Lineup for 2011 Bridge School Benefit Concert Announced

UPDATE - Bridge School Benefit Concert 2011 - Reports



Here's the lineup for the 25th Annual Bridge School Benefit Concert:

Coming in moments...

• Neil Young
  
• Dave Mathews
  
• Arcade Fire
  
• Los Invisibles, featuring Carlos Santana, Cindy Blackman Santana & Guests
  
• Eddie Vedder
  
• Foo Fighters (Sunday only)
  
• Mumford & Sons
  
• Tony Bennett (Sunday only)
  
• Beck
  
• Diana Krall (Saturday only)
  
• Jenny Lewis

Tickets will go on sale September 16th through Live Nation. Information about ticket sales, pricing, seating charts, parking, etc. can be found on the Live Nation site.

Dates for the 25th Annual Bridge School Benefit Concert are October 22 & 23, 2011.

Become a friend of The Bridge School on Facebook and get the most up to date and immediate information and updates.

Also, follow the Bridge School and the Bridge Concert on Twitter for the same.
@bridgeschool
@bridgeconcert

This year's concert will be the most social and networked connected event yet, both before and during the concert weekend.

For those unable to attend, it is expected that you can be part of the show via Facebook and Twitter.

In the coming days The Bridge School will have more announcements. They will also be first revealed via The Bridge School | Facebook and Bridge School | Twitter.

From Bridge School Benefit to Feature Arcade Fire, Foo Fighters, Mumford Sons | Rolling Stone Music By Andy Greene:

Neil Young and his wife Pegi founded the Bridge School in 1986 when they became frustrated over their inability to find an adequate school for their son Ben. The annual concert helps raise much-needed funds for the school. "Neil came up with the acoustic format," Pegi Young told Rolling Stone in 2010. "It was genius. Nobody was doing that at the time. This was before MTV Unplugged or any of that. It was also a good way to keep the costs down and do something a little edgy for a lot of people and really take them out of their comfort zone."

Also, see complete reports on 2010 Bridge School Benefit Concert (24th Annual) with reviews, photos, YouTube videos and commentary.

Also, see The Triumphant Reunion of The Buffalo Springfield, Pearl Jam and Neil Young @ 2010 Bridge School Benefit Concerts.

UPDATE - Bridge School Benefit Concert 2011 - Reports

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Neil Young Chatters @ Dreamforce 2011

Neil Young @ Dreamforce 2011
Moscone Convention Center, San Francisco - August 31, 2011
Photo by Jakub Mosur

Neil Young was featured at the Keynote Address for the Dreamforce 2011 Conference at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco last week.

Neil discussed his LincVolt project, which used the Chatter application by Salesforce, which is a cloud-based CRM tool. It's similar to Facebook and Twitter in terms of social networking functionality, but has a more intuitive, user friendly design. Users can share status update messages, files, photos, and other objects directly in their status feed, "like" stuff, tag, etc all via a single interface rather than a convoluted mishmash of sub-menus, popups, hidden icons, cryptic commands, nonsensical options, impenetrable display logic, confoundedly confusing "privacy" controls, etc.

Neil used Chatter to collaborate with everyone who worked on the LincVolt car and its technology and film. Neil found the tool to be instrumental to the project's success.

Marc Benioff, MC Hammer, Neil Young and Elliot Roberts

Neil Young & Marc Benioff

Thanks Peter W.!



More on Neil Young showcasing Linc-Volt at last years' 2010 Dreamforce Conference.

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Comment of the Moment: Buffalo Springfield 2012 Tour Postponed Yet Again

Buffalo Springfield
2010 Bridge School Concert - 10/23/10
Photo gallery by Nan Philpot | Facebook

The news last week that the Buffalo Springfield 2012 Reunion Tour was off again brought about the expected fan outcry of disappointment, bewilderment and false hopes.

So who's putting sponge in the bells we once rang?

First of all, it would seem that Stephen Stills radio interview needs to be listened to very carefully. Some sense that Stephen was just deflecting the question about the reunion tour being off because Neil Young is "writing a book" as only his opinion for the reason.

Stills direct quote, is "Neil [Young] started a book and said, 'Don't mess with the muse, man.'"

Later Rolling Stone Music quoted Richie Furay's manager David Spero saying:

"This delay happened for a multitude of reasons.

The plan is still to tour next year. There's not a timeline at this point. Buffalo Springfield is at the top of Neil's list of priorities. It's just a matter of finding a time that works for everybody."

So what's really going on here?

As an aside, it should not go unnoticed that ever since the Buffalo Springfield announced their reunion for the 2010 Bridge School Concert it has almost always exclusively been Richie Furay who has been quoted in the press about the reunion. Richie's enthusiasm for the reunion is sincerely genuine and heartfelt which has been characterized as "The Unfinished Business of Buffalo Springfield".

On the other hand, Neil's statements on the reunion have been conspicuously absent which has led some to feel that while it was Richie's chance to finally be back in the spotlight, maybe Neil was less than 100% totally enthusiastic about taking the reunion on an extended tour.

As we tried to come to grips with the latest in the seemingly never ending on again/off again drama, we heard some humor tinged bitterness, most frequently taking the form of "Eat a peach" in reference to Neil's infamous telegram to Stephen during the 1976 Long May You Run tour.

Again, much chatter on the subject, which leads us to the Comment of the Moment on Buffalo Springfield 2012 Tour: Not Going Down by Dan1:

Just saw this news and can't help but feel initially disappointed ...

we've been blessed for a number of years now to have Neil almost constantly touring and putting out new (and old material) it has truly been a worldwind for Neil fans for the past number of years ... it seems of late that things have slowed down a bit ...

can't help but wonder if the loss of Ben Keith plays into this somewhat ...

it seems that he was really lovin' that band for the past number of years and it just opened up his whole canon and brought a vibrancy to the shows and to what was possible for Neil to play. That along with Archives I with all its warts marked at least a multi year peak of being a Neil fan IMHO ... with Ben's passing he moved on the Le Noise, which in my mind was an epic master piece easily the best studio album in 10 years ...

Le Noise exposed how alone Neil was/is in terms of the options out there for pushing forward .. basically he was saying he'll just keep pushing forward alone because there isn't a great band option to inspire him ...

The Horse always had its limitations in terms of testing Neil's impatience and one can only think it gets harder not easier as everyone gets older and perhaps rustier (no pun intended) ...

Seems Neil always wanted the Springfield reunion and it happened but my guess is his enthusiasm, after a pause, waned as he realized it happened, now what, not sure Neil could stay that enthused for a whole tour and he's not a faker as we all know ...

I wonder if the book was as much the muse saying no to Springfield as it was saying yes to a book (just a theory) ... seems like maybe Neil will stay on the sidelines until the music starts pounding (or strumming) in his head and then he'll be back with vigor and passion which is what we all expect and love about him ...

the lack of band options at this stage is a big question mark and in retrospect, even though we all knew it, we were blessed with his previous band which without Ben is clearly no longer ...

the good news is that we all know Neil can't stay on the sidelines for too long and the break, as hard as it is to accept, will be the bridge to renewal and the next chapter in his live performances which is bound to be fabulous. In the interim, we fortunately have a vast canon of live and studio music to rediscover until Neil comes around again.

Dan

Thanks, as always, Dan1!

Lastly, this sort of situation was a long running frustration joke with the incessantly on again/off again drama of the Neil Young Archives release date always being pushed off to "next June". ;)

So we leave you with a little YouTube clip below...

Charlie Brown & Lucy - "The Football Scene" on YouTube

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"You Never Call" - Neil Young, Albany, NY, May 18th, 2010

Neil Young -You Never Call by renzo39

"You Never Call" - Neil Young, Albany, NY, at Palace Theatre, May 18th, 2010

Audio synced with some nice photos of concert.

The sky is threatening...

(Note, 30 second advertising pre-roll.)

Also, see Neil Young Concert Reviews - Albany, NY, May 18, 2010.

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Preview Clip of Neil Young Journeys: New Jonathan Demme Film

UPDATE: 9/13/11 - Report from TIFF of Neil Young Journeys Film Premiere



Here's a clip of the upcoming film Neil Young Journeys. (Also, titled Neil Young Life).

As we reported earlier, Jonathan Demme's third Neil Young concert film will debut at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

Demme's final installment in his concert film trilogy was shot last May over two nights at Massey Hall in Toronto.

From TIFF 2011 Films - Neil Young Life:

This past May, Neil Young brought his solo tour to Toronto’s Massey Hall, an iconic venue in the city of his birth. Jonathan Demme was on hand to capture the two nights, which highlighted new songs from the album Le Noise, produced by Daniel Lanois, mixed with classics like “Ohio” and “I Believe in You.” At sixty-five, Young retains a youthful vitality and musical curiosity that balances his wisdom and experience. It’s no wonder he’s been an inspiration to the likes of Pearl Jam and Sonic Youth. In Neil Young Life, Demme intersperses the Massey Hall concert footage with brief scenes from a road trip through Ontario. Driving a 1956 Ford Crown Victoria, Young visits the rural town of Omemee, where he spent a key part of his formative years, and reminisces about his former neighbours and their daughters. As he drives past bulldozers transforming the landscape, he remarks, “It’s all gone… it’s still in my head.”

More on Neil Young at Massey Hall in Toronto.

ps - Trunk Show will be released this Fall . next year . NYA Volume #7 . Nobody seems to know?

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UPDATE: 9/13/11 - Report from TIFF of Neil Young Journeys Film Premiere

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Buffalo Springfield 2012 Tour: Not Going Down - UPDATED

Hey! Who's that stomping all over my face?

It now seems as if the long awaited Buffalo Springfield 2012 Reunion Tour will not be going down after all.

There have been quite a few rumors, confirmations, denials, and relentless speculation about Buffalo Springfield reunion tour plans over the past months.

In an interview with Stephen Stills on 97.3 KBCO: World Class Rock, Stills says the tour is off, that he will tour solo, Richie Furay has solo tour plans also, Crosby & Nash will tour together next summer, and Neil Young is "writing a book".

Stills says, "Neil [Young] started a book and said, 'Don't mess with the muse, man.'"

Buffalo Springfield
Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Rick Rosas and Richie Furay
Fox Theater, Oakland, California, June 2, 2011
Photo by and courtesy of Suzi Roks Photography (all other rights reserved)

We're really not sure where to go with this.

We could blog on all of Richie Furay's quotes on the tour happening.

Or recite stories of Neil and his on and off relationship with his bandmates.

Or about how we thought Neil was working on NYA Volume #2.

Or whether following The Muse is a good idea.

But we won't. Not today.

Because we're so grateful that we saw the triumphant reunion of The Buffalo Springfield at 2010 Bridge School Benefit Concerts.

And, for what it's worth, those memories can never be taken away from any of us.


Stephen Stills, Richie Furay & Neil Young
Buffalo Springfield @ Bridge School Concert - 10/23/10
Photo by John Green - San Jose Mercury/Bay Area News Group

UPDATE: From Buffalo Springfield Postpone Reunion Tour Again | Rolling Stone Music By Andy Greene:

"This delay happened for a multitude of reasons," Richie Furay's manager David Spero tells Rolling Stone. "The plan is still to tour next year. There's not a timeline at this point. Buffalo Springfield is at the top of Neil's list or priorities. It's just a matter of finding a time that works for everybody."

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Won't You Please Come to Chicago?

"Chicago" by Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young.

A music video project for a history class.

Does anyone remember Chicago in the Fall of 1968?

Will anyone remember Washington in the summer of 2011?

Tar Sands Action
Day 12: 706 Arrests

Won't You Please Come to Washington? Please?

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