Summerstage 25th Anniversary Gala Photos

Aimee Mann, Ben Gibbard and Annie Clark at the Summerstage 2010 Gala
Summerstage 2010 Gala - Aimee Mann, Ben Gibblard, Annie Clark
Photo: Jon Klemm

On Tuesday of last week (June 8), the 25th Anniversary season of Summerstage officially kicked off with an all-star benefit featuring the music of Simon and Garfunkel.

A few performances stood out. Marc Cohn and Jonatha Brooke presided over a “Sound of Silence,” redone as blue-eyed soul with Memphis horns. Dar Williams and Stephen Kellogg sang “We’ve Got a Groovy Thing Goin’ ” — the B side of “The Sound of Silence” — and stayed true to it: cool 1965 garage-rock bubble gum, nothing too profound. Shawn Colvin, who’s good at the cover-version game, sang with Paula Cole on “America,” going about the harmony and phrasing carefully and powerfully.

And Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, along with St. Vincent, did right by “Fakin’ It”: he singing hard, she singing softly, the band inflating the song’s psychedelic touches into extended clouds of echo and loops. This wasn’t a victory by volume; it was just commitment to the task. [NYTimes.com]

The second benefit show of the SummerStage 2010 season is tonight (June 15) with John Butler Trio, State Radio and Angus and Julia Stone. Check out the full 2010 Summerstage schedule over here.

Lots more Summerstage 25th Anniversary 2010 Gala photos after the jump.

Padma Lakshmi
Summerstage 2010 Gala