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Bridge School Benefit: October 26, 2003
Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre
featuring: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Willie Nelson, Pearl Jam, Wilco, Indigo Girls, Counting Crows, Incubus and Dashboard Confessional.
Pearl Jam Set:
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
Better Man
Old McDonald Parody (Old Dick Cheney)
Down
Crazy Mary
Masters Of War
Long Road
Notes: I'd originally planned to go only to Saturday's show, but a
friend of mine got great seats for Sunday's show at the last minute, so I
changed my mind and went to Sunday's show too. Here is what I wrote
about it in my online journal a few days later:
So...remember all that talk about me going to JUST Saturday's show?
Maybe I didn't go into it that much here in my journal, but I'd pretty
much decided with 98% certainty that I would not go to Sunday's show,
partly because I wasn't feeling the excitement over the lineup, and
partly because I really, REALLY needed to watch my spending.
Well, on Saturday during the drive over to Hollister (where I would be
spending the night with my friend Trsih), my excitement was bubbling and
I was giving serious thought to attending Sunday's show. I decided I
would see how I felt about the show that night, and leave myself open to
decide one way or another on Sunday. I mentioned this thought to my
friends and the response was pretty much, "Oh you KNOW you're gonna go,
Jen" or, "You should go! C'mon, you're already here!" When I parted ways
with my PJ buds on Saturday night I left it very much in the air. "I'll
see how I feel tomorrow..."
I woke up shortly before 9 and just wasn't feeling like I wanted to
spend hours in line to get day-of tickets, and then deal with all
afternoon/evening of the show and then the drive back to Hollister with
tired eyes. I was in the middle of text messaging someone, requesting a
telephone call if PJ played "Fatal" or "Hard to Imagine," when I got a
call from Gardner.
G: "Hey, I never heard from you as to whether or not you were going down
to the venue today..."
J: "Oh, I didn't know I was supposed to check in with you. Uhh, I don't
think I'm going to make it up there today. I'm still in bed, and by the
time I get up and get there it's gonna be too late to get in line to get
anything good."
The he told me he'd just purchased two tickets in section 102, row L,
off of Ticketmaster online.
J: *stammering* "Oh man...um...is that a pair you got, or a single?"
G: "A pair. But, you know, if you're not coming..."
J: "Umm, are you offering me one?"
G: "If you'll pay me for it."
*pause* (though a very short one.)
J: "Okay. Yes, I'll buy it."
In my half-asleep delirium I actually told him I loved him. Hahahaaa!!
We made arrangements to meet and then I got my butt in the shower and
got my shit together and headed to the venue.
I got there at 12:30, before the big crowds got there, but because of a
little mishap Gardner had with his keys and a locked car, we didn't meet
up and get inside the venue until after 2:30. I decided we could both
use a drink when we got in, so we hit the bar. We couldn't find a place
to sit down, so we went to our seats in the pavilion. (Mmm...let me say
that I LOVE sitting in the 100's section.) We sat there for about a
minute during Dashboard, and it was more than we could handle, so we
went elsewhere in search of shade, seats, and some quiet. We went back
to watch Counting Crows, and we stayed for half of Wilco, but we were
getting a bit bored and hungry after that, so we got something to eat.
We chatted with a guy at a picnic table who said he was a pretty big PJ
fan. He hadn't seen them since Maui in 1998, when he was living in
Waikiki. I think it really surprised him when I said I was also at that
show because he said, "You were there? You were at Maui?" about a
million times. ;-P
We watched the Indigo Girls after that, and they were enjoyable. Nice
vocal harmonies, and decent guitar skills. Incubus were up next, and I
was hoping to hear "Teardrop" again, but it didn't happen. There were
about four girls sitting behind us who were obviously there for Incubus.
(And obvious seat-hoppers, because they were in those seats for Incubus
only. Someone else occupied them for PJ until the end) I heard them
chatting about the show the night before, and they didn't know what the
cover was, so I turned around and got to play Wise Old Music Nerd and
fill them in. ;-)
Then came that Pearl Jam band again. Ed, Jeff, and Matt opened with
"You've Got To Hide Your Love Away," which was a real crowd pleaser.
After that they were joined by Stone, and Mike, who was wearing a dress
shirt and tie. (Gardner: "Huh, maybe he had a job interview...") The
next two songs were "Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town"
and "Betterman." Betterman was dedicated to Maricor, since she already
got her favorite song the night before. Kind of a strange dedication,
when you think about what the song is about, but uh...whatever.
Ed did a little improv about Dick Cheney to the tune of "Old
MacDonald" (as in, Old MacDonald had a farm...) to fulfill a supposed
request for "Old Macdonald." "here a Bush, there a Bush, everywhere a
Bush, Bush. Old Dick Cheney had a plan, E-I-E-I-Oil..." Amusing, indeed.
The next song was a surprise: "Down," which is my favorite B-side from
Riot Act. This song is just a lot of fun live and it's not one
I'd expect them to perform acoustically. The crowd at large didn't
really know it, but Gardner and I had fun bouncing around.
This was followed by "Crazy Mary," which is a lot more enjoyable when
you haven't heard it three shows in a row, and when Mike and Boom don't
go on for forever at the end. ;-P After that it was just Mike, Ed, and
Stone for "Masters of War," the only song repeated between their two
sets, and I was NOT complaining to hear it again. I was much closer to
both the stage and the screen overhead, so I got a better look at just
how intense Ed gets. I would NOT want to be the person he's staring at
while he's singing that song. You'd be likely to get a hole burned right
through your head!
And then Neil Young sat down at the pump organ formerly occupied by
Boom, and they did the last song of the set: Long Road. This song has
always held a special place in my heart, but it was especially
bittersweet for me on Sunday night because it made me think about my
grandfather (who'd passed away 6 days before), and I just could not keep
the tears contained in my eyes.
and the wind is blowin'
and the sky is turning grey
and the sun is setting
the sun will rise another day
If I've managed to keep myself together during the first part of the
song, I always lose it at that verse. I had no chance at all at keeping
it together last night, though. Absolutely none. Ed also changed the
repeated lyric "cannot stay" to "you're not there." Geez Vedder, were
you deliberately doing everything in your power to make me a
crying-sappy-baby mess? Well, mission duly accomplished.
I wasn't really the same after that. I think G noticed the change in my
demeanor, and he asked if I was disappointed in the set and I said no,
not at all, I was just thinking about my grampa. He understood. He gave
me a comforting half-hug and said he wasn't really good with "that
stuff," but I said it was okay, and that I was okay. Crying during "Long
Road" wasn't necessarily a bad thing, because I certainly have some
tears that need to get out. But for the rest of the night, my grampa and
that song were at the forefront of my mind. I was physically present in
my seat for Willie Nelson and CSNY, but mentally and emotionally, the
show was over for me.
The last song, "Teach Your Children Well," was very nice and cute, with
many of the night's performers joining Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young
to sing and play. Ed was up there, red plastic cup in hand, looking like
he was having a grand old time. It was a warm wrap up to the evening.
(October 28, 2003)
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