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| Neil Young - Photo by Paul Klotschkow |
Bounding on to stage dressed like it's 1993; all loose fitting jeans with a plaid shirt open over a scruffy t-shirt, Neil Young and his band let rip with a towering version of Hey Hey, My My (In To The Black) with the guitars threatening to demolish the Arena down to its very foundations, it shows why he was called the “God Father of Grunge” way back in the early 90s.
The last few Neil Young albums have been an astonishing return to form, containing some of his strongest songwriting since his mighty run of albums in the late 60s and 70s. It is these 70s albums that he mainly cherry picks from tonight, much to the delight of the sold out audience.
Mansion on the Hill is followed by a a sublime Pocahontas, but it is a thunderous version of Cinnamon Girl that elicits the first huge reaction from the crowd. The whole hall gives a standing ovation that is eagerly lapped up by Neil Young as he wrangles the last few notes from his guitar standing on the edge of the stage.
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| Photo by Paul Klotschkow |
Proceedings mellow in the middle as the band strip things back and slap on the acoustic guitars. The highlight of this section has to be the heart melting Don't Let It Bring You Down from 'After The Goldrush', with Neil standing solo on stage basked in a warm glow of oranges and reds and that high pitched voice still intact after all these years ringing around the whole Arena. Nights don't get much better than this.
At 63 years old, Neil Young still plays with a passion and energy of someone closer to 23. At numerous times throughout the night he bounds across the stage and throws shapes as he squeezes another ear wrecking solo from his guitar. And my god, those solo's; he can still make his guitar sound like a chainsaw being taken to a jet engine. What a glorious noise. This is the most notable in a 10 minute long version of Down By The River. It's soulful chorus about murder perfectly complemented by some killer melodies that Neil Young throttles out of his instrument.
This leads perfectly in to Rockin' In The Free World, it's irony-tinged chorus is dragged out to a euphoric end, as Neil and his band then stand at the front of the stage to take a grateful bow.
They encore by tearing through a version of The Beatles A Day In the Life, with Neil Young literally tearing shreds out of his guitar as the songs descends in to waves of howling feedback .
He may have played it slightly safe by ploughing through the so-called 'classics', but when you've got songs such as what he played tonight in your back catalogue and you can still perform them with such heart and enthusiasm, it really doesn't matter. And I want to be as cool as him when I am 63.
Neil Young and his band played:
Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)
Mansion On The Hill
Are You Ready For The Country?
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Pocahontas
Words
Cinnamon Girl
Mother Earth
Don't Let It Bring You Down
On The Way Home
Burned
Heart Of Gold
Comes A Time
Old Man
Down By The River
Get Behind The Wheel
Rockin' In The Free World
Encore
A Day In The Life
Neil Young played at Nottingham Arena on Tuesday 23 June 2009.
Neil Young
Write Commentby floydy Jun 09, 2009, 12:02:36 pmi saw him twice last year, he is on very very good form
by Tramorak Jun 15, 2009, 11:30:58 ami saw him twice last year, he is on very very good form
Caught him last year myself and he is blinding.
Just Bumping these up. Open to reasonable offers for these tickets.
T.
by Tramorak Jun 17, 2009, 12:23:43 pmLooks like these are gone, thanks for the space.
T.
by BassRooster Jun 17, 2009, 06:11:39 pm
Sorry to piss on your parade, but if these are standing tickets and/or they have a barcode which is scanned on the night, whoever tries to get in with them will be ejected.
by Tramorak Jun 18, 2009, 08:56:20 am
Sorry to piss on your parade, but if these are standing tickets and/or they have a barcode which is scanned on the night, whoever tries to get in with them will be ejected.
Why is this?
Not trying to be an arse, but I am not sure why that would happen.
T.
by BassRooster Jun 18, 2009, 05:47:53 pm
Well I assume by 'delivery malfunction' you mean they were meant for someone else but you got them by accident. Normal procedure for that would be they would cancel the extra ones you have and reissue duplicates to the party who never received theirs. If that is the case and they are scanning the tickets on the night the extra ones you have will be flagged up and be useless. If they are seats you are gonna have four people turn up for two seats (always fun!) If they are not scanning or the tix don't have a barcode it won't be a problem. I only say because I work for the Arena box office and this happens quite often. If you got them from TicketMaster don't worry, they are crap and wont notice/do anything about it!
by Tramorak Jun 19, 2009, 09:45:10 amLMAO
No the "delivery malfunction" was my tickets going missing. I then managed to grab another two, before my original ones turned up.
You had me worried there for a minute.
T.
by BassRooster Jun 20, 2009, 10:32:59 am
Cool. Soz dude, didn't mean to make you shit yoursen! I hope it's a good show
by Daysleeper Jun 23, 2009, 10:39:37 amWhat's Mr Young's stage time? Who's supporting?
Bloody looking forward to this tonight...absolutely love Neil Young. Be interesting to see if he focuses on new stuff (everything from 'Prairie Wind' through to 'Fork in the Road' is outstanding), album tracks, or the 'classics' considering Glasto is around the corner.
by Tramorak Jun 23, 2009, 12:39:42 pmWhat's Mr Young's stage time? Who's supporting?
Bloody looking forward to this tonight...absolutely love Neil Young. Be interesting to see if he focuses on new stuff (everything from 'Prairie Wind' through to 'Fork in the Road' is outstanding), album tracks, or the 'classics' considering Glasto is around the corner.
Doors are 6.30 and shows in Europe have been about 2 hours give or take. I think the Arena has a pretty tight curfew, but not sure if it is 10.30 or 11pm, so I would say 8 to be sure, but more likely 8.30pm.
As for support I really don't know. Last time around it wag Pegi playing for about 30mins, in a very lite country style. Not really my thing, but lets be honest it is all about Shakey.
Looking at setlists it has been a pretty mixed bag of tunes, mainly drawing from the back catalogue, with a track or three from FITR.
Can't wait.
T.
by floydy Jun 23, 2009, 12:51:45 pmwe saw him last march in manchester and again in july at a festival in kent
the march tour was promoting Chrome Dreams 2, it was pegi and her band opening, neil doing a solo accoustic set and then his band with an electric set, which was perfect
at the fest he had the band, doing a smaller set,but closed by ripping A Day in the Life from Sgt Pepper's to shreds
by Daysleeper Jun 23, 2009, 03:45:30 pmWhat's Mr Young's stage time? Who's supporting?
Bloody looking forward to this tonight...absolutely love Neil Young. Be interesting to see if he focuses on new stuff (everything from 'Prairie Wind' through to 'Fork in the Road' is outstanding), album tracks, or the 'classics' considering Glasto is around the corner.
Doors are 6.30 and shows in Europe have been about 2 hours give or take. I think the Arena has a pretty tight curfew, but not sure if it is 10.30 or 11pm, so I would say 8 to be sure, but more likely 8.30pm.
As for support I really don't know. Last time around it wag Pegi playing for about 30mins, in a very lite country style. Not really my thing, but lets be honest it is all about Shakey.
Looking at setlists it has been a pretty mixed bag of tunes, mainly drawing from the back catalogue, with a track or three from FITR.
Can't wait.
T.
Yeah, I don't want to get there any later than 8.30 - will aim for 8pm. I'm going on my tod and have a standing ticket, so don't want to be Billy no mates hanging around like a lemon for too long!!!
I'm so excited about this show that I'm struggling to concentrate (more than usual) at work.
by Tramorak Jun 24, 2009, 05:01:38 pmBlinding. That is all.
T.
by Daysleeper Jun 24, 2009, 09:27:10 pmLEET
by Tramorak Jun 24, 2009, 10:13:16 pmShould anyone be interested the show is available to download in high quality Flac format from Dime. (Bittorrent)
You need to register and if it doesn't work straight away keep retrying as they have a membership limit.
http://www.dimeadozen.org/index.php
T.
by Daysleeper Jun 24, 2009, 10:16:59 pmSweet....I have a Dime account. Was wondering if it was going to be recorded. Is it soundboard or audience?
by Tramorak Jun 24, 2009, 10:46:18 pmAudience, but quality gear. Thor's a huge NY taper and his pulls usually sound great.
Things are a bit slow right now as he is seeding from his hotel and the internets is not great.
T.
by Daysleeper Jun 26, 2009, 09:40:38 amCool man, thanks for the heads up. I'm looking forward to watching his Glasto set from the comfort of my front room. I do hope the BBC broadcast most of it, even if it's just on the 'red button'.
You ever seen that video on YouTube of Neil Young and Devo? It's the greatest thing my eyes and ears have ever experienced.
by Tramorak Jun 26, 2009, 11:41:20 amThat would be this yes?
by Haych Jun 26, 2009, 08:52:56 pmNeil appears to be having a stroke by the end of it. Excellent!
Gutted I skipped his arena gig, heard he was terrific. Didn't wanna spend a small fortune to see him slogging his way through his recent, dreary repertoire tbh (admit it, he hasn't made an outstanding LP since Rust Never Sleeps). Meh.
by Purple_Jim Jun 28, 2009, 04:05:16 amGood to see some Neil love gwan here
Piece of crap is one of my favourite ever songs
by Haych Jun 28, 2009, 05:05:29 pmSooooo, what are LL folks' favourite Neil LPs, I wonder?
I'm going with Zuma.
by Albert Herring Jun 29, 2009, 01:53:28 amOn the Beach.
by floydy Jun 29, 2009, 09:18:35 amafter the gold rush
by Daysleeper Jun 30, 2009, 03:31:00 pmSooooo, what are LL folks' favourite Neil LPs, I wonder?
I Love so many, but particular faves are...
On The Beach
Prairie Wind (inc. the DVD 'Heart of Gold')
After The Gold Rush
Weld
Living With War
by Haych Jun 30, 2009, 09:04:40 pmInteresting. Me being a snob, I figured everybody'd like Harvest best.
I've been listening to his Dead Man soundtrack recently, great stuff...
by Stillman Jun 30, 2009, 10:08:08 pmI've only ever heard harvest, i think it's pretty good
by Haych Jul 01, 2009, 12:07:23 pmIt is good, but he's done better...
