Aerosmith, New Kids on the Block, James Taylor, The J. Giles Band and other artists with Boston ties paid tribute to their city during a benefit concert at the TD Garden Thursday night.
The Boston Strong: An Evening of Support and Celebration event was held to raise money for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings in April. The bombings killed three people and left hundreds injured. In the wake of the tragedy, the city took the “Boston Strong” slogan, which was definitely a theme that ran throughout the night.
According to Reuters, tickets for the show cost between $35 and $285 and sold out in minutes, meaning that the 17,500-seat venue was packed. Proceeds are going to The One Fund, which was set up by Mayor Tom Menino and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. Since the April 15 bombing, the fund has received $37 million in donations.
USA Today reports that in addition to NKOTB, Aerosmith, Taylor and the J. Giles Band, Carole King, Jimmy Buffett, Jason Aldean and the Dropkick Murphys performed as well. The concert opened with the group Boston performing a version of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” before doing “More Than A Feeling” and other hits.
For NKOTB member Joey McIntyre, the event was especially personal because he took part in the marathon this year, finishing 10 minutes before the bombs went off. "I finished 3:57, 10 minutes before it happened, but I don't care where you were that day — it happened to all of us that day. It sounds like a cliche, but I'm telling you, love conquers hate every single time,” he told the crowd.
Aerosmith also performed “Dream On,” “Sweet Emotion” and “Living on the Edge.” Kang and Taylor dueted on “Sweet Baby James,” “So Far Away” and “How Sweet It Is.”
Comedian Dane Cook also performed, but his set was curiously missing from the live feed, notes Boston.com. "Hey everyone sorry my set was not a part of the live stream or televised! I didn't want any of the new material to hit the airwaves yet!" he tweeted.
The concert, which took place the night after NBC's tribute concert for the Oklahoma tornado victims, was not televised nationally and fans had to watch it online. Boston.com reports that many complained about the live feed, which experienced technical problems throughout the night.