London, England - 3/5 & 6/08: Concert Reports
Photo by Tom Hambleton on Sugar Mountain
Super photo gallery on Sugar Mountain. Thanks Tom!
Great review from Uncut.co.uk by Allan Jones:
"Neil is again at Hammersmith, and the place is crackling with lively anticipation, something so electric in the air it’s like those moments of meteorological turmoil that preface stormy weather, lightning on the horizon, the wind beginning to whip and buck, cloudbanks rising, a low distant rumble of thunder.
No one, you’d be right in thinking, is going to sleep through what follows."
Thanks iFarah!
And, if you have a chance, leave a comment (not here, but there) for this wretchedly warped review on Telegraph: "I went to a long-awaited gig last night".
Another nice photo gallery by hoodrat on Flickr.
Neil Young will be performing tonight at Carling Apollo Hammersmith, London, England.
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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: 3/05/2008 06:12:00 PM
32 comments
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32 Comments:
Wow!
He's getting even better!
Very quiet at first, like he's just taking it in himself & getting into the vibe of the last venue of the tour. No banter until a bit about Grandma working at the mines in Flin Flon after Journey through the past.
Fantastic sound and I thought his voice sounded really good. No surprises with the songs; an hour of beautiful songs from a great singer / songwriter.
And then the electric set. Awesome!
He did something to his right hand during the opener 'Mr Soul' and I thought it might detract from the evening but I needn't have worried.
Until tonight the opening night in Toronto last November was the best concert I'd ever seen, Toronto is now the second best.
'Mr Soul' is a favourite of mine as are 'Down by the river' and 'Hey Hey My My', both of which were just as good tonight as they've ever been with Crazy Horse.
My first hearing of the live version of 'No Hidden Path' in Canada was an amazing musical experience and I thought tonight would have to be something less.
It was just as good. A couple of times during the song I closed my eyes for a few minutes and let the music swirl around and carry me away with it. Quite incredible.
Both 'Cinnamon Girl's that I heard in TO were quite short affairs and didn't do much for me. Tonights went on, and on. A couple of times the end seemed imminent and applause started but then the song continued and left the applause behind. One Canadian reviewer said that to some these extended songs are transcendental and to others interminable. To my ears this 'Cinnamon Girl' was transcendental.
We were dead centre in row 3 and watching Ralph Molinas face as he and Neil took the song into orbit was a real treat. He had a glint in his eyes and a big grin on his face as he concentrated on Neils playing and fitted his drumming around Neils guitarwork.
A beaming Pegi and Andrew Crawford came down to the front of the stage as if they were expecting that to be it but had to retreat as even after such a long 'CG' we still got 'Hurricane'.
And it was good to see Neil with such a big smile at the end.
I think he's enjoying this tour.
And I've got a ticket for the last night, I think that ones going to be even more special.
There we were, my brother and I,sitting side by side....and Neil begins with 'From Hank to Hendrix'----just the perfect opener. Neil showed us he could still hit those high notes.
'A Man Needs A Maid' sounded sublime as did so many others!!
Oh then the electric set came along. It started at 10.00pm ( finished at 11.45 pm),and Neil opened with a storming 'Mr Soul', which left my brother's mouth wide open with amazement. We have both followed Neil since the early days....this was truly Buffalo Springfield revisited.
So many other highlights, but for us ' No Hidden Path',was an unreal experience.....Ol' Black welded itself to it's master's hands,refusing to let go. The jangling crescendo of sound kept on coming, with Rick.Ben and Neil, taking up the classic Crazy Horse formation.
Cinnamon Girl was breathtaking, 10 minutes long, maybe more, the last 5/6 minutes being full of distortion and feedback.
As we walked away after the show, my brother said to me 'that was the best prefrmance I've seen!'.He was'nt wrong......AWESOME
1. THE best concert ever!
There is no point 2, there doesn't need to be.
Neil was at his very best last night. A stunning acoustic set followed by a rockin' electric set.
The set list is available elsewhere so I will just tell you my personal highlights...
"Down By The River", acoustic. The guy in the row in front of me shed a tear (I kid you not) with the sheer emotion Neil gave.
"Mellow My Mind", on banjo. Still manages to capture that fragility from TTN
"Ambulance Blues" kept the whole audience on the edge of their seats for what must be a 7 minute song.
"Hey Hey My My" electric. I've seen Neil 8 times and this is the first time I have heard it live. Put simply, IT ROCKS.
"No Hidden Path" spiritual, rising, falling 15 minutes.
11.45 finish. Many people had to leave even before the encores. I got home at 2.40am, but God, what a night!
A couple of comments from Neil that were interesting. When introducing the band, after introducing Ralph, Neil said they were going to work together again soon. With Crazy Horse?! Europe summer 08?!
Also, Neil mentioned that he had a film of himself from Hammersmith 1976 meeting a guy he called "Jesus". "I've got it on film, maybe I'll release it one day" he said, referring to the Archives I'm sure.
Roll on Saturday, front stall seats, YEAH!!!
Mesmeric!
"Mellow my Mind' is still floating around my head. The electric set was HUGE. A great wall of sound.
I took some photos and shared them here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/flavio_ferrari/sets/72157604057766807/
Sorry, not "Down By The River" acoustic, "Cowgirl In The Sand"
can someone illuminate people attending tonight as to start times. thanks
Pegi starts 7.30 finish 8.10
Neil starts 8.30 -9.30 acoustic
then electric 10 - 11.45 ish finish
DO NOT MISS THE ENCORES if you possibly can - he did Cinnamon Girl and Hurricane last night and they were Awesome......
WOW!
Set (a) Solo:
(1) From Hank to Hendrix
(2) Ambulance Blues
(3) Sad Movies
(4) A Man Needs a Maid
(5) Once I Was In Love???
(6) Harvest
(7) Journey Through the Past
(8) Mellow My Mind
(9) Love Art Blues
(10) Don't Let it Bring You Down
(11) Cowgirl in the Sand
(12) Old Man
Set (b) Band:
(1) Mr. Soul
(2) Dirty Old Man
(3) Spirit Road
(4) Down By the River
(5) Hey Hey, My My (Out of the Blue)
(6) Too Far Gone
(7) Oh Lonesome Me
(8) The Believer
(9) Powderfinger
(10) No Hidden Path
(11) Cinnamon Girl
(12) Like a Hurricane
See here:
http://rateyourmusic.com/concert/hammersmith_apollo/neil_young_f11/?x=0.7542384438
Any bootlegs floating around??
how can somebody miss an encore, expecially with those cheap NY ticks...
Quite a few people near to us left around 11 ish probably for trains but they missed two wonderful encores.....
Well that was just great. No, really, really f*cking great!!
I'm pretty sure this is the best I've seen Neil, of the six times I've seen him live. This gig is also up there in my Top 3 gigs of all time (with Brian Wilson doing Pet Sounds live in 2000 and Pink Floyd doing DSotM in 1994), it was that good.
OK, so an early escape from work meant me and Laura could make a leisurely trip up to the Apollo, arriving outside the venue shortly after the doors had opened, around 6.30ish I guess. Lots of touts stopping practically everyone and asking if they had spares to sell; I image they made a hell of a lot of money tonight, although I didn't hear any prices.
As with all Apollo gigs there's a crush around the single merchandise stand just inside the main doors, and I queued for about half an hour to eventually get a tour shirt. A large selection of men' shirts, and a few unique women's ones too, but fairly pricey; the cheapest shirt was £20. All the other usual tat too, keychains, stickers, hats, bags. At £10 the A4 programmes were expensive, and only seemed to contain big glossy photos of the current tour. We grabbed a quick beer before heading in to catch Pegi's set.
Our seats were fourth row, a little right of centre; pretty damn perfect to be honest. Due to the fairly high stage, and the lack of barriers/security in front of the stage, front row seats were probably not the best seats here.
The stage set resembled what can best be described as someone's attic or junk room. It was strewn with vintage Fender amps, little stage lights on stands, Indian statues, old pianos and organs (Neil's pump organ, on the LHS seemed to be for decoration only), even a small doll's house, and a spot-lit red telephone.
Neil's main tweed Fender amp was mounted on a skateboard, which was connected to a wire and pully and could be operated from offstage, moving the amp left and right too allow Larry Cragg to get onstage with Neil's guitars during changes! Bizarre..!
But perhaps the most bizarre component of the onstage menagerie was the inclusion of an artist, who was painting large canvases right at the back of the stage. He would come to the RHS of the stage before each song in the electric set, with a new canvas and mount it on a huge easel; the painting displaying which song was about to be played! Neil sure doesn't disappoint with his stage sets! ;D
Before each set tonight, there was a PA announcement requesting that Neil & Pegi are asking that the audience not to use cell phones for calls, texts or photos during the performances as they interfer with the gear onstage. This may, or may not, be bull$hit but the intimate, seated acoustic sets meant that taking a photo would've been completely noticeable, and I wasn't going to risk getting chucked out!
So, Pegi came on with her band (Ben Keith, Rick Rosas and Anthony Crawford) at about 7.30pm and delivered a pleasant enough set of country acoustic stuff. Her voice is top-notch, and not too 'country' for most tastes; I think Dave remarked what it must be like at home with the Youngs, do they play music together? You could imagine them knocking out songs together in a dusty bar somewhere.
Pegi's set finished around 8.15pm, and after a short interval, when a small army of roadies re-arranged the stage (we found it amusing to see one guy tape-measuring the distance from floor to mic at various mic locations!), Neil came on to a rapturous response for his acoustic set at 8.35pm. Dressed in a white, paint-splattered suit, it looked like he'd come straight from decorating his spare room! But he looked well; healthy and happy. The set up was familiar; the 'nest' of guitars centre-stage, a few pianos left and right, and his stool with bottle of beer, harmonicas and cup of water in front of his chair. Our seats were great, he was literally about 10/15 feet or so in front of us, and I could hear him strumming and picking the acoustic; truly intimate stuff!
Acoustic Set
Set list:
From Hank To Hendrix
Ambulance Blues
Sad Movies
A Man Needs A Maid
No-One Seems To Know
Harvest
Journey Through The Past
Mellow My Mind
Love Art Blues
Don't Let It Bring You Down
Cowgirl In The Sand
Old Man
I thought it was going to be difficult to top the Edinburgh setlist, but for me at least, Neil managed it. I saw him do Heart Of Gold and After The Goldrush on his last solo acoustic jaunt in Europe, so was made up that we got treated with Journey Through The Past and an acoustic Cowgirl In The Sand both of which I'd not seen him do live before.
It's been mentioned that Neil appears fairly confused and befuddled during this set, scratching his head a lot, appearing not to know what to do next, what guitar to pick up etc. It's clearly all an act, and I can report that from close-up, the opposite is the case. From the opening chords, his attention was focussed and intense; his stare (which caught me a few times) seems to bore into you. His playing is superb, and from our excellent vantage point, we were able to see (and hear) all his picking and strumming; the trademark thumping and hammer-on's, all the while twisting and squirming on his stool like his arse is on fire!
There were the usual "We love you Neil", over-excited "Woo's", and song requests that you come to expect at gigs like this, but they were all ignored with dignified cool. When he did say hello after about 5 songs, he seemed to chill out a bit, and then we got a lot more banter (a long monologue before one song about 'granny', and some miners... very bizarre). What also should be emphasised (and has been mentioned before) is Neil's voice; it's practically unchanged from the original versions; a massive surprise for me.
Set highlights for me were the sublime Don't Let It Bring You Down, the wonderfully ragged Mellow My Mind on banjo, and the treat that was Ambulance Blues so early on in the set.
So after an hour, and 12 songs, it was over and Neil left the stage to a standing ovation, wandering around his strange set, absent-mindedly examining bits and bobs, before finally going to chat to the on-stage artist at the back, and look at his work. The lights went up and another PA announcement said there'd be a 25 minute break before the electric set (billed as 10pm - 11.15pm).
At just after 10pm, the lights went down and the band marched on. Neil had changed into a black (again, paint-splattered) suit, and was joined by Ben Keith (pedal steel/dobro/guitar/organ/BV's), Rick Rosas (bass) and CrazyHorse's Ralph Molina (drums/BV's). Neil's wife Pegi and Anthony Crawford also provided occasional BV's from the back of the stage, with Anthony occasionally covering on organ too.
Electric Set
Setlist:
Mr. Soul
Dirty Old Man
Spirit Road
Down By The River
Hey Hey, My My
Too Far Gone
Oh Lonesome Me
The Believer
Powderfinger
No Hidden Path
****************
Cinnamon Girl
Like A Hurricane
What a set! Wow! Essentially the same as the Edinburgh electric set, but with a different final encore; very, very pleased!
From the opening chords of Mr. Soul I was like a kid in a sweet shop, grin a mile wide! This was loud, and Neil's guitar tone was face-meltingly fantastic; ferocious! He was very loud, and from our close position we were hearing the sound (and feeling the air move!) from his amps, rather than the PA - a real treat! Straight away, Neil was on it; spitting out the words, and wrenching Old Black like he was going to snap it like a twig.
I have to say that the band played a blinder (Rick Rosas' brainfart and minor slip-up during DBtR aside), and the familiar CrazyHorse stuff actually sounded better than I'd ever heard, maybe it was all done to being so close I don't know... However, the band also had the ace up their sleeve that they could shift the dynamic nicely, playing some of the gentler, more subtle stuff; using Ben Keith's skills on pedal steel and dobro.
The Chrome Dreams II tracks came across very well indeed, even Dirty Old Man; my least favourite track from his new album, sounded...well, down and dirty! Neil strays into familiar territory with a few of his epic tracks on this album, and tonight we got an extended No Hidden Path complete with a trademark repeated 2-chord improv. at the end. This perhaps provided the least interesting part of the set, and was possibly a bit overlong; looking around I saw quite a few faces who seemed to agree with my thinking. The song was rescued for me though, with Neil solo'ing into a huge bright yellow spotlight/wind-machine combo, and it's that riff from that song which was ringing round my head on the way home.
The electric set list was great, and there's only a few tracks I'd like to have heard (Cortez The Killer maybe, Rockin' In The Free World) but that would've meant losing another track for that; so no complaints at all. Everyone on-stage seemed relaxed and chilled out. Everyone except Neil that is; he seems to act possessed when playing. He's all over the stage, pulling his guitar lead tight, rocking and half-jumping, face twisted like he's swallowed a wasp. He definitely seems to go into some sort of zone or trance in the long tracks, and half-stumbled into his guitar tech for the guitar change, shuffling around bewildered, after the particularly intense and long improv/jam thing at the end of one song.
In what seemed like the blink of an eyelid, he was waving goodbye. I forgot to look at my watch, as I was in true fanboi mode by now; arms in the air, clapping for the encore. When they came back on we were treated to a fantastic 2-song encore of Cinnamon Girl and Like A Hurricane the former, featuring an extended jam outro/improv section, when I decided to start snapping away on the camera phone. By this point, the aisles had been invaded, and everyone was at it (and no-one was being stopped), so I grabbed a few. It was great to hear the crowd roar when the 'peace-dove' organ descended from the rafters for Like A Hurricane.
The electric set was billed as running from 10pm - 11.15pm, but he finally left the stage just after 11.45pm, so all in all we got 24 songs and 2-and-three-quarter hours of Neil Young (close to three-and-a-half hours of music, if you include Pegi's set) for our money; money well spent in my mind.
Tracks of the night for me? Well, in order...
Acoustic: Don't Let It Bring You Down, Ambulance Blues and Mellow My Mind.
Electric: Down By The River, Hey Hey, My My, Like A Hurricane and Cinnamon Girl.
Going again on Saturday and it's difficult to see how he can top this for me; maybe pull a surprising song out the bag perhaps which will make the 2nd trip worth it. But, if he just repeated what he did last night again, I'd be happy to be honest.
Anonymou said:
"Also, Neil mentioned that he had a film of himself from Hammersmith 1976 meeting a guy he called "Jesus". "I've got it on film, maybe I'll release it one day" he said, referring to the Archives I'm sure."
Well, you can see Neil talking to Jesus in London -76 in the Year of the horse movie from year 1997.
For the benefit of CAMRA members he was drinking from a bottle of Fullers London Pride.
Does anyone else wonder if this tour, with these songs, is Neil saying Good Bye?
A woman near the stage kept asking Neil to say who the painter was. Eventually he answered her saying. "I can't tell you anything."
Hopefully Neil will be back. When introducing Ralph Molina he said there was more to come so let's hope it wasn't goodbye. A Crazy Horse album/tour? If it was a goodbye, what a way to say it! It was an immense performance - his voice was as good as ever and Ambulance Blues and Journey though the past brought a tear to my eye. How any Neil fan could be fail to be moved by the acoustic set I don't know. It was almost worth the ticket price alone. The electric set was just awesome - where do you start. To hear Hey, hey, my, my, Powderfinger , Oh Lonesome, No with new stuff like No hidden path etc was fantastic even before aan encore of Cinammon Girl and Like a hurricane for the encore finished a great evening.
I bet every fan came out on a natural high and even if their favourite wasn't played, so what! Just enjoy this genius while you can.
Even the four hour drive home was worth it and just got home for the milk arriving!
Earlier in the tour I've heard Neil refer to Ralph as his brother, tonight was the first time I've heard him call Rick a brother too.
The way Neil and Ralph related during the most awesome Cinnamon Girl I've ever heard was, I guess the result of practising for the last thirty or forty years, and maybe the fact that this song - about a drummer - features in every show is something of a tribute to Ralph.
"Does anyone else wonder if this tour, with these songs, is Neil saying Good Bye?"
Haven't you heard he's going for another Europe tour this summer? Its on the front page. And i think he'll keep on playing for at least five more years.. but who knows..
The goodbye thing.
The words to From Hank to Hendrix are very personal and the way he was looking around the audience... maybe... and then it's a greatest hits show with the adition of Believer which is about his mother and Dirty Old Man, Spirit Road and the big finale No Hidden Path... and there's the Indian from the Tonight's te Night tour on the stage, and the organ on the left that's not getting played at all this tour, and the set, and did you notice that the free standing lights around the stage are slowly lowered during the encore. It's all planned, it's all saying something.
... and Grannie get a lot of mentions, and he strokes the side of the grand piano the same way every night, and warms his hands on the lights.
Yes Espen I know about the festivals but I think this could be the intimate goodbye to his friends and then the summer gigs the big going out with a bang and a lot of noise.
He is NOT saying goodbye...I refuse to believe it. Neil is gonna go on playing forever.
I don't think so either. I don't see how the fact that he plays From Hank to Hendrix and that there's an Indian statue on stage is a way of saying goodbye. Not the other things youre mentioning either. I think its all typical Neil. But time will tell.
No reviews from yesterdays show?
6th March 2007
Set List
From Hank To Hendrix / Ambulance Blues / Kansas / A Man Needs A Maid / Try / Harvest / After The Gold Rush / Old King / Love Art Blues / Heart Of Gold / Out On The Weekend / Old Man // The Loner / Dirty Old Man / Spirit Road / Down By The River / Hey Hey, My My / Roll Another Number / Oh, Lonesome Me / The Believer / Powderfinger / No Hidden Path // Fuckin' Up
For a first Neil Young gig i couldn't have asked for a better performance..The man was in fine Form !
After a gap of over 20 years i finally made it back to the Hammersmith Odeon(always a better name..lol)to find the once majestic building hidden around shopping centres and 10 story office blocks..going inside the building has changed little but the beer prices have.
So to Neil....I knew the type of songs he'd play and i knew it wouldn't be a greatest hits set but i was blown away by the acoustic set and by the way he was obviously starting to feel at home at the venue as the jokes started to roll out in between the songs.
From Hank To Hendrix,A Man Needs A Maid,Harvest,After The Gold Rush, Heart Of Gold and Old Man were my favourites but overall each song was met with generous applause it matter little whether they were well known songs or not.After the break things really took off in a electric set which included :- The Loner,Dirty Old Man,Spirit Road,Down By The River,Hey Hey, My My,Roll Another Number,Oh, Lonesome Me,The Believer,Powderfinger......the band really rocked.With the sparse backdrop of the back wall it could have been 1975.You felt age was the only thing holding Neil back from running around the stage.I had to leave just before the end...the last train waits for no man....but what i saw and what everyone else saw was a gig that will live on in my memory for a long time to come.
It was my first time at a Neil Young concert and my fiance and i had the time of our lifes. The acoustic set blew the place away and after the interval the electric set had the place on fire. Neil has klost none of his vocal talent over the years and if you have tickets for any one of the remaining dates, you are in for a very special treat!
Was at the 5th March show - what a night! The man was just great and what a set list. From the moment he came on hiding behind a painting with a large letter N on it, carried by the artist who spent all evening painting canvasses, he was absolutely superb - highlights in acoustic set for me were Ambulance Blues, Old man Harvest and Journey through the past. Then the electric set - great versions of Powderfinger, Hey, Hey, My, My, No hidden path and others before a blistering encore of Cinnamon Girl which was extended by several false endings in a frenzy of guitar playing, Weld like feedback and splendid drums from Ralph - then Like a hurricane to finish. Glad I drove and didn't risk a train - I would have missed the last 40 minutes!
Now can I get a ticket for Cork?
went last night (6th) and was lucky enough to have front row tickets
first of all, it blew my mind being that close to one of my heroes. i was sort of floating on that for the whole of the acoustic set at least. i'm only used to seeing him from the middle of a field or arena
what puzzled me more than anything was the crowd. i understood the staying in the seats for the acoustic set - but the electric one too ?
i was waiting for some crowd movement all the way until the encore but non came. still enjoyed it more than anything mind. managed to camera film Fuckin Up from stage in its full glory too
at the end as they were taking their bow, Peggi said something to Neil about 'he knew every word' and looked over to our side of the stage (left as you look at it) and he gave a broad grin. i'd like to think it was about me but either way he knew we ALL enjoyed it immensely
This comment has been removed by the author.
here's a link to my video of Fuckin Up from March 6th Hammersmith show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzYK3vX-_p8
shot on mobile phone from front of stage. sound is awful so its for die hards only i'm afraid
enjoy!
Saw Neil last night in London. I have listened to all things Neil since I was 13 years old (I'm 45) Until las night I had never experienced him live. At one point during Love Is A Rose, I felt like I was levitating. Down By The River was so unbelievably powerful that I can't stop thinking about it. Although I really wished the audience had been more respectful of Neil's performance. The ridiculous comments that get shouted out are those of people who don't deserve to hear the poetry and soul of Neil. But the legend powered on and showed us all who's boss. The bespoke props on stage, with a subtle aged quality, were as fine as the man himself. The artist that painted canvas at the back, was nothing short of brilliant. Like honey it all stuck together perfectly and had a huge impact in the overall vibe of the show. There's no words to describe the depth of power that sprung from Neil's lungs as he shared with the audience his hard shell that protects such a sweet center. Neil's music has indeed been the soundtrack to my life and last night hearing the likes of Sad Movies and Hank to Hendrix was such a treat for the senses. Neil Young is a living gift to the foundation of music that matters. His music will remain the most influential of our time. LOVED THE SHOW!!!!!! Thanks Neil, your HOT. XX Christine
Sorry to all you fans. We had to leave at 23.10 and still had to pay £50 taxi fare, missed the last few numbers, missed last possible train home by 3 minutes and arrived home eventually by car at 01.40, but a great concert. We didn't need the support act or the 2 long breaks. But I'll be back if possible again. Please, no support next time Neil.
Had to leave at the end of No Hidden Path and still missed my last train, got a night bus and rolled into bed at 1.30. Why the late show - we missed the encore and I love those songs! Still a great gig, cannot recall a better one ever!!
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