Dublin, Ireland: Neil Young + Promise of the Real - Concert Reviews, June 8, 2016
Legendary singer @Neilyoung rocks the 3Arena in Dublin in front of 15,000 people @colinbrennanews https://t.co/pZyYnD3APO
— Irish Daily Mirror (@IrishMirror) June 8, 2016
Neil young. Schooling every band on the planet for 5 decades! pic.twitter.com/ZzS42bucF9
— Ross McMahon (@billmcben) June 8, 2016
@dubsoulrebel Did you catch Neil Young + Promise of the Real? It was incredible. In his best form since early 90s pic.twitter.com/wAK8jm45jk
— Justin Deegan (@JustinDeeganEsq) June 8, 2016
Never been a big Neil Young fan but fuck sake that concert at the Point in Dublin was almost as good as Conrad Logan.
— Irvine Welsh (@IrvineWelsh) June 8, 2016
In Photos: @Neilyoung at @3arenadublin - 08.06.16 by @shaunnearyphoto https://t.co/2KPWLJgunv | @aikenpromotions pic.twitter.com/4CzBuLoSYz
— PureRawk.com (@PureRawk) June 8, 2016
Neil Young awesome tonight in Dublin! pic.twitter.com/86X5iV6o0l
— Diarmuid Cooke (@decuc500) June 8, 2016
Fuck me but that Neil Young show was sensational. Best show I've seen this year by far
— Alan Mulvey (@al70) June 8, 2016
Neil Young & the Promise of the Real put on an amazing show, definitely one of the greatest guitarists and performers I'll ever see
— (niamh) (@nelsonmuntzjr) June 8, 2016
i went to see neil young tonight with my mom n it was so amazing he had ppl give everyone free tote bags filled with gmo free products
— rachel (@rachelhayes_) June 9, 2016
Neil Young + Promise of the Real will be performing tonight, June 8 in Dublin, Ireland.
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.
Labels: concert, neil young, reviews, tour
by thrasher@PermaLink: 6/08/2016 05:00:00 PM
24 comments
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24 Comments:
Terrific performance tonight, some surprise additions to the set including "Love is a Rose", "Ohio", "Love to Burn" and "Bad Fog of Loneliness" (reflecting the weather outside). The build-up from solo acoustic through mid-paced songs to explosive and extended rock jams was very satisfying though I would have put the two Monsanto Years songs earlier in the set as they took some of the force out of the Ragged Glory material, whereas they would have fit in better with the Harvest section of the set. Very laid back interaction between the band, Neil and one of the Nelson boys stopped to have a chat about one of Neil's old guitars that you could just about hear from the mics. Great energy from the crowd. I'm at home now, my back is stiff from head banging and my ears are ringing - is there any better endorsement of a good gig?
Always good to see "Love To Burn" show up again. Would be cool if Neil brought back "Over And Over" as well. Can never get enough Ragged Glory material at a show.
These POTR setlists have been so tasty. Every show you're just expecting something new!
@John: It is sort of odd to see Wolf Moon that late in the set, since the band portion typically progresses from Neil on acoustic to White Falcon to Old Black. But Seed Justice and Monsanto Years seem to fit well with the heavier, later stuff.
Set-list from sugarmtn.org:
2016-06-08, 3Arena, Dublin, Ireland
w/ Promise Of The Real
1. After The Gold Rush
2. From Hank To Hendrix
3. Heart Of Gold
4. The Needle And The Damage Done
5. Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)
6. Love Is A Rose
7. Out On The Weekend
8. Comes A Time
9. Someday
10. Words
11. Alabama
12. Bad Fog Of Loneliness
13. Winterlong
14. Ohio
15. Love To Burn
16. Country Home
17. Seed Justice
18. Monsanto Years
19. Wolf Moon
20. Rockin' In The Free World
21. Love And Only Love
---
22. F*!#in' Up
Wow, they're playing a lot of Ragged Glory and varying the set lists the most in years ...
RichieCruz, a couple more RG songs and he'll be playing the whole record .... agree no such thing as too much RG!!
@john "I would have put the two Monsanto Years songs earlier in the set as they took some of the force out of the Ragged Glory material" I fully agree with this and made the same comment to my wife when got back from Glasgow.
Wonderful to see Love To Burn make the setlist, plus old favourites like Love Is A Rose and Bad Fog. What a change from the static Crazy Horse sets of previous tours, Neil ain't joking when he said they know over 100 songs. Really looking forward to London & seeing what tasty deep cuts are going to appear. Someones going to get lucky and get a Campaigner or a Like An Inca at one of these shows.
Sugar Mountain's set list dropped the ball or my mind is going, he didn't play "Words" last night.
John is correct. NY+POTR did not play Words last night. They went straight from Someday into Alabama.
What a show - the stretch on the white falcon from alabama to ohio was spectacular. Other highlights for me were love is a rose (what a great surprise), country home and rockin.
It was great to see how much fun the guys were having. They were clearly having a ball. There was a big list of all the songs on the drum riser that they seemed to pick off randomly.
Numerous videos from last night on youtube, but most are filmed from VERY near the stage, where the sound mix is poor and overly chaotic (and certainly not representative of what most of the audience -or most of the band- are hearing). The videos that capture some of the arena sound from further back are the most realistic ones.
Love To Burn is a great song. Post-1991 versions can tend to chug along for quarter of an hour without that dramatic "rise and fall" of the best electric epics. It also tends to sound very similar to Love And Only Love: both songs in one show can be a little monotonous unless they are both kept fairly concise. The youtube video completely buries Neil's guitar, but still you can hear he is playing well. But overall I think Down By The River works better in this setlist.
Rockin' In The Free World sounds good and once again features two guitar solos from Neil, rather than just one. Not "noodling" jams; solos. No messing about. This is excellent news for anyone who likes to hear Neil Young play guitar.
Scotsman.
The sound in the venue was really clear (I was about 4-5 people back from the barrier); for most of the performance you could pick out each guitar perfectly (early on the mix was a bit mushier but the sound guy got the balance right fairly quickly). "Love to Burn" felt as intense as the Weld version and "Love and Only Love" felt only about half as long as it was. I was walking in feeling like I could happily miss "Love and Only Love" from the set, as you pointed out it has gotten almost too much of an airing in recent years that is making it a bit formulaic and chuggy. However, it was spot on last night and I walked out thinking that not including "Down by the River" was a smart decision. That might be heresy but it now takes up so much of the set time that we probably would have missed out on gems like "Love is a Rose" and "Ohio".
John: 4-5 rows back is fine. When you are right at the front, you obviously get a good view but the sound you hear is very skewed and unbalanced. If you are directly in front of Lukas's amps then all you hear are his amps, and vice versa. The musicians on stage have monitors to correct this problem for them, but obviously the audience don't have the same benefit.
As long as you are far enough back to get some of the PA mix as well as the onstage speakers then the sound will be pretty good.
Yep, nice to see some changes in the set and Love To Burn is a good song; they can always go back to Down By The River later, no harm done by trying something different.
Scotsman.
Sugar Mountain and Setlist.fm now amended with words removed.
Corrected setlist as per Sugar Mountain:
1. After The Gold Rush
2. From Hank To Hendrix
3. Heart Of Gold
4. The Needle And The Damage Done
5. Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)
6. Love Is A Rose
7. Out On The Weekend
8. Comes A Time
9. Someday
10. Alabama
11. Bad Fog Of Loneliness
12. Winterlong
13. Ohio
14. Love To Burn
15. Country Home
16. Seed Justice
17. Monsanto Years
18. Wolf Moon
19. Rockin' In The Free World
20. Love And Only Love
---
21. F*!#in' Up
Scots, is that an issue with all bands or particularly with Neil and POTR? I'm going to some Dead & Company shows and was planning to try for the rail.
Ok,So Glasgow was amazing but Belfast was out of this world.I was blown away with Down by the River and then Vampire blues,I thought I'd died and gone to heaven! Dublin blew me away with Ohio and as always Needle and the damage done,spine tingling! Can't wait for Leeds and London.Walk on!
Dan1: it can be an issue for all bands that have on-stage amplification. Where you stand in the front row will have a big impact on which instruments are loudest, so pick your spot wisely!
Acoustic-based songs will often sound a bit flat and quiet in the front row, as acoustic instruments usually aren't fully amplified onstage: only through the band's monitors and the house PA. So in order to get the full sound experience it's best to be in a position where you are at least hearing some of the house speakers.
Sound isn't the only consideration: you might decide you would really enjoy the experience of seeing the band up-close and are happy to put up with the compromises in sound quality. But it's something to bear in mind.
Scotsman.
Great set-list variations. I love that Neil pulled out "Love Is a Rose" and especially "Ohio" which never fails to move me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtQYkVn5UMc&list=PLN2KUdAZm3bFByTh746xQcW0qS7wh2Ak_
"Ohio" was solid and concise--it ended when it was "supposed to" which added to the overall power.
Some of the extended jams I've heard were good, though I'll likely never understand the extra minutes of noise added. But again, Neil is on his own path and I'll follow him right up to the ditch, through it and back again..
Also, I never thought I'd say this, but I kind of like the positioning of the Monsanto songs in the set. They tend to break up the monotony of the familiar extended jams.
On another topic, I couldn't quite make out the newer "Rockin' In the Free World" lyrics. Does anyone know the specific added lyrics?
Take my advice
don't listen to me
"We've got tear gas for the standing man" or something similar was the beginning of that bit and another line about corporations. I could remember it all last night but it's gone after a day of headwrecking in work.
Scots, thanks will keep that in mind.
Another question. Been thinking about your comments on Neil's guitar and big spaces and I tend to agree although I tend to feel the music much more than think about it. Seems like one of the charms of CH is the broad spaces they provide for Neil to color into … however many fans feel that the band sounded great when both Neil and Danny were playing lead guitar and also there's been much discussion about how Neil and Stills were great when dueling on lead … for my taste I have always felt that Neil in general was way too crowded by CSNY but never thought about the impact of the dual lead guitar set up. What are your thoughts on Neil playing w Danny and with Stills vs. unencumbered w/ the post Danny CH or POTR?
Also, was thinking about your criticisms of last year's POTR shows where you felt Neil was crowded out by Luke's playing (did I express that accurately?) … given Neil chose Earth as his new record makes me think that either Neil wasn't bothered by this crowding phenomenon (maybe he's sick of hearing himself solo :)), or he liked something else about the sounds enough to put out a live album of the material. Suggests to me he thought it was pretty good. Other here might say he was just throwing crap against the wall or wanted to make money but strikes me that he doesn't make money on these records, has tons of other things to do with his time, and he won't release something that he doesn't feel satisfied about. Thoughts?
Dan, you bring up an interesting subject for discussion, Neil's interaction with his fellow guitarists, and how it affects his playing.
Neil with Stills- flat out war between two caged lions. Both of whom want to be king of the jungle, so you've got pure dueling leads. Sometimes that could be exhilarating, sometimes it can be a chaotic mess. Much more effective for me in Buffalo Springfield than CSNY, which was a more crowded sound.
Neil/Danny Whitten- the perfect match, as far as I'm concerned. Whitten was the perfect compliment for Neil, dishing out ever-changing but always perfect rhythm, yet also being able to come up with tasty leads. Shame it was such a short partnership.
Neil/Poncho- Neil's most durable and perhaps most important partner in crime. Maybe not blessed with Whitten's talent, but strong enough to steer the Horse and allow Neil to play his greatest leads. Neil's playing was never better than 1976, 1991, and 1997, and Poncho had everything to do with that.
Neil/the Nelson boys- this really is an interesting combination. Lucas can truly be like what Danny Whitten was, but as Scotzman has been saying, it's better to let Neil handle most of the leads. Lucas is a very good soloist, though, so he should be able to take a lead here and there, especially on the longer tunes. I really like the versatility of what Mikah brings to the table, especially with his bow and steel guitar sounds, but when he's just on electric, he can crowd the sound. Truthfully, I wouldn't mind him playing some more piano on some of the songs. He has a good sound on the keys.
Sorry for rambling, and not mentioning guys like Nils Lofgren, Ben Keith, Steve Cropper, and the Pearl Jam boys. Maybe save those for another day.
Dan: As Willie B Hinds said about Danny Whitten, "it was the notes he didn't play (that mattered)".
Danny was generally a very sparse, rhythmic guitar player when Neil was soloing. For many years he was considered the best rythym guitar player Neil ever had, but in my opinion, Poncho caught up with him in the late eighties/early nineties. I like Stills' guitar playing, but given the choice of seeing CSNY or Crazy Horse, you know which one I'd choose!
Think of Neil's best guitar instrumentals. Studio versions of Hurricane, Cortez, Powderfinger, Don't Take Your Love (live 1987/88), Big Box, New Day For Love, Giant, Ramada Inn. Etc etc etc. They are almost all solos; not jams with everybody noodling around. The band provide a foundation of sound and, in his words, Neil "floats" above it.
Now, I don't mind other musicians soloing with Neil. I LOVE the Bluenotes (live), with Steve Lawrence on sax. I love The MG's, with Booker T on organ. But these are very different sounding instruments that occupy a completely different part of the soundstage. They don't clash or complicate the sound. The Bluenotes had ten musicians in the band, but the sound is still really spacey and uncrowded.
...The thing about Earth is that it has been heavily overdubbed and remixed. Nothing neccessarily wrong with that. But it's not intended to be an accurate record of the live sound. You can tell just from those short sound samples (yes, the temptation to listen was for me too great!) that one of the guitars has been turned way down and the other two have been panned in a way to try and add more air, more space.
If you listen to a DBTR from July 2015, Lukas takes pretty much all the solos, and also unnecessarily fills out Neil's playing. There have always been gaps between the notes in Neil's solos: to fill them in removes some of the magic. By October, Neil is playing a bit more lead but Lukas is still filling in the gaps. By April this year, Lukas is showing a lot more classy restraint, and then the June version I commented on the other day is almost 100% Neil on lead guitar. Lukas plays a couple of concise solos and they sound great, but then (crucially) he gets out the way and lets Neil play, and it sounds so much better.
So there's been a clear progression to the sound, and in my opinion, it's a dramatic improvement so far. Don't get me wrong, I'm "feeling" this music too. But it's easier to get carried away on a Neil guitar instrumental now that the other instruments aren't stepping on his toes. There's more of a chemistry going on, the instruments are gelling rather than clashing.
Looking forward to seeing tonight's setlist!
Scotsman.
PS
RichieCruz: Great observation about Micah playing keys! I liked that, too. Overall, though, I think it's Lukas who has tended to struggle the most to fit in when he's not playing lead. That is now changing, he's finding a way.
I mean, when you've got Neil playing lead and Micah playing ryhthm: what's the other guy supposed to do? It would be a real challenge for any guitarist, and it's cleary something they've been working on recently.
Increasingly often now, Lukas just stands there when he's not soloing and lets the other two play. Or plays a very, very sparse second rhythm. Because he understands there's nothing that needs adding, there's no need to fill in the gaps.
Scotsman.
Neil just did Wolf Moon in the acoustic band set in Leeds, back where it belongs - he must have read this thread :)
It's good to see Neil varying the songs and song placements.
Initially I agreed that the Monsanto songs should be moved up in the set, but then I changed my mind and posted:
"Also, I never thought I'd say this, but I kind of like the positioning of the Monsanto songs in the set. They tend to break up the monotony of the familiar extended jams."
Well, as you said, maybe Neil did read this thread, and said hey, if Topanga likes something, I'll change it up to show my defiance.
If that theory holds, maybe I'll try a little reverse psychology by saying something like this:
I really love Neil's extended false song endings which go on for minutes...
Let's see what Ole Neil does with that!
Take my advice
don't listen to me
Minor correction: above set list includes 'Words' but Neil didn't play it this time in Dublin.
Does anyone know if the 3 Arena has a time restriction as the Dublin show was quite a bit shorter than most others on the Euro leg of this tour so far...55 mins shorter than Amsterdam !! Could have done with When you dance..Down by the River, Revolution Blues, Don't be Denied, + + !. Ah well, Love is a Rose was special :-)
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