There were people probably taking bets on how Thursday's Fund for Civility, Respect and Understanding benefit concert would end.
It was predictable that the 15 artists on the lineup - enough people to pack the Tucson Arena stage end to end - would come together.
What wasn't so predictable was what song they would perform.
The guessing game got even more confusing when stagehands handed out lyric sheets to the group - including fund founder and concert organizer Ron Barber and his family. Did someone among the talented singer-songwriters pen a new anthem? Or was this a song some of the younger artists - Tucson's own Calexico or the Los Angeles Latin-fusion band Ozomatli stuck out - would not know?
Turns out it was the latter when the group started singing Graham Nash's inspired 41-year-old anthem "Teach Your Children," with its timeless message to teach children the lessons of peace and civility.
And civility was more than just a buzz word at Thursday's concert, organized by Barber, a victim of the Jan. 8 mass shooting in Tucson that left six dead and his boss, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, with a bullet wound in the brain.
Throughout the nearly five-hour concert, the rockers and folkies, dance bands and iconic songwriters preached the gospel of checking your differences at the door and searching for common ground through songs of peace and understanding:
• Nils Lofgren showed off some mean guitar chops on a spirited cover of John Lennon's "Any Time at All."
• Keb' Mo' added a bluesy hue to the classic Harold Melvin-penned plea "Wake Up Everybody" then teamed up with Nash and David Crosby for the Stephen Stills' protest song "Stop, Hey What's That Sound."
• Headliner Jackson Browne professed his love of country in his soulful "I Am a Patriot" and joined singer-songwriter Dar Williams for her sobering "Mercy of the Fallen."
• Jennifer Warnes turned in one of the evening's most compelling, goosebumps-inducing moments with an a cappella turn at "Amazing Grace." After the initial applause, the half-filled arena fell nearly silent.
• Legendary bluesman Sam Moore led the audience in a sing-along of "America the Beautiful" and turned in a stirring cover of the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein show tune "You'll Never Walk Alone" from "Carousel."
• Crosby and Nash wandered into new territory with Nash's freshly written prayer "In Your Name"; the lyrics - "God are you listenin'? /A prayer from a simple man / Stop all this killing in your name?" - resonated beyond what's happening in Tucson and earned the pair a rousing ovation.
Thursday's concert was meant to celebrate the unity Tucson and the nation, to some degree, have found in the wake of the Jan. 8 mass shootings. Inspired speeches hit home the mission of the night - to raise money for Barber's fund, which will keep the momentum of unity alive. A couple of the memorable speakers included Barber, who thanked the University Medical Center nurses who cared for him, and Emily Nottingham, the mother of Gabe Zimmerman, the Giffords aide who was among the six people who died that day. She told the audience her son would have been proud to see his community come together.
There was all-out rocking from co-headliner Alice Cooper, who dusted off his classic hits "School's Out" and "I'm Eighteen," and Arizona favorite Roger Clyne singing his crowd-pleasing "Maybe We Should Fall in Love." Tucson's own Calexico brought the crowd of 4,500 to its feet with Mariachi Luz de Luna.
The only disappointment of the evening was that with so many artists on the lineup there was only enough time for them to sing two or three songs. It would have been nice, for example, to get more time with the powerhouse culture-mashing Ozomatli, which broke its nearly year-old Arizona boycott to perform. Members played three amazingly energetic, fabulously frenzied showpieces that got the audience on its feet. It left us wanting more; this was our only chance at them as they continue avoiding Arizona over our stringent illegal-immigration law.
The organizers more than once Thursday night mentioned the idea of turning the concert into an annual event. Hopefully next time the lineup will be small enough that we can spend some quality time with the artists.
Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@azstarnet.com or 573-4642.
