Red, White, and Blue States of Mind
Two benefit concerts, two different worlds.

October 22, 2001 3:10 p.m.

erhaps the organizers of "The Concert for New York City," held Saturday night at Madison Square Garden and televised on VH-1, didn't fully grasp the fact that the city's police and firemen really don't like the terrorists who blew up the World Trade Center. "Hey bin Laden," bellowed one firefighter from the stage, "You can kiss my royal Irish ass." Just to let the world's most-wanted terrorist know he was serious, the fireman added in a gruff voice, "I'm from Rockaway."

Others on stage seemed slightly embarrassed; the concert was supposed to be about paying tribute to the heroism that New York's finest displayed on September 11. But the firefighter from Queens had real spirit. Guys from Rockaway helped bring down the Nazis and the Japanese, and they said things just like that about Hitler and Tojo. When television commentators talk about the toughness of the Afghans, they might want to remember Mr. Kiss-My-Royal-Irish-Ass. He's pretty tough, too.

You don't have to tell that to Hillary Rodham Clinton. All the junior senator from New York had to do was walk on stage to hear a round of boos from the crowd, thousands of whom were the specially invited police officers and firefighters. If she had any plans for long extemporaneous remarks, the stunned-looking former first lady quickly abandoned them and retreated to the wings. Her husband escaped mostly unscathed during his inevitable appearance, but some of the Hollywood crowd — among them Richard Gere, who worried that Americans might seek "revenge" for September 11 — also got the get-outta-here treatment.

On the other hand, Gere & Co. were lucky they weren't appearing at another benefit show, "The Country Freedom Concert," held in Nashville on Sunday night and aired live on Country Music Television. In the heart of red-state America, patriotism and support for the war on terrorism reigned supreme. The set was composed of enormous video flags, and fighting back was a major theme of the evening.

Clint Black sang the praises of smart bombs and urged American forces in Afghanistan to "take out the garbage and get back home." The crowd cheered a video of Travis Tritt visiting a military base in Georgia. And the show opened with Martina McBride singing "Independence Day," a song about an abused wife that has a chorus which seems appropriate for the post-September 11 world. When McBride got to the line that yelled, "Let the guilty pay," the crowd went wild.

Of course, that line would have worked well with the guys from Rockaway. But the two concerts were very different events. Maybe it was the obvious red state/blue state differences between Nashville and Manhattan. Maybe it was an age thing; most of the country performers were a bit younger and more full of life than the 1960s British Invasion rock idols who performed at Madison Square Garden (was there a rule that no one under 50 could participate?). Or maybe it was something else. But when it comes to winning a war, country beats classic rock, hands down.