Joan Baez’s protest music is front and center in star-studded tribute

Joan Baez at the 30th anniversary party for the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund on Saturday, Feb. 8, at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco. Jay Blakesberg

Joan Baez at the 30th anniversary party for the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund on Saturday, Feb. 8, at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco.Jay Blakesberg

In an evening devoted to her music, activist and artist Joan Baez shared the contents of a message she’d just received with a sold-out crowd at San Francisco’s Masonic Auditorium.

“I just got a text from one of my friends saying this is the best f—king rally I’ve been to in 65 years,” Baez proudly exclaimed on Saturday, Feb. 8. “Tonight, we’re celebrating our strengths in this hall because music, joy, and laughter have suddenly become acts of resistance.”

It was, all things considered, a bittersweet and beautiful stroke of timing to honor the 84-year-old Baez, who lives in Woodside, at a moment when her lifelong specialty — protest music — could not be needed more.

Indirectly acknowledging the tumultuous actions of President Donald Trump over the first month of his second term in office, Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello welcomed the audience to “the last big party before they cart us all off to jail.” 

“This is a reminder,” he continued, “that while dark clouds are gathering, this land is your land” before launching into a cover of Woody Guthrie’s seminal folk protest ballad of the same name.

Rosanne Cash, left, and Joan Baez at a tribute to Baez and the 30th anniversary party for the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund. Jay Blakesberg

The evening also doubled as a benefit and 30th anniversary party for the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, which has provided ample support to musicians affected by last month’s devastating wildfires in Los Angeles.

A staggering slew of talent turned up for the festivities, including Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams, Margo Price, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Rosanne Cash, Taj Mahal and Jackson Browne. Together, they managed to create an atmosphere akin to the magic formerly conjured by Neil Young’s annual Bridge School Benefit Concert, where the allure of joining one’s musical friends and heroes onstage often proved too much to resist for those waiting in the wings.

From bandleader Joe Henry calling upon Raitt, Cash, Harris and Price to provide backing vocals on a spirited cover of the Band’s “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” to a surprise appearance from Zoe Ellis and Glide Memorial Church’s Glide Ensemble, the night’s unpredictable nature was buoyed by a consistent stream of lofty praise for Baez from each new artist who appeared.

Joan Baez, left, and Jackson Browne.

Jay Blakesberg

Harris credited Baez with “being the reason I picked up a guitar and learned three chords,” while Cash lauded Baez for teaching her that it was OK to cover songs without changing the pronouns.

“When I was 14, the first record I ever bought with my own money was a Joan Baez record,” acknowledged Browne before launching into a gorgeous, jam-filled rendition of his song “The Barricades of Heaven.”

By contrast, Morello admitted that he originally thought one of Baez’s songs was by British heavy metal band Judas Priest before learning that it was actually a cover (“Diamonds and Rust”). But Morello also gave a fitting nod to Baez’s lifelong support of immigrants by revealing a “F**K ICE” sign taped to the back of his guitar while singing a ferocious, decidedly electrified take on “The Ghost of Tom Joad.”

Baez was herself more than up for the occasion, frequently popping into sets without any formal announcement. 

Tom Morello and Joan Baez perform at a tribute to the folk singer. Jay Blakesberg

During Morello’s cover of “This Land Is Your Land,” she emerged slapping a tambourine. Later, she lent her vocal talents to a performance of “Farewell, Angelina” with Cash and a duet of “Before the Deluge” while seated at a piano alongside Browne. Finally, to close out the nearly-three-hour jubilee, the night’s subject of honor delivered a breathtaking performance of “Diamonds and Rust” with a house band that included her son, Gabe Harris, on percussion.

“I’m still waiting on the diamonds,” Baez quipped after the final note of a song based on her difficult relationship with Bob Dylan, portrayed in the current Oscar-nominated film “A Complete Unknown.”

The woman who played Baez opposite Timothée Chalamet’s Dylan, Mill Valley-raised Monica Barbaro — both actors are nominated for Academy Awards — attended Saturday’s event as a guest of Baez. 

Rarely does a concert provide so many memories as to make the prospect of ensuring you don’t forget a single second feel like such a necessity, but that was absolutely the case on Saturday night.

On a bus home following the concert, Arlo Boyle, 73, of San Francisco echoed familiar sentiments heard by departing attendees.

“My biggest takeaway is that Joan is truly a voice for the ages,” Boyle said. “Everything seems new again. With the current political climate, we need this dedication to resistance once again. We are all in this together and it feels exciting, not hopeless.”

Joan Baez, center, with Bonnie Raitt and Rosanne Cash, among other stars, at the Masonic in S.F.

Jay Blakesberg

From Raitt and Taj Mahal teaming up to perform as a formidable duo to Ramblin’ Jack Elliott spinning yarns about “meeting a kid named Bob (Dylan)” while Price sweetly attempted to help the 93-year-old legend with his Stetson hat, an abundance of joy, resilience and resolve seemed to seep from every pore at the Masonic, offering arguably the most fitting tribute possible to Baez’s ongoing, enduring legacy.

That’s why the crowd cheered so loud when Price and Jason Crosby sang the lines “Come senators, congressmen / Please heed the call” in “The Times They Are a-Changin’” and why seeing Williams — now thankfully five years recovered from a massive stroke — power through a spine-tingling take on “Forever Young” were more than mere moments of music.

Instead, they represented the power and community beautiful songs and sharp minds can create when there’s a worthy cause to focus on. And while Baez was humble in acknowledging her role as the evening’s honoree (“I’m happy to be the excuse that’s brought these people together”), she didn’t waste her chance to rally her troops with an urgent call to action.

“Tomorrow, go out and find one thing you can do,” she advised. “Maybe that’s protecting your local library, or supporting your Latino gardener, but this is not the time to be comfortable.”

Perhaps the great Taj Mahal said it best. 

Asked by Raitt for his thoughts on Baez as they settled onto the stage, the recent Lifetime Grammy winner and longtime Berkeley resident kept it simple while getting it exactly right: “She is part ‘dear lord’ and part ‘thank you Jesus.’”

Zack Ruskin is a freelance writer.