Neil Young + Promise of the Real will be performing tonight, June 20 at El Poble Espanyol in Barcelona, Spain.
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 2016 Concert Tour Dates for reviews, photos, videos and more.
A blues show in Barcelona (Revolution and Vampire):
ReplyDeleteAfter the Gold Rush
Heart of Gold
Comes a Time
Needle and the Damage Done
Mother Earth
Out on the Weekend
From Hank to Hendrix
Human Highway
Someday
Unknown Legend
Alabama
Words
Winterlong
Love to Burn
Mansion on the Hill
Revolution Blues
Western Hero
Vampire Blues
Rockin' in the Free World
---------
Cortez the Killer
Thanks Babbo.
ReplyDeleteFascinating that Neil played Cortez. Suppose that's a 1st time for Spain.
As you may recall, the song was banned in Spain when it was released. Guess they didn't like the national hero label.
Wonder how the audience liked it?
Seventh time in Spain, actually, according to Sugar Mountain (including Barcelona in 2009).
ReplyDeleteAnd off topic again, here's part of another generally positive review for Earth from Uncut Magazine (with Neil on the cover):
ReplyDeleteHearing a near-run of “Western Hero”, “Hippie Dream”, “Vampire Blues” and “Human Highway” – the deepest cuts here – is genuinely thrilling. Promise Of The Real are respectful of the source but not excessively deferential. They bring agility and a lithe muscularity to the songs. On “Wolf Moon”, they recall the folksy strum of the Stray Gators while on “People Want To Hear About Love” they get their heads down for a rugged Crazy Horse-style choogle. Young, clearly, is having a ball. He seems happy to allow some excitable squirrels nibble at “Vampire Blues” and he noticeably Auto-Tunes the backing vocals on “Western Hero”. It’s possible that Young is using Auto-Tune as a metaphor for genetic modification, artificially augmenting his own work to make a point.
The new harmonies Young furnishes “After The Gold Rush” with are spectacular – serene and hymnal – while Young overdubs the original French horn part from the studio album before field recordings of a dawn chorus play the song out.
Read more at http://www.uncut.co.uk/blog/the-view-from-here/neil-youngs-earth-reviewed-77462#wGtbEGhLsrkwWVLJ.99
Any posters for sale on this tour?
ReplyDeleteCortez is the perfect conclusion to these recent shows.
ReplyDeleteOne thing you will very quickly notice about the setlist recently is that there are a lot of villains. People who may have started with good intentions but quickly became too powerful, too big, too dangerous.
We witness the betraying "men of power" in Mother Earth. The evil and spiteful corporations of Big Box and Monsanto Years. The "shadow man" of After The Garden. The fallen angel ("he's different now") of Western Hero. The restless rebel without a cause of Revolution Blues (in this context both a hero and a villain, perhaps). The "hate" being overcome in Love And Only Love. The oil-sucking vampire of "Vampire Blues". The "thoughtless plunderers" of Wolf Moon. The ominous, invading "white boat" of Powerfinger. The person "pushing the button" in Like An Inca.
And so on.
And then you have Cortez The Killer.
The summation and conclusion to all of this; a song about a man who was "not able to sleep well" (Neil's description) due to the crimes he committed. We see flashbacks of all these other varied antagonists who carelessly allowed greed to control them, to destroy their own peace of mind and the world around them. Cortez represents them all. He takes off his mask and reveals more than one face; and a mirror.
It's like Luke Skywalker finally facing Darth Vader; Harry Potter against Lord Voldemort. It's a proper cinematic climax, the type Young has so obviously been enamoured with for so most of his career.
As so often happens, Neil tells us a story with this tour, and Cortez brings this particular story to a befitting conclusion. Until the next time.
Scotsman.
off topic
ReplyDeletehttps://calcoastnews.com/2016/06/rocker-david-crosby-agrees-to-3-million-settlement/
There's a fairly good article in the new Uncut magazine.
ReplyDeleteNothing groundbreaking overall, but there are excerpts from a new interview with Neil. He talks excitedly and engagingly about Earth. He again talks about The Crow as a messenger and commentator, which I found interesting.
He is asked whether POTR are now replacing Crazy Horse ("No, No. Billy is doing great. Playing with them? That's in the future."). Some brief and vague talk about an Archives-based website "before Christmas", but we all know what that means (Christmas 2056).
And finally, yet more unrestrained enthusiasm from Neil about Desert Trip: "It's another hash house road to success", but "you know, it's a nice marketing idea!".
Scotsman.
PS
ReplyDeleteThat last quote should have read "It's another hash house on the road to success". Unfortunately I have (organic, vegetarian) sausages for fingers.
Scotsman.
@Scotsman - now those are some very astute observations. Now we just need to find a Cortez from the show and append this comment with a few thoughts of our own. If anyone out there has a link drop it here.
ReplyDeleteNice work Scotsman. Very nice! Can't find Cortez but this is damn tasty - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5bRAN3wdt0&list=PLB4y9OFmPnJYp0tUYaEWZrrXSUdBdUeHv&index=7
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, very encouraging news about Billy. Maybe Poncho will get his wish!
ReplyDeleteThanks Thrasher!
ReplyDeleteThanks Old Neg! That is a great youtube clip, thanks for sharing it. Like so much of the non-Crazy Horse mid-seventies material, I think Vampire Blues really suits this band.
Crazy Horse are pure class. I'm not sure whether we are ever going to see them perform with Neil again; I certainly hope so.
1991, 1976, 1978, 1996, 1990, 2012....even 1986 and 1987. All Horse years that featured incredible, incredible music. I've said before (and so has Neil) that Neil and Crazy Horse at their best is just a different class of music to anything else. They are not quite at their very best in recent years, of course, but they are still very good.
While we wait to hear these recent versions of Cortez, I suggest you all dig out your bootleg copy of Winnipeg 1996 and listen to Cortez. To really remind yourself just how amazing Neil Young can be. It's a very simple and sparse performance, and the guitar playing is just beautiful. The kind of beauty I cannot describe in words. I can't think of a more enjoyable way to spend 11 minutes.
Scotsman.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rma6aaHSSyg
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=027rGUniK1o
Thanks Babbo B!
ReplyDeleteWe'll be posting the 18 min version!