Hyde Park, London, UK - June 27, 2009
Photo by Lzbth Corinthians (via Bernie B. Shakey)
(Click photo to enlarge)
The Photo of the Moment is Paul McCartney and Neil Young at Hyde Park, London, UK - June 27, 2009 by Lzbth Corinthians (via Bernie B. Shakey). Here's Bernie B. Shakey's take:
This photo, shot by my friend Lzbth Corinthians from the side of the stage during the song Day In The Life, captured one of the truly epic moments in the live concert career of Neil Young.Thanks Lzbth & Bernie!
Day in the Life is one of the Beatles most famous songs, and Neil & His Electric Band covered it regularly throughout tours in 2008 & 2009. The band truly did the song justice, always a show-stopping moment.....
......and then all hell broke loose in Hyde Park when one of the giant legends of Rock, Paul McCartney, the former Beatle, decided to (randomly??) saunter on stage and join Neil & Co. The video is posted here, and you can see Paul run on-stage at 2:45: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6SSR3YY-rc (I *think* Lzbth's great shot was snapped right around the 3-min, 24-sec mark in the video - btw, why do i care?! doh!).
I've always wondered if Paul just randomly joined Neil onstage or if this was a planned moment. Regardless, it's simply outrageous! A Beatle on his home turf, London, treating the fans to a masterpiece. Neil, meanwhile, is an absolute madman throughout, howling to the Rock Gods, completely lost in the moment of.......music.
So ridiculously perfect words don't do it justice. On that note, I'll stop talking.
More on commentary on the day Paul walked onstage and surprised Neil at Hyde Park, London, UK - June 27, 2009. Here's a comment by insidetherain who said...
I was there!! This was such an incredible night...Also, see more Paul McCartney and Neil Young over the years.
Neil really enjoyed the crowd, the crowd adored him, singing along to clearly the most mainstream songs for this festival crowd but Neil knew it ("here's another one for ya" - he said before playing Old Man, after Heart of Gold). The crowd were all NY maniacs. From my POV, seeing this was so wonderful, as being a young NY fan I rarely bump into other young fans but there were a whole variety of people loving Neil tonight.
And the Paul McCartney guest spot... Neil did a phenomenal version of "Rockin' in the Free World" that carried on and on and made the crowd go absolutely insane, then closed the show. Then they all returned for the encore, but Neil walked off to the other side of the stage, hidden in the right hanger, but we could see he was talking to someone and I had the feeling it was Paul - looked like his head shape (strange wording there) and the way he was flailing his arms around. Then "A Day in the Life" began... and I think it was into the second verse, that Paul came on stage and I swear, this whole rush ran across the audience, and every second was golden! Neil and Paul were goofing around on stage too, Paul gave Neil a great hug, they baby-ed around on the xylophone, Neil thrashed on Old Black with some assistance from Paul... but Paul always pointing to Neil, to message somehow that "this is the legend, this is the true legend."
Crazy, crazy moment. Never forget! I recorded the whole thing so hopefully will upload it soon!
I was there too, coming from Italy. Totally agree: when Paul jumped on stage there was a feeling crossing the crowd that was unique.
ReplyDeleteI'll never forget in my whole life that moment.
By the way: the greatest concert ever up to Paul. Then it became legendary.
What a lovely picture!
ReplyDeleteOkay, let's get to the point. Since Neil asked "how hard should I try..." a while ago I am thinking about that everyday. Still don't have the answer.
But hey, how hard should a Neil Young fan try to support him? He is such a generous guy. Why not support him while he is trying to save mother earth in his own shakey way? With that in mind I feel free to copy a post by the The Flying Scotsman because I think he has a good point. An issue that I agree with and I'm pretty sure that old bass player from the Beatles does too.
At 11/13/2013 02:32:00 PM, The Flying Scotsman said...
Climate change is very real, however I would point out that family-farmed meat contributes as much as (if not more than) factory farmed meat to climate change. The environmental problem is more with the sheer amount of food being raised, rather than the source of it.
However, there are of course other very good reasons not to eat factory farmed farmed meat (animal treatment being top of the list), or indeed meat in general.
There are far less true "farmers" left than most people realise. Even Neil is guilty of a little hyperbole here. Farmers aren't so much at the front line as consumers are. What you don't eat is equally important as what you do. We are the ones with the real power. "
BecauseSoundMatters
http://www.mediapeta.com/petauk/Images/600-paul-mccartney-iamveg-UK.jpg
ReplyDeleteI like Neil's version of A Day in the Life even better than the original. It has more intensity and it just rocks harder.
ReplyDeleteAnybody ever noticed how suitable Neil's voice is for Lennon's songs? His take on Imagine is great too.
Don't care too much for Paul McCartney (I'm more of a Harrison and Lennon guy), but it was funny to see how admireous Paul seemed to be of Neil.
One thing I've always wondered is what they are playing on the xylophone at the end of the performance. It looks like Neil is "teaching" Paul some tune, but it's not very melodic, seems almost like random tones being played. Maybe it's some in-joke between them or something..
ReplyDeleteKen