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Friday, June 10, 2016

Leeds, UK Concert: Neil Young + Promise of the Real - June 10, 2016


Neil Young + Promise of the Real - If I Could Have Her Tonight (10/06/16 Leeds)

48 years after release, "If I Could Have Her Tonight" played for the second time!









Neil Young last night

A photo posted by Angela Legge (@angieleggephotos) on






















Neil Young + Promise of the Real will be performing tonight, June 10 at First Direct Arena in Leeds, UK.

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.

37 comments:

  1. "If I Could Have Her Tonight" (full band) for the first time since 1968!

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  2. One of my all time favorites!

    Neil's first solo album is criminally underrated. In many ways, it's his most polished and mature work, but I'll save that debate for another time.

    "If I could have her tonight...look at those eyes...does she want it?

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  3. Tentative setlist (order unconfirmed):

    After the Gold Rush
    Heart of Gold
    Comes a Time
    The Needle and the Damage Done
    Mother Earth
    From Hank to Hendrix
    Out On The Weekend
    Unknown Legend
    Wolf Moon
    Words
    Winterlong
    Walk On
    If I Could Have Her Tonight
    Down by the River
    Powderfinger
    Mansion on the Hill
    Cowgirl in the Sand
    Love To Burn
    Rockin' in the Free World
    ---encore---
    When You Dance I Can Really Love >
    F*!#' Up

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  4. Just got back from the concert, incredible.

    Whether the show was any better than those of the 70s, 80s, 90s and whether this band is better than the Horse, I wouldn't like to say and frankly it's irrelevant. Think you just have to enjoy it for what it is, the energy level is unbelievable and they are obviously enjoying themselves.

    The man is 70 and you don't know if or when he'll ever be back on these shores, if you are lined up to see him later on the tour ENJOY.

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  5. Fabulous in Leeds! Set list fantastic - six songs I had not heard live before - highlights - Mother Earth, From Hank to Hendrix, DBTR followed by a brilliant and tight Powderfinger - and Mansion on the Hill into Love to Burn! 15th Time for me and one of the best! Each one is different but Neil was on top form - voice great, guitar playing much better than Liverpool last tour and the band were Great1 - Words reminded me of Hop Farm '08 with Ben and Rick both sadly departed - Don't miss this tour!

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  6. Best set-list so far, amazing.
    "Walk On" "If I Could Have Her Tonight" "Powderfinger" "Cowgirl In the Sand" "When You Dance" plus some of the other chestnuts.

    In my perfect world, I'd replace "Mother Earth" "Wolf Moon" and F***n Up" with "Comes a Time" Peace of Mind" and "Like a Hurricane" but I'm not complaining!

    God bless Neil and the boys...

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  7. They've gotta pull out Hurricane one of these days, don't they?

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  8. Short interview with Neil:

    http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/7400342/neil-young-bernie-sanders-donald-trump

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  9. Holy Cow! These setlists are getting more and more outrageous with every show. Neil is going all out, bringing back chestnut after chestnut.

    If I Could Have Her Tonight!!! I gotta hear this.

    DBTR and Cowgirl in the same set. Seriously, when's the last time THAT'S happened?

    When You Dance....I swear, I was gonna mention this last night when I was talking about Mikah playing more piano, I thought this would be a good choice to hear. I should have mentioned it last night, I'd look like a sage.

    So what's next on the agenda? The Losing End? Oh Lonesome Me? Welfare Mothers? Southern Pacific???

    Personally, I'd like to see this band explore some Tonight's The Night material.....

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  10. His Trump comment was somewhat more pointed tonight in Leeds: https://twitter.com/gmi2/status/741409398862585856

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  11. @RichieCruz: Since you asked, last DBTR/Cowgirl combo show was Ontario last July (2009 before that)

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    Replies
    1. Babbo B. You are correct, it had happened once with POTR. It seemed like with them so far, we'd get one or the other. To see both in the same show would be heaven for me. I still haven't seen Cowgirl at a show.

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  12. Theme of the tour: Neil Young's life in music. And Neil Young & POTR can tell it.
    So Tired.

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  13. Awesome setlist - although no 'Seed Justice' or 'Monsanto Years'?

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  14. Re: Hurricane. Can anyone confirm if the synthesiser is actually on tour with them? It's that keyboard with a chasis that looks like a bird. It's usually hoisted up above the stage and gets lowered down for Hurricane.

    They could still play the song without it, of course, but not without a substantial rearrangement from past versions. You could say it would need to be 'genetically modified'.

    That setlist looks great!

    Scotsman.

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  15. No visible evidence of the flying keyboard. Even when unused on previous tours it could be spotted hung among the lighting rig.

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  16. Without the synth, it's unlikely we'll hear it. It's almost always been played with just the one guitar in the past, anything more than that stifles the life out of the guitar playing. 3 guitars would be overkill. I'm sure they could find a way to make it work, but the song would be unrecognisable from the usual arrangement.

    I will say thay Neil could most certainly do an excellent version on pump organ or piano during the solo acoustic set. It would fit perfectly.

    Scotsman.

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  17. Various points re the above. This is the tour that just keeps giving and giving. Selfishly you say Oh i didnt get...but thats because you got some other AAA nugget

    The Potr comparison to other NY bands is just wrong and unfair to all parties and i totally agree this is the one to see from a vibed up 70 yr old in fine fettle....
    When you dance....when on encore Micah went to upright piano it boded well...and the piano was good and loud for ny to move towards piano for a good spar off and then a succint end morphing into a good F up

    With NY on gretsch he said (approx) as he gently noodled Heres one youve never heard as its never been played....pauses.....and someone had called LAH to which NY retorts... With this guitar?!. And has a good pop at the guy for wrong show wrong everything but i like your effort. A good polite put down to the muppet
    @Scotsman. Its not high in the sky..i really dont see it coming out on this tour. Having said that nothing could be ruled out but id be surprised and disappointed not that i dislike LAH but in this tour its what else we could have had. However there is next to upright piano a Stringman ( brand) keyboard synthy thing on a ironing board frame. Its out there surely because A song on the board requires it. Its like or is the item placed on grand piano he uses on Man needs AMaid for the quasi orchestration fill.
    Computer age anyone ? Or as a learned friend said Love Hotel which he saw perfected in 82 soundcheck but mashed on the night. The sight of the stringman and variety of the tour leaves all options open.
    I reckon a call for Berlin the night before the Berlin show wouldnt be totally wasted oxygen.
    Only a little Nile Rogers choppyness in DBTR ...about 19 mins and a powerfully tight CITS at 11 mins

    There is so much to be very grateful for on this tour

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  18. Micah posted about the Stringman and LAH last summer: https://www.instagram.com/p/5O25npLhvJ/

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  19. Thanks adrianfish, thanks for the report.

    Hurricane is an absolute favourite of mine, I love to hear it, but I agree it's likely to be much less suited to this band than many of the other electric epics.

    The beauty of Hurricane (or indeed many of the electric epics) is hearing Neil take us to the moon and back with his electric guitar instrumentals. Alone in the spotlight, as I like to say. If POTR do play this song they will need to make sure they give Neil a lot of room to play, without filling in the gaps. The gaps are where the magic is. Don't light up every shadow: that's where the spook lives. Neil would say the same thing, I'm sure of it.

    Cortez is due another outing, isn't it? I hope so. With this hugely-improved minimalistic and sympathetic backing from Lukas, POTR could really do justice to that song.

    I'm hoping to be in the audience tonight at the O2, if I can get there on time. I'm really looking forward to it.

    Have a good time everyone.

    Scotsman.

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  20. Re: Berlin, that's an interesting one. Probably the most exciting thing on that 1982 video. Enjoyable.

    It's a song that's very tied to a particularly time, though. It captures Neil's feelings on that tour perfectly, but it probably means less to him now.

    The pressures of 1982 were a long time ago. He's enjoying himself too much now for the song to be particularly convincing in 2016. He'd be acting, rather than expressing himself.

    Scotsman.

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  21. Awesome clips from last night on youtube. Beautiful guitar playing from Neil. Best in years.

    Right, time for lunch. Then a long drive.

    Scotsman.

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  22. 8.40pm give or take a couple of minutes. I had to leave at 10.50pm for the last train so missed the last 3 tracks...Still a great night, the first half hour on it's own was worth the entry fee.

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  23. Scots said: Re: Berlin, that's an interesting one. Probably the most exciting thing on that 1982 video

    That video includes the best version of "Like a Hurricane" ever recorded, so on this I'd have to respectfully disagree.

    Enjoy the show tonight (if you get there) and I look forward to your detailed review.

    I too doubt "Hurricane" will be played, but I'm predicting "Cinnamon Girl" will sneak in there!

    Take my advice
    don't listen to me

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  24. Great reports folks!

    Thanks for posting.

    Just posted video of "If I Could Have Her Tonight" played for the second time, 48 years after release! Last played 1968-11-09, The Canterbury House, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA per Sugar Mountain setlists.

    Lucky in Leeds indeed.

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  25. 8.35-11.20,no interval,70 years of age.One unforgettable evening that I will remember forever.Have been a fan since the early 70s ,never thought he would play Leeds so when the date was announced I wasn't going to miss out.The young band were a talented lot with Neil on top form,for a guy his age his vocals seemed as powerful as if he was 30 years younger.Worth double the money and more.Thanks Neil and the band for a fantastic night

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  26. Thank you Neil, the show was utterly triumphant, what it means can't easily be put into...'Words'. soul music.

    CC and FLC.

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  27. Just saw a photo of the "Big Sheet" master setlist on Facebook, Hurricane is on there, FWIW

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  28. http://youtu.be/AorlF0efwLA

    Just stared posting some songs to YouTube, starting with Words

    Great night

    John

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  29. I needed a couple of days to reflect on what I witnessed at Leeds on Friday night. This was undoubtedly a special night but what were the ingredients that made it so ?

    I have to say the venue is excellent. I'm not a Arena fan but the FD is a purpose built music venue , not a sports arena that doubles up, and the sound was of the highest quality.

    The set was incredible, a mixture of the tried and trusted along with the surprises, and given a new feel with the help of the superb Promise of the Real. The numbers played on acoustic with the band had a different sound, due to the lack of the haunting slide work of Ben Keith it was left to Lukas Nelson to add these parts on guitar and he was certainly up to the task, and when they rocked , they rocked!

    Neil is a better guitarist when he has another lead player to bounce off as he does with Stephen Stills, and Lukas is a perfect foil. When Neil "goes off" into his improvisations if there is another guitarist that can take over this allows him to take the music to another level. The section in the set of DBTR ,Powderfinger & Cowgirl may appear to the uneducated as 45 minutes of over played , long drawn out self indulgence, to the seasoned Rustie this is Neil at his best, all made possible due to the quality of the musicians around him. I love Crazy Horse and hope to see them again but Promise of the Real are a revelation. The groove was different provided by a rhythm section of drums and bass totally in sync with the bass more prominent in the mix bringing a new energy and drive.

    This all added to the fact that Neil is "on it" and is singing and playing better than I've seen him.

    I thought the Electric Band Tour would never be bettered, this was really close !




    Come back soon




    ps I witnessed a couple of people asking the guys behind the mixing and lighting desks if they had a setlist. These requests were met with a smile and " We have no idea what he's going to play"

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  30. Is there a bootleg from this night floating about anywhere? I was there (first time ever seeing him after a couple of near-misses over the last few years) and can attest, as everyone else is saying, that it was fantastic! Would love to be able to re-live it!

    In the last couple of weeks I have seen this and before that Radiohead in Amsterdam - two of the best gigs I have ever been to!

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