This year’s 20th Annual Bridge School benefit concert was one of the best recent demonstrations of a situation that leaves no one unsatisfied. Held at the Shoreline Amphitheatre on Saturday, October 21st, and Sunday October 22nd, the concert was packed to the brim, with most seats taken before the show had even started.

Sporting a legendary line up of classic and contemporary rockers alike, the Bridge School benefit is one of the most popular and enjoyable concerts of each year while also serving as a fundraiser towards the education of children with disabilities.

"The Bridge School is a non-profit organization whose mission is to ensure that individuals with severe speech and physical impairments achieve full participation in their communities," says the Bridge School mission statement.

Founded in 1986, the Bridge School has proved a successful system for assisting children with special needs.

It was music legend Neil Young who first organized the now famous concert event that finances the school annually. As a parent of a child with learning disabilities himself, Young felt that there should be more support for school’s like The Bridge School. Using his widespread influences in the music world, Young organized one of the most rocking concert events in the local area.

On par with such blowouts as BFD and Not So Silent Night, The Bridge School benefit concert attracts music lovers from all over the Bay Area. In accordance with it’s reputation for boasting a menagerie of music legends, this year’s lineup included such bands and musicians as Death Cab for Cutie, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, Pearljam, The Foo Fighters, The Dave Mathew’s Band, and, of course, Neil Young.

Not only do the artists pay ode to the children for whom the concert is designed, but the Bridge School children are actually present on the stage as the bands perform. The crowd tends to be equally compassionate, as they respectfully cheer and clap for the students whenever referenced.

Emma Pitcairn, a Bridge School graduate, passed away on Saturday September 16th, 2006 at the age of 25. At the concert, pictures of Pitcairn were displayed and a requiem to her life was given by a Bridge School parent. The crowd could not have been more supportive.
The Bridge School benefit is not a concert of mosh pits and crowd surfing. A peaceful feeling flows through all of the attendees as they lay back and enjoy the show. This is only reinforced by such numbers as "Throw your hatred down", brilliantly performed this year by Neil Young and Pearljam.

The concert further reinforces a feeling of relaxation and peacefulness by limiting the bands to acoustic instruments only. Even such bands as The Foo Fighters, known for their screaming electric numbers, made due with the quieter tones of the acoustic guitar. Their quiet and solemn performance of "Skin and Bones" was both chilling and beautiful.

Adolescents were satisfied with performances by currently popular groups such as Death Cab for Cutie and Foo Fighters, and older crowd members went into hysterics as Brian Wilson performed such classic Beach Boy songs as "Good Vibrations" and "Surfin’ U.S.A."
Besides the overpriced refreshments that have become standard procedure for large concert venues, the concert was flawlessly entertaining.

Once the concert had ended, each concertgoer walked away with a feeling of contentment. Not only had they each enjoyed a fabulous show, they had each contributed to making life for someone with a disability at least a little bit easier. So the Bridge School Benefit really benefits everyone.