Lawrence.com

Washington — Michael Jackson needs his own bathroom. Aerosmith refuses to go on after Bette Midler. P. Diddy won't perform unless he can bring his 42-member choir. It would be best to keep a safe distance between archrival boy bands 'N Sync and Backstreet Boys.

And deep in the bowels of Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, Larry Magid remains calm.

The veteran Philadelphia rock promoter is in town to put on today's sold-out "United We Stand: What More Can I Give" benefit concert, which is also scheduled to include Destiny's Child, James Brown, Mariah Carey, Usher, Rod Stewart and Al Green, among many others.

"This is organized, controlled chaos," says Magid, the former head of Electric Factory Concerts. As president of the mid-Atlantic division of radio-and-concert behemoth Clear Channel Entertainment, he is executive-producing the event, which will aid the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and their families.

Magid says the 1 p.m. (noon CDT) show will raise $2 million to $3 million for the American Red Cross Liberty Relief Fund, the Salvation Army Relief Fund and the Pentagon Relief Fund.

"The idea is to have big acts from a broad range of genres presenting the spirit of American music," he says. Ticket prices for the 47,000 seats were relatively low � $25, $50 and $75.

"What were we going to prove by raising more money? The most important thing is to say, 'This is America, and no one can control what we do.' We're sending out a statement that it's cool to come out. And united we stand."

The United show is the biggest of a bevy of benefits taking place across the country this weekend, following up the Sept. 21 "A Tribute to Heroes" telethon that raised more than $150 million.

Today in Nashville, George Strait, Brooks & Dunn and Lee Ann Womack are among those slotted to play the Country Freedom Concert, to be shown live on cable's CMT.

Saturday night, Paul McCartney hosted the Concert for New York City, featuring Elton John, Eric Clapton, Jay-Z and others at Madison Square Garden.

On Friday, the Alliance of Neighbors show in Red Bank, N.J., featured Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, among others.

As it happens, Neil Young's annual Bridge School Benefit concerts in Mountain View, Calif., are also this weekend, with acts such as Pearl Jam and the Dave Matthews Band, both of which Magid had hoped to book for United.

Major, minor headaches

Fluorescent lights flicker overhead in Magid's dungeonlike office as the 59-year-old dealmaker works two phones at once.

The eight-hour, 20-act "United We Stand" � its subtitle "What More Can I Give" taken from a new Jackson song � is the second-biggest benefit show in which Magid has been involved. In 1985, he copromoted Live Aid at the old John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia.

Thursday morning, besides a migraine, Magid has a list of major and minor headaches.

Ricky Martin has dropped out. Geriatric ghouls Kiss have canceled because Paul Stanley needed hip surgery. And Mick Jagger, slated to play the McCartney event, is rumored to be a casualty of the former Beatle's feud with Jackson. (To the contrary, Magid says that Jagger dropped out due to prior commitments. "It was just a misunderstanding. We're still trying to get him to come down on Sunday.")

He's making sure that if Mary J. Blige can't get a flight out of Los Angeles, she can get on Jackson's plane.

And Magid's trying to explain to Destiny's Child's people that ABC � which will broadcast a two-hour version of the show at 8 p.m. Nov. 1 � is not wild about the gospel medley that lead singer Beyonce Knowles has planned.

"It's not a memorial service," he says. "We need them to do 'Survivor.' We need them to do 'Bootylicious.' Whatever they do, it should be 'up.'

Like Live Aid

"It was like this with Live Aid," Magid says in a rare moment when he is not calling Bob Dylan's manager to see whether the bard will do a live video feed, or faxing Jackson's manager to determine the proper "What More Can I Give" punctuation. (That bit of minutiae that prompts a rare Magid outburst: "It's a stupid � thing. I wish I never got involved in this theme," he snaps. The momentous decision: No question mark.)

"You're always juggling six or seven things, and you know some of those are going to fall through," says Magid, who promises that more big names will be added as late as today. "But you thrive on the action."

"Guys who get crazy and yell and scream and cause chaos don't get results," says Jeff Margolis, the show's TV director. "Larry's just even-mannered and even-tempered. He knows when there's a problem, there's a solution. He just gets on the phone, deals with it, and makes it go away."

At one point, John Hamlin, the Live Aid veteran who is producing the show for ABC, informs Magid that 'N Sync wants its RFK rehearsal to be private, though 200 production and 150 TV people will be working at the time. "These acts today!" says Hamlin, incredulously. "Wait till Michael Jackson shows up and says everybody has to leave the stadium."

Everyone is working for free, and Magid says, "there aren't as many star trips as you would think. It's just an 'I'm donating this, so pay some attention to what I'm asking for' type of situation." All the performers' sets will be 20 minutes maximum.

'Let's put on a show'

After Sept. 11, he says, "people were getting fidgety, saying, 'What can I do?' It's like an old Mickey Rooney movie: 'Let's put on a show!"'

Clear Channel was approached by acts such as Backstreet Boys, who will sing "The Star-Spangled Banner," and 'N Sync. "We wanted to have something in Washington because of the Pentagon attacks, and it's the nation's capital. And this place was available," he says of the recently rehabbed 40-year-old former home of the Washington Redskins.

"Everything is being donated or is at cost," Magid says. "Hotels are donating rooms, we're getting eight charter planes for free, or else at the bare minimum. To set up the lights and video screens, it would cost us 400 grand for a show like this."

United isn't as large as Live Aid, which took place in Philadelphia and London. But this show has come together in only 2 weeks, compared with five for the famine-relief show.

"This is a record-setter for the most accomplished in the shortest amount of time," said Clear Channel producer Steve Howard. "You can get companies and individuals to outperform in these situations. It's like you have to run on adrenaline for two weeks. But then you're going to collapse."

A reminder of Magid's experience hangs in the makeshift production office at the stadium, where the decisions were made Thursday to let Jackson have one of the six backstage bathrooms to himself and to make sure that the 'N Sync and Backstreet Boys dressing rooms are far apart.

It's a poster for a 1972 RFK show that Electric Factory promoted, featuring the Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers Band, Doug Sahm and Wet Willie. "Everybody got dosed (with LSD) but me," Magic recalls with a laugh. "Because I brought my own water. They got me at Woodstock, but I said, 'No, never again.' "

Magid found himself making a similar oath Thursday when the organized part of the chaos threatened to spin out of control.

"Are you a Louis Prima fan?" he asked, placing the phone gently down and smiling. " 'Next time, baby. There'll be no next time.' That's the song I'm singing. ...

"When this started a couple of weeks ago, I thought, 'Why haven't I done this in 16 years?' And of course, on the first day, I remembered why. It's like when you're a kid and you look through your phone book and say, 'Geez, why haven't I called this girl?' And then you make a date, and you remember. This is exactly like that."