TOUR ARCHIVE

Date: 2007-10-28
Location: Mountain View, CA - United States [9 shows here]
Venue: Shoreline Amphitheatre [9 shows here]
Info: The Bridge School Benefit
Fan reviews: 1 - Add yours!
Author: Phil
Setlist: Yes

Phil's Bridge School Benefit 2007 Review
Opening Words
Day 1 -- 10/27/07
Day 2 -- 10/28/07

Opening Words
Josh and I flew to Mountain View to see both days of the Bridge School Benefit 2007. It was an amazing and once-in-a-lifetime experience that's very hard to relate, but below are pictures and a review that attempt.

Day 1 -- 10/27/07
Josh and I headed to the venue early in the afternoon. The goal was to get there in time to see all the acts, but we also knew we didn't really care if we missed one or two.

We arrived, got in, and noticed while we walked around heard someone on stage. Based on the time, it was clear it was still the first artist: Regina Spektor. It didn't sound like we were missing much so we scoped out dinner and t-shirt options, and then headed to find our seats. Our seats were towards the back of the second section (the last section before the lawn seats at the back), smack in the middle. By the time we got to our seats, Regina Spektor was finished and Sara & Tegan were setting up.

Here are some pictures of the stage, but note that we were just a bit too far away to get good pictures with my camera. I got better pictures on day 2 when we were closer.

At the back of the stage were several kids from the school. This was very cool. In addition to those kids getting very special seats, it was a constant reminder of the reason we were all there: to support a very, very important cause.

Sara & Tegan turned out to be pretty decent, much to our surprise. They were clearly very nervous, but put on a good show. There were two particularly entertaining moments. The first was in a song called SOS in which they sing, as you might guess "S-O-S" but Josh leaned over and asked me, "Are they singing, 'Ass... Hole.. Yes!'?" Then during another song, I could have sworn they were singing, "I just want that peculiar head," but they were actually singing, "I just want back into your head."

We then left to go find dinner and miss My Morning Jacket. The shoreline amphitheater had surprisingly good food. I had Bratwurst and garlic fries, and Josh had pizza and garlic fries. The bratwurst was very good and the garlic fries were some of the best I've ever had.

Safely through My Morning Jacket, we returned to our seats to see John Mayer. Admittedly, I didn't know much about John Mayer. I knew who he was, but I couldn't have told you any of his songs. Even not expecting anything, his performance was disappointing. I really don't like his music, and his performance isn't any better.

After John Mayer, James Hetfield came out to introduce Tom Waits and the Kronos Quartet. Tom Waits was another artist I'd only heard of. It took me a few songs to get into him, but man, he really kicks ass! I mean, just amazing stuff. I can see why some people can't get past the voice, but if you can, it really adds to the music! His antics and seizure-looking-dancing were awesome and endlessly entertaining! Josh and I were both blown away.

Next up was the show's namesake, Neil Young. This was a surprise because we figured he'd either go on last, or just before the Metallica. Of course, Neil performs every year. After all he does for such a great cause, he deserves to perform, and many people come to see him. As much as I'm not a fan, I was interested in seeing the performance. But it was a huge letdown. He really puts on a boring show. He doesn't move much, his vocals don't carry much emotion for his songs, and he just generally wasn't very good.

Jerry Lee Lewis followed Neil Young. Josh and I were particularly excited to see him play. He doesn't perform anymore, so this was a very special occasion. After Neil introduced him, he very slowly hobbled across the stage towards his piano bench. I braced myself for a bad show. He sat down, said a few words and then busted out Chuck Berry's Roll Over Beethoven impeccably! It was truly stunning. Despite having significant effort walking, his hands flew over that piano as if he was 20 years old. It was an amazing sight. He continued to bust out an amazing set including the classic Great Balls of Fire and Shake Baby Shake. He even told a few jokes. Bravo Jerry!

Here are some pictures of Lewis' set:

There was quite a long break after Jerry. After a long wait and a lot of stage work, Metallica hit the stage at 11:30pm. They opened with funk: Rare Earth's I Just Want to Celebrate! They absolutely nailed this! As with all Metallica covers they added their own kick to it, but really utilized the acoustic show to make the most out of this classic. Afterwards James said, "Bridge School shocker: Metallica plays accoustic and funk!" much to everyone's amusement.

After a few more words they played Nazareth's Please Don't Judas Me. This song grew on me by the end, but I wasn't sure about it in the beginning. In retrospect it's a very cool song. James' vocals really shined in this song.

Metallica followed, much to everyone's surprise, with Garbage's I'm Only Happy When It Rains. I didn't recognize the song, but about 45 seconds in Josh figured out what it was and told me. We both said, "no way!" This was really cool. They really kept Garbage's struggling feel to it while infusing it with that signature Metallica kick ass! This was my favorite of the 4 new covers of the evening. Afterwards, James proclaimed, "that was Garbage! No, really!"

They then launched into Brothers in Arms by the Dire Straits. This was a very somber tune and quite appropriate for such a benefit. They really did a stellar job with it. Unfortunately I'm not much of a Dire Straits fan, and this song didn't do that much for me.

At this point, James said, "So, I think we're done with the covers. We might cover... some Metallica songs. Or we could just write some. Let's just write some songs!" There was much cheer and laughter. He then said, "See if you can figure this one out. This is good," and they launched into Disposable Heroes. As we learned at the last Bridge School show Metallica played at in 1997, they have an amazing talent for converting their songs into acoustic songs. This was another amazing feat. We didn't really figure it out until when the first verse started. When we did, we were blown away that this could be Disposable Heroes! It was so different, yet so similar! It was so cool!! This was amazing!

Afterwards, James asked if we figured it out, and confirmed that it was in fact Disposable Heroes. He said, "here's another test" and then they played what was, in my opinion, the best song of the night: All Within My Hands. To quote the So What! editor, this really proved that St. Anger's material really is infinitely versatile! This song came together breathtakingly well. A definite highlight of the night.

Metallica followed with Turn the Page. As you probably noticed, this is a cover originally by Bob Seger. So much for no more covers! Perhaps this doesn't count having appeared on a Metallica album. Anyway, it came as no surprise that this translated very well to acoustic. This was another testament to Metallica's ability in translating songs - it came out great.

Metallica finished with the obvious choice of Nothing Else Matters, their finale from the first 1997 night as well. This always plays well on acoustic and went very well.

Metallica thanked Neil, the audience, and others. They gave hi-fives to many of the kids on stage.

Here are some 'tallica pics:

Overall, it was a terrific show - the boys really stepped up. They took some very bold chances, and I really think they paid off. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Day 2
The show started much earlier today, Josh and I headed down to the amphitheater around the beginning. However, today all of the streets around the venue were packed with traffic. It took a very long time just to make a u-turn to grab some food at Jack in the Box for lunch.

Anyway, once we were parked we headed in. We had already missed Regina Specktor, and sat down in our decidedly better seats. Today we were on the left side, but we were significantly closer to the stage - just a few rows from the front of the "middle" section (as far as I know, the first section was never publicly onsale).

We sat down and there was a very talkative hippie dude with his wife next to us. He was nice enough, but damn if he wasn't annoying.

Here are some pictures of the stage from our new and improved seats.

Sara & Tegan improved tonight. They were clearly less nervous and more comfortable. I give them a lot of credit, they put a lot of emotion into their music. They had more banter in between songs - they even mentioned that that's the hard part, because you don't practice talking to an audience, you practice playing.

We stayed for My Morning Jacket. For their absurd name, they could have been worse. They weren't horrible. But they definitely weren't good either.

Next up was John Mayer, who still sucked. He was wearing a black and white striped sweater that made him look like Prison Where's Waldo.

At this point Josh was starving, so we went to go find food for him. As he was sitting eating a slice of pizza a group of girls walked by discussing what to eat. One of the girls looked at his pizza and she said "... but not the pizza." I found this highly entertaining.

We missed the first part of Tom Waits while Josh ate dinner, so I don't know if James introduced him or not. Tom, as always, was fantastic. I caught pictures of him this time:

They switched up the schedule tonight and Jerry Lee Lewis came out before Neil Young. However, he invited Neil Young onstage to play a song with him, and then Neil end up staying for the rest of the set. He did better when he was playing with Jerry than he did in his own set! Lewis added Chuck Berry's Johnny Be Good to the set, which of course was a huge hit! Here are pictures of Lewis:

Neil Young came out and played a similarly boring set to last night including a 15 minute mind-numbing song. However, he did add his classic Cinnamon Girl to the set, which the crowd was pleased to hear.

Metallica came on at about 9:08 and once again kicked serious ass! They started again with I Just Want to Celebrate and Please Don't Judas Me, which, like last night, were awesome. Judas really grew on me. After Judas, they dropped Garbage and replaced it with Blue Oyster Cult's Veteran of a Psychic War. This was a really neat song acoustically and was a lot of fun. They did a fantastic job with it. They once again played Brothers in Arms, and All Within My Hands, but then dropped Turn the Page for The Unforgiven. I was thrilled about this! Getting to hear it acoustic was very cool and a very rare opportunity! They of course finished with Nothing Else Matters. As good as last night's show was, I wouldn't have thought this possible, but they stepped it up even more tonight! Last night was amazing, but tonight they were just a bit tighter. Amazing job guys, I won't forget these shows!

Here are the pictures from Metallica's set:

After that, we hit up the In 'N Out across the street for dinner, and headed home! We had a flight in the morning.

You can find videos from the shows: one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen sixteen seventeen eighteen.