After hearing that Wilco and Death Cab for Cutie were on this year's Bridge Benefit bill, I had to go. I made the two-hour trek for the Saturday show with lawn ticket in hand. The lineup for the show was (in the order they performed):
- Neil Young (two song opening)
- Band of Horses (filling in for ZZ Top who cancelled. )
- Cat Power
- Death Cab for Cutie
- Wilco
- Sarah McLachlan
- Norah Jones
- Jack Johnson
- Neil Young (closing set)
The Bridge School is a school for kids with severe speech and physical impairments. The school was founded by Neil's wife Pegi in 1986 and a benefit concert has been held every year since. One of the unspoken rules of the concert is that musicians perform acoustically. In the past bands such as Metallica, Pearl Jam and Red Hot Chili Peppers have performed acoustic sets at the benefit. One thing that playing acoustically does is it really emphasises the musicianship of the performers. No hiding behind effects or samples. It can really provide for some "wow, he/she's a really good musician" moments.
I arrived at the Shoreline a little after the gates opened up, hoping to get a decent spot on the lawn. What I found was that the best location, to get good sound and a clear view of the stage, was about halfway up the lawn, directly in the center. There's a little plateau here where the view of the stage is unobscured. It is also nice to have clear views of the big screens that allow up close and personal viewing of the performers. The sound has never been great here but in the centralized location it wasn't bad.
As usual, Neil was the first to come out. He didn't waste much time getting right into the music with "I Am a Child" and "Sugar Mountain".
After Neil, Band of Horses came out. They did well in the acoustic setting and played a decent alt-country inflected set.
Next up was Cat Power. Chan Marshall seemed to struggle a little bit with her set. Even with electric instrumentation their music is pretty subdued. Playing acoustically in front of 15,000+ people must be quite a challenge and intimidating to boot. Marshall is known to have a bit of stage-fright and that was evident here. She was singing very quietly, not really projecting (which is her style anyway), which resulted in the crowd getting restless. At one point she apologized to the crowd for her performance. The band's sound missed the swells and drones that electric instruments usually add to their sound. Without it, it was pretty much a snore-fest. That is, until Neil came out to join them on a rousing cover of "Fortunate Son". Neil's injection of energy got the crowd into it and even put a smile on Chan's face.
Death Cab for Cutie came on next and it was primarily a showcase for talented singer-songwriter Ben Gibbard. He even played one song solo with just a guitar. Again, in this acoustic setting it is impossible to fake musicianship, and Gibbards singing and songwriting was put on display. His nasal, whiny voice notwithstanding, he had some sublime vocal moments, hitting notes perfectly and putting on a great show. These guys opened for Neil on the current tour and they are worth seeing.
After Death Cab was the band I came to see, Wilco. Very comfortable in an acoustic setting, the most interesting thing to me was listening to Nels Cline play his arpeggio freakouts on an acoustic guitar. Although some sour notes were apparent (these notes would probably sound bent on an electric) his playing was exciting and typically wild. They also broke out a new song ("I'll Fight for You?") which had a kind of old fashioned 50-ish rock sound. This song seems to be a work in progress but with a lot of potential. Other highlights were California Stars and Jesus Etc..., which work so nice acoustically. My only complaint (as usual) was that the set was too damn short. The drawback of these festival-type shows.
After Wilco, Sarah McLachlan came out and played a solo set. She accompanied herself on both guitar and piano. She is an amazing singer and performer and her set was very impressive. She is one of the few artists that can come out completely alone and blow the place away. She gets the "best voice" award for the day.
Norah Jones was next and played another subdued mellow set. The highlight of her set (for me) was her cover of Wilco's "Jesus Etc..". Ooh boy, my favorite Wilco song played twice in one day! I thought she did a great version. She did comment on the fact that Wilco had already done the song, but she said they worked hard practicing it and were going to do it anyway ("Take that Tweedy"). Here it is on YouTube:
Jack Johnson came out and did his typical stony-surfer dude set. His band was super-tight and his voice sounded great, but his music did not ignite my sensibilities. I enjoyed the set but would not go out of my way to see him again.
Neil Young played the last set and did some typical stuff ("The Needle and the Damage Done", "Heart of Gold", "Old Man"), and some not so typical stuff (new song "ust Singing A Song Won't Change The World", "Oh, Lonesome Me", and "Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)") He also did a rousing cover of The Beatles' "Day in the Life". His set and the concert conluded with "Comes a Time" where many of the bands came out to sing along. Unfortunately, Jeff Tweedy was not among them even though most of the members of Wilco were out there. That Tweedy can be so difficult.
Personally, I thought Neil sounded a little tired. I have a few past Bridge Benefits to compare it to and he was just not nailing it like in times past. I though some of it had to do with Pegi Young being a bit hit and miss with the backing vocals. He ended the show a little early too I though (in 1999 the concert didn't finish until after 2 a.m.). Well, at least it was early enough I was able to make the drive home that night and not spend money on a motel.
All-in-all, this was not the best Bridge Benefit I have been to. There were too many mellow band on the bill, and nothing (like a Metallica for instance) that really kicked it into high gear. After Wilco, it was hard to stay interested. It's too bad ZZ Top didn't make it. Now that would've been interesting to see acoustically. Hopefully in future years the lineup will have some more variety.
