Tonight was the second gig of Thom Yorke's solo appearance at this year's Bridge School benefit concert in the US. This year's concerts take place at the Mountain View Shoreline Amphitheatre on October 26-27 (the 16th annual event)

The shows are aimed to raise funds for the non-profit school co-founded by Neil Young, which works with children with speech and physical difficulties.

Thom came on as before after Jack Johnson and Leanne Rimes. Again the crowd greeted him with a standing ovation, and Thom was in seemingly great spirits. I had attended last night's Bridge School and was expecting a somewhat similar set, but no Thom threw us all off and played the best 40 ish minutes of the entire evening!

Thom was dressed in a black shirt, with brownish/green pants. The crew once again set up Neil Young's upright piano for him, and there were several exchanges of at least 2 to 3 different acoustic guitars for Thom throughout the set.

After a brief introduction "hi my name is Thom Yorke and I'm from a band called Radiohead" (more cheering), he picked up an acoustic and launched into Street Spirit! Very unusual as this song is mostly a classic show-closer, but this being played so early in the game just makes one guess what is next! Very emotional rendition, although the context this time is different. The lighting crew knew how to mix the colors, as a bright purple beam descended on Thom, creating a very moody visual effect.

Then Thom sat down for the piano. He commented on how there was a nice cup of tea nearby and proceeded to drink from this red plastic cup. He smiled and seemed very happy, took a sip, got relaxed, and played a few notes on the piano. I thought it was the chords to Karma Police, but it was actually MORNING BELL! In a stripped down solo piano form, it was still very beautiful.

I was in a deep shock as Thom got back up, picked up another acoustic guitar, and played [Nice Dream]. I don't think I've heard this played solo acoustic since a Dutch radio FM appearance back in like 96 on a 12 string? Very powerful, especially the chord strum solo bit. Also extremely well done!

Next was I Might Be Wrong. Prior to starting the song, Thom noticed that the guitar mix was a bit quiet and asked the sound guy to "turn it up please". The version he played tonight was identical to last night's. Again a very chilling stripped down rendition that works and is very interesting to hear.

He then sat back down on the piano for 2 songs, Sail To The Moon, and Like Spinning Plates.

The next two songs were the highlight of the set. He got back up and introduced the next song as "True Love Waits". I can imagine every die hard fan in the audience grinning from ear to ear! This is just my perspective, but after listening to a lot of live versions from audience recordings (from Israel 2000 to tonight's), there are great versions of True Love Waits, and then there are "not as good". I would rate this version close to the one from I Might Be Wrong Live EP, which is somewhere in between. The way it was played in San Sebastien I'd think is a wee bit better. But hey that's just my opinion!

The show closer was Paranoid Android which I was not expecting, since this is more of a full band song. F'in wonderful!! In its most stripped down state, just Thom and one acoustic guitar, it matches the ferocity and energy of a full band version!

Thom definitely got more time tonight to do a proper full set and I'm sure the fans got more than their fix tonight!

Last night I left after Thom's set, but tonight I decided to stay for the whole gig and witness the entire Bridge School experience. The final show closer was just amazing. Neil Young invited all his friends out on the stage
for a huge jam on "Comes a Time". Everyone who performed tonight was on stage! Thom came out, looked very amused by all the people, and proceeded to walk all the way to the left of the stage, and stood very close to Tenacious D (Jack Black and Kyle Gass). He then walked past them and walked up to a separate mic stand, set it up, and helped sing along with everyone else.

I'll never forget the last minute of the song. I was 8 rows from center stage tonight, and within clear view of Thom. I'm not sure if he saw me, but he was looking in my direction and I gave him the thumbs up, a big smile, and then the A-OK sign. He smiled back and nodded!

An absolutely wonderful weekend! I will be in a state of bliss for a while. THANK YOU THOM for the KILLER performance tonight and last night!!