Concert Reports: Neil Young + Promise of the Real - Summerfest, Milwaukee July 5, 2015
Setlist via Sugar Mountain (Thanks Tom!):
2015-07-05
Marcus Amphitheatre, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Summerfest w/ Promise Of The Real
1. After The Gold Rush (solo)
2. Heart Of Gold (solo)
3. Long May You Run (solo)
4. Old Man (solo)
5. Mother Earth (solo)
6. Hold Back The Tears
7. Out On The Weekend
8. Unknown Legend
9. Peace Of Mind
10. Field Of Opportunity
11. Wolf Moon
12. Harvest Moon
13. Words
14. Flying On The Ground Is Wrong
15. Walk On
16. People Want To Hear About Love
17. A New Day For Love
18. Down By The River
19. Big Box
20. A Rock Star Bucks A Coffee Shop
21. White Line
22. Workin' Man
23. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
24. Monsanto Years
25. If I Don't Know
26. Love And Only Love
---
27. Don't Be Denied
28. Double E
Neil Young - Milwaukee 2015 - Walk On - Promise of the Real
Thanks David G.!
Neil Young + Promise of the Real will be performing tonight on the Rebel Content Tour July 5, 2015, Summerfest, Milwaukee, WI.
Got a report? Drop us a comment below.
Check Sugar Mountain for setlist updates and Chronological Grid, Recording Summary, Statistics and Extras.
Also, see Neil Young + Promise of the Real 2015 Concert Tour Dates for reviews, photos, videos and more.
Labels: concert, neil young, tour
by thrasher@PermaLink: 7/05/2015 10:29:00 AM
28 comments
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28 Comments:
I just noticed the name of the tour, and to me it seems rather tone deaf and off-putting considering the recent events that have taken place. Southern man....
Awesome show. New songs well received. Words. Don't Be Denied. Flying on the Ground. Double EE. Down By the River.
Incredible! Also gems such as Walk On, Hold Back the Tears..... Days of the Real at times sounded like the Stray Gators, Danny Whiten era Crazy Horse as well as Buffalo Springfield. Three part harmonies and great guitar (strat) playing from Lucas. A top three concert after forty years of rock shows!
Total of 28 songs, most in a single show since 1999 (not counting CSNY tours). Full setlist is on Sugar Mountain now: http://www.sugarmtn.org/show.php?show=201507050
Rebel Content Tour with Promise Of The Real.
Got to arena 8:30. Outdoors, air is cool and fresh. Night is falling. Barges and boats on Lake Michigan behind, as I face the stage.
Deadheads on lawn in front of me with that skeleton lightning bolt on the back of their jean jackets. Amphitheater is not full.
Crew wearing straw hats, carrying watering cans, sprinkling flowers on stage before show.
Neil appears at 9 PM wearing black fedora, dark coat.
After The Gold Rush solo on upright piano.
Acoustics good, sound coming up the hill from the low stage. No ear plugs needed.
Heart Of Gold, Long May You Run, Old Man, solo, acoustic guitar.
Mother Earth, pipe organ.
Men in white suits spray insecticide on stage.
Then the whole band appears, five, drummer, percussion, bass, Lucas, Micah Nelson on guitar.
Hold Back The Tears with the band, Neil on acoustic. Don't believe this song has been played live in a long time. Sounds wonderful.
"How you doing" he says.
Out For The Weekend, acoustic with boys. Micah Nelson plays his guitar with a bow.
Unknown Legend acoustic with boys. Milwaukee cheers for Harley Davidson.
Peace Of Mind
Field Of Opportunity
Wolf Moon, new song.
"Big crow still flies in your skies."
Harvest Moon
Takes off jacket, wearing black Earth t-shirt. Switches to white Gretsch electric guitar. Percussion moves to upright for this one.
Words Between The Lines Of Age.
Forceful playing, leaning in with the boys.
Flying On The Ground Is Wrong
Walk On
The boys took their band name, Promise Of The Real from this song and sing that lyric with extra energy.
Switches to Old Black.
People Want To Hear About Love, new song.
"Don't talk about the corporations hijacking all your rights.
Dynamic presentation, this is what he came to sing.
"Thanks for coming folks, you doing alright?"
It's A New Day For The Planet
Words come with a snarl. Part of the time he is gesticulating with right hand, it's not playing guitar.
Really wailing on Old Black near the end of song.
DBTR
Surrounded by the boys in the middle of this song for extended jam.
Now Neil and Lucas are jamming out in front of drummer who looks on approvingly. The crowd roars.
"Promise Of The Real with me."
Big Box
"They don't want to fall so when
they fall they fall on you," he says, jabbing his hand at us.
"I like these insects, I like them. I think we should keep them around."
A Rock Star Bucks A Coffee Shop
The crowd cheers the first time Monsanto is derisively mentioned.
Also cheers the line about chemical companies and fascist politicians.
White Line.
"Any farmers out there tonight? Anyone eat farm food?"
Working Man.
"Well I don't know you but I do know who I am."
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere.
Two hours into show and it's moving along quickly and dynamically. The rebel content keeps coming. The jams are tight, and aren't going on for long periods. One song goes right into another, short or no breaks. Lots of movement and energy.
The Monsanto Years
Waving hand "Give us this day our daily bread and let us not go with Monsanto".
Repeating the name Monsanto as Micah is on the floor working the controls trying to tame the distortion as the song ends.
If I Don't Know
Love And Only Love
Driving, rollicking, jam. Neil adjusting speaker top controls as he plays.
Six refrains at the end with power chords.
"Thank you Milwaukee and Promise Of The Real thanks you."
Encore
Don't Be Denied
"Want to thank you for coming down here to see us tonight. We appreciate it very much."
The Double E
"Thank you and goodnight".
Neil may have thought he needed some younger band mates after the last couple tours and he wasn't wrong. He looks young playing with these guys. This was quite a musical event. All was great but the best part was the eight new songs he played. These were delivered with urgency and emotion.
Wow! What a setlist! Will be very interesting to hear.
Musically, I think Neil would really benefit from going back to the "highly compressed but relatively clean" electric lead guitar tone he used from 1986-1991: it would suit this band perfectly. His more recent tone is okay, but it lacks the beauty and precision of e.g 1991 (nothing to do with his playing, just his amp setup), 'cause sometimes all the fuzz and boominess gets in the way of what he is playing. He's always been a very elegant lead guitar player, and he needs a tone which supports that elegance.
Also, I hope he ditches the "old man" costume of 2013-2015 and starts wearing his old plaid shirts and jeans again. The hat alone makes him look 25 years older than he is.
There you go - top class technical advice and fashion advice in one post. Neil can send my fee to Thrasher.
Scotsman.
Great report, Grey Rider! You have both my admiration and envy. Looks like I will miss out on this tour unless new dates appear. Any chance Neil and the boys will come to Europe? Well, we can hope...
Incredible set list!!!
The number of songs is as breathtaking as the song selections ...
Hope he adds some August dates!
Must be tough for the doubters push comes to shove Neil seems to always put them back in their place.
Wow, very smart set list! He's fit all the pieces, old and new together in such a way that they all mesh and build in a very coherent way. "Double E" as an encore number is genius- "Change comes slow in the country.."
No knocking Crazy Horse, but even the youngest member, Poncho, noted that they are slowing down. Working with younger guys fires up the pace, and having two other guitarists can take some of the burden off NY as far as filling in the sound goes.
"How To Use The Media" indeed...
"I was expecting an evening of lectures....striking..gravitas.."watch this boy"...ultimately a show about entertaining...a great night!"
http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/musicandnightlife/neil-young-at-summerfest-b99521205z1-309877721.html
I was at the show as well and Grey Rider's summary above is quite thorough. It was my first Neil show and I thought it was incredible! I know Neil has a reputation for doing and playing exactly what he feels like onstage and not being too concerned with audience expectations, so I was very surprised that he played as many hits as he did. The crowd went bananas when he played After the Gold Rush, Heart of Gold, and Old Man so early in the set. And Words destroyed.
I thought the show was absolutely flawless for the first 90 minutes or so, but I do admit that playing so many Monsanto songs in the 2nd half affected the pacing. Even though they were enjoyable and well-performed, the crowd energy wasn't as infectious and some people started leaving early. Neil sounded great, both vocally and in his guitar and harmonica playing. The Promise boys backed him up quite nicely and I got the feeling that Neil really likes playing with them and is inspired by them. I'm so glad I got to see Neil after being a fan for years and this was a great career-spanning set - very, very satisfying.
A couple videos from last night - not the best, but the sound is good.
I've seen Neil often over the years and agree that POTR brought out the best in him! They watched him like a hawk all night and he was clearly in control - but they were having a blast! The new songs sound great mixed in with the classics. Thank goodness for the pit in the middle that forced some folks to stand - those who had seats couldn't wait to sit, even during the jams.
At times this show had the feel of when NY first toured with Pearl Jam, and I totally agree with Swamptone's assessment. Will be interesting to see what setlist surprises come the rest of the tour! Don't miss this show if it's near you!
Walk On: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-Jid_oCqoM
Flying on the Ground is Wrong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHrGpYd_oJE (missed the beginning)
Any cool merchandise available?
Just curious... how long did he play in Milwaukee? Someone posted he went on about 9 p.m... anyone know what time he ended? Looking forward to his show in Michigan on the 14th!
FYI Yahoo is streaming the full "Monsanto Years" one hour Shakey Productions movie:
https://www.yahoo.com/music/exclusive-premiere-watch-neil-young-promise-of-123318711796.html
I thought it was a great show. Neil pleased just about everyone at the show, which is very very hard to do. The deep cuts were just such a pleasure. Wolf Moon, And People Want Love Songs were very well received and fit great.
There was a theme to the night that was hard to miss. Save our Earth, and I for one appreciate the message and loved the delivery. Mother Earth on organ moved me, and then they sprayed the stage with fake roundup. The Monsanto songs continued the theme but also rocked as hard as the horse. I would say, Neil has a band behind him that rocks hard and can change the tempo to slow songs effortlessly. This is absolutely a can't miss tour!
My watch read 11:45
Yup, have seen several references to a 2:45 run time
This comment has been removed by the author.
Grey Riders review is spot on. Thank you! I was in the pit in the front row and wanted to add just two things that caught my eye that may not have been noticed from the lawn. First, when Neil switched to the white Gretsch electric guitar before "Words Between the Lines of Age" he was fine tuning it near his mic and one of his harmonicas. He noticed that the harmonica was causing some feedback. Instead of carefully removing it from the mic stand, he quickly and effortlessly flipped the harmonica with a finger and off it went tumbling onto the stage floor... treating it like a tool of his trade. I thought that was cool.
2nd...toward the end of his first Monsanto song, Neil lost his place and stepped up to the mic to harmonize "Monsanto" but just before he did, the sound man shut Neil's mic down for a brief moment then seemlessly turned it back up. Neil looked to him, gave him a thumbs up along with a smiling gesture and the sound man smiled back.
Although this was my first Neil Young concert, and have nothing to compare it to, I would not hesitate to spend another $100 to listen to him play again. I understand he is passionate about our planet, people, and what happens to it all. I'm glad he's vocal about this... beats the alternative (not doing our saying anything). I also liked being in the pit a mere 20 feet from Neil and POTR. They certainly had a lot of energy and passion for the show and everyone in the pit appreciated that. My goodness... They played nonstop for nearly 3 hours, some 28 songs, and sounded great doing it. What else could fans ask for? Thank you Neil Young and Promise of the Real! Come back to Milwaukee soon.
Hey flyingscotzman,
About the hats, Neil should keep wearing them. Looks better with them. In fact, the same is true for any of you guys with thinning hair and bald spots. Don't shave your head, get a hat, and not a baseball cap! Besides they are practical and protect you from weather. That's my fashion tip for the day! Now about the flannel shirts...
RavenCoho,
Interesting. I could not see those details from the cheap seats. Really would have been cool if that harmonica bounced off of stage into your hands.
Thrasher,
I would have given a few more details in post but was limited to, I think it was, 409 characters. I may have that number wrong but I did delete some material to get comment short enough to post.
In addition to my comments below, immediately after NY vocalized "Well I don't know you but I do know who I am." in Working Man, he gestured with his middle finger of his right hand as if to say, "#@%& you big corporations I want to keep my farm."
Life would have been complete then!
Thanks to all for the reports and comments!
Really looks like an awesome tour kickoff. 28 songs, 3 hours, solo acoustic, scorching electric. New songs & old songs. Perfect right? :)
Thanks Grey Rider for the excellent report. yes, there is a word count limit on comments. But it's ok to break up into multiple comments. Especially nice detailed concert reports.
@ZUMA Band - "Double E" as an encore number is genius- "Change comes slow in the country.."
@David G - thanks for video links. nice
Compiled this selist as a playlist on my Pono (ok I don't really have a Pono, it's just an ipod) to make a very varied and enjoyable listen. A great combination of songs with some of the less obvious tracks sounding strong in this order. Just wish I was in Colorado this week...
About 15 mins until first of two on the Rox. Welcome home Neil!
Band of Horses opened - high energy, really good band. Worth a listen for Rusties.
Been raining and cold all day, but house is full. Great show coming.
Neil on the rocks, with a twist of POTR, even a cold rain could not spoil that but keep your hats on. Don't forget to bundle the wheat into sheaves for easier threshing!
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