This past weekend I headed out to San Francisco for the Bridge School Benefit show with Jack & Eddie. Of course the weather was what one would expect when I travel to your city.* We had initially planned to attend both nights but considering the weather, personal wellness and Jack & Eddies’ pre-dawn flight on Monday we skipped out on the second day.
The way the Bridge School is setup is each group/performer has about 20 minutes on stage which usually translates to about four or five songs and then they break to reset the stage. The first band up when we got there was Modest Mouse which I’ve never seen before and I was really interested in how they were going to play their songs acoustic. They just rocked. Nothing more to it than that. We also got to see Billy Idol perform the closest thing he’ll ever get to an acoustic set. Needless to say it was amazing.** I think one of the first non Ice-T cd’s I have ever owned was Rebel Yell so there was a lot of fist pumping.
I thought Pearl Jam’s set was really good, a good portion of the songs I’ve never heard. This is the entire setlist: Last Kiss, Unthought Known, Santa Cruz, Nothingman, Dancing Barefoot, Better Man, Walk With Me, Just Breathe, and Black. Santa Cruz I guess is a song Eddie Vedder has done on his solo tour and Walk With Me is from Neil Young’s new album Le Noise. I thought those two were the best songs we heard all night.
Besides the rain and the $10 non-premium beers the only other complaint I have was Elvis Costello just dragging on his set. I last saw Elvis Costello back in Columbus when he toured for his ‘When I Was Cruel’ album. What he’s up to now is not for me.
Side Notes:
* Last time I went to San Francisco it was an unseasonal 90 degrees and I received one of the worst sunburns of my life. This time around it didn’t stop raining for more than an hour my entire trip. This is how I roll into your city, with blatant disregard for seasonal norms.
** The one issue with seeing a show like this with such a range of musicians is different people are in to different groups and they can be total assholes when some one they don’t care about is performing. In other words, don’t talk when Billy Idol sings.