Many, hell, most of my finest, most poignant memories of live music come from performances I witnessed at one of the 20 (I’ve been to 7) Bridge School Benefit Concerts put on every October in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Bridge School helps kids with disabilities excel in life and academia, and the concerts benefit the school. Although, anyone who has ever been to one of these shows will tell you the glow of life, love and creativity that surrounds this event benefits everyone.
Thankfully, a sizable chunk of those great moments have made their way to the iTunes Music Store. The Bridge School Concerts (iTunes link) is an 80-song collection of tunes from the 20 years of “Bridge”. It has many of my personal favorites (Pearl Jam’s reworked Corduroy from 1996, Thom Yorke doing Street Spirit sans accompaniment, and Rebel Yell from the year when Bridge was “knocked the fuck out” by Billy Idol). I can think of several more tunes I’d like to see added down the line. Pete Townshend showed up in 1996 and was amazing. Sheryl Crow needs to be in there as well. But that’s a small knock on what is otherwise an iTunes addition that makes my day.
The beauty of the deal is that, like all things Bridge, proceeds from the sale of the tracks go to The Bridge School.
Buy up and enjoy.