Bridge Benefit

It has been an interesting weekend. A lengthy series of meet and greets has left me in a less than stellar physical state with a chaser of sleep deprivation. Drove up to Pebble Beach friday to see Mr. and Mrs. Vlad Smythe, the noted russian music archivists. He shared a rare video of Rick Danko's last gig along with Johnny Cash's last concert at the Carter fold, where he looks like he already has a toe in the nether world. Vlad has the most incredible video library I have ever seen. We usually end up slightly hammered in the wee hours and this trip was no different. Went out for a nice Chinese, Vietnamese meal - chicken in lemongrass.

Yesterday I stopped off and saw a whole bunch of pals, more Vietnamese with Melissa and Taylor and a short stop at Warmboes's. Taylor has a short hiatus from touring with his death metal band Suffokate and is cooking temporarily at the chichi Wood's Tavern. Classically trained at Culinary Institute at Hyde Park, we had an in depth conversation on the relative merits of Taco Bell versus Carl's Jr. when you are living on five bucks a day per diem and sleeping on people's floors. Oh to be young.

I finally ended up at BigDave's. Dave and I are very old friends and roommates. He had a PKD walk in the morning, having devoted a lot of time to helping find the cure for the poly-cystic kidney disease that runs rampant in his family. Ordered in dim sum. I am having a chinese food overdose.

Dave has always had a thing for nice cars and fancies himself a bit of the Parnelli Jones. He has trained at Skip Barber, Bondurant and the BMW M-Series track in South Carolina. He suggested a trip to Marin in the pouring rain. Only in California are rain slicked roads an inducement to drive faster. We got in his M-5 and I soon figured out that the lesson for the day was that Rob was going to see how a real man drives.

Dave used to have a Z-8 and has always had great cars and definitely knows what he is doing but it clearly not as fun from my vantage in the passenger seat. I white knuckled and blanched a couple of times but managed to keep my suggestions to a minimum so as not to egg him into an even more egregious display of alpha male road behavior.

I tend to drive like an old librarian, allowing for ample reaction time to all the dumb things that humans like to do when they are going 70mph in bad weather but certain people like to push the boundaries of the pursuit to the fractional nano second to showoff their superhuman skill and control to the more pedestrian muggles like me.

By now it is the afternoon and the Bridge Benefit Saturday show is starting at 5:00 in Mountain View. The rain is pouring harder than ever and I am having second thoughts about even going. I call my buddy Michael and we talk about doing dinner instead. We have lawn tickets, on the steep slope at the top of Shoreline and I am told it is like a vertical woodstock pig slop in inclement weather.

The sky cleared a bit and we decided to marshal on. We would miss the first couple bands. We got to the show with all the rain gear we could muster and scored a couple seats from a scalper, not under the awning but out of the slop. As we walked in I heard a miserable cry for pain coming from a speaker which I couldn't quite identify. Upon further examination,this pitiful lamentation turned out to be one Jackson Browne caterwauling with David Lindley. Arghh, all the misery one could wish for, packed into one musical set. I could have just slit an artery and bled to death but it probably wouldn't have been as much fun. We got seated at the end of their performance. ( I offer up setlists from setlists.com)

Seminole Bingo
(Warren Zevon cover)
Brothers Under the Bridges
(Bruce Springsteen cover)
For Everyman
Looking East
These Days

The first real performer I actually saw was my fave Lucinda Williams in her hip blue glasses playing with the tremendous guitar player Doug Pettibone. I just saw her play with Chrissie Hynde with the other rather large guitar player but Pettibone probably has better acoustic chops. She kept complaining about the sound (too boomy, too this, too that, just like last month but she sounded good although a bit too loud. Not really the right location for a torch singer. Not quite intimate enough. To me, Pettibone was the best player of the whole night, with Stills a close second. You either like Lucinda or you don't.

Motherless Children
Ventura
Side of the Road
(with Pegi Young)
Greenville
(with Emmylou Harris)
Born To Be Loved
Joy

She segued to Kris Kristofferson. His planned partner, Merle Haggard was evidently sick so Kristofferson did it on his own. He looked great and sang okay, can't play guitar worth a damn but hey the guy is a phenomenal writer so you have to cut him some slack. Townes Van Zandt couldn't sing either.

Shipwrecked In The Eighties
Me & Bobby McGee
Here Comes That Rainbow Again
Help Me Make It Through The Night
(Unknown)
(with lyrics "shadows fall" and "soft as the breeze through the air")
Sunday Morning Coming Down

Kris made way for Billy Idol who did a bunch of Generation X stuff. Steve Stevens on guitar and not really my bag. Clockwork Orange style drummer who was a bit ham fisted. The crowd seemed to enjoy the band's energy. Idol looked like he had had more cosmetic work than Joan Rivers and was sporting some lovely green eye shadow. Leslie would have enjoyed it. Not my dillyo.

Ready Steady Go
(Generation X cover)
Dancing with Myself
Kiss Me Deadly
King Rocker
(Generation X cover)
(Unknown)
Rebel Yell

Billy passed the baton to another brit, Elvis Costello. I hadn't seen him in many years, since his tour with Aztec Camera which was truly awful. He was awesome last night. An imperfect voice but impeccable phrasing and a true pleasure. Nice chorus with the ever present EmmyLou Harris. Opened the set with the wonderful Neil Young song Tell me why. The song Scarlet Tide was also performed really well, with Pegi and Emmy Lou sort of laying back and Lucinda going for it, girl can't be restrained. Love her.

Tell Me Why
(Neil Young cover) (with Emmylou Harris)
Sleepless Nights
(with Emmylou Harris)
Slow Drag with Josephine
(with Emmylou Harris)
Love Hurts
(with Emmylou Harris)
Wheels
(with Emmylou Harris)
April 5th
(with Emmylou Harris) (with Kris Kristofferson)
The Scarlet Tide
(with Lucinda Williams) (with Kris Kristofferson and Emmylou Harris)
Brand New Heartache
(with Neil Young) (with Emmylou Harris)

Elvis was followed by the crowd favorite Pearl Jam, who I had never seen before and have played twenty of the twenty four annual bridge concerts. Vetter has a great Morrison like growl but limited range and like Dave Matthews, a little goes a long way for me. My pal Michael thought he was best of show. The band was tight and he has matured and his playing was excellent. He really lauded the Bridge kids, the developmentally disabled youngsters who the show benefited and who were seated at the back of the stage.

Last Kiss
(Wayne Cochran cover)
Unthought Known
Santa Cruz
Nothingman
Dancing Barefoot
(Patti Smith cover)
Better Man
Walk With Me
(with Neil Young)
Just Breathe
Black

I should mention that I am totally soaked by now, the water having seeped through the waterproof tarp covering my legs. I have accidentally coughed on the guy's neck in front of me and he will not accept my apology for my unsanitary affront. The announcer has told the crowd that the Giants have won the NLCS and the crowd is ecstatic. I have been getting Padres barbs all week and have surrendered a not so crisp twenty dollar bill to BigDave.

Finally the headliner steps up, first show since May 5, 1968. Buffalo Springfield. I am here to tell you that they were fantastic. Obviously having practiced up, they had not missed a beat since they woke up from their long slumber. Lead singer turned Colorado preacher Richie Furay was the glue that made it work and his voice was strong and his range was full, having not lost a high note in the interim. Stills and Young were both perfect both vocally and instrumentally and Stills very intense. Neil was finding some very psychedelic accompaniment on his guitar. I am a child and For what it's worth were incredible as was Clancy and pretty much everything they played. Crowd was loving it and we couldn't stop singing along. Pity Dewey and Palmer weren't around for the fun. I can not say a critical word about their set, except that we got no Expecting to Fly. Missed the last song to get out before the rush and the oncoming pneumonia. Really a joy to see this band, I don't care if it is 40 years later.

On the Way Home
Rock & Roll Woman
Child's Claim
Do I Have to Come Right Out and Say It
Go and Say Goodbye
I Am a Child
Kind Woman
Burned
For What It's Worth
Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing
Bluebird
Mr. Soul
Encore:
Rockin' In The Free World
(with Pearl Jam) (with all other artists from the day)

I missed Neil's own short set and also that of Grizzly Bear and Modest Mouse. Hope that this is not a one time shot from the Buffalo Springfield as they were amazing. Wish you could have been there. Tomorrow I go to see my father.