Bridge Benefit 2006 (10/21/06)

Neil Young was clearly in a great mood at his 20th Bridge Benefit concert at the Shoreline Amphitheater, benefitting the Bridge School for severely disabled children in the Bay Area. Whether his mood was a feeling of pride for reaching the 20th year milestone with a sell-out crowd, or instead a pure joy for life after surviving an anneurism just a little more than a year ago was unclear. Whatever the reason, Neil displayed a higher-than-usual level of affection for his wife, Pegi, and a higher-than-usual level of attentiveness to the actual performances. For much of the day, Neil was sitting on stage left, watching the performers with a smile and waiting for a chance to sit in with many of them. This year's lineup included Davendra Banhart, Gillian Welch, Death Cab For Cutie, Trent Reznor, Brian Wilson, Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam and Dave Matthews Band.

As always, Neil kicked off the show solo acoustic after Pegi's warm introduction. He opened the show with the great "Flags Of Freedom" from his strong 2006 anti-Bush album LIVING WITH WAR. He was then joined by Pegi on harmonies for a beautiful "Long May You Run" and an exceptional "Comes A Time" with his colorful friends, the dancing Native Americans in full traditional headdress.

The first act to perform was Devendra Banhart, joined by guitarist Bert Jansch (whom Neil seemed particularly excited about). This act seemed great - mellow, trippy and weird. Unfortunately, I was starving and in need of some concert food. Not only did I miss some interesting songs, but I missed a cover of one of my all-time favorite David Crosby songs, "Traction In the Rain". Having never even seen Crosby play this tune, I was bummed to be stuffing my face rather than watching the performance. I think this band is based in LA, so I hope to get another chance to see them.

Next came the rootsy Gillian Welch with David Rawlings. They did their usual, beautiful acoustic rootsy duo thang and closed out their set with a great cover of Neil's "Country Girl", which brought Neil out in mid-song to join them. This was special, considering that Neil almost never (and maybe never) plays this song live.

Death Cab For Cutie proved to be a decent live act, especially when forced into the Bridge Benefit's acoustic setting. Songs like "Crooked Teeth" and "Soul Meets Body" translated well to this format. The surprise of their set was a great cover of Graham Nash's "Millitary Madness". This year's batch of artists was clearly in tune with the Bridge family thing with the Crosby, Nash and Neil covers.

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails came next with the first solo gig of his career. Watching him with a piano and cellos was nothing compared to his powerful, electric set at Coachella 2 years ago. Although this was intense and almost interesting, I was overall kind of bored and wishing that THIS was the time I ran out to the food lines. Oh well. Trent played songs like "The Fragile", "Right Where It Belongs" and the classic "Hurt". This was not the right format for his music.

Foo Fighters came next. Damn, these guys are great. The acoustic format was perfect for them, thanks to their recent completion of an acoustic tour. Dave Grohl has a great voice when he doesn't have to scream, and here he got to show it off while singing one hit after another. This set was a show-stealer and an all-time Bridge highlight. The crowd ate up every second of it as the band played "Everlong", "Marigold", "My Hero", "Big Me", "Skin and Bones", "Times Like These". Excellent, excellent set.

Brian Wilson and his giant band kicked ass too. They brought the party music to the show as Brian took us back in time to the happy California sound he invented. Opening the set with "Heroes and Villains" from SMILE was a great way to start, given the legendary story behind the 30-year SMILE saga that was finally resolved last year. Then, Brian sat on a stool surrounded by his band and performed one great hit after another. "Wouldn't It Be Nice", "Sloop John B", "Row Row Row Your Boat", "God Only Knows", "Do You Wanna Dance", "I Get Around", "Help Me Rhonda", "Good Vibrations" with Neil Young on organ, "Johnny B Goode", "Surfin' USA", and "Fun Fun Fun". Fantastic set.

Pearl Jam played a great set that featured the best musical moment of the night and one of the best Bridge moments of all time. This was when Neil joined them for a killer version of "Throw Your Hatred Down" from their 1995 collaboration MIRROR BALL. Neil and Eddie traded vocals and then Neil and McCready had some ripping guitar duels that gave many the kind of ear-to-ear grins you hope for when watching musicians of this caliber. PJ's set featured "Elderly Woman", "Parachutes", "Throw Your Hatred Down", the traditional drinking song "I Used To Work In Chicago", "Daughter", the Tom Waits tune "Picture In A Frame", "Man Of the Hour", "Better Man" and the very exciting cover, "Crazy Mary". This brilliantly performed rare song took many of us back to the early 90s when Seattle ruled the country. Great set.

Dave Matthews Band was fun. "Loving Wings", "Grace Is Gone", "Warehouse", "Ants Marching" and then a fantastic "Cortez the Killer" with Neil trading vocals and dueling guitars with Dave while Boyd Tinsley did his crazy soloing on the violin. Solid set.

Neil then performed with The Prairie Wind Band, which appeared to be a rag-tag collection of his friends and neighbors. This wasn't so special. If I caught it in a bar on a random night, I would have shit my pants...but on this stage after hours of this level of music, it was just OK. Also keep in mind that it was midnight by the time they took the stage and we had been at the show since early-to-mid afternoon. This band had a honky tonk vibe that performed "Field Of Opportunity", "Homegrown", "After the Garden", "Goin' Back", "Four Strong Winds", "Harvest Moon" - a beautiful version featuring a band member sweeping a well-miked broom across the stage to capture that sweeping sound from the recording, and "Human Highway". The big encore of the night brought all of the day's performers back on stage for a rockin' version of "Rockin' in the Free World".

Overall, another great Bridge Benefit by the most genuine artist out there...who remains a vital creative force after 40 years in the business. Long live Neil Young.