Milano, Italy - 2/24/08: Concert Reports
Photo by baotzebao
Italian review on No, non ti sei perso niente (post falso, fazioso, intimo e lungo) : Neil Young - Milano, 24-02-08. at a vànvera and English translation.
Another Italian review on nuovo ringhio di idefix - luciano comida: Tornato a Trieste: Neil Young, John Fante, tunnel carpale, nebbia eccetera and English translation.
Neil Young will be performing tonight at Teatro degli Arcimboldi, Milano, Italy.
Got a report? Drop a comment below. No registration required. Don't worry about perfect English.
Check Sugar Mountain for setlist updates. Also, see Statistics on Numbers On The Site and Grid Chart on Rust Radio.
Also, see Neil Young 2008 Europe Tour and Concert Reviews and the right, middle sidebar for updates.
by thrasher@PermaLink: 2/24/2008 03:42:00 PM
28 comments
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28 Comments:
He showed us the way and we followed him yesterday.
Electrifying, very great audience, wonderful performance.
The electric show was a little shorter than previous nights...you know in Italy we're all harvesters...
GREAT
OK, well I have to say it: This concert was a bit of a disappointment. I'm not talking about Neil, of course, or his band - they were truly amazing, magnificent, incredible energy throughout. But the audience, too restrained, too unresponsive, too... polite, perhaps. As a consequence all we got for an encore was Cinnamon Girl, and nothing else. An immense version of Cinnamon Girl without a doubt, but no Hurricane, no Rockin' In The Free World, no Cortez, and you leave the hall feeling a little short-changed. Only one song for an encore... unprecedented on both the US and European legs of this tour. Che delusione! That said, what came before was unforgettable. Ambulance Blues was just beautiful, as were Don't Let it Bring You Down and Heart Of Gold. For the electric set: Down By The River, Hey Hey My My, and a blistering No Hidden Path, all absolutely mind-blowing, the old and the new, what more could you ask for. As for the audience, well, maybe I'm being too harsh on them. It being already past midnight, perhaps Neil had to wrap it up. But lucky me, at least I still have my ticket for Hammersmith in a couple of weeks, so I guess now I'll just have to go see him again.
It was a great show with a little disappointment for the "only one song encore" of Cinnamon Girl. The acoustic show was so beautiful! Neil's voice was perfect and the sound of the great Teatro Arcimboldi was very clear.
The electric set had some very great moments like Down By The River, Hey Hey My My and Powderfinger. Sometimes it seems that Ben Keith is more at ease with mellow songs like Oh Lonesome Me or Too Far Gone while on harder tracks. No Hidden Path was a little short and the encore was a surprise. Cinnamon had a very long and distorted end and I was ready for Hurricane or Rockin' but it was not the case. Anyway a very good show from a great man and performer.
if only there was not that totally useless opener who stole 40 mins, maybe Neil would have done another encore... best neil young show i saw since first time, 1987 - maybe second only to the 1989 solo concert
too bad he didnt performed Winterlong and Bad fog of loneliness, as usual when american musicians are here, they have to play the inevitable runs of greatest hts only... pity on us
Hey, cool it or I'll play twice as long next time.
"totally useless opener"...first of all, that's Neil's wife, Pegi.
secondly, it was nothing too great or exciting, but i still enjoyed some of her songs and it set a nice atmosphere for Neil's acoustic set.
Hey guys! C'mon... It was great even if it was not perfect! And it has been such a legacy night! I'm just back home, now I sleep a while, then I'll post my false, personal, long and private point of view... in italian, sorry...
It' STILL a fine line...
ps ok, I'm almost 54. And I start with Neil, some years ago...
A beginnin'...
http://www.baotzebao.eu/2008/02/25/no-non-ti-sei-perso-niente-post-falso-fazioso-intimo-e-lungo/
"This concert was a bit of a disappointment. I'm not talking about Neil, of course, or his band - they were truly amazing, magnificent, incredible energy throughout. But the audience, too restrained, too unresponsive, too... polite, perhaps."
I agree with this comment. I came from Portugal to see this show and i have to say i have never seen an audience like this before in a rock and roll concert in my life. And i've seen concerts all over the world That looked like a an opera. What a crack audience. Italians are ever like this?
i wish the austrian audience was a little bit more polite and more respectful - at least during the acoustic set..
cheers, thomas
well said, thom
the audinece was respecting and loving
it's not a soccer game, it's art!
and ARCIMBOLDI is like playin at LA SCALA
Silly anonymous. Of course I know who I am. You aren't saying I'm above criticism just because I'm Neil's wife, are you? That would be suppression of free speech.How antidemocratic would that be? After all, My husband's all about frank talk and freedom of speech. For all, not just for us filthy rich folks.
it was THE OPERA and neil was the OPERA STAR - portuguese friend, you have to wonder why bruce springsteen always says that the italian audience is the best in the world
thanx for giving us Figo, btw
Hey, "useless opener" you handle your 'critics' well.
I'd tell you that I like your music, but that would sound like I'm kissing up. What the hell... I like your music!
NG
Full disclosure -- when I saw Neil in NY I had a prior commitment I couldn't break and had to come late so I missed Pegi and barely made the start of the show. But in terms of criticism of Pegi or Neil, yes free speech is a good thing and should not be suppressed. What dissapointments me is that often the criticism is not thoughful, off target, and plain insensative. It usually doesn't contribute to a meaningful dialog among the folks posting. So, yes people have the right to say what they want, but look at the following comment someone posted:
"if only there was not that totally useless opener who stole 40 mins, maybe Neil would have done another encore"
That comment makes no sense ... its truly a 'totally useless comment'.
Maybe Neil only did one encore because he was picking up on the bad vibes of the person who posted that comment ...
Dan
Hey, Dan, I think you made the point!
Anyway: how about being happy and slow down with criticism...
It was a great art rock night.
By the way: thank'you for havin' google translated my personal intimate long POST...
I speak and write in a very poor english, but compared to google I'm a proof writer!!!
CIAO a TUTTI
ps since NOW ( 7 pm ) i've had more visits in my blog than ever. Oh, this is a NY touch, not mine...
Is there any photos on web from that concert? Please if anyone has any, post them on web and give us a link... thank you!
i was at the concert, this is the second time i see Neil, the first one was at Madison Square Garden, august 2006, during the Freedoom of Speech Tour (CSNY). For the first time i was in NY,in a temple of music, listening to Neil Young.That was a politics concert, with all that stuff from Living with War;and, suprise, ALL THE AUDIENCE was listening in respectful silence. i never been in a concert like that,for me a concect was meaning also to sing.BUT, i really enjoyed the show.so, in Milan(i forgot, i'm from Naples)i was happy that nobody was screaming at my ear.of course, sometimes i would liked to stand up jump and scream, but the place and a great part of the show needed to be listened quietly.
I hope to see Neil again, maybe in a bigger (and cheaper)place, so we can all sing together!
Gosh Neon, I don't know what to say. I don't even like my own music. Or do I? I forget. It's so confusing living in a bubble. Everyone tells me how good it is. And after all these years in the shadows, my underfed ego is really sucking up all that sucking up. So please feel free to join in. Everyone's doing it.
Pegi Young can barely sing and write poor poor third grade songs - is that ok? she wouldnt have a chance if she was not Mr Young wife
but I understand fans are fans and cant stand some critics
My english is very horrible: so, this comment is in italian. Innanzitutto una premessa: per Neil Young stravedo e, come musicista, lo amo più di Mozart e di Coltrane.
In più di trentacinque anni, con la sua musica ho scritto e pianto, meditato e litigato, riso e flirtato, sognato e studiato, accumulato energia e sbollite rabbie, scopato e fatto l'amore (ovviamente non è la stessa cosa, così come MY MY HEY HEY non è HEY HEY MY MY).
Avrei difficoltà a pensare alla mia vita senza Stanlio e Ollio, senza la Gibson di Neil Young, senza i Peanuts, senza Philip Dick, senza Alberto Sordi che alla fine di TUTTI A CASA prende la mitragliatrice per sparare contro i nazisti, senza lo spogliarello della Loren in IERI OGGI DOMANI, senza Maigret, senza la maglia granata del Toro: se io sono quello che sono lo devo anche a loro.
E allora, com'era il concerto?
Intanto, per la prima volta, mia moglie Tatjana vedeva Young dal vivo. E già questo fatto falsava la mia normale percezione. Poi era il primo concerto dopo l'aneurisma che nel 2005 aveva colto Neil.
E allora forse può essere interessante ascoltare proprio mia moglie, che non è una rockettara. Primo dato: le ha fatto molta impressione la trasformazione, anche fisica, di Young tra il set acustico ("molto vecchietto, passava da un sedia all'altra, con movimenti lenti e cauti come per non rompersi tutto") e il set elettrico ("cos'è? Una botta d'adrenalina?"). Poi nemmeno a lei è piaciuta la band. Non è una conoscitrice, ma coglieva un suono non convincente. E a me mancavano terribilmente i Crazy Horse: i tre alle spalle di Neil erano nello stesso tempo fermi e pesantissimi, un sound massiccio che oscurava la voce, una ritmica elefantiaca (Molina è un batterista modesto che dà il meglio di se solo in coppia con Talbot, Rosas al basso era lento e greve), Keith alla chitarra ritmica mi pareva del tutto incapace di duettare con Young. Il risultato: quando i pezzi erano corali (MY MY, MR SOUL) nè carne nè pesce, mentre le cose si trasformavano quando il gruppo si ritirava in disparte e Neil se ne andava per conto suo con lunghissimi assoli alla Gibson, quelle sue cose a metà fra Hendrix e Coltrane, selvaggia poesia elettrica che forse sarebbe piaciuta a Walt Whitman. Hidden Path e Down by the river.
Comunque, Neil Young è vivo e vegeto.
E nella parte acustica almeno Ambulance blues era straordinaria.
http://lucianoidefix.typepad.com/nuovo_ringhio_di_idefix_l/2008/02/tornato-a-tries.html
To "anonymous" who thinks "she [Pegi Young] wouldnt have a chance if she was not Mr Young wife". Well... yes and no. Don't you think that being married to such a strong-willed and overwhelmingly creative person such as Neil may have even HINDERED her career efforts as much as, or maybe more than it helped? In any case, opening acts are a prelude to the entire show. If you dislike it so much, just wait in the lobby until the main act. Personally, I prefer to hear them, whomever they are. But I DO like Pegi Young.
--NG
I am normally not a blogger, but I do have to agree with NG's comments regarding Pegi Young (aka Totally Useless Opener). I admire her for stepping out of a very huge shadow and beginning the process of creating her own. She has a wealth of life experience to share through song and we are blessed because of her willingness to do so. Personal note to Totally Useless Opener: You go, girl. If you are ever in Texas, look for me in the audience. I will be the one wearing the shirt that reads: "Proud supporter of Totally Useless Opener". Blessings to you and Neil and thanks for sharing your journeys with us.
Thank you, dear NG and comesatime for your unsolicited and thoroughly misguided support and helpful excuses. I'll add them to my list.. And thank goodness for tin ears. I (insert heart symbol here) it. But rest assured, dears (I've been reading Oliver Twist), Neil never hindered my career efforts. I've always had access to guitar, pad, pen and studio. And lord knows I haven't broken many nails scrubbing floors. I just never felt the urgency to create, you know, like real artists do.
But now that I'm getting old, I've got to have something listed next to my name besides wife and drudge. And, you know, a wife's got to do what she has to to keep her husband from straying ;. And of course it's important to Neil's ego that I appear successful. So I jotted down some very small lines, dug up some poems from high school and got my husband's crack band to back me up and voila.
And dear comesatime, please do wear that shirt. I'd absolutely(insert heart symbol here) it! I think. But let me assure you, I wasn't in any shadows that weren't of my own creation. So many women have succeeded alongside their talented partners, dear, with far, far fewer resources and far, far greater talent. But thanks again for the helpful excuses.
And one other thing, dear. Please realize you also have a wealth of life experiences. As does everyone. I dare say many, many people could relate them much more musically than I do if they had Neil's name and muscle and band behind them, and be a far greater blessing to the world for having done so.
'totally useless opener' what does Neil think of your music? He seems like a straight shooter and has a reputation for very high musical standards?
-Dan
Yes, he does have high standards, though it's true he's had some sub-par openers, and he did do his best to make me sound as good as possible with special recording equipment and his own band and crew as mine and of course his own playing and singing on my record. And of course the best songs on the record are covers. But, ya know, he only had so much to work with.
Neil's a very complicated guy, as you may have heard. Let's just say he had his reasons for asking me to open. It wasn't that big of a risk, darlin. Gosh, even our dog sounds great with Anthony and Ben supporting. Well, thanks for the well wishes, all, and remember, keep sucking up.
Why do I - I
Why do I - I
Keep SUCKIN' UP
NG by way of NY
If you say this was a great concert either you haven't seen any other by Neil (and in this case you are excused) or you are such a fan that you could not think of a bad concert even if he spit on the audience and played in half-sleep. I mean, Neil is not Dylan, who is used to disappoint fans, Neil is a guy who usually gives 100% in a concert, who picks up songs carefully, who has great respect for the audience. This time not only we had to bear his useless wife who can't sing or write songs, we also had to live with some totally useless songs which he could have easily skipped, and a one-song encore who is an insult. Like someone else said the band was fairly useless, and we did not hear songs like Cowgirl, or Southern Man, or Ohio, or many others, just to hear songs like "Too far gone" or other stuff like that. What a delusion guys, the worst of the 6 concerts of Neil I have seen...maybe our friend is really getting old...
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