Pearl Jam Mountain View, CA Concert History

Ed walks onto the Bridge School stage for the 17th time and addresses the crowd by saying “Good evening, campers!” Better Man is performed with a substantial Save It For Later tag for the first time at Bridge. After Elderly Woman, Ed thanks the Bridge School for educating them about communication, compassion, possibilities, positive reinforcement and unconditional love before leading into a rare performance of The Kids Are Alright. A slight lyric change occurs in the song to “these kids are alright”, clearly addressing the Bridge School students. Speaking of students, Sirens is a request from Maricor. The performance is tuned a bit higher than usual, but in a rare move, Mike actually breaks out an electric guitar for this version. Black is tagged with a unique, passionate improv including these lyrics:

“Where did you go? 
I wish I could’ve talked to you
I wish I could’ve called you one last time to say I miss you. 
Good luck, goodbye.”

The remainder of the set would include a trio of guest appearances. Up first, Ed introduces Lukas Nelson (son of Willie) to the stage for a performance of Just Breathe. It turns out that Lukas and Ed are wearing the same hat, to which Ed asks if he got it at the same shop in Hawaii. During Just Breathe, it seems as though Boom is playing on a small child’s keyboard. Following the performance, Ed asks if there are any other good “Chris Cornell-type singers out there?” Cornell enters and joins the band for the second rendition of Hunger Strike in consecutive days. The patriarch of the benefit, Neil Young, comes onto the stage to play Throw Your Hatred Down. Ed states that they wrote the song together, but had to reteach it to him. The Bridge School run comes to a close with a last image of Neil with Pearl Jam on stage thrashing in his seat, taking back and forth solos with Mike, and smiling from ear to ear the entire time.

“Good evening! No…it’s a great evening!” Ed says that playing the Bridge School benefit is one of the “honors of a lifetime.” Rain is played due to the local weatherman’s (incorrect) prediction that it would be a cold and rainy night. Mike provides some strong backing vocals and Ed imitates the reverse record effect featured in the Beatles original. Daughter is dedicated to a friend named Drew, and afterwards Ed suggests that people may think they might be having an acid flashback seeing Matt Cameron back on stage for a second time, as he had played with Soundgarden earlier that evening. He wishes happy birthday to Matt’s son Ray and a happy anniversary to him and his wife April before Given To Fly, which makes its Bridge debut. Ed introduces Maricor, no stranger to the Bridge School shows, who he says they met 20 years ago when she was 14, adding that she has since graduated from Berkeley with degrees in Psychology and Women’s Studies, and dedicates Last Kiss to her once again. Touching moment during the song as Ed goes up to sing to Maricor and the rest of the kids. With young children in the crowd, Ed says they want to take a chance at something, but were unsure if it was appropriate for the setting. They asked Neil for permission to play Fuckin’ Up, saying there was a Billy Idol Bridge School performance where he sang “ride a pony, fuck a pony,” and Neil gave them his approval saying everyone fucks up, it’s part of the curriculum. To close the show, Ed introduces a friend “who lives in their neighborhood, but they never get a chance to see” to help out on the next song. Chris Cornell comes on stage and Hunger Strike is played for the first time since PJ20. Chris seems a little off during the performance, lagging behind on his vocals and seemingly watching Ed for the lyrics at one point, there would be a much stronger effort on the song the next night.