourne) and made them stretch a little ("You Really Got Me" and "All Day And All Of the Night," with Davies; "Sweet Jane" and "White Light/White Heat," with Lou Reed).
Beck, who became a co-headliner after Eric Clapton dropped out due to health reasons, offered homages to Ray Charles ("Drown In My Own Tears") and the Beatles ("A Day In the Life"), and explosive collaborations with Guy ("Let Me Love You Baby") and ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons (Jimi Hendrix' "Foxy Lady").
Franklin enlisted Annie Lennox on an impressively raw "Chain Of Fools," as well as Kravitz, on "Think," but her biggest surprise was a song that doesn't have a lot to do with rock 'n' roll: "New York, New York."
Highlights will air on HBO on Nov. 29. For setlists from both shows, visit www.NJ.com/entertainment/popspot.
Jay Lustig may be reached at jlustig@starledger.com or (973) 392-5850.
Here is Friday's setlist (Thursday's setlist is here):
Jerry Lee Lewis:
"Great Balls of Fire"
Aretha Franklin:
"(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" (band instrumental)
"Baby I Love You"
"Don't Play That Song (You Lied)"
"Make Them Hear You"
"Chain Of Fools" (with Annie Lennox)
"Theme From New York, New York"
"Think" (with Lenny Kravitz)
Aretha Franklin encore:
"Respect"
Jeff Beck:
"Drown In My Own Tears"
"People Get Ready" (with Sting)
"Freeway Jam"
"Cause We've Ended As Lovers"
"Let Me Love You Baby" (with Buddy Guy)
"Big Block"
"Rice Pudding"
"Rough Boy" (with Billy Gibbons)
"Foxy Lady" (with Gibbons)
"A Day In the Life"
Metallica:
"For Whom the Bell Tolls"
"One"
"Turn the Page"
"Sweet Jane" (with Lou Reed)
"White Light/White Heat" (with Reed)
"Iron Man" (with Ozzy Osbourne)
"Paranoid" (with Osbourne)
"You Really Got Me" (with Ray Davies)
"All Day and All Of the Night" (with Davies)
"Stone Cold Crazy"
"Enter Sandman"
U2:
"Vertigo"
"Magnificent"
"Because the Night" (with Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith)
"Because the Night" (second take, with Springsteen and Smith)
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" (with Springsteen)
"Mysterious Ways"/"Where Is the Love?" medley (with Black Eyed Peas)
"Gimme Shelter" (with Mick Jagger, Fergie)
"Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" (with Jagger)
U2 encore:
"Beautiful Day"