That’s where I’ll be tomorrow so if you’re in the bay area, let’s get together and drink some $6 beers. It’s for a good cause.
Neil Young’s Bridge School Benefit Concert at Shoreline Amphitheater is going on Saturday and Sunday this weekend in Mountain View, CA. I haven’t been at an amphitheater for a show in quite some time, but Shoreline is right down the road from me (over by a little search engine we all know and love) and the lineup was not so bad. Eclectic is the word to describe it, I think:
Neil Young
Metallica
Jerry Lee Lewis
Tom Waits with Kronos Quartet
John Mayer
My Morning Jacket
Tegan & Sara
Regina Spektor
Eddie Vedder was scheduled to perform with Flea, but ended up cancelling.
Here’s more information about the Bridge School:
The Bridge School is a non-profit organization whose mission is to ensure that individuals with severe speech and physical impairments achieve full participation in their communities through the use of augmentative & alternative means of communication (AAC) and assistive technology (AT) applications and through the development, implementation and dissemination of innovative life-long educational strategies.
The Bridge School is an internationally recognized leader in the education of children who use augmentative and alternative communication and has developed unique programs and trained highly skilled professionals in the use of state of the art assistive technology.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
ok, so there is a weird confluence of neil young going on in my life right now. currently i am in santa monica for work. the other night i was hanging out chez jay and struck up a conversation with this big dude belly’d up to the bar next to me. anyway we started talking about music since i was going to lucero at the el rey. one thing lead to another and it turns out that he’s neil young’s manager and has been since ’72. very interesting dude. gave me the dirt on still, nash, crosby, etc. enjoy the show.
And you’re keeping all the dirt to yourself, I assume? Jerk.
How was that Lucero show? They killed it out here at Slims.
Regina Spektor has a lot of deep musical knowledge and a hell of a voice. She was a delightful surprise as opening act. I expect as she matures, she will break out of the narrow “chick music” genre some reviewers are trying to stuff her into.
Tom Waits & Kronos Quartet nailed my head to the floor, a truly Halloween set!!!! He and they are frikkin’ amazing!
Neil Young’s music made me cry at one point (he always does!), and at the end of the evening delivered a bouncing and joyful Cinammon Girl. Also, they made him and Pegi honorary IATSE members, a rare accolade (three times in 100 years of the union’s existence).
John Mayer and his backup players/singers were strong and lovely, and it was amazing to see how energized the kids of Bridge School were for Jerry Lee Lewis. One of his guitarists could walk all over any of the other players on stage, but he just played it low-key. Neil jammed with Jerry Lee on Sunday night, it was fun to see Mr. Young smile so much!
A wonderful night of music, everyone should see at least one Bridge School concert. It’s so great to be able to see the kids as people, not as objects of pity or worse, and to see what wonderful things can be accomplished if we just stop long enough to think–how can I make this better.
Metallica: I did love their speedy version of Celebrate!!!! I’m not a huge Metallica fan, and after this concert, really not a fan of Metallica fans, who didn’t seem to get that they weren’t at an arena rock show. They were at an acoustic benefit, so all the pushing and shoving was really NOT appreciated. But all that happened in the just the last bit of the show. I’m sure they’ll do better when they grow up.