Katy Perry, Sting Stun at David Lynch’s Meditation Benefit Concert
Minutes after an uproarious Jerry Seinfeld performance at New York City’s Carnegie Hall on Wednesday night, silence overtook the sold-out crowd. At the request of the evening’s host, George Stephanopoulos, and his guest onstage, meditation teacher Bob Roth, the nearly 3,000 people who’d gathered for the David Lynch Foundation’s benefit concert, Change Begins Within, managed to close their eyes and mostly shut up for three minutes. Only a few cell phones pinged and a handful of people coughed, as those gathered either meditated — the Blue Velvet director’s organization advocates transcendental meditation for stress control — or simply respected the silence.
That short period, however, was the only quiet moment of the evening. In addition to Seinfeld’s comedy, Katy Perry, Sting, Angélique Kidjo, Jim James and classical guitarist Sharon Isbin each performed short, lively sets. And since each of the performers actively practices transcendental meditation, they also spoke to its power.
“I started TMing about five years ago, and it’s changed my life,” Perry, who taught transcendental meditation to her touring crew last year, told the crowd. “It’s changed the way I’ve thought about things and it’s changed my attitude. You know how you have a crappy day and something just doesn’t want to go right? I always excuse myself for 20 minutes and then I’m back.”
The evening began with Seinfeld riffing on what a hassle it is to turn up to something like the concert, even as a performer. Its inherent Seinfeld-iness made it all the more unexpected when he got serious to talk about how he’d been meditating routinely for more than four decades.
“It’s been the greatest companion technique of living that I’ve ever come across, and I’m thrilled to be part of this movement that seems to have really been reinvigorated by Bob [Roth] and David Lynch,” he said. “I would do anything that I could to promote it in the world, because I think it’s the greatest thing as a life tool, as a work tool and just making things make sense.”
After a short, ponderous flamenco interlude by Isbin that followed the meditation break, Kidjo came out, dressed in pink, white and orange, with an orchestra for the evening’s liveliest performance, a lengthy rendition of her stirring 2002 tune “Afrika,” which she turned into a sing-along. “Just because we are talking about meditation doesn’t mean you have to be quiet,” she assured the crowd, which she roused into singing loudly. Midway into the tune, she left the stage and reappeared in front, slowly working her way up the aisles, wiggling her shoulders and high-fiving concertgoers in the expensive seats up front.