By Taylor Jones
taylorjones9393@gmail.com
In 1986, legendary folk-rock star Neil Young of Buffalo Springfield, along with his wife Pegi Young, started the Bridge School foundation in order to specially educate children born with severe physical and speech impairments, including their son Ben who has cerebral palsy. Acting in compassion and inspiration, the Young family started an annual concert series to raise funding for the school, its resources, and its international accessibility. Today we gather at the sold-out Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California, to celebrate the twenty-fifth annual Bridge School Benefit Concert.
Upon entering the gates of Shoreline, I find myself immersed in a sea of audience members. They come in all shapes and styles: big, small, short, tall, indie, rocker, punk, hippie, black, white, orange, blue, and all colors of the rainbow, each one just as excited for the day’s musical acts and happy to contribute to such a worthy cause.
Armed with his acoustic guitar and harmonica, Neil Young traditionally opens the show with his song “I Am a Child,” performed in dedication to the students of Bridge School. After he and his wife Pegi welcome the attendees to the festival, Young introduces the first performer of the day, Beck Hansen, better known simply as Beck.
A said apprentice, Beck toured with alongside Young when he was first getting off the ground and learned the ‘tricks of the trade’ through him. Today Beck plays with the band mates he recorded the album Sea Change with for the first time in ten years. Performing a collection of melancholy, yet uplifting melodies, the band blends together very well despite their time apart. The bass player plucks an upright bass in adherence to the all-acoustic event, while Beck coordinates progressions with the piano player. Ending his set, Beck takes us back to Odelay of 2004 and bumps the “jig-saw jazz and the get-fresh flow” of the classic track “Where It’s At.”
A Bridge School veteran Norah Jones takes the stage next. However, this year she has brought a new country-folk sound as opposed to her previous, smooth jazz and soul vibes. Jones being a talented singer, pianist, and guitarist, pulls of her new country act with ease. Accompanied by a drummer, upright bass player, and a guitarist/vocalist, Jones conveys her Western storyline tunes by hitting tight harmonies with the male vocalist. Although this set provides a new reflection of Norah Jones, including a touching rendition of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” I would have liked to hear her vary her style, because she only played country and strayed from the warm, relaxed sound of the Norah Jones I fell in love with.
As the day progresses and the grass on the lawn becomes hardly visible, Los Invisibles featuring Carlos Santana and Cindy Blackman strut out on stage. Awing the audience with their Latin flavor and rhythms, Los Invisibles perform an assortment of Santana songs, which feature none other than the infamous Carlos Santana himself. With an array of material dating from early Santana to modern songs like “Smooth,” the band does not cease to impress with their tight arrangements. But of course, no Santana concert can be complete without an uncontrollably skilled drummer, who was Dennis Chambers last time I saw Santana, and is Cindy Blackman today. As the rest of the band cuts out, Blackman forcefully urges the momentum onward with her driving drum solo. Following a few minutes of technical smashing and bashing over independent rhythms, Blackman begins a solid beat to groove on while the band gradually builds the song back up.
Let me put on my jacket and my beanie, for the sun is setting and the night show is about to start. Foo Fighters are the first act under the spotlights and plan to perform “songs that sound good when you play them this way [acoustically],” jokes lead singer Dave Grohl. Going in to the show, I suspected Foo Fighters would play selections from the album Skin & Bones, a live recording of their 2006 show at the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles. Suitably, they do perform many of these songs, including a version of “My Hero” in dedication to Neil Young and his efforts to put on the concert every year. They also play hits such as “Times Like These,” but sometimes can get repetitive by spending too long on jams that are based on one simple riff. Ending their set with a solo performance, Grohl plays an emotionally gripping version of “Everlong,” my favorite Foo song. However, I wish the rest of the band had played the song with Grohl. One reason it is my favorite Foo song is due to the fact that Taylor Hawkins straight up nails every drum fill and displays an incredible amount of endurance to rock so unrelentingly hard. Overall, the Foo Fighters were great but could have been better.
Nobody quite exudes the essence of “suave” as much as jazz singer Tony Bennett when he gets a hold of the mic, and after more than fifty years in the music business, it’s rightfully so. While Beck was learning the ‘tricks of the trade’ from Young, Bennett had written the book and mastered all of them. Bennett warms the hearts of the bay area when he performs his signature song “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” Playing with musicians including Howard Jones, a favorite drummer of Count Basie, Bennett’s band presents a vintage sound that has blossomed from their decades of experience in jazz. As Bennett spins one last time and accepts his applause from the audience, he clears the stage for the next artist, Dave Matthews.
Accompanied by guitarist Tim Reynolds, Dave Matthews begins his set with an acoustic guitar as well. These two guitarists prove that they can thoroughly jam on a song and give it plenty of movement without needing a rhythm section. Performing the song “You & Me” off the Dave Matthews Band’s latest album Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, Reynolds demonstrates his unique style of acoustic shredding, in that he can play varied, polyrhythmic melodies like a sitar player. One of the best aspects of the Bridge School Benefit Concert every year is the collaborating between artists, so I love when the duo invites Young onstage to perform the song “Oh, Susanna” with them.
Contributing many of the collaborating artists of the night is Arcade Fire, whose band members take part in multiple songs with other performers. Opening with the song “Intervention” off of Neon Bible, Arcade Fire kicks off their set with a sense of resolution and grandeur that is almost untouchable by their contemporaries. Continuing with the song “Rebellion (Lies),” the entire audience helps chant the lyrics, in addition to the empowering shout-chorus of “Wake Up.” When I saw Arcade Fire at the Outside Lands music festival, they had a larger setup with two drum sets and people moving around everywhere. However, tonight they take it down a notch and provide for a more intimate show using full acoustics, upright bass, a twin piano, and one simplified drum set. In the song “We Used to Wait” off of their latest album The Suburbs, singer Win Butler shares the message that kids today aren’t patient enough to appreciate a song or record as a holistic piece of artwork, and would rather succumb to listening to the popular choruses of whichever songs happened to get radio play. After my second time seeing them, I believe Arcade Fire is truly a treasure of our generation and a quintessential live show.
The Bridge School Benefit Concert and the coming together of musicians symbolizes the power that everyone possesses to help others in need, and to contribute to a cause that really makes a difference. Shown by the sold-out venue, music is the one entity that truly unites us as humankind. On behalf of the audience here at Shoreline Amphitheater tonight, I would like to thank the Young family and the Bridge School foundation for putting on such a fantastic event.
