Doubters: There's A Hole in the Neil Young Fanbase

Neil Young @ Perth Arena, Australia - March 2
Photo by Life Is A Mixtape
(Click photo to enlarge)
Thus far, Neil Young & Crazy Horse's 2013 Australia concerts have been well received ... generally blogging.

For just a few positive samples from press reviews, tweets, Facebook posts, and blog comments, see here. Or this:

"That left the slightly bruised audience in no doubt that they had witnessed one of rock's most sturdy , most forceful , most earthly performance in some time."

~REVIEW: Neil Young with Crazy Horse - The West Australian by RAY PURVIS

Or this:

"And so ended one of the best rock n roll shows most of us have ever had the privilege of seeing."

~~ Neil Young and Crazy Horse open Australian tour at Perth Arena | Perth Now by Jay Hanna

But what's up with those doubters like this? From Neil Young should have stuck to oldies rather than new 'noise' | Sunshine Coast Daily by Heidi Costello:

But the enjoyment level dropped considerably for us after about the third song when they launched into what must have been at least 15 minutes worth of self-gratifying noise-making. Neil and Poncho were obviously enjoying themselves as they jammed away and played with the screaming feedback.

Don't get me wrong, sure, there's a time and a place for this in a rock concert. But the length of time that it went on soon made it boring and I felt nauseous. By the time this finished it was about 45 minutes into the show and we had only heard three songs - none of which had set the crowd on fire.
...
He could have fit plenty more of them in if they'd just cut down what dad described as 'a penultimate tsunami of noise'.

(Some where Neil is smiling on being described as 'a penultimate tsunami of noise'.)

From Neil Young & Crazy Horse's Australia Concert Tour Leg Kicks Off Tonight in Perth:

A true legend indeed but i too left early.

A self indulgent racket of loud grungy guitar and these veterans getting off on it instead of playing the true classics i came to hear. Neil needs to realise what and who made him famous, classic songs and people paying money to hear them. What a crap set list of long winded same same songs. Where were the classics? He played one and that was an acoustic cop out. I was one of many people who walked out extremely disappointed. Neil was trying to be young instead of Young.

What a wank and what a waste of money.

Where to begin?

• "self indulgent racket of loud grungy guitar" - exactly, it's a Crazy Horse concert
• "Where were the classics? " & "crap set list" - what?? Setlist included classics Heart of Gold, Powderfinger, Cinnamon Girl, Mr. Soul, Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)

What is striking about Neil Young's Doubters is that they exhibit the very symptoms of arrested development they now attribute to a man whose resilience and humour under critical pressure are very evident to those who admire him most.

We've been through all of this "Neil Doubters" business many, many times before (see This Is Not For You: Following The Muse) so we won't belabor the point of what some see as inspired genius others hear as a "piece of crap". What some see as "self indulgent" others hear as the essence of the Crazy Horse jam-huddle circle.

Even Rolling Stone weighed in with a sub-headline "Show leaves Australian fans divided" based on negative comments. Yet look at the video of 'Hey Hey, My My' and ask whether there is any evidence of rust?

But if you really want to know what the concerts are like, judge the angry, bitter comments on The Courier-Mail or Perth Now and then contrast with this comprehensive blog of the Perth concert on Life Is A Mixtape. Then ask your self which opinion is based on solid, factual observations vs. unfulfilled emotional expectations?

So here you go, this is for all the doubters.

And this is for all the believers.

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Neil Young & Crazy Horse @ Perth Arena, Australia - March 2
Photo Gallery by Life Is A Mixtape
(Click photo to enlarge)