Troy
10-25-2004, 08:22 AM
For the last 13 years Neil Young has been staging this annual benefit concert in the bay area for the school that one of his kids (with cerebral palsy) attends. It attracts some major names, usually doing acoustic unplugged type sets, and this year was no exception. A buddy of mine laid tix on me and the wife. Kewl!
The Shoreline Ampitheater was packed to the gills with a really left wing deadhead type crowd. A real loose and partying bunch. We arrived a bit late for the 2PM start and watched Los Lonelyboys and Eddie Vedder do acoustic sets from the bar. Neither appealed to me. It was just Vedder and a guitar. Blah. The guy is no troubador.
We piled into the seats for for a mildly interesting Ben Harper set. Then came the Chilli Peppers. Never seen these guys before and I found the acoustic nature of the set pretty unusual. Great rhythm section in that band. And then came Tony Bennet. Tony Bennett? If it sounds incongruous it was, but you know what? Best act so far. Lots of energy and a real swinging (reletively) big band. They were terriffic and completely won most of the crowd over. By far, the most interesting music of the day utilizing rhythms just not found in rock music.
Neil Young staggered out for a quick set with just a guitar and a female singer. I listened to a few songs. The guy's a really good songwriter, but I'm not a fan of his presentation. Time for a pee and margarita.
The show closed with Paul McCartney. He had a small combo with him and he played almost all BeAtles songs. The crowd went nuts. You just aren't gonna get a chance to see a Beatle very often and the audience sensed and savored it. Pauly's pretty ingratiating and trite. After the rhythmic subtlty and old school panache of Bennett, his presentation was kinda stiff and stilted. But those Beatles songs, they are wrapped around our DNA. Everybody knows those songs inside out and backward and they connected on a visceral level with all of us.
The 6 hours of music (we attended) went pretty fast and I have a blazing hangover this morning.
The Shoreline Ampitheater was packed to the gills with a really left wing deadhead type crowd. A real loose and partying bunch. We arrived a bit late for the 2PM start and watched Los Lonelyboys and Eddie Vedder do acoustic sets from the bar. Neither appealed to me. It was just Vedder and a guitar. Blah. The guy is no troubador.
We piled into the seats for for a mildly interesting Ben Harper set. Then came the Chilli Peppers. Never seen these guys before and I found the acoustic nature of the set pretty unusual. Great rhythm section in that band. And then came Tony Bennet. Tony Bennett? If it sounds incongruous it was, but you know what? Best act so far. Lots of energy and a real swinging (reletively) big band. They were terriffic and completely won most of the crowd over. By far, the most interesting music of the day utilizing rhythms just not found in rock music.
Neil Young staggered out for a quick set with just a guitar and a female singer. I listened to a few songs. The guy's a really good songwriter, but I'm not a fan of his presentation. Time for a pee and margarita.
The show closed with Paul McCartney. He had a small combo with him and he played almost all BeAtles songs. The crowd went nuts. You just aren't gonna get a chance to see a Beatle very often and the audience sensed and savored it. Pauly's pretty ingratiating and trite. After the rhythmic subtlty and old school panache of Bennett, his presentation was kinda stiff and stilted. But those Beatles songs, they are wrapped around our DNA. Everybody knows those songs inside out and backward and they connected on a visceral level with all of us.
The 6 hours of music (we attended) went pretty fast and I have a blazing hangover this morning.