the bridge school benefit 2006

it's fall and that means two things to me: the world series (go tigers!) and the bridge school benefit at shoreline. http://www.bridgeschool.org/













this year we're celebrating the 20th anniversary of the bridge school benefit shows. i'm proud to say that i've worked 19 out of those 20 shows. here are some pics and musings from the shows this weekend:

biggest surprise of the shows (in a good way): this honor goes to trent reznor of "nine inch nails" fame. i was initially skeptical about acoustic versions of nine inch nails songs. trent did an amazing set! he played the grand piano and was backed by a 4-piece string section. the arrangements were fantastic! his set included "Piggy (nothing can stop me now)" and a chilling (it gave me goosebumps) version of "Hurt".






















best story: dave grohl, frontman for the foo fighters, said that the first time he played "everlong" solo and acoustic was at the foo fighters first bridge show (oct. 2000). he said that he realized half-way through the song that it was "really intense" to be playing it acoustically. dave looked out at the audience and spotted his best friend who was crying (the song is really beautiful) and then dave started crying. he finished the song and walked off stage passing neil young and david crosby on his way. neil and david both gave him a thumbs up and said "good job kid". then dave said that he ran back to his dressing room and just sobbed he was so overwhelmed by the experience.






















brushes with fame: in 2004 i brushed elbows (literally) with paul mccartney. this year i finally got to meet eddie vedder. pearl jam has played the bridge benefit many times but this was my first official handshake with the lead pearl. he's very short. about 5' 4" and was in a very good mood this weekend. he really likes doing these shows. lucky for me!