Hurricane Sandy Benefit.

12/12/12: A Concert for Sandy Relief had an all-star lineup perform for close to six hours Wednesday night at New York's Madison Square Garden

12/12/12: A Concert for Sandy Relief had an all-star lineup perform for close to six hours Wednesday night at New York's Madison Square Garden

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band opened the show with four songs about the power of community and rebuilding. During "My City of Ruins," a song about Asbury Park, New Jersey, Springsteen gave an impassioned speech about the renaissance of the city and said the song was "a prayer for our struggling sisters and brothers in New York and New Jersey." The song ended with a lengthy tag of "Jersey Girl." Then Springsteen invited Jon Bon Jovi out to duet on "Born to Run," which was marred by Bon Jovi's mic being too low in the mix for much of the song.

Pink Floyd's Roger Waters brought a mini version of his wildly popular The Wall tour to the stage, mixing in "In The Flesh" and "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" and "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 3)" with Dark Side of the Moon's "Money" and "Us and Them." Waters went back to The Wall to close out with "Comfortably Numb," which was done as a duet with Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder filling in David Gilmour's vocal parts on the original song.

Bon Jovi started with Jon Bon Jovi in the crowd on a riser singing "It's My Life." After "Wanted Dead or Alive," he told the crowd, "We need your support, your economic support and your sweat and your prayers." Then Bruce Springsteen returned the favor by guesting on "Who Says You Can't Go Home."

Eric Clapton chose two very appropriate songs for his set. He opened with an acoustic take on "Nobody Loves You When Your Down and Out." Backed by just bass and drums, he then did "Got to Get Better in a Little While." "Crossroads," in a much funkier version than he did with Cream, wrapped things up.

The Rolling Stones gave a preview of their two 50th anniversary shows this week in New Jersey with a brief appearance, playing "You Got Me Rocking" and "Jumping Jack Flash." Mick Jagger made a couple of jokes, saying that the show was "the largest collection of old English musicians ever assembled at Madison Square Garden" and that "if it rains in London you've got to promise to come help us."

The Who did a couple of selections from their current Quadrophenia tour (including vocals and video of the late Keith Moon on "Bell Boy") as well as mixing in classic hits like "Who Are You," "Baba O' Riley" and "Pinball Wizard." In "Baba," Pete Townshend changed a key line, throwing off the crowd singing along. He sang, "don't cry, don't raise your eye, it's only Sandy wasteland." Roger Daltrey rectified that misstep by letting the crowd sing "teenage wasteland" a couple of times. Townshend seemed a bit perturbed at the end of their set as the crowd talked throughout the acoustic "Tea and Theatre," yelling at the crowd to "drink a [bleeping] beer."

Native Long Islander Billy Joel opened with "Miami 2017," with its very telling lyrics about blackouts and floods throughout New York. He was the only person to mention the holidays by singing lines to "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" before "New York State of Mind," which was one of the biggest singalongs of the entire night. Just before closing with "Only the Good Die Young" Joel told the crowd, "We're going get through this, we're gonna be alright...we're too mean to lay down and die."

Coldplay's Chris Martin brought out the evening's true surprise guest -- ex-R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe, who hasn't sung in public since the band's break up. Martin jokingly said, "Wow, this is really happening," and then played guitar while Stipe took the lead vocal on "Losing My Religion." Martin then joked that Stipe "came out of retirement for this, and now he's gone right back into retirement." Martin did "Viva La Vida" and "Us Against the World," which he dedicated to a friend from his building who had passed away.

Paul McCartney's closing performance was the most anticipated due to the Nirvana "reunion" during his set. With Dave Grohl on drums, Kris Novoselic on bass and Pat Smear on guitar, McCartney took lead vocals on the new song "Cut Me Some Slack." McCartney introduced it by saying, "Recently some guys asked me to jam with them, so I showed up ready to jam and in the middle of it they said, 'We haven't played together for years.' I finally understood I was in the middle of a Nirvana reunion." The song didn't seem fully formed, but seemed like what a combination of the guy that wrote "Helter Skelter" and the guys that played on Nevermind would sound like together. After the show the Foo Fighters Twitter account tweeted a link to CutMeSomeSlack.net, which revealed that the song is from the soundtrack to Grohl's Sound City documentary, called Sound City: Real to Reel. No release date for the soundtrack was announced, but it's likely near the film's February 1st release date.

The rest of McCartney's set mixed hard rocking songs from The Beatles and Wings catalogs along with "Black Bird," which McCartney said he hoped "bring a little bit of hope to people currently going through struggles," and "My Valentine." He closed out his set with "Live and Let Die." After the song was over, he welcomed a group of first responders to the stage and shook everyone's hand.

All funds raised by ticket sales and pledges will go to the Robin Hood Sandy Relief Fund.

The 12/12/12: A Concert for Sandy Relief Set List

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band

1. "Land of Hope and Dreams"
2. "Wrecking Ball"
3. "My City of Ruins" > "Jersey Girl"
4. "Born to Run" (with Jon Bon Jovi)

Roger Waters

1. "In the Flesh"
2. "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)"
3. "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 3)"
4. "Money"
5. "Us and Them"
6. "Comfortably Numb" (with Eddie Vedder)

Bon Jovi

1. "It's My Life"
2. "Wanted Dead or Alive"
3. "Who Says You Can't Go Home" (with Bruce Springsteen)
4. "Livin' on a Prayer"

Eric Clapton

1. "Nobody Love You When You're Down and Out"
2. "Got to Get Better in a Little While"
3. "Crossroads"

The Rolling Stones

1. "You Got Me Rocking"
2. "Jumping Jack Flash"

The Who

1. "Who Are You"
2. "Bell Boy"
3. "Pinball Wizard"
4. "See Me, Feel Me/Listening to You"
5. "Baba O'Riley"
6. "Love Reign O'er Me"
7. "Tea & Theatre"

Billy Joel

1. "Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out on Broadway)"
2. "Movin' Out"
3. "New York State of Mind"
4. "River of Dreams"
5. "You May Be Right"
6. "Only the Good Die Young"

Coldplay's Chris Martin

1. "Viva La Vida"
2. "Losing My Religion" (with Michael Stipe)
3. "Us Against the World"

Paul McCartney

1. "Helter Skelter"
2. "Let Me Roll It"
3. "1985"
4. "My Valentine" (with Diana Krall)
5. "Blackbird"
6. "Cut Me Some Slack" (with Dave Grohl, Kris Novoselic, Pat Smear)
7. "I've Got a Feeling"
8. "Live and Let Die"