Neil Young Concert Reviews - Reno, Nevada, July 17, 2010
Encores @ Neil Young @ Reno, Nevada, July 17, 2010
Merci Purple Words on a Grey Background!

Photo by rustiehwy395
Neil Young will be performing tonight at the 2010-07-17, Grand Sierra Resort and Casino, Reno, Nevada, USA. Special guest Bert Jansch will open concert.
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25 Comments:
somebody had to have went to the reno show! Anybody seen Maz's flourescent paintings in the Greendale book? Would be very rhinobucket to have one of those in the music room, no?
kimball
I debated whether to make the drive from Sacramento to Reno honestly the uproar over the tour had me on edge. I was afraid of being disappointed. Since I hadn't seen Neil since Greendale in West Palm Beach I decided what the hell. What an amazing show. For those of you who bitch about the ticket price (I scalped 5 dollars off full $115)I ask, how much would you pay to have Neil perform in your living room? That was the atmosphere. Neil playing for me across the living room. It was mind blowing. I enjoyed the new songs and the gems, especially "Tell Me Why" to no end and getting to hear "Hitchhiker" was a treat beyond compare.
The new songs sound like classics for ages, in particulary Love and War and Peacefull Valley. Dark Neil at his best. Thank you Neil for that.
ginkse
A couple of things we learned from the Reno Show; 1. No matter how loud you yell Neil is not taking requests, 2. Neil or someone close to him reads reviews. There was no "short changing" in Reno. Neil played a full show and did 3 songs during the encore Old Man, Heart Of Gold and Walk With Me. If you are a Neil Young fan there is no way you left Reno disappointed. Unique is a word to describe collectively Neil Young and this tour. Solo really does mean one guy playing one instrument, sometimes two. It is a very private look into the music in much the way it must have been composed. Neil performs with the passion of someone composing something great. For 45 years Neil Young has done WTF Neil Young wants to do; and fans, friends and family have dealt with it because at the center of it all is something very beautiful. Saturday night was no exception.
I'm thinking Reno wins the award for best billboard promotion! Sounds like it was a great show.
one of eleventhousand
HOG and Old Man are not just classic hits, but really great songs too. A perfect final with Walk With Me. I've spoken about these songs during my Massey Hall piece.So lucky the Reno audience!I think that the Spartansburg audience enjoyed this great encore too, but I was too tired for attending also the Spartansburg show.
Andrea."So Tired"
This comment has been removed by the author.
We saw Neil last Sunday in Oakland at the beautiful Fox Theatre. His work was flawless, of course. However, there was something unusual about the atmosphere there and though that show was amazing, it lacked the energy of the Reno show. Neil just seemed happier and way more into it last night. He got a standing ovation as soon as he walked on stage and the love just kept coming. It just seemed like a very reverent and friendly audience and he seemed connected. The rifts were longer and so passionately played.
We absolutely love the new songs, by the way. Classic Neil and somehow he manages to create really new sounds. Is it a classical/flamenco style guitar sound with some Native American influence? Anyway, I can't wait for the release so I can hear it for a third (and 4th and 5th....etc.) time.
Also, WHAT A SHOWMAN!!! Neil's timing was impeccable. The way he rocked Walk with Me, then walked away with the sound of his voice reverberating magically in the hall and beckoning us to walk away with him, too. WOW!!! Furthermore, the guitar work on Cortez gives me chills to think about. And Cinnamon Girl, never one of my favorite songs, well, it blew me away. The whole theme seemed to be about Love and War and making the world a better place before you leave it. He had a gentleness and passion in his voice which I haven't heard before. It felt like an amazing artist's attempt to lure us to please listen to the words behind the songs and DO SOMETHING to stop the destruction before it's too late. Very folksy and meaningful, but totally rockin in the free world, for sure.
This was one of the best shows I have ever seen. Thank you, Neil, for working, working, working. We feel really blessed that you do.
Just wrote a long detailed review and it disappeared.Shit.
Highlights: Neils was spot on, happy,smiling, clapping. During Helpless, he started with wrong harmonica.To which he lightened things up by saying, I can't play in 2 different keys, even in Reno.
I'm thinking he must have spent the day on Tahoe or something because this a different neil from last Sun/mon. 3 row center. Greats seats once again. I lost them before the show and was very lucky to have great box office manager. More on that later, in a different post.
Show was solid, Walk with me is just plain emotional. It's interesting listening to other folks during the song, laughing etc.. then all of a sudden they get it. Happened here. Happened in Oakland. During Cinnamon Girl Neil fucking lead a clapp session.No kidding. Far cry from prior shows. Crowd was great. Clapped along really good while he shredded old black. Encores were awsome, came back out with Han k in hand and you something was different. Old Man, HOG, stellar. Then into walk with me, which, just seems to carry me home.
more later
rustiehwy
jon
Thanks Jon.
Bummer on lost comment. :(
What exactly happened?
nice encores,the guy yelling should be shot....u
Oooh, I hope someone got a vid of the clap session during Cinammon Girl. That would be an interesting thing to see.
sounds like a great gig, although that video is horrendous. I too would have been tempted to defenestrate that geezer singing out of tune and one beat behind and 'whooing' half way through the songs. The problem with intimate gigs are when you are near someone who does not respect the intimacy the event requires. I love banter between songs and to go crazy with applause and love between songs but soon as Neil strums, like most Neil fans I love to hear nothing but the music.
Neil, come to Manchester UK Apollo! You know it is one of your favourite venues and one of your favourite audiences! Remember the 08 gig?
Those Videos are proof that folks outta shut the hell up at a Neil concert. I encountered the same F*^%ng thing in Buffalo. DRAGGGGGGGGGGGgggggggg.
- Now Rotten Johnny
I think one other reason Neil might have been happier with this crowd is fewer people videoing. Every other person seemed to be recording in Oakland. In Reno there were signs everywhere to please not move about or record. So you might not see him asking us to clap it up on video.
Some people expect a musician like Neil Young to kiss their @ss because they paid a lot of money to see a show but when the those MFers hoot and holler in the middle of song it's not an issue?
what time did neil hit the stage, I have to work till about 8 the night of the show, but I'm only 10 minutes from where he is playing in Winnipeg! the ticket says it starts at 8 and I'm assuming that Bert Jansch started his set around that time!
Thanks
I really do not know why peopple bother to video and take photos with those crappy phones. The quality is pathetic. I agree with the comment above it must really p1ss off the performer as it p1sses me off in the audience to have all those phones in the air blocking your view.
I think personally people need to start to show a bit of sense. Turn off the phone, stop getting preoccupied with filming on them. You are not Jonathan Demme or Martin Scorsese. Concentrate on consuming the experience without having a crappy pixalated video that distorts your recollection of pure perfection. Seriously you will enjoy the gig more! The human ear is the greatest translator of high fidelity audio available. The greatest feeling on earth is tuning in and giving the music and nothing else your full attention. These mobile phones can not do the audio or visual experience justice therefore I encourage Rusties to set an example. Sit back and let your ears translate the audio waves for you, turn the mobile off or or put it on silent.
I personally think if Neil wrote 'Piece of Crap' now it would have a verse in about filming a gig on a phone and getting home and realising it was a piece of crap.
At the Ryman show they checked bags for video equipment and cameras. Anybody who was seen with a phone was escorted out of the show. I saw 4 people get kicked out. Sandy Horne
What? People complaining on this site? That's new. I'm sure if the video was to your standards you wouldn't be whining about it. Thanks for putting the video on Thrash. I watched it and was glad to see a piece of a concert I was unable to attend.
Fabulous concert with Neil at his best! I was so impressed with the wide age range of fans. It's great to see so many younger people that appreciate his music. Keep on rockin'!
I gladly bought tickets on the resale market to see him in such an intimate theatre, and flew from Montana to Reno just to see Neil, and it was worth every penny and more. Front row, center, pit seats. The most intimate and amazing NY concert of my life. At the risk of repeating some of the highlights already written about already, here goes: Neil walked on stage with a wave to the audience and then sat down to play an acoustic "Hey Hey My My" - I literally cried - then he followed by the rare live gem, "Tell Me Why." I think 7 news songs played overall; and they are all amazing and instant classics. How does this guy keep doing it? Magical! And a common theme through them all, along with the tone of the set list: love and war, planet wars, mortality. Only Neil could write about loss ("You Never Call") that has you laughing out loud (also - when Neil sings of Ben in the song, he is singing of LA Johnson's son - not his own.) "Peaceful Valley" blew my mind. BTW - anyone know who Leia is, the child he sings of in the uncharacteristically sweet piano ditty? And yes, it was amazing that Neil started a clap along to Cinnamon Girl. I was also thrilled to hear Ohio and "After the Gold Rush" on organ and harmonica rather than piano. He moved between 3 acoustic guitars, at least two electric guitars, the organ, upright and grand pianos. He didn't speak much to the audience but he didn't need to. I did want to punch in the face the idiotic woman behind me who blathered on the whole show, giving a running commentary on her life with each song and loudly and incessantly complaining about how bored she was through the opening act (who was tremendous by the way!) The woman next to me said "she's about to give me a nervous breakdown." My husband kept turning around and shushing her to no avail. I can't believe the people next to her didn't just strangle her. Seriously - there are too many people in the world. But I digress...I wondered what to expect for an encore based on the complaints posted on this site on previous nights. But Neil came back out and sang three songs - as mentioned, two classics - "Old Man," "HOG" and then the emotionally charged "Walk with Me." In fact, I'd say Neil was emotionally charged every song. He seemed to hit every syllable in every lyric deliberately. You can see on his face how deeply he FEELS about the things he sings about. Sometimes it's like pure pain. I love that passion. From our front row seats, there were times when i could have reached out and touched him - he would move forward playing Old Black within feet of the audience. My husband and I both commented that we made eye contact with him on numerous occasions, which was fun of course! Aside from the rude dimwit behind us chatting away mindlessly all concert long, the audience around us was reverential - NOT yelling anything out, but enthusiastically clapping and seeming to understand collectively as NY fans we were witnessing something truly special. (And i thought nothing could top the first Greendale concert i saw, before the LP was out and not knowing much in advance of the music - that blew my mind.) But this night, the songs chosen, the consciencous way in which they were sung, was an amazing moment in life. Since Neil Young's music is about as close as i get to organized religion, i guess I'd say this was a near religious experience for me :) To top it off, we nabbed one of Neil's guitar picks from a roadie on the way out. THANK YOU NEIL, for an amazing night of passionate and heart felt music!
-Tamara in Montana
What's the narrow panel tweed he's playing? Princeton? Champ?
Thanks for posting the youtube - based on this and the previous postings of MMHH, I broke down and bought a ticket for the Mpls show. He's as good now as he was 40 years ago, which you can't say for anyone else. Accept no substitutes. Lookin' forward to a magical (if relatively short) evening.
Old Black
the more you respect neil the longer the show. you get 17or19 song its depend on the crowd mood.
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