What's It's Like To Be The Opening Band for Neil Young and Crazy Horse? Ask Everest
Photos: Dominic DiSaia Photographs
(Click photo to enlarge)
Ever wondered what it's like to be the opening band for Neil Young and Crazy Horse?
Anyone remember those crazy stories of Sonic Youth opening for the 1991 Ragged Glory Tour? (If not, see here and here.)
Or, just ask the band Everest. From The Vinyl District "Everest Ascending: Ambition, self-doubt, and on the road with Neil Young" by Jennifer Carney:
Russ Pollard, lead singer and principal songwriter for the band - “[Neil Young and Crazy Horse] have seen everything for the last forty years. They’ve seen it all and done it all, so the fact that we’re even sharing a stage with them is an accolade. Sometimes you’ve gotta remind yourself of that. Any band would put themselves in this position to open for them.
“When we go onstage and play three-and-a-half songs in Madison Square Garden, it’s the most empowering thing I can ever feel in my life.”
...
Elliot Roberts, Neil Young’s long-time manager - “Ultimately, the songs are what drive a band and touch an audience. I think eventually, if Everest just keeps hanging tough and stay in it, ultimately their songs and their sound will be recognized. It’s very hard—there’s so much out there. You really have to be very patient.”
“You know, an image to me is something that comes very naturally. You don’t go, ‘You guys need a few tattoos and some piercings and it’s all gonna be great.’ You really work with what you have and the people who you have and you hope that you can guide them to where they at least have the best chance to succeed. And that’s really all you can do; from then on, it’s up to the fates whether your music touches somebody or doesn’t touch them. All you can give them is the best possible chance to succeed. That’s it.”
Photos: Dominic DiSaia Photographs
(Click photo to enlarge)
More from The Vinyl District "Everest Ascending: Ambition, self-doubt, and on the road with Neil Young" by Jennifer Carney.
Labels: everest, neil young
by thrasher@PermaLink: 1/31/2013 05:45:00 AM
5 comments
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Really, really enjoyed seeing/hearing Everest open for Neil 2 times now. They have a solid sound are are very tight. I wish them the all the best because they deserve it. Seems like they are just teetering on the edge of blowing it wide open.
Everest was very good live I agree. But as far as "blowing it wide open"...is that even really possible anymore? The last band to take off and get really big was My Morning Jacket in my opinion and that was 6 to seven years ago after relentless touring AND finally opening up for Pearl Jam.
The music industry today sucks a big one and everybody knows it to be true.
MP3's - the internet - instant dowloads - they've ruined rock and roll for the most part.
Check out Jim James praising Neil recently in Suckass Rolling Stone and then trashing him a few sentences later saying Neil's bad attitude live is a turn off...
I guess The Black Keys might qualify as having blown up big time...
Just read the Jim James comment about Neil in RS ... hilarious really ... I took it as less of a thrashing on Neil and more of a basic observation ... namely that Neil isn't performing to be your best friend and he's not really out to connect to the audience ... rather, here's how I experience it -- he's on stage performing and doing his thing and the audience is removed and passively experiencing his art ... I remember when the Dead was in its heyday you know it felt like the audience was part of the musical experience the band feeding off the audience and the audience feeding off the band ... maybe that's what Bruce is going for, I don't know cause I've never seen him ... but with Neil the vibe I get is he's doing his thing and don't screw up the atmosphere (by yelling out song requests, or texting, or flashbulbs, ect...) and I'm totally cool with that ... I think ironically if you read the begining of the Jim James interview he's bashing the music business as "selling units" and when I read that my immediate thought was that Neil's so called irreverence for the industry and the fans is exactly what has enabled him to be the antithesis of "just selling units" and instead be such a prolific source of incredibly broad musical output for so long ... and the performances are a further expression of that view that he's doing what he's doing come or go if you like just don't disturb the process ... oh yea, if you want a friend get a dog ...
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