Organised by Canadian music legend Neil Young and his wife Pegi, the Bridge School Benefit Concert always manages to bring out the big names to do some pretty interesting covers and collaborations, year in year out, all in the name of raising money for charity. This year’s showing was no exception.
Appearing on the lineup of the 26th Annual Bridge School Benefit Concert were The Flaming Lips, Jack White, Foster The People, KD Lang, Ray LaMontagne, Gary Clark Jr., and a surprise appearance from Eddie Vedder.
“This is the last place I thought I’d be when I woke up today… opening for Guns N’ Roses,” said the Pearl Jam frontman, who performed renditions of ‘Elderly Woman’ and ‘Last Kiss’ to the crowd, filling in a last-minute slot when Axl Rose and his cohorts struggled to make their afternoon appearance.
Performing on day two of the event, Guns N Roses eventually made it on stage to perform acoustic renditions of “Welcome To The Jungle”, “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “Paradise City” and welcomed their host to the stage for a version of “Don’t Let It Bring You Down”, a track from Young’s 1970 album, After The Gold Rush.“This is the last place I thought I’d be when I woke up today… opening for Guns N’ Roses,”
“This song has always given me hope over the years, so we asked Neil if we could do it,” frontman Axl Rose said of the cover.
Due to tight scheduling, many sets were cut short, including Gary Clark Jr.’s, after only three songs, and Foster the People’s hit “Pumped Up Kicks” couldn’t even be squeezed into their setlist.
The crowd was treated to a set by irresistible funny-man Steve Martin, while The Flaming Lips (of course) made it around the acoustic-only rule by bringing another comedian with them, Reggie Watts, to beat box every bass, 808, and spacey sound effect of “Fight Test”, “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1” and “It’s Summertime”.
Jack White chose his all-female backing band, The Peacocks, to join him on stage for a Blunderbuss-heavy set, with a few White Stripes classics thrown in for good measure, including “Hotel Yorba” and “We’re Going To Be Friends”.“This song has always given me hope over the years, so we asked Neil if we could do it,”
The 26th Annual Bridge School Benefit Concert was closed with Neil Young and Crazy Horse being joined on stage by Jack White, Eddie Vedder, Mark Foster, KD Lang, and Wayne Coyne for an all-star rendition of “Rockin’ In The Free World”.
It’s incredible moments like these that Young organises year after year to raise funds for the Bridge School in Hillsborough, California, a facility that develops and uses advanced technologies to aid in the instruction of children with disabilities.
Two of Young’s children, Zeke and Ben, were diagnosed with cerebral palsy at an early age. Young’s partner, Pegi, later co-founded the Bridge School with Jim Forderer in 1986. The first benefit concert to raise the necessary money to start the school was held the same year, with the school then opening in 1987.
