2012.10.20 - Bridge School Benefit, Mountain View, USA

Guns N' Roses' two concert experiences will be ambitious as well, promises Ashba. For the Bridge School Benefit, Guns N' Roses will perform an entirely unplugged set in tribute to the event's founder. "A lot of the acoustic shows in the past, I would still play on the [electric] Les Paul – but for this, we're going all acoustic, no electric anything. That's how Neil kind of envisioned the whole thing, so we're gonna stay true to that, for sure," Ashba explains. "We're gonna add a couple [songs] that the band's never played... I know Axl is really excited to do it."

Review: Bridge School Benefit short on thrills
By Jim Harrington
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 10/21/2012 04:05:10 AM PDT
Updated: 10/21/2012 04:05:11 AM PDT

Neil Young tried.

He did his best to put together an ambitious, and out of the ordinary, lineup for the 26th annual Bridge School Benefit, which began its two-day run at Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountain View on Saturday.

It's just that most of his wilder selections -- including Guns N' Roses, Jack White and the Flaming Lips -- didn't go over so well on Day One. Even worse, all of those acts came bunched toward the end of the show, which made for a very long night for fans.

Fortunately, the safer bets -- such as k.d. lang, Sarah McLachlan and Neil himself -- were all pretty good. Yet, they weren't good enough to make this one of the more memorable benefits in support of Hillsborough's Bridge School, which assists students with severe physical and communication challenges.

For better or worse, the 2012 benefit -- which, on Saturday, stretched from 4 p.m. until after midnight -- will likely always be remembered as the Guns N' Roses Bridge. The notoriously unpredictable hard-rock band seemed to be topic No. 1 among fans in the weeks leading up to the event. Talk centered around lead singer Axl Rose -- in regard to what he might do or say, or even if he'd show up for the concert.

As it turned out, Rose was pretty much on his best behavior and even took the stage (nearly) on time. Sure, he did use some colorful language and played one questionable track, "Used to Love Her," which contains the chorus, "I used to love her, but I had to kill her." Overall, however, it was a rather mild-mannered outing for him.

Well, at least we were told it was him. We'll have to take that on faith, since it was really hard for fans to confirm the actual identity of the singer in the big hat, dark sunglasses and strange facial hair. At times, it sounded like some hoarse amateur, from a Guns N' Roses cover band, was leading the charge.

Oh, well, at least we got to hear some acoustic versions of once-great songs -- "Welcome to the Jungle," "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Paradise City" -- all of which probably made the roughly 18,000 audience members long for the band to plug in.

It was a truly mediocre outing for the rockers, yet it came across as absolutely masterful in comparison to the Flaming Lips set. Talk about a major reality check. The indie-rock band, which arguably ranks as the most overrated act in music history, is accustomed to preaching before the already converted. Lead singer Wayne Coyne could burp and his fans would likely dub it as genius.

The Bridge crowd wasn't having any of that. Listeners first seemed bemused and befuddled, then downright bored, by the band's cheeky, cutesy tunes. Coyne kept pleading with the disinterested crowd to show more energy and make some noise. And his request somewhat worked -- there were times when the applause actually drowned out the crickets.

White, backed by his all-female five-piece band, faced a similar challenge in trying to win over a crowd that appeared unfamiliar with his solo work (which consists of one album, this year's uneven "Blunderbuss"). He'd finally triumph, but the victory required the help of his old White Stripes songbook.

The one wild card that truly worked was Foster the People, the young pop act best known for the smash single "Pumped Up Kicks." Band leader Mark Foster and crew took its highly electronic sound and, with the use of some clever instrumentation and some savvy rearrangements, successfully translated it to the acoustic setting. The one disappointment was that there was no "Kicks," which might have been the right call for the setting, given the song's dark subject matter.

The best outing of the day might've come from Gary Clark, Jr., a tremendous blues-rocker from Texas who performed early on the bill. Yet, the concert's ultimate high point, if we are to judge by the crowd's enthusiasm, came courtesy of someone who wasn't even in the original lineup. Fans erupted with joy when Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder took the stage unexpectedly before the Guns N' Roses set to perform two songs. Other fan favorites included McLachlan, lang, Ray LaMontagne and Young, who performed with his Crazy Horse band.

Bridge School concert: Great cause, dull music
Aidin Vaziri
Published 7:35 a.m., Sunday, October 21, 2012

Wearing a red flannel shirt over a second red flannel shirt, a scraggly Neil Young brought the 26th annual Bridge School Benefit Concert at Mountain View's Shoreline Amphitheatre to a chilly close on Saturday with his usual all-star run through "Rockin' in the Free World." Only one thing was lacking - any discernible stars.

It was an anticlimactic end to an unusually anticlimactic concert that started some seven hours earlier with Young standing in the same spot. The venerated rocker and his wife Pegi typically have no problem drawing rock and roll heavyweights to their annual shindig benefiting children with severe physical and speech impairments - from the Who and Paul McCartney to Green Day and Radiohead. It's a great cause and an honor to share the stage with the host.

But this year's lineup felt lacking from the start. The most popular names on the bill could have made up an "I Love The '90s" package show: Sarah McLachlan, the Flaming Lips, k.d. lang, Lucinda Williams and whatever passes for Guns N' Roses these days.

Even worse, they performed like it.

An unkempt Axl Rose arrived onstage late, hunched over a microphone stand and huffed his way through tunes that sounded vaguely familiar with a cast of misfits that looked vaguely like a band. His voice and blue jeans equally shredded, Rose forgot the lyrics to his group's biggest hit, "Welcome To The Jungle," and delivered an off-key version of "Sweet Child o' Mine" that most likely had all the dogs within earshot of the concert howling in pain.

The Flaming Lips did their best to scale down their acid-infused psychedelic pop to the concert's acoustic setting, even drafting the comedian Reggie Watts for live beat boxing duties. But singer Wayne Coyne, in his unwashed gray suit, seemed unsettled. Determined to rile the crowd, he flapped his arms and beseeched, "Come on! Come on!"

Arriving onstage after the woefully mellow double-shot of McLachlan and singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne didn't do his band any favors. Nor did its surreal set, in which Coyne rambled incoherently, played "Taps" on a broken bugle and attempted a cover of the Beatles' "A Day In The Life" with Watts reading the words off an iPhone.

Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder, putting in a surprise guest appearance, provided some relief from the general incompetence of the night as he efficiently revived a couple of his band's "Seinfeld"-era hits. "When I woke up this morning this is the last thing I thought I would be doing," he said, having been drafted to kill time before Guns N' Roses' late arrival.

This year it was the more contemporary acts that put in the most memorable sets. Jack White, backed by a pale all-female band resembling zombies, charged through a handful of blues-tinged songs from his solo album, "Blunderbuss," while coyly flirting with the musicians. He also threw in a couple of White Stripes classics, "Hotel Yorba" and "We're Going To Be Friends," for good measure.

Foster the People, who had a massive hit last year with "Pumped Up Kicks" but skipped it altogether on Saturday, also managed to make the most of their brief time onstage, revamping their synthetic pop tunes with remarkable practicality.

Earlier in the day, Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers performed a passable set of bluegrass as the comedian recycled his old stage jokes ("People say to me, 'Steve, why a music career? Why now?' And I say, 'Hey you guys are my band.'"); Lucinda Williams warbled tentatively; and k.d. lang, well, apparently she was there too.

The lackluster lineup left the weight of expectation on Young and his band Crazy Horse to close out the show with something substantial. Instead, the band merely revisited a bulk of its Outside Lands set from August - most of it new, unreleased or entirely forgotten material - only without the gnarled gusts of feedback to drive it along.

Toward the end of the night Young a lovely rendition of "The Needle and the Damage Done," which took on gut-wrenching intensity in light of the past-their-prime performers that came before. Its mournful note struck a tone - with even Rose and White bailing on the jam session, this was clearly a year to forget.

Guns N’ Roses Unplug for Neil Young’s Bridge School Benefit
by: Chad Childers 46 minutes ago

When the lineup was announced for Neil Young‘s acoustic Bridge School Benefit this year, there was a little bit of surprise in seeing Guns N’ Roses name on the list, given the band’s penchant for blowing the roof off of venues. But Axl Rose and company worked up a set where the electric guitars weren’t needed and delivered it Saturday night (Oct. 20) in Mountain View, Calif.

Prior to the event, guitarist DJ Ashba revealed, “A lot of the acoustic shows in the past, I would still play on the [electric] Les Paul — but for this, we’re going all acoustic, no electric anything. That’s how Neil [Young] envisioned the whole thing, so we’re gonna stay true to that, for sure.” The group worked through a seven-song set that even found the uber-aggressive tracks ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ and ‘Paradise City’ slipping into the performance.

The show, which was available as a pay-per-view with the proceeds going to Young’s Bridge School, began with GNR showing off a funkier side with the opening number, ‘You’re Crazy.’ From there, the band kicked into what Rose called “a sentimental ditty” – the favorite ‘Used to Love Her.’

‘Welcome to the Jungle’ and ‘Better’ followed, before the band took on ‘Patience,’ a song seemingly tailor-made for the acoustic performance. The group did a little guitar teasing before launching ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine,’ with DJ Ashba handling the dexterous guitar picking for the track. The band’s performance ended with a solid acoustic version of ‘Paradise City.’

Throughout the set, you could see multiple members of Guns N’ Roses interacting with some of the Bridge School students, who had a close-up seat to catch the performance. Pro-shot video for a number of the songs has surfaced online and can be seen below.

All proceeds from the show go to the Bridge School, which Young and his wife Pegi founded to aid children with severe physical disabilities.

What an amazing show yesterday, even with strep throat, Axl killed it. So awesome to watch Eddie Vedder perform! Great how it went down, as we were walking to stage, Neil's people asked to see if Eddie could perform a few songs; Axl's like, "For sure!"... what a great show, hats off to one of the best weekends I have had.

Eddie Vedder Joins Guns N' Roses and Jack White at Bridge School Benefit
By Daniel Kreps
October 21, 2012 1:44 PM ET

At approximately 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, a member of the Shoreline Amphitheatre security detail radioed his co-workers to inform them that Guns N' Roses' tour bus had arrived at the venue. Now, Axl Rose isn't exactly known to be punctual, so for him to arrive at a venue with the sun still out, there must be a good reason. And there was: GNR, along with Jack White, the Flaming Lips and Ray LaMontagne, up-and-comers like Gary Clark Jr. and Foster the People, and songstresses k.d. lang, Sarah McLachlan, and Lucinda Williams were all scheduled to perform at the Mountain View venue for the first night of Neil Young's annual Bridge School benefit concert, now in its 26th year of raising money for children with speech and physical impairments.

If Rose did arrive at 4 p.m., he made it in time to see Young himself open the festivities by performing "Sugar Mountain" to the Bridge School students and their families, who sat in the rafters immediately behind the stage for the entirety of the nearly nine-hour show. Young then invited his wife Pegi to join him on a poignant, gorgeous rendition of "Comes a Time." Eight hours and a dozen acts later, Young, this time joined by Crazy Horse, would return to the stage.

Gary Clark Jr. had the unenviable role of following Young and playing for the masses of concertgoers finding their seats or spots on the lawn after the mile-long walk from the parking lot. After setting the tone for the night with spirited performances of "When My Train Pulls In" and "Don't Owe You a Thang," Clark's set was unfortunately cut short after three songs due to the tight scheduling. Foster the People likely encountered the same situation when their turn arrived later on: They performed a handful of tracks, including the hit "Don't Stop (Color the Walls)," but "Pumped Up Kicks" didn't make the cut.

After four hours of music – including an irresistable and funny set by Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers – it was time for the Flaming Lips, who would perhaps be the most handcuffed by the Bridge School's all-acoustic doctrine. No matter, Wayne Coyne had a secret weapon: Comedian and human beat box Reggie Watts, who replicated every deep bass, 808, and spacey sound effect on "Fight Test," "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots," and "It's Summertime." To close out their set, the Lips stunned the crowd with a cover of the Beatles' epic "A Day in the Life," featuring Coyne and Watts sharing vocal duties (with the comedian blatantly reading the lyrics off his cell phone).

Next up was Jack White and his all-female backing band, who helped make the Blunderbuss-heavy material sound as though it was being interpreted by the Rolling Thunder Revue. White wrapped up his 30-minute set with a pair of White Stripes classics: A rollicking, country-fried version of "Hotel Yorba" and the tender "We're Going to Be Friends."

After White's set, there was a longer-than-usual break before the next scheduled act, Guns N' Roses. The crowd, already uneasy from the chilly weather, was growing restless. Some audience members audibly wondered whether Axl was about to sabotage the Bridge School benefit with his now-infamous antics. However, the delay was due to what ended up being the night's biggest surprise: an unexpected performance by Pearl Jam frontman and Neil Young acolyte Eddie Vedder.

The audience immediately burst into revelry. "This is the last place I thought I'd be when I woke up today . . . opening for Guns N' Roses," Vedder joked before launching into "Last Kiss," which he said was a favorite of one of the Bridge School students. He followed that up with "Elderly Woman," and with the crowd now in hysterics from his surprise performance, he quickly exited to let GNR take the stage.

If an all-acoustic concert seems like the perfect setting for GNR to focus on the back half of their EP Lies, that same notion didn't escape Axl: Three of the seven songs GNR performed were culled from that disc: Set opener "You're Crazy" (with Axl dropping the F-bomb in front of an audience of children no less than five times), "Used to Love Her," and "Patience." The remainder of the set was rounded out by exhilarating, fresh takes on Appetite for Destruction's three biggest singles, "Welcome to the Jungle," "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Paradise City." Credit also has to go to GNR's army of guitarists – especially DJ Ashba and Bumblefoot – for involving the Bridge School kids in the performance.

Finally, it was time for the Godfather of Grunge, Neil Young. Like the majority of shows on this current Young trek, the Bridge School set list focused on material from his upcoming Psychedelic Pill, albeit in acoustic form, from the autobiographical "Born in Ontario" to the Dylan/Grateful Dead tribute "Twisted Road" and a tight, truncated rendition of the mammoth "Ramada Inn." Alongside old favorites like "Powderfinger" and "The Needle and the Damage Done," Neil did throw some curve balls: The unreleased "Singer Without a Song," featuring Young on piano, resurfaced once again, and Crazy Horse busted out "Like a Hurricane," which hadn’t been played at the Shoreline Amphitheatre for nearly a decade.

That track set the stage for the evening's final performance, the traditional all-star jam. Vedder, White, Coyne, Watts, Foster the People, everybody – except Axl – joined Young for a rousing rendition of "Rockin' in the Free World," its mantra echoing in the heads of thousands of satisfied music fans as they journeyed back toward the parking lots, eager to experience the whole event again on Sunday.