Brooklyn: Neil Young & Crazy Horse Concert Reviews - 12/3/12
Neil Young & Crazy Horse will be performing tonight at Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York.
Doors at 6:30, Everest at 7:30, Patti Smith at 8:05 and Neil Young at 9pm.
Got a report? Drop us a comment below.
Check Sugar Mountain for setlist updates and Chronological Grid, Recording Summary, Statistics and Extras.
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Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Don't Be Denied!
Labels: concert, crazy horse, neil young, new york, review, tour
by thrasher@PermaLink: 12/03/2012 09:49:00 PM
22 comments
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22 Comments:
Wow, just like the Garden, mine is the first comment here as well (in that case I was anonymous). Now I'm reminded of why I had to go again. First off, Roll Another Number again for the encore, just like MSG. Thought he might mix it up for people who went to both like me. Ramanda Inn might be one of the best live songs ever. The guitars are beautiful, and the bass just carries it along. Once again, Cinnamon Girl and Mr. Soul were so much better than I expected them to be. Same for F#%cken Up. I'd see it all again if I could. That's all I have. Words don't do this show justice.
I second nemouse, having been to both shows I do think the Barclays show was better. Both shows are in the top five of all time for me. It may have been due to the fact that I WAS ON THE FLOOR at Barclays (snagged a ticket at 2:30 ish today on Ticketmaster - I guess they threw em on line to foil the scalpers), and stone cold sober so every nuance was appreciated.
The Horse was FEROCIOUS tonight! Being up close, and seeing the fun they have, is infectious. Getting the finger from Poncho during, you know, and that little bluesy tonight's the night style interlude with poncho pointing to Neil as a f^(% up!! And then they actually try to mess up their last note faking each other out repeatedly. Hilarious. Also loved the mad scientists urging the crowd to beg for the encore.
Now I'm not sure whether I love the beautiful ramada inn more than the mighty "giant." The crowd ate up the ending, even, and maybe especially the twenty somethings on the floor. My take on the ending is that the Giant is walking, staggers, falls and expires, but not without a wail. Maybe the end of the Hippie dream?
I was expecting Hurricane for the encore, but you know about Neil and expectations.
I'm writing a letter to santa and asking that when the Horse is done in Europe in 2013 they will drift back for a victory lap and fill the air with more psychadelic music before they had back to that mansion on the hill.
I got me some of that garbage they were blowin round the stage.
-Ambulance Blueser
just got back from barclays. missed everest yet again. patti smith and her band kicked the ever-living crap out of everyone's earholes! perferct killer set again!
patti is the F bomb, neil & the boys splitting hairs and shredding heads!
In my higher state of consciousness thee thoughts came immediately to mind.
1 Live Music IS better, way better. 2 Made even better with the right accompaniment of herbs
3 old and new friends
man what a great show, so much better vibe than MSG. patti's rendition of only a dream blew my socks right off her feet!southern 3360 tsNTls cross, Gloria and because the night!
Come on. the bitch got some pipes!
I don't know if anyone else picked up on the "meaning" behind singer without a song. it's joni mitchell. she writes woodstock for the boys it becomes the anthem and they are running away with it. singer without a song woodstock backdrop gave it away.
when neil kept repeating/singing walking with the devil down a twisted road I thought I was gonna loose it! SO many different interpertations of the same song from NIGHT to NIGHT.
The horse was at full on gallop all night long. what a fuck up, just a fuck up!
Another thought I had was maybe, just maybe, all the recorded portions were back on a ponos. I have never noticed sounds like that in a day the life OR the star spangled banner! think about it....just like it's all on song it's all one promotional tour, for ponos!
I had a hard day at work. went home and crashed for 5 hours. Woke up and remembered they were playing in Brooklyn. I didn't even have a ticket but I was hoping I could still purchase one there. I arrived just as Love And Only Love was blasting around the Barclay's Center walls! Great show! The best moment for me is when Neil reached into the hole and was doing his feedback stuff during Walk Like A Giant. It looked like he was caught in the giant amp ! I loved how odd he looked in the spotlight with his arm in there, head hangin' down, garbage flyin' around. Neil has so many sides...reminds me of his early 90's period. Still the best band in the world!
Wow Ambulance Blueser, I'm jealous. Here I am getting nose bleed seats in the secondary market and you got GA through ticketmaster. Met another guy that said the same thing. How did you even know? That's awesome.
Having said that, I can confirm that my distant perch did not diminish the quality of the show. I can't really say whether it was better than MSG or not, it's just that in both cases they were better than I expected, perhaps because I never "expect" anything to be this good.
I can also say that a lack of herb accompaniment has no adverse impact, While I had ample opportunity this time, I really wanted to go without, It did give me the opportunity to give some more thought to the songs. For instance this time, I really appreciated the bass guitar. It carries Ramada Inn and is the vessel by which Neil can find the freedom to jam. It is Hey Hey, My My, which I guess is obvious. Really the difference seeing live, the bass (and rhythm guitar) just reach into your soul.
I can say I had fun in the nose bleeds, and in Barclays they are way up there. I came back from a bathroom break during the F#$cken Up outro and on the way up the stairs yelled with Neil that everyone in my steeply inclined section was a F&*ck Up. Got some high fives as I made my way to my (aisle thankfully) seat. I was just having a good time, which is exactly what Neil and the band were doing.
So many times I just found myself shaking my head in disbelief at what I was seeing and hearing. It is Crazy Horse, fully loaded. Long guitar jams, with whatever the groove is from the song providing the consistent undercurrent. I often would just spontaneously yell out at the top of my lungs because it was that good. It just gets in you.
It is Crazy Horse, fully loaded... It just gets in you.
That might just be the most succienct description of the tour I've read nemouse. I felt the same in Cleveland, and I'm even getting some of it reading all the reviews. A Brooklyn friend sent me a copy of the acoustic Bridge Show from October, wholly F#$@ that is a treasure itself, with an acoustic Hurricane that blows ya away.
Anyhow, this is a tremendous time to see Crazy Horse. I am very glad that these guys are out on the road and enjoying what's happening to the hilt. They deserve it. It can't be bottled, bought, borrowed or sold.. only experienced in the moment. And that is so Neil..
What a stark difference between GA on the floor, and upper seating. I saw the MSG show from the floor with other real-deal-Neil heads and it was great. Last night at Barclays I had upper section seated. Maybe it was just my section (I don’t think so) but the crowd was terrible and lifeless up there; no moving, no head bobbing, and certainly no dancing. I was told to sit down 20 seconds into Love and Only Love. These fools got what they deserved. When it became clear that this wasn’t the gentle, acoustic, Heart of Gold Neil, people steadily started leaving.
Still, I’m grateful for the experience because there is a perverse pleasure in watching the “doubters” walk out stone-faced as the Horse continues to pummel them with the ending of Walk Like a Giant. F*cking doubters!
Also, cheers to the guy who gave me the ticket for FREE out in front of Barclays. I was willing to pay but he said just take it!
Note: During the analog time-machine part, when he lists some albums, he says “did I skip Time Fades Away? There must be a reason.” Then he addresses someone in the GA and says, “I hear you, your vote has been registered.” I guess the guy was shouting for TFA. Anyone down there hear that?
- vertigone
Village Voice Review
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2012/12/neil_young_crazy_horse_barclays_review.php
Wow. What an amazing show. I didn't think it was possible to top the MSG performance last week, but this was even better. Of course, that may have something to do with the fact that I was in GA this time, which really is a totally different experience.
Is it just me, or was the second half of Ramada Inn the greatest thing you have ever heard? Absolutely sublime guitar playing. Words cannot even describe how good that was.
Awesome show again,went to msg and barclay,,but come on Neil same setlist,but u change it for phi And varginat in-between the NY shows,WTF !!and u would thinK A little extra for NY !!
What was up w/Neil throwing beer on the audience? That was kind of funny.
"Is it just me, or was the second half of Ramada Inn the greatest thing you have ever heard? Absolutely sublime guitar playing. Words cannot even describe how good that was."
Not just you. I was thinking during Ramada Inn that it might be the best live Neil Young song ever. Impossibly beautiful guitar, and the bass gives so much dimension, particularly when Neil is playing his jams in the higher octaves (completely speculating whether that is the right term there). I had always thought that Down By The River was the pinnacle, but for me perhaps there is a new king.
But as we sit here and write these things, just consider that there were likely many in the crowd that couldn't wait for Ramada Inn to end. I genuinely feel sorry for them.
I want to simply chime in on the numerous comments throughout this tour about 'Ramada Inn' being the greatest guitar song ever.
It certainly is way way up there in Neil's canon of epic jams - I can't get enough of it.
Of course a statement like "greatest ever" is subjective and absolutes by definition rule out other options.
Here's a brief list of a few choices right off the top of my head...
1) Ramada Inn/WLAG/DBTR/Cowgirl/No Hidden Path/RITFW/All Neil Young songs!!!
2) Ten Years Gone - Led Zeppelin
3) Impossible Germany - Wilco
4) At Least That's What You Said - Wilco
5) Riviera Paradise - Stevie Ray Vaughn
@2:35
I actually saw a few people leave after Ramada Inn. Unbelievable that people can hear the same music and process it completely differently. I thought RI was absolutely amazing.
- vertigone
It's interesting all the comments about people leaving. I saw the same thing, even in GA. There were a bunch of oldies near me -- obviously expecting some gentle acoustic renditions of their 70s favorites -- who left after two songs. The look on their faces was priceless, as Neil and Crazy Horse instead delivered a maelstrom of feedback and noise.
More broadly though, is this perhaps a sad reflection of how sanitized the modern concert going experience has become? People seem to be conditioned to hearing boring, faithful reproductions of what they have heard on the radio or MP3s, and any deviation from this seems to make audiences uncomfortable. How many true jam bands are left these days?
I'm in my 30s, and spent most my time in college listening to noisy, dissonant bands like Sonic Youth. I think even Thurston Moore would have been blown away by that outro to WLAG. But I guess it's a minority of us that are able to appreciate Neil's more experimental side. I might have to fly to Australia for one of his shows next year. That's how good last night was.
To each his own
The birds have flown
As they headed out
The door
A gasping sigh
For days gone by
While believers
Cheered for more
I just don't get the folks leaving thing. What were they expecting from a show with Neil and the Horse? I am unemployed yet have borrowed $350 for my wife and I to see the show in Sydney - first time I will have seen them since first coming aboard in 1970 and totally stoked.
The show in Brooklyn was mind-blowing! The Horse was galloping HARD! I was on the rail directly in front of Neil, and the experience is surreal, I highly recommend it to anyone, it is worth the waiting on line to be that close to THE FORCE. : ) Fantastic show! loveandaffection, karen
p.s. That was not beer that Neil threw on the audience, it was water, and hit me right in the face. A baptism? : )
When I first heard Ramada Inn on the opening night at Red Rocks last August, I didn't know the name of the song, but I knew it was something special. After the concert we went to local bar and it wasn't long before we were discussing that "Every Morning Comes the Sun" new song. Fortunately we had tickets for the following night, so we were anxious for a second listen to that different sounding new song. We were ready and poised this time for a second dose. Poncho, Billy and Ralph perfectly constructed the floor and the walls to the operating room and Neil relentlessly bores deep into the soul with this DeadMan like guitar. We are trying listen for the lyrics-sounds like a happy empty-nester tune at first, then it's a dose of despair and the road ends up in a dark place. Must have listened to that song 50 times since and will listen another 50 times. It's a timeless song that stands alongside Cowgirl, Cortez and Hurricane as some of Neil's best work.
@nemouse - thanks. exactly.
@Jonathan - we think the best song ever ref was referring to only NY's repertoire, as opposed to all music.
@loveandaffection - wow. baptized by Neil?! As Bob would say: "How does it feel-lllllll??"
@vertigone - regarding walk outs. 1st, of the 5 Horse shows we saw, we didn't see anyone walk out. Everyone around us was totally into and stood the entire concert. But we were upfront in GA.
So not only is live music better, but up close is better! And the cheapest tix to boot.
@all - thanks for comments. Later this evening, we'll have a post linked to Neil's recent radio interview where he discusses the merits of hybrid seating arrangements. He is definitely on the side of music lovers. :)
On the floor about halfway back and the only people around us who left were a young couple who bailed just as the opening notes to Roll Another Number sounded. I think the skunk weed got to them.
And Jim Jarmusch, who was standing right next to me, stayed for the whole thing.
Been a while since I've visited the wheat...but its just like gettin back on the horse so to speak!
Managed to score gold tickets for the sydney show next march..been a long time between drinks seeing Neil and the horse together..i literally can't wait..i'm like an excited 58 yr old kid! i have had PP in heavy rotation in the car as well as americana..so i'm so ready for his new stuff..but will obviosly not be disappointed with some old crazyhorse gems as wll...from all reports it sounds amazing.Just hope the audience in Oz give Neil and the boys the feedback they so richly deserve.
half way through reading waging heavy peace at the moment..loving Neils honesty and humility and genuine admiration for his fellow compatriots,
really enjoying the comments and the old regulars and to you thrash and thrashette have a really great xmas and new year
xxxdoc
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