Rosanne Cash and Sandra Bernhard's Dream Sequence at the Rubin Musem

(Photo by Michael Palma)

Michael and I had a nice holiday weekend, which we kicked off Friday night by seeing Rosanne Cash -- with special guest Sandra Bernhard -- at the Rubin Museum of Art in Chelsea.

What a fun evening it was. The women -- two of my favorite New York artists, along with Debbie Harry, of course -- apparently met backstage at David Letterman many moons ago but have rekindled their friendship in recent years via Twitter. Sandra hilariously explained how challenging it can be meeting someone in the same business whom you admire and then resisting the urge to gush as to not come across as a bit crazy ("I wanted to tell her how I used to play 'Seven Year Ache' on my car stereo nonstop, rewinding the tape over and over again, but I couldn't!").

The show's theme -- this was the singer/songwriter's 11th Acoustic Cash concert at the Himalayan art museum where Barneys New York once stood, and each one has had its own theme -- was dreams, which I learned has ties to Buddhism, something about how Queen Mahamaya conceived the Buddha after dreaming of a white elephant. (If you say so: As regular readers know, religion is not my strong suit, which is why I will never try out for Jeopardy! because you just know religion, baseball and science fiction will be the categories that day!)

Rosanne, backed by hubby John Leventhal (on guitar) and Tim Luntzel (on bass), opened the show with the lovely "Sleeping a Paris," and then introduced Sandra, whose booming cover of Gary Wright's "Dream Weaver" left the crowd stunned (Rosanne included), and ready for more.

From there, the two took turns at the mike, with Rose covering a few songs -- the Beatles' "I'm Only Sleeping," Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," and Mickey Newbury's "Sweet Memories," which she erroneously called an iTunes bonus track on "The List," but was in fact on the Barnes & Noble special edition CD (trust me I know -- I bought the album three times to get everything!), plus her "Dreams Are Not My Own" (one of her finest) and "What We Really Want" from her introspective 1990 breakup album, "Interiors." During this one, Sandra launched into full-on Stevie Nicks back-up vocals -- she harmonizes incredibly well -- and quipped afterward that Rosanne probably didn't expect her to be so knowledgeable of her work, before lamenting how the last time she was at her home in Los Angeles, she noticed the disc was missing out of the "Interiors" jewel case. (Rosanne warned her that the album is hard to come by these days, but the fab 2005 Sony reissue is still for sale on Amazon, in case you're reading, Sandra!)

Meanwhile, Sandra -- who had warned that her "dream-related" song selections were more literal --did Heart's "These Dreams" (longtime fans may remember a nod to Ann and Nancy Wilson back at the Orpheum all those years ago), Mama Cass' "Dream a Little Dream" (beautifully executed) then brought the house down with a rocking (yet still acoustic) version of Aerosmith's "Dream On." Sandra "The Singer" has always been such a conundrum, though. Much like when Gilda Radner sang the heartfelt "Honey (Touch Me With My Clothes On)" in her Broadway show, "Gilda Live," audiences have never really known what to make of Bernhard's vocals, dating back to her "I'm Your Woman" album when I was in high school. (Is she being funny? Is she serious?) Better than good karaoke, yet not quite full-fledged rock-star, she can definitely sing. But because she's so naturally comedic -- her facial expressions and body movements alone can make me laugh -- I often find myself impressed and giggling all the while. Sandra's made a career out of this dichotomy -- who could forget her "Me and Mrs. Jones"? -- so I'm pretty sure she's laughing too as she belted out the lyrics to one of Heart's cheesiest songs (sorry, Bernie) or a rock classic by one of the two other people on earth whose whose lips were created from the mold that made hers. (See also: Jagger, Mick.)

The highlight of the night, however, was when the gals performed together, with Sandra picking up the slack for Rosanne's ailing voice on the Mamas and the Papas' California Dreamin'" ("I never in my life thought I would do that!" Cash said afterward, clearly thrilled with how wonderful it sounded, "Moon River" and a sing-along "Daydream Believer" (The Monkees) encore.

It was great seeing two talented women who clearly admire one another up onstage together. Rosanne has had a number of special guests over the years -- including Elvis Costello, Teddy Thompson and Loudon Wainwright III -- but when Sandra suggested they make this a permanent arrangement ("and take it on the road, honey"), you couldn't help but think she was on to something. (Rosanne is always terrific, but it was nice to be reminded just how great Sandra is live -- that's her forte -- after some awkward appearances on "Chelsea Lately" and her own dreadful short-lived talk show, "The Sandra Bernhard Experience.") The mutual admiration society brings out the best in both of them, as Sandra's surprising vocals seem to beget sharper one-liners from Mrs. L, and vice versa. In fact, looking back on the evening you might say the whole thing was pretty dreamy.

(Follow me on Twitter HERE.)

(Photos by B. Michael Smith)