Concert Review and Video of the Moment: Bridgeport, CT: Neil Young & Crazy Horse Concert Reviews - 12/4/12

"Fuckin' Up"
Bridgeport, CT: Neil Young & Crazy Horse Concert Reviews - 12/4/12
The Video of the Moment is a rather remarkable version of "Fuckin' Up". In particular, note in the first 30 seconds or so that Neil goes down on his knees than back while playing. What a fuck up?!

Concert Review of the Moment is from Bridgeport, CT: Neil Young & Crazy Horse Concert Reviews - 12/4/12 by The Zuma Band:

We were on the floor this time after sitting in Boston last week. GA is the place. If anything, the overall audience was an even greater age mix. Seemed to be a full range from 20s to 30s to 40s to 50s and over on the floor. I was dead center, perhaps 30 feet back. Toward the end there was a lot of pogo-ing, from what were clearly much younger people, and I think that's something the boys on stage were clearly aware of and getting off on it. No gentle toe tapping, for sure. Their mood, if anything was possibly even a bit more buoyant than Boston. Lots of smiles, lots of mugging and gesturing. During the wild extended "F@#kin' UP" NY pointed to someone, said "You're a f@$k up!" and mocked and pantomimed their smartphone use. His getting on his knees and then prone on the floor was even more pronounced and theatrical.

Something the band did (at the end of "Hey Hey"?) that I didn't notice at Boston was a chest thumping monkey/ape "ooga ooga" thing that the crowd picked up and repeated back. Pretty funny...did they do this anywhere else? Should become a tradition...

Lots of rhythmic audience clapping during "Ramada Inn." I detected a slight shift in Ralph's beat- almost a subtle bosa nova thing, which I think is what really gets the clapping going. The audience knows this song now- I hope it enters the canon, as it has such a great and deep groove. The other thing is, it is perfectly timed. It is neither too long nor too short. It has a distinct arc of lyrical segments set between the melodic guitar work. This isn't jamming; it is a deliberate, distinct structure with room for improvisation, but contained within its boundaries.

All thoughout the performance I scanned the crowd in the entire arena. I did not see any unusual exodus after the new and longer songs or at any other time; just the usual movement in and out of a venue that size. The place was certainly packed all over, and there was a lot of dancing up in the stands as well as on the floor. Total arena standing ovation at the end, and even greater noise for an encore than in Boston.

BTW, getting to parking at Webster arena is f#@ked up. We arrived with plenty of time, but had to crawl the last few blocks. The cop said that it was a chronic problem. They f@$ked up the planning.

ps ,
I beg to differ with jocar. As a guitarist I pay close attention to NY's playing. He will use riffs to anchor a song, along with the chord structure, but all the other melodic passages are unique within each song, as well as from song to song. He will do similar things, but not the same thing. "Ramada Inn" is a perfect example of this. I think it is a textbook example of how he spins complexity out of simplicity as he will builds the song at different places on the fretboard and through his varied strummming and picking techniques. At the sonic complexities of the different effects combinations he hits and you get a very rich mixture.

I'd agree that I've heard better acoustics, but I blame that on the arena. For instance, Patti Smith's vocals were set too low in the mix. OTOH I thought Neil's vocals were OK, but his guitar was mixed a bit too low. I think in barns like that place the best sound would be back near the soundboard and the worst is probably in the seats along the sides- too much bounced sound and not enough balance.

Thanks The Zuma Band! Great review. Glad you guys got a good show. That version of "F@#kin' Up" is pretty f@#k' up, if we do say so ourselves. But it feels so good!

Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Photo by Kelly Jensen Photography
(Click photo to enlarge)

---

---