Now that the dust has settled and the jetlag has been slept off, I thought that I'd submit my first hand memories of the event.
Organisation at the event was rigorous, without paying full attention to detail; they were quick enough to relieve me of a cigarette lighter at the security check (clearly I look like an ageing pyromaniac...), but were presumably blissfully unaware that the drapes hanging from the ceiling (commemorating basketball championships past) partially blocked the views of the big screens for those of us sitting in the "cheap" seats ("only" $165) up in the rafters.
I moved into a vacant seat about ten rows further forward after about an hour.
It was also something of a shock to discover that the only available merchandise was the three different t-shirt designs brought by Roxy! Nothing from the Hall of Fame itself (only available by mail order from the museum in Cleveland) or any of the other inductees.
The whole place felt rather like a Def Leppard convention, so whether due to lack of interest in the other acts or disbelief at the scheduled 19.00 start, the place wasn't particularly full when Stevie Nicks performed her cracking four song set, with our old friend Waddy Wachtel on guitar.
After Stand Back, Don Henley (The Eagles) joined her unannounced for a duet on Leather And Lace, before (accompanied by much hysterical female screaming) Harry Styles (One Direction) did likewise on Stop Draggin' My Heart Around; Tom Petty must have been turning in his grave!
Fortunately a storming Edge Of Seventeen soon restored my emotional equilibrium.
By the time Styles (was he
really the best available option, given that Henley was in the building?) & Ms Nicks had returned for gushing, over-long speeches and departed again, we were 40 minutes in and it looked like being a long night!
Fortunately David Byrne (Talking Heads) kept his Radiohead presentation admirably short and to the point and two of the band members spoke equally succinctly in accepting their award. They did not perform and the other band members did not appear to be present.
Next up were Simon Le Bon & John Taylor (Duran Duran) to introduce Roxy; I'm not sure how many of the US ticket holders knew Roxy, whose reception was ultimately the most "polite" of the night, but the early part of the induction speech was drowned out by more hysterical screaming. Little was lost, however, as the speakers rather stumbled and gurned their way through, like the Beavis & Butthead of the new romantic scene (couldn't the HoF have got someone like Nile Rodgers instead?).
BF, AM, PM, and EJ took the stage, but only the first named spoke; whether that was planned, I don't know, but generally all parties get the opportunity to say some thank yous, as long as they keep it brief. In practice BF simply read out an extensive roll call; it might have been nicer if he'd singled out Graham Simpson for a special mention, while AM, PM & EJ could have done likewise for Eno, TGPT & Johnny G. (although, shockingly, the last named now appears not to have been inducted after all!).
Each band seemed to have been allocated about 20 mins playing time and Roxy used theirs very wisely to cover almost the full extent of their recording career. Dream Home was a brave and brilliant choice as opener, followed (as I'd hoped for) by Out Of The Blue to allow EJ an extended violin solo, which was worth the ticket price on its own.
Truncated versions of LITD (after which EJ made a discreet exit, returning for the final number) and MTT allowed time for full blasts of Avalon, with Tawatha Agee returning to the fold to hit the high notes, and the closing Editions Of You; marvellous! No Virginia Plain or Do The Strand, but those few of us who had travelled were more than happy with what we heard.
The sound was pretty good for that type of arena, with Andy (especially) & Phil coming through strongly and clearly in the mix (the members of BF's touring band played subtle supporting roles) and BF in good voice. We were all gutted that TGPT couldn't be there, but to see EJ on stage with Roxy (at what will be their last ever show, I suspect) was a dream come true.
Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) then made a rather long, but occasionally poignant, induction speech for The Cure, who received a surprisingly rapturous welcome which moved Robert Smith to a few tears. There was something rather moving about seeing someone who has been a lifelong outsider finally receiving mainstream acceptance.
When RS said that he didn't want to bore us by just reading out a long list of names, it probably wasn't intended as a dig at BF, but the audience nevertheless seemed palpably relieved. I don't know The Cure's music well enough to run through their setlist here, but it was an eye opener for me and I shall be delving into their back catalogue at some speed.
Next up was Janelle Monae, whose speech seemed determined never to end; by the end of it you'd have thought that Janet Jackson was receiving deification, rather than a Hall Of Fame induction. JJ's own speech wasn't much shorter, so it was something of a relief that there wasn't a performance to follow.
Given that The Zombies' heyday came and went in the 60s, they got a surprisingly loud reception; all bar one of their best known line-up were alive & well and present and each spoke briefly, following their introduction by Susanna Hoffs (The Bangles), who must be one of the youngest looking 60 year olds on the planet (mind you, given the band's vintage, it was a shock to discover that Rod Argent & Colin Blunstone are both only three months older than BF!).
Their well received set included their hits, such as Time Of The Season, Tell Her No and She's Not There (the last named being more closely associated with Santana perhaps), before they left the stage to what many of those present viewed as the main event.
Def Leppard had romped away with the fan vote and most of those who voted seemed to have travelled to Brooklyn! I must confess to little prior knowledge of them, other than that they come from Sheffield and have a one armed drummer! However, vocalist Joe Elliott had expressed a hope during the fan vote that Roxy would also be inducted and he namechecked them again during his acceptance speech.
They had been inducted by Brian May (Queen) who had spoken from the heart, with the aid of a few scribbled notes, rather than relying, as everyone else had done, on the distant autocue (which had tripped up Duran Duran, as each of them in turn read out the same "punchline" to a story!). Then, just when we thought it was all over and that Chris Spedding (74) would win the prize as the oldest performer on the night, Leppard pulled a rabbit out of the hat!
Returning for an encore, they thrust Ian Hunter (Mott The Hoople), looking and sounding remarkably robust for a man just two months shy of his 80th birthday, forward to lead the assembled throng through Bowie's anthem All The Young Dudes. Leppard acted as his band, with May (guitar) & Argent (organ) added and backing vocals performed by Elliott, Blunstone, Hoffs, Manzanera & Miami Steve Van Zandt (who had earlier inducted six songs from the 50s & 60s into their own part of the HoF).
Close of play was around 23.40.