Comment of the Moment: Neil Young Solo @ White River Amphitheatre, Auburn, WA - Thursday July 20

Neil Young  @ White River Amphitheatre, Auburn, WA - July 20, 2023 
Photo by Alan in Seattle    (Click photo to enlarge) 

The Comment of the Moment is from posting Neil Young Solo @ White River Amphitheatre, Auburn, WA - Thursday July 20 by Devan:

My first trip down to the USA for a show since COVID, and it was quite a surreal night.

This tour is such a strange fit for the venues he's been choosing. This is an almost elegiac show - Neil's was preoccupied with reminiscing about lost friends and thanking the crowd throughout, and yet the crowd itself was, as others have noted, very rowdy. Lots of folks shouting requests, talking during the obscure tracks... and yet, it almost became a part of the experience. It took me back to the Tonight's The Night bootlegs: an artist challenging their audience to have 'fun', if they dare. The specific performance of Mr. Soul, which he introduced as "We're going to do a hootenanny!" (Crowd cheers) "... but not yet", and proceeded to play a dark dirge-like version on the pump organ, was particularly indicative of his general tack for the night.

The show is fastidiously-staged, but so many of Neil's decisions seem calibrated not to cover over his frailty as he ages but to highlight it. He could very easily pick a series of fairly simple lay-ups, sit down, and perform them pretty darn solidly, but he doesn't: A Dream That Can Last was a bit of a mess, and he stalked around the stage while playing his usual harmonica-guitar setup and switched instruments mid-song at one point. And then he'd pull out 'Birds' (my favourite performance of the night) execute it flawlessly.

Between his usual trollish (a word I use lovingly) audience-challenging and the way that his advancing age was so apparent in his performance (it really feels like ten years have passed since the 2019 show I saw, not five), it was a hugely emotional night for me and one of the more unique performances I've ever seen any artist give. I'm glad I saw it.

(I should also add - Burned was definitely performed. One flub, but a good rendition on the whole. I'm The Ocean, which I was looking forward to, really suffered from the audience being terribly unsettled and a bit obnoxious, at least around me. Homegrown was what appeared to be a true encore - the house lights actually came on at the end of Four Strong winds, and then quickly came down. Huge audience rush back to the venue. Very special moment.)

Thanks for the report here Devan. Interesting observations, especially how it  felt like more ten years have passed rather than only five.  We wonder if we'll feel the same if we ever get to catch the tour if it makes it to East Coast?

 Neil Young  @ White River Amphitheatre, Auburn, WA - July 20, 2023 
Photo by Alan in Seattle    (Click photo to enlarge) 

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