Bridge Benefit 2003 (10/27/03)

Just returned from Bridge Benefit 2003. I think it was #17 but was #8 for me, my first being in 1994 after waiting to attend since first reading about the annual event in Rolling Stone's Random notes while in high school. I would equate most Bridge Benefits to The Last Waltz - they are generallly epic, talent-filled events with the best of rock's new and classic talent creating plenty of spine-tingling "oh my god" moments. This was not an epic Bridge...but it was a great day of acoustic music featuring some of the best talent for a nice cause (to raise money for the school that Neil's wife, Peggi, runs for severely disabled children). The unusually flawless Bay Area weather served as a perfect backdrop to the event that featured Neil Young, Dashboard Confessional, Wilco, Counting Crowd, Indigo Girls, Pearl Jam, Willie Nelson and Crosby Stills Nash and Young.

Neil and Peggi kicked off the day together by introducing the kids, talking about what's new at the school, and then a great, short solo acoustic set. Neil opened with Sugar Mountain, then moved to organ for his environmental ode, Mother Earth, which featured Willie Nelson's harmonica guy. A true Neil moment followed when he returned to guitar for Comes A Time and invited his Native American friends (in full Indian get-ups) to basically do rain dances around him while performing the song. Peggi joined Neil for the harmonies. It was a colorful, blown-up photo-worthy moment...and SO damn Neil. (Ya know, one of those moments where you're thinking he's such a genius...yet you're also kind of thinking he's totally nuts).

Dashboard Confessional was the first act. Every Bridge Benefit has one lame act. Although it sounds like it might be tough to sit through a lame act when you have an 8 hour show ahead of you, it actually works out well. There's tons of food and alcohol to be sampled at the many bars and food outlets dotting Shoreline Amphitheatre's landscape...and one needs time to check out the surroundings. Dashboard Confessional proved the perfect time for this. Chris Carraba, a 20-something guy covered in tattoos, is Dashboard Confessional. He sings whiney, folky punk tunes labeled Emo. This label somehow makes the genre feel hip to high school and college kids. Hip enough to make the cover of Spin magazine. Most of the songs rambled, the musicianship was bad and his over-emoting reminded me how badly I needed to see whether Shoreline still sold turkey corn dogs. I wasn't alone - San Francisco's rock critic, Joel Selvin, was in line next to me!

Wilco, my favorite band, came next. I hadn't seen them in a while - they now have 2 keyboard players, no lead guitar, John Stirratt remains on bass and harmonies, Tweedy (of course) and a kickass drummer. I missed the opening song while enjoying Shoreline's culinary delights b/c I made the unfortunate assumption that Incubus would be the second band. Wilco sounded excellent. So damn good. Tweedy was psyched to be there and even announced that "[there's no way we'd be on a stage if it weren't for Neil Young]". They played I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, I'm the Man Who Loves You, She's A Jar, the Uncle Tupelo classics New Madrid and We've Been Had, as well as a great brand new song and a cool cover to close that had something to do with Jesus. The sad part about Wilco's set was that no one paid attention to it. I can't decide whether it was their set time (early in the day) or the way Tweedy worked the crowd (or didn't work the crowd). People talked through their set, etc...and I'm confident in saying they probably did not earn any new fans. That's unfortunate, b/c I've seen many examples of bands picking up tons of new fans at the diverse bills of the Bridge. Sucks for the idiots who were talking, b/c it was a great set...and I was psyched to see the guys, espeically since I told Neil when I met him in 1994 that he had to check out Uncle Tupelo and invite them to the Bridge!

I believe Counting Crows were next. They sounded excellent. A nice, polished sound with rootsy instruments and a great voice leading the way. Granted, he over-emotes as much as Dashboard Confessional, but it's done in a beautiful way that is tolerable for a 40 minute set. The problem here is that it's tough to see that voice coming from a fat, dorky guy with the worst dreadlocks in the history of the hairstyle. Wrapping them in a bun over his head so that he resembles Medusa clearly shows why this guy has to whine through his songs about the inability to find love. His awkward stage moves don't help either. Nonetheless, the band sounded great. The songs are always reworked and feature breakdowns a la Van Morrison that provide the band an opportunity to show their stuff and build the emotion and groove of the song. Their set included recent singles like American Girls as well as old stuff like Rain King, Mr. Jones, Long December, Richard Manuel is Dead and a great cover of the Grateful Dead's Friend of the Devil. Smart place to do that cover - it of course went over well.

Indigo Girls followed. They are the perfect festival band. 2 women with 2 guitars, great voices and a handful of great, uplifting songs. They pump good energy into the air. Whether they would hold my attention for 2 hours, I'm not sure...but they get an A++ for a 45 minute set every time I see them do one. Their set inluded Closer To Fine, Chickenman and a great new song (that doesn't sound like a single). They sounded SO good and the crowd loved it big time. Each time I see them I say "I'm surprised they don't have an even bigger following." Hopefully they'll write some more great songs so that they can get out there again, b/c the talent is there for sure (singing, playing, performing). The highlight here for me was when David Crosby came out to sing on Galileo, the hit he recorded the original harmonies on for them. This was excellent and left the crowd very happy.

Pearl Jam was next. Eddie Vedder now has blonde hair. He must be bored at home. They opened with Dylan's Masters of War. Nice to see some political commentary via song. Daughter sounded great, with Hey Hey My My filling the mini cover-song spot that they leave near the end of the "shades go down" segment of that song. A new song named Man of the Hour sounded like other new Pearl Jam songs to me. Ya know, those songs where you say "what happened to these guys?" An OK Ramones cover of I Belive in Miracles was followed by the epic Black, which got the crowd going nuts. Things got fun with the Johnny Cash cover of 25 Minutes To Go. The crowd was singing along and clapping through this fun, Folsom Prison tune. Pearl Jam closed with an A+ version of Last Kiss, which featured Eddie dedicating the song to a Bridge School graduate who now attends Berkeley. She was on stage in her wheelchair freaking out. He said the song was for her, his "girlfriend". He faced her and got down on one knee in a very Springsteen-esque moment as he sang the song to her. The crowd loved the touching moment.

Willie Nelson came out with just an acoustic guitar and his harmonica dude. He sounded great - so damn raw. He attacks his acoustic guitar like Django having a seizure...and it sounds so right. His sense of timing is blown without a rhythm section, but that provides some entertainment as his harmonica dude struggles to follow where the hell that old, stoned mind is going. The funniest moment of the evening was when Willie started a song that he had ALREADY performed a few minutes earlier! A few words into the songs, Willie says "oops - I just played that! [I can't keep track of what I'm doing without my band]." Hilarious. Neil or one of the Bridge kids must have provided Willie with some of Tommy Chong's finest. Willie played the clsasics - Funny How Time Slips Away, Night Life, Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain, Crazy, On the Road Again, and a couple Hank Williams covers. He was incredibly well received. A true piece of walking American history. With his US Flag on his hat, and his red white and blue guitar sling, we went so far as to say that he IS America.

Crosby Stills Nash and Young were next. I was so desperate to finally see these 4 dudes play together during college that I rounded up some friends and drove to Indianapolis for Farm Aid, thinking I was going to get an incredible set of acoustic music. Instead all they did was 1 new Neil tune called This Old House. Were they trying to torture me? Anyway, the set I thought would go down that night went down this night at the Bridge. DAMN they sound good. So fucking good. Crosby's voice gets better every year. I'm convinced that when the world ends, he and Keith Richards will still be here. They'll be walking around with guitars, ready to give a kickass performance, asking "where is everybody?" Just seeing these 4 standing side by side makes you think of all the history there...the Byrds, Hollies, Buffalo Springfield. Amazing. Years before I was born, they were pioneers of rock...and here they are decades later sounding great. They opened with Human Highway, which I don't think they've performed together since the 1974 tour. Since I was 10 years shy of concert going at that point, I can only rely on tapes...and this performance was MUCH better than my tapes. Flawless. Helplessly Hoping sounded great. When Crosby is in a good mood, there are few who can match his stage presence. He was the band spokesman for the night and was so jazzed that he was dancing in place between songs. He joked that they sounded just like the 60s again by shouting into the mike "I'm peaking! I'm peaking! The colors!" Lee Shore was perfect. Great harmonies, Stills and young picking away together at their acoustic guitars. Nash did the singalong Our House. Nash has the biggest hits so it seems that he always gets stuck having to do the same crowd-pleasers...not sure if that bugs him...but they always do the trick. Harvest Moon was beautiful. Neil was in perfect voice, Stills added guitar parts and Crosby-Nash added their perfect harmony background vocals. They could harmonize to someone vomiting and it would sound great. Crosby joked that he writes the weird shit - and he's right. Deja Vu was amazing. The set highlight. Crazy harmonies and guitar parts, bringing out the best of these 4 guys. Stills then did his bluesy version of For What It's Worth, the Springfield classic. Stills' voice has turned into a Greg Allman growl...that sounds great on this song...but it is a problem when it comes to lots of the CSN/CSNY material. He can fake his old voice for a few songs, but that's it. He keeps gaining weight and his guitar is getting farther away from him...that seemed to affect his playing a bit during the set. Also, what's up with having the name STEPHEN STILLS in giant cursive letters written down the neck of the guitar? It was so cheesy, I was embarassed. For What It's Worth was of course a crowd pleaser. The closing tune, Teach your Children, brought out the Indigo Girls for one background mike, Dashboard for another, and Tweedy-Stirrat for another.

I could have used another hour of Wilco and 2 hours of CSNY, but it was a fun day of music. My flight home was cancelled due to fires in Southern Cali, so I had to rent a car and drive home! Gotta love adventure! I am writing this at 2 am...I just got home.