Keith Richards Rainforest Alliance Benefit Concert Beacon Theater, NYC, 3/6/01 Photo by Glyn Emmerson Photo © 2001 NY Rock

Watching performances by Southside Johnny, Dr. John (who did a cool rendition of "Right Place Wrong Time") and Jackson Browne was okay, but nothing to write home to Mother Earth about. Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and Keb' Mo' sang the blues well, but seemed more like they belonged in some smoky dive where the tequila flows for cheap than in a velvet-seated theatre.

Keith Richards at the Beacon Theater, NYC Rainforest Alliance Benefit Concert 3/6/01, Photo by Glyn Emmerson © 2001 NY Rock

Then, like Superman, Richards swooped in, single-handedly rescuing the benefit from cheap sentiment, doomsday prophecies of the world at large, and MC Mary Stuart Masterson's tired between-act readings from Teleprompters. Let me just say that if this were the Apollo theatre on amateur night, Masterson would have been carted offstage very early on in the evening. Every time she tried to educate the audience with a question on the rainforest, the answer was inevitably... KEITH RICHARDS! And despite coming on late in the set, Richards managed to save the night and I'm sure the event from turning into a financial flop.

Leaping over amps, mike stands, battered egos in a single bound, Richards electrified the place with a grunt, sneer and shake like a seasoned vet who knows all too well how to work a hungry crowd. Crinkle-faced and as glorious as ever, Richards' gravelly, bar-beaten vocals kept the night from being a bad Memory Motel. Delivered straight up with no chaser, guitar slung low at the hip, firing away like an outlaw, he played two spirited blues numbers and the Rolling Stones' "Happy," while I clicked away in ultimate delight.

For the evening's closer, "Rock and Roll Music," all of the performers gathered on stage as Southside Johnny and Keb' Mo' each took leads. With ten guitarists chiming in on this one number though, it evolved into a mishmash of three-chord rock and overstated vocals.

An after-hours party followed at Cream on the Upper West Side where Richards held court. Joking it up, charismatic, magnetic and in command, he was at ease with the crowd. Two fisted with stogie and drink in hand, Richards graciously signed my copy of his solo album Talk Is Cheap. On my wall it rests.