Children, what's that sound? Buffalo Springfield reunited
By Marco R. della Cava, USA Today, 10/25
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Wow, man. There's tie-dyed Woodstock emcee Wavy
Gravy getting wanded by security. Backstage, check out psychedelic
album-art maestro Stanley Mouse, sketching up a storm. On stage? How about
Buffalo Springfield, ripping through nearly a dozen of the band's hits?
Who says you can't go back?
Saturday's '60s throwback came courtesy of Neil and Pegi Young's 24th
annual benefit concert to support the Bridge School, which educates
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children with severe impairments. Although the lineup for the all-acoustic,
eight-hour affair was typically eclectic, the undeniable focus was on
Young's first public reunion with remaining original members of his old
band, formed with Stephen Stills and Richie Furay in the musical cauldron
of 1966 and disbanded two years later.
Springboard to fame
The surviving trio did their late bandmates, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin,
proud. Opening with a slightly slowed version of the Furay-led On the Way
Home, Stills and Young dutifully fell into supporting roles on harmony.
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Furay, dressed in a black cowboy shirt, stayed in the spotlight with A
Child's Claim to Fame, Do I Have to Come Right Out and Say It and Kind
Woman. But the men flanking him would soon show their stuff, making it
instantly clear why Springfield was fated to be a passing phenomenon.
Young, wearing a fringed brown suede jacket, turned to the children in
wheelchairs camped out on stage and told them "This one's for all you kids"
before launching into the poignant I Am a Child. Stills, noticeably formal
in a sports jacket and tie, matched Young's small masterpiece with his
Springfield anthem, For What It's Worth. He added Bluebird for good
measure, to the hoots of many of the rained-upon 22,000 packing Shoreline
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Amphitheater.
"We're Buffalo Springfield, thank you very much," Young announced, seeming
to relish the retro pronouncement. Then the trio ripped into Young's
roaring Mr. Soul. The evening closed with a jam on Rockin' in the Free
World, which featured most of the event's guests: Pearl Jam, Elvis
Costello, Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams and Jackson Browne.
The rest rocked, too
Among the pre-Springfield highlights was Kris Kristofferson singing a faint
but heartfelt Me and Bobby McGee, after which he asked the crowd to send
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prayers to ailing friend Merle Haggard, whose health prevented him from
appearing. "Merle's the closest thing to Hank Williams as we got on this
planet," he said.
In the shocking category was Billy Idol, who followed with as raucous a
30-minute set of proto-punk as could be summoned from acoustic instruments.
After bopping through his radio hit Dancing With Myself, Idol wrapped with
Rebel Yell.
Pearl Jam captured the crowd with a compact set of recognizable hits such
as Better Man. But the real treat was seeing Young join his favorite
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Seattle rockers for Walk With Me, from Young's new album Le Noise. While
Young stomped through the monster chords, Eddie Vedder took over lead
vocals while "Uncle Neil" (as Vedder called him) looked on with an
approving smile.
Sunday provided largely a repeat of Saturday's extravaganza, both of which
opened with folk rockers Grizzly Bear and indie stars Modest Mouse. Two
notable changes: a torrential downpour that didn't diminish the crowd even
slightly and the replacement of Williams, Browne and Idol with T Bone
Burnett's Speaking Clock Revue, which included Elton John, Leon Russell,
Ralph Stanley and actor Jeff Bridges.
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Elvis Costello kicked the revue off with his vaudevillian A Slow Drag With
Josephine ("rock 'n' roll, but as envisioned in 1921"), the
weather-appropriate Jimmie Standing in the Rain and his Haggard-dedicated
National Ransom.
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