Lincoln, NE - Neil Young + Promise of the Real, July 11, 2015

Neil Young - Lincoln, NE, July 11, 2015
Photo by FRANCIS GARDLER/Lincoln Journal Star

From Sugar Mountain:
(Thanks Tom!)

Neil Young
2015-07-11
Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
w/ Promise Of The Real

01. After The Gold Rush (solo)
02. Heart Of Gold (solo)
03. Long May You Run (solo)
04. Old Man (solo)
05. Mother Earth (solo)
06. Hold Back The Tears
07. Out On The Weekend
08. Unknown Legend
09. Peace Of Mind
10. From Hank To Hendrix
11. Field Of Opportunity
12. Wolf Moon
13. Harvest Moon
14. Words
15. Flying On The Ground Is Wrong
16. Bad Fog Of Loneliness
17. Walk On
18. A Rock Star Bucks A Coffee Shop
19. People Want To Hear About Love
20. A New Day For Love
21. Down By The River
22. Workin' Man
23. Big Box
24. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
25. If I Don't Know
26. Monsanto Years
27. Love And Only Love
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28. Hippie Dream
29. Cinnamon Girl

From Lincoln Journal Star by L. KENT WOLGAMOTT: (Thanks The Zuma Band!)

Unlike nearly all his contemporaries who are content to vacuum up the cash with greatest-hits shows, the 69-year-old Young continues to plow forward, playing new songs and deep catalog material.

That had him on point -- in fine, strong voice throughout, fully committed and locked in with the band in a sharply constructed set.

Promise of the Real is perfectly matched with Young, capable of handling the folk rock that made up the first third of the show and cutting loose on the rockers, new and, with a blazing, long "Down By the River," old.
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From the time a pair of women in floppy hats and cutoff overalls came out tossing grain on stage and watering flowers to open the show, through the final stomp and ring of "Cinnamon Girl," the concert ran three hours 20 minutes -- the longest show yet for Pinnacle Bank Arena.

It was also one of the arena's very best shows, right up with Paul McCartney's 2014 concert. That show was sold out. This one should have been.

"Plant that bell and let it ring"

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Neil Young + Promise of the Real will be performing tonight, July 11, 2015, on the Rebel Content Tour at Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, NE.

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.

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Reflections on Red Rocks: Neil Young + Promise of the Real, July 8 & 9, 2015

Neil Young + Promise of the Real
Photos by thrashette (except as noted)
(Click photo to enlarge)
Here are a few random reflections on just seeing two nights of Neil Young + Promise of the Real at Red Rocks: Morrison, CO, July 8 & 9, 2015.

This was our first time seeing concerts at the legendary venue, which is a geologically natural amphitheater -- that is simply spectacular -- in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. So the real star of every show is the venue itself, which did not disappoint with pristine acoustics and spectacular views. Truly a dream to experience a Neil Young concert in this sort of setting.

And we even saw a rainbow just before the 2nd night show!

Red Rocks Rainbow

The opening act Band of Horses did a nice job warming up each evening and seemed to be thrilled with the opportunity to open for Neil + The Real.

Band of Horses

As the sun was setting behind heavy clouds, we could see the sky about to rain, but the weather held off for night #1. The concert opens with two women spreading seeds across the stage and watering flowers. And the the next thing you know is Neil is sitting at the piano playing "After The Gold Rush", the first of five well known and loved solo songs. So right from the beginning of the setlist, Neil takes care of those who came for the "hits".

Heart of Gold

The solo portion concludes with "Mother Earth" on the pump organ, which sets out the theme of the evening of environmental consciousness. And just to drive the point home on anyone who was missing was about to come, Neil is suddenly enveloped in clouds of "pesticides" by roadies in HAZMAT suits spraying fog all about the stage. A clever piece of theatrics and continuing a long tradition getting the crew in on the fun.

Bad Fog of Monsanto
Photo by Hounds That Howell

So out come Neil's new band Promise of the Real featuring two of Willie Nelson's sons Lukas Nelson and Micah Nelson on guitar and vocals, Corey McCormick on bass, Anthony Logerfo on drums, and Tato Melgar on congas and percussion. The band is really outstanding and clearly they seem thrilled and honored to play with Neil. Likewise, Neil seems to really enjoy his jams with Promise of the Real pairing off with each individually throughout the night.

Words (Between the Lines of Age)

One of our highlights was "Out On The Weekend" where Micah Nelson played the late Ben Keith's pedal steel solo with a violin bow on an electric guitar which really was just absolutely breathtakingly poignant.

It wasn't until the 11th song -- about an hour into the show that we heard the 1st new song from the album The Monsanto Years -- "Wolf Moon", a rather pleasant tune which reflects on our big, magical world and our small place in it. We mention this because this was probably the longest time we've been at a Neil Young concert before we heard a new song. Often times, it is well into a Neil Young concert before you hear a familiar song, so these concerts are very unique.

Down by the River

The music did most of the speaking with Neil saying little from the stage. Although on the first night, Neil went into a humorous little diatribe about a critic who wrote in a review of The Monsanto Years about "Wolf Moon" being "yet another song about the moon". So after completing "Wolf Moon", Neil said "Well, here's yet another song about the moon" and "Harvest Moon" was played. It was one of our funnier moments in Neil concert going over the decades, but maybe you just had to be there to appreciate it.

"Love and Only Love"

A few more random notes. Promise of the Real seems like a great band for Neil and it's a real joy to watch the craft being handed to the next generation. Lots of fire and energy on the stage. The jams on "Down by the River" and "Love and Only Love" were smokin'. And definitely some sound flavors with conga drums by Tato Melgar. We can't say enough good things about Micah's musical diversity on a variety of guitars and the piano. And Micah totally shreds when jams with a violin bow on several of the songs. We -- and everyone we spoke with -- found the vocal levels of Promise of the Real to be very low, especially Lukas' which is a shame since he has such a great distinguished voice.

Lastly, on paper, these are nearly dream setlists, 25+ songs, new and old songs, solo and a new band, acoustic and electric, nearly 3 hour shows. Rare songs like White Line, Bad Fog of Loneliness, Don't Be Denied, Double EE?! Who would've ever thought we'd hear another Greendale song?

That said, clearly the setlist is in a state of flux. As noted below, 3 songs on the setlist of 7/9 were not even played. The single encore of "If I Don't Know" just did not work and when the lights came up folks were clearly a bit surprised. We would expect continued adjustments. Mixing in rarities and classics in with The Monsanto Years new songs is a better approach, however the overall song flow mix is pretty disjointed.

Lastly, we'll just point out the obvious: Promise of the Real are the REAL deal.

Setlist July 9
Note: Hank to Hendrix, Flying On The Ground is Wrong, Don't Be Denied & Double E were not played

We can really go out on a limb here and say that maybe Neil should try the Greendale approach: play The Monsanto Years songs first, break and then play the hits? That said, riots would ensue.

So that's about it for now. Maybe more later. We hope to see more of the tour and are especially wanting to be in Vermont to see our good friends and radio buddies Tony & Eric. We shall see.

Otherwise, great to see so many Rusties at Red Rocks. Hello again to all we caught up with and sorry we missed some of you. Love to all, you're the best.

peace & love,
thrasher & thrashette

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More photos at ThrashersWheatNeverSleeps | Facebook.com

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Red Rocks, Morrison, CO - Neil Young + Promise of the Real, July 9, 2015

Setlist: Red Rocks, Morrison, CO - Neil Young + Promise of the Real, July 9, 2015
Photo by thrashette

Neil Young + Promise of the Real will be performing tonight, July 9, 2015, on the Rebel Content Tour at Red Rocks, Morrison, CO.

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.

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Red Rocks, Morrison, CO - Neil Young + Promise of the Real, July 8, 2015

Neil Young + Promise of the Real will be performing tonight, July 8, 2015, on the Rebel Content Tour at Red Rocks, Morrison, CO.

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.

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Watch Neil Young & Promise of the Real’s Full ‘The Monsanto Years’ Film

The Monsanto Years film, documents the recording of the album by Neil Young + Promise of the Real at converted movie theater Teatro in Oxnard, Calif.

enjoy!

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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
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27. Don't Be Denied
28. Double E


Neil Young - Milwaukee 2015 - Walk On - Promise of the Real

Thanks David G.!

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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.

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