Producer Doug Ganley blogging from backstage at Madison Square Garden where the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert took place Thursday night.

A long night at Madison Square Garden wrapped up close to 1:30 on Friday morning with Bruce Springsteen belting out "Born to Run" with Billy Joel.

The concert started late and the sets were pretty long.

Take Stevie Wonder who was on stage for more than an hour and told the crowd that he was there to “turn this mother out!”

There were some moments that definitely stood out for me at the end of the night.
Art Garfunkel and Paul Simon arm in arm performing some of their biggest hits. Garfunkel said backstage that he and Simon had “a lovely falling back together again,” after their long feud.
Stevie Wonder, John Legend, and BB King singing “The Thrill is Gone” definitely riled up the audience as well.
But Bruce Springsteen took the cake. He came out on stage just before midnight and played until well after 1 am.

This is not a young crowd, and I’m sure at least some of them had to be at work in the morning, but it looked like they kept the place pretty full through Bruce’s set.

They were flying when Bruce brought out Sam Moore to sing “Hold On I'm Coming.” You may not recognize Moore’s name (he's from the duo Sam & Dave) but you’ve heard his voice, which Bruce called “one of the best voices of all time.”

The crowd  got louder when the Boss was joined by John Fogerty for “Fortunate Son” and “Proud Mary.”

But the favorite moment for the New York audience came when Bruce discussed his theory of continental drift and how that separated Long Island and New Jersey.

To reunite the two, he held a “Bridge and Tunnel Summit,” with Long Island’s own Billy Joel. The term comes from how people, who live in New York City, disdainfully refer to their suburban neighbors. Everyone loved the pair singing Joel’s hit “New York State of Mind.”

As the concert wrapped up,  even the celebrities discovered that it can be tough to get out of the Garden. As I walked out I saw Shania Twain trying to get past some determined autograph seekers and into her car.

The concert will air on HBO November 29th, after it’s edited down and combined with another show starring Metallica and U2 scheduled for Friday night.

One of the persistent topics backstage was what bands will eventually wind up in the Rock Hall of Fame. So I’ll put it out to you, what acts do you think should be enshrined in the Cleveland museum?

Producer Doug Ganley blogging from backstage at Madison Square Garden where the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert took place Thursday night.

The first highlight of the night came when Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel took the stage arm in arm. The audience loved renditions of "Sounds of Silence," "Mrs. Robinson" and "Bridge over Troubled Water."  They walked off to a standing ovation from the crowd and gave one last encore with "Cecelia."

Crosby, Stills and Nash followed with a good set and some assistance from Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and James Taylor. David Crosby told us backstage that they are able to keep their songs fresh because, "We don't remember how we did it last time."

The crowd is into it, but definitely skews a little older. With all of the grey hair out there, I bet this is one of the only nights at Madison Square Garden where the beer vendors haven't asked anyone to show an I.D.

Bonnie Raitt told us that she was having a ball. "The hallways are happening" she said, "I wish this could last a month."

Stevie Wonder just took the stage, and after battling technical problems started off with a cover of "Blowing in the Wind." Covers seem to be a theme tonight because Crosby Stills and Nash say they're going into the studio tomorrow to do an album of covers.

Which brings to mind the question what's your favorite cover?

Tom Hanks is pumped! He's producing the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert at Madison Square Garden tonight. While backstage, he offered up more of the  "Bachelor Party" Tom than Academy Award winner Tom, jokingly calling the press "jaded sons of a b-tch" and making reference to a movie title that I cannot repeat on a family blog.

He struck a more serious note when talking about the line-up which includes Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Crosby Stills and Nash, Bonnie Raitt, and Sting to name just a few. The concert is being filmed for a HBO special that will air Thanksgiving weekend. "I just did it for the all access pass," he joked. "I'm a fan, but I don't know what to say to these guys," he admitted.

The funniest moment of his quick press conference came when a reporter asked him about his favorite song of the year. He had to think about it for a second, but after his wife Rita Wilson helped him he said "ohhh Beyonce."  He couldn't remember the title, so he started flapping his hand and singing "Da da da da duh da da da" until someone helped him out by shouting "Put a Ring on It?" That was it, "and Kanye West had nothing to do with me picking that song," he concluded.