Bridge Benefit 2004 (10/24/04)

Once again, Neil Young and wife Pegi hosted an incredible benefit concert for the Bay Area's Bridge School for children with severe speech and physical impairments. This was the 18th Bridge Benefit and my 9th. The mostly acoustic concert ranges each year from great to amazing to out-of-control (11 on a scale of 10). This year was amazing...thanks to an incredibly eclectic lineup and every artist bringing his/her A Game. Here it is: Neil Young, Tegan & Sara, Eddie Vedder, Los Lonely boys, Sonic Youth, Ben Harper, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tony Bennett and Paul McCartney.

We got stuck in ridiculous traffic on the way to the Shoreline Amphitheater in the heart of Silicon Valley (Mountain View). Thanks to the traffic, we missed the traditional opening/welcoming speech by Pegi Young as well as the brief film that teaches what the Bridge School is all about. We also missed Neil Young's opening 3-song solo acoustic set of "Sugar Mountain", "Do I Have To Come Right Out And Say It" and "Long May You Run". Tegan & Sara were the first act after Neil. They played the Bridge a few years ago - they were so interesting last time that I ran out to the concessions for turkey corn dogs and french fries. I'm sure this year would have been no different, so I didn't mind the fact that we were parking the car during their set.

We arrived at our seats just in time for the next act, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder. Eddie did a solid solo acoustic set that featured some lesser known Pearl Jam songs as well as some songs I'd never even heard. He played "I Am Mine", "Man of the Hour", "I Believe in Miracles", Spongebob's "Baby Beluga", "Here's To The State of Mississippi" and "Last Kiss". Eddie clearly felt at home on this stage, surrounded by the Bridge students for his 7th year as a performer, knowing that Neil Young and lots of other amazing artists were behind the stage hearing his set. Despite the fact that he is one of the most outspoken rock stars, Eddie joked that he is one of those people who believes an artist should keep his political views to himself. Without preaching, he said that everyone should be sure to vote - he said he's sure we all want people to stop living in fear, to earn a living wage and to have clean air and water...and he's therefore sure we'll do the right thing. He then adjusted some of the lyrics to a Tim Robbins song from Bob Roberts ("Mississippi") where he sang in different verses that Donald Rumsfeld, John Ashcroft, Dick Cheney and George Bush should each "find another country". The crowd loved this and I have to say it felt damn good to hear since I literally agree with the lyrics. As he did in Pearl Jam's set last year, Eddie dedicated "Last Kiss" to his "girlfriend", a wheelchair-bound Bridge graduate who is now a junior at Berkeley. Eddie joked that he doesn't know how the 2 of them have avoided all of the tabloids. It was a great moment - the excitement in the girl's face throughout the song could bring tears to your eyes.

Los Lonely Boys were next. They are the 3 Garza brothers from Texas. (The drummer's real name is Ringo). They've been performing bluesy pop their entire lives and finally, thanks to Willie Nelson giving them their break, are making their name known. They did a fun, good-spirited set of tunes from their radio-friendly album. This is one of those acts where you don't think you've ever heard them before but then recognize a few songs and say "I've heard this a billion times on the radio". They're also likely soon to be one of those bands you hear while walking down the grocery aisle looking for hamburger buns. Regardless, they brought nice 3-part harmonies and great guitar and bass work to their poppy, bluesy tunes that were well-received by the crowd. I expect we'll be hearing more from them. They played "Crazy Dream", "Hollywood", "More Than Love", "Senorita", "My Loneliness", "Real Emotion" and "Heaven".

Next came the alt rock pioneers, Sonic Youth. I saw them open for Neil in `91 on the Ragged Glory tour. Throughout that set I debated pouring lighter fluid on my head, lighting my hair on fire and diving head first from the balcony just to make the music stop. I found them more interesting at Coachella last year but still wasn't sold. THIS time in the acoustic setting, I was blown away. Their music wasn't for the majority of the crowd, but my group was way into the intense, hypnotic, psychedelic jams by these legends. I honestly don't know 1 song by these guys but I look forward to seeing them like this again. They played "I Love You Golden Blue", "Stones", "Unmade Bed", "Paper Cut Exit" and "Rain On Tin". Both Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore reminded everyone to save our country and vote.

Ben Harper was next. He did a good set of his arguably derivative music that ranged from soul to reggae to blues to gospel. His voice really got to shine on some tunes as he belted them out with passion. Others were turkey corn dog-worthy. He sang "Oppression", "Homeless Child", "Where Could I Go", "Diamonds On the Inside" with Eddie Vedder, "Amen Omen" (this was amazing), "There Will Be Light" and "In the Lord's Arms" with his mom - a touching moment. Interesting that like Lenny Kravitz, Ben Harper is half black and half white/Jewish.

Red Hot Chili Peppers played a great, fun set that got the whole crowd going, especially the teenagers. Hard to think of this band doing an acoustic set, but Anthony Kiedis managed to both sing in tune and run around like a madman on stage. John Frusciante brought his A game, providing amazing harmonies and guitar work through the set. Some sound troubles plagued their set, leading Flea to get visibly irritated, but Anthony calmed him down with some good vibes. They played "By The Way", a GREAT cover of Neil's "(It's Gonna Take A) Lotta Love", "Otherside", a cover of the Ramones' "I Just Wanna Have Something To Do", "Parallel Universe", "Road Trippin'", a hilarious crowd-pleasing cover of the cheesy 70's pop tune "Brandy (You're A Fine Girl)", "Under the Bridge", and "Their Red Hot". The crowd sang along on the hits as legendary rock/rap/country producer Rick Rubin looked on from stage left, watching over the band he helped turn into a multiplatinum success.

After the psychedelic funk-pop of the Chili Peppers, legendary 78 year-old crooner Tony Bennett took the stage. What a strange but weirdly refreshing change of pace! From trippy, jammy music to a loungey act with schmaltzy, talking song intros and a well-dressed band of adults. Before more than one song, as he leaned against the grand piano, he said,"I love a piano. I love a piano." Anyway, this guy can still SING. Damn! He played jazz standards and was very well received by the crowd, from the kids to the 60-somethings. He played "The Best Is Yet To Come" and "Maybe This Time" where he hit notes that brought the crowd to its feet. He even made a political speech, "My personal prayer is that some day someone will find a way for people to stop killing each other." He then played "If I Ruled the World". Tony then brought out an artist whom he met in the 60s and presented an award to in the days before fame and stadium tours, Sir Paul McCartney. Paul said that he had Tony sing this at his wedding to his new wife, Heather, and since it was their song, they would sing it together and dedicate it to Heather. They played "The Very Thought Of You". Paul was psyched and afterwards said "I got to sing with Tony Bennett!!!" Tony played a couple more songs (including 2 encores, which no one does at the Bridge - it led me to get a chicken cheesesteak). The crowd of course loved "I Left My Heart in San Francisco".

Next was Neil Young. I've seen Neil a billion times, but this short set was one of the best I've seen. He blew me away. He was in a talkative mood, perfect voice and played amazing songs. He opened solo acoustic with "Pocohantas", possibly because we lost Marlon Brando this year? Then he was joined by his wife and Eddie Vedder for "Harvest Moon". SO good. He then moved to the piano. Cracking the audience up, Neil made fun of Tony Bennett by saying "I love a piano". The audience went nuts. Neil said everyone was autographing a guitar backstage and Tony had to draw a piano because he doesn't care about guitars. He signed his name with "I Love A Piano". Neil then played 2 songs on piano I'd been waiting to hear forever. They were both on my first Neil Young bootleg, a 1971 Royal Albert Hall show that I picked up while living in London. I listened to that cassette constantly while traveling through Europe in college and after seeing Neil tons of times, realized how special it was that he was finally playing these tunes. "Journey Through The Past" and "On The Way Home". Incredible. Before "On the Way Home", Neil joked how when he recorded that with Buffalo Springfield as a youngster, the producer wouldn't let him sing it thanks to his voice being...his voice! The crowd loved the story. His wife joined him for the return to guitar. He explained that this next song was recorded in the 70s for a CSN&Y record that never came to be, "Human Highway". Then he sat down with his banjo, told a story about losing his dog, Elvis, and how this song was for Elvis. But first he said, "I love a banjo". He played "Old King", then returned to guitar and played "Comes A Time". For his final song, Neil told a story about being a kid in Canada and listening to this old Canadian folk song over and over, "Four Strong Winds". Through the whole Neil set I was thinking about how timeless his songs are - you can't tell if he's singing a song from the 60s, today or the future. He just creates his own special vibe. I also couldn't help noticing how he's aged the past few years...which led me to think that he'd better stick around another 25 years because there will never be another one like him.

There aren't many people who can perform after Neil Young, but one of the few would have to be Paul McCartney. The crowd of course went nuts for the former Beatle, who ignited the energy level just by walking on stage. Amazing when you think that all rock musicians, from every act on stage tonight to the new people you hear on the radio to legends like CSN, the Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead, were ALL influenced by The Beatles. Different artists had their pockets of fans at the show on Sunday, but EVERY person in the crowd from 16 to 66 was going nuts for Paul. Paul's voice was exactly like The Beatles' albums - it was eerie. Anthony Kiedis was right when he earlier warned the crowd that Paul would bring tears to their eyes. Paul had the crowd dancing with his opener "(Baby You Can) Drive My Car", then played the old Beatles ballad "Til There Was You". His band was excellent, adding the perfect touches to each song. Paul then introduced a song he used to play with John before they were The Beatles. It was called "In Spite Of All the Danger". He went solo acoustic for an incredible "Blackbird". Then came a tribute to John with a song Paul wrote after hearing John had died, "Here Today". This was followed by the band returning for a brand new song from a forthcoming album. I don't know the name, but this song was a stinker. Neil Young joined Paul for a great duet backed by the band, Neil's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart". Paul then told a funny story about how he used to joke about being French with John and sang "Michelle (Mabelle)". This was followed by a solo acoustic "Yesterday", which he played on the same guitar he used on the Ed Sullivan show. Very cool. Spine-tingling moments here. The band returned for an amazing "Get Back" that had the crowd boogying like a Dead show. Paul then took to the piano for "Let It Be". Amazing. The entire crowd was singing along with all of these songs, but you really felt it here. After the song, Paul walked up to the front mike and said "Yes, let it be. Let it be Kerry." The crowd went nuts. An incredible, rocking Dead-like "Lady Madonna" followed, and then the show closed with an incredible "Hey Jude" that brought Neil front and center for harmonies and EVERY artist from the whole day, led by Eddie Vedder, on a side mike for the "nah-nah-nah-nah" part. You looked around the crowd and could feel the seratonin and adrenaline flowing. It was 8 hours into the show but Paul could have kept going 3 more hours and the crowd would have loved it. The 18th Bridge ended on a very high note. A Beatle surrounded by such a variety of musical artists, all influenced by his talents. The Bridge students had a blast and so did the 20,000 people in attendance, including myself.

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