Pop singer Miley Cyrus wasn’t the only musician hosting a huge New Year’s Eve concert party. Indie rock legend Brandi Carlile hosted a musical event of her own at the MODA Center in Portland, Oregon, to bring the bring with a bang. With a bevy of talented friends, including folk music icon Joni Mitchell and R&B superstar Alicia Keys, there’s no surprise the show had a guest appearance by rock duo Sleater-Kinney.
While thousands of Americans were tuned into the broadcast of the ball drop in Times Square or Dick Clark’s annual New Year’s Rockin’ Eve concert, nearly 20,000 unplugged from their television sets to tune into Carlile live.
Carlile performed a few of her popular tracks at the concert, including “The Story,” as she put it, “It’s not New Year’s Eve without ‘The Story,’ right?”
The bulk of the night was filled with covers to pay homage to several artists Carlile has been inspired by, including Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs,” Radiohead’s “Creep,” David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” and Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse Of The Heart.” Sleater-Kinney’s Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein joined her onstage to sing Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.”
As they counted down the new year, Carlile joked with the crowd, drink in hand, saying, “I’ve never seen so many sparkly lesbians in my life!”
The night, presented by Live Nation, opened with a performance by musician KT Tunstall.
Brandi Carlile is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.