Last night (10/7/06) I attended the Andre Agassi Grand Slam for Children Gala at the MGM Grand. This is an annual star studded affair with entertainment and auction to raise money for Agassi's foundation. I arrived towards the end of the auction, in time to see the entertainment. I was astonished by the caliber of items up for auction (one example was 2 First class tickets to the Grammy's, plus two VIP tickets and passes to all Grammy parties plus the presenters gift bag. This auction item went for about $200k.). It was hardly a surprise to hear, after the auction, that Agassi raised over $9 million.
The auction had assistance from some celebrities (I caught Emily Proctor of West Wing/CSI Miami fame) as well as Agassi and Steffi Graf.
The entertainment after the auction was awesome. First off Ellen DeGeneres was the host.
The first act was Tears for Fears. They performed Shout, Head Over Heals and Everybody Wants to Rule the World. Video here. They sounded and looked great. I never thought I would see this band live so this was a real treat.
There were some smaller, local, up and coming acts next. Then Sarah McLachlan performed. She did 3 of her big hits. Having seen her live a few times, as always, she did not disappoint with her absolutely perfect voice.
Next up was Michael Bublé. I love this guy. Such an incredible voice. He did a couple songs and an Elvis impression. See Video .
In between some of the acts, various celebrities came up, including Bradley Whitford (West Wing/Studio 60) and Ben Stiller.
Next up was John Mayer who did an acoustic set of 3 songs including his newest hit, Waiting for the World to Change - Video here.
The next act was the Counting Crows. I was really looking forward to them because I never saw them live before. An incredible disappointment. Worst act of the night. Adam Duritz went off into a weird prolonged, at points, seemingly improvised version of 'Round Here which took about 15 minutes... it was painful and a lot of the audience took this opportunity to leave for the evening.
Waiting through the Counting Crows was worth it though, because the final performer of the night, one I was only a little excited to see, was by far the highlight of the evening for me.
Phil Collins. Wow. He looked great. He sounded awesome. He chatted, he danced, he played the bongos. His first song, by request of Agassi, was In the Air Tonight. Then he went into a medley of hits. You Can't Hurry Love, Two Hearts, How Many Times, Something Happened On The Way To Heaven, Easy Lover... He ended with Take Me Home. The crowd sang along. There wasn't a disappointed person in the audience. Some Video here and here.
Las Vegas loves their local hero Andre Agassi. People obviously know about his tennis career. But what he has given back to the people, and especially the kids of Las Vegas, far surpasses his tennis highlights. Check out his foundation's website for more info.
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