I have now seen them all: Crosby, Stills and Nash at Bristol
in 2013; Neil Young in London a few days ago. It is like a musical pilgrimage,
though nothing like those fans who follow them all, everywhere. I accept that.
Similar to that Bristol gig, it was an emotional experience:
all that expectation and what the music reflects of a past, growing up with them
collectively as a band of four, and then the solo work, Neil Young coming to my
attention really with Everybody Knows
This is Nowhere in Putney London where a friend lived and had the album.
That album is my favourite, for this historical and therefore nostalgic reason,
and the songs. And those songs exemplify the classic Young songwriting mix of
acoustic ballads and driving rock, exactly as that reflected in the O2 gig,
though Young predominantly rocked the night away.
The O2 gig began when two ‘farmers’ strolled onto the stage,
casting seeds. This was followed by Neil himself moving in dark shadow to the
piano to open with After the Gold Rush,
his voice seemingly unchanged after all these years – perhaps a little worn
down in the register, but uniquely his falsetto, and a thrill runs though with
the listening. Still placed in shadow as lit from above – his hat casting the
dark over his face for some unknown sense of mystery at this early point – he stands
and moves to centre stage to be handed his guitar for a rendition of Heart of Gold, vocal and harmonica
beautifully clear in the amplification.
It is into the fourth quick visit to these acoustic songs
that Neil begins The Needle and the
Damage Done, everyone joining in, and I try but choke just as I did at
Bristol, an overwrought emotive response to a song I used to sing in my bedroom
so many years ago. Silly, and soon overcome.
But the rest of the night was basically supercharged by
extended jams with brilliant band Promise of the Real [I have liked as a band
and reviewed before here and here] as Neil worked through a selection from a genuine
cross-section of albums, the following for the fellow nerds but who probably
know them as whole albums much better than me:
After the Gold Rush x 1
Harvest x 5
Harvest Moon x 1
Ragged Glory x 5
Sleeps with Angles x 1
Freedom x 1
Neil Young x 1
On the Beach x 1
The Monsanto Years x 1
Living with War x 1
Earth x 1
And if you like a challenge, perhaps you’d like to match the
set list for the night to the albums:
1. After
the Gold Rush
2. Heart
of Gold
3. From
Hank to Hendrix
4. The
Needle and the Damage Done
5. Mother
Earth [Natural Anthem]
6. Out
on the Weekend
7. Western
Hero
8. Hold
Back the Tears
9. Someday
10. Alabama
11. If I
Could Have Her Tonight
12. Words
13. Walk
On
14. Love
to Burn
15. Mansion
on a Hill
16. Seed
Justice
17. Revolution
Blues
18. Monsanto
Years
19. After
the Garden
20. Love
and Only Love
21. [encore
song] F*!#in’ Up
For much of the jamming, Neil had his back to the audience,
not in dismissal, but as the band clustered together lost in the rock and
psychedelic reverie of the communal guitar playing, Neil leading in his
inimitable vibrato and minor chord and other blistering mixes. It was joyous
for me. I think most others enjoyed, though I have seen very occasional
disparaging comments about, for example, the ‘self-indulgence’ of these jams. I
couldn’t agree with the characterising; and Neil has earned the right to do
what he pleases. I would understand if some missed more of those sweet acoustic
ballads, and I would have enjoyed too, but in the end what we heard was the
quite defiant and irrefutable reality that Neil Young IS Rock.
It was a memorable night, and here I am four days later
listening as I type to a recording I made of the set list as it is on record,
and I have downloaded every live recording of the gig that have already been
posted on YouTube.
A final comment: the beautiful harmonies from the band were
astonishingly good.
Acknowledgement to Every record tells a story for pics; excellent review of gig
Acknowledgement to Every record tells a story for pics; excellent review of gig
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