The Bridge School Benefit Concert
Pegi Intro, Blowin In The Wind (solo), Heart Of Gold (solo), Comes A Time (solo), Out On The Weekend (w/Jack Johnson), Harvest Moon (w/My Morning Jacket), I Dreamed A Neil Young Song (w/Arcade Fire), Just A Song Before I Go (CSNY), Human Highway (CSNY), Don’t Want Lies (CSNY), Singer Without A Song (CSNY), What Are Their Names (CSNY), Deja Vu (CSNY), Long May You Run (CSNY), Suite: Judy Blue Eyes (CSNY), Teach Your Children (All Star Finale)
Every year since 1986 Neil Young has headlined a benefit concert for the Bridge School, a private school located in Hillsborough California. It is a school which educates children with severe speech and physical impairments. The School was co-founded by Neil’s wife Pegi Young.
This 27th year the organizers put together an interesting lineup of performers who all seemed happy to be there and to be sharing the stage with Neil Young. The main event of the show was Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s headlining performance. As CSNY proper have not toured together since 2006 this show fueled speculation that a more permanent reunion, perhaps a larger tour, might be in the works. Nothing however was confirmed so CSNY fans will be left to wonder.
All in all a nice cross section of material is presented here including the Young rarity “Singer Without A Song” and Crosby’s solo “What Are Their Names”. There will be something for everyone here, from the casual to the most hard core fan of CSN with or without Y. Being a big CSNY fan from years gone by I am happy I picked this release up for my collection. I admit to having been most interested in the CSNY tunes at first but after listening I was pleasantly surprised with the contributions of the other performers on the stage as well. While the CSNY voices have gotten older since the “good old days”, they can still knock out 3 and 4 part harmonies like almost nobody else.
Sound quality of the show is outstanding and the packaging is what we have come to expect from Godfather Records. A nice cardboard trifold that contains not only a detailed write-up but some nice pictures of the concert poster as well as of the show itself. Not overdone, not underdone….just right.
I would highly recommend this release to any fan of CSNY in any of their group or solo manifestations. As I’ve already mentioned there should be something for everyone and the contributions of the other artists are a very complimentary addition as well. Pick up a copy and enjoy!
