Later this week, Neil Young w/ Crazy Horse will perform as a quintet at the ~500 seat Roxy Theater in Los Angeles on September 20th and 21st. The gigs are benefit concerts for The Bridge School and The Painted Turtle.
In addition to Billy Talbot on bass and drummer Ralph Molina, the two guitarists Nils Lofgren and Micah Nelson will also support Neil Young at his benefit concert for the 50th anniversary of the legendary music club.
Originally, Willie Nelson's son Micah was supposed to fill in for Nils Lofgren as he was on a world tour with Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. However, Springsteen had to cancel all concert dates in September due to health concerns.
Roxy Night Club, Los Angeles, CA
Photo by "Billboard" Magazine - Issue #22, September 1973
(via Rusted Moon - Click photo to enlarge)
The 2023 band closely approximates the line up known as the “Santa Monica Flyers” at the Roxy in 1973. Only the late Ben Keith is missing.
"ROXY TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT LIVE"
Neil Young + The Santa Monica Flyers
Vinyl Edition
Neil Young's "ROXY TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT LIVE"
More on track list for Neil Young's "ROXY TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT LIVE".
Image from Booklet on Neil Young Archives Timeline
"ROXY TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT LIVE"
Neil Young + The Santa Monica Flyers
The Roxy Theater concert was recorded during a run from September 20 to 22, 1973.
Young explains how Roxy - Tonight's the Night Live came to be:
"In 1973, I drove my 1947 Buick Roadmaster, Black Queen, to LA from the North, accompanied by Ben Keith. Once we made it to Hollywood, we met up with Billy Talbot and Ralph Molina. Nils Lofgren joined us and we drove to Studio Instrument Rentals on Santa Monica Blvd. David Briggs, producer, and Johnny Talbot, equipment manager, met us there. They had blasted a hole in the wall to connect the green board which we had set up (an old tube board I had purchased that had been used recording many historic sessions from the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds to Monterey Pop Festival, among many others) next to the rehearsal hall. Our 16-track analog tape machine was set up next to the board. We had finished recording TTN and decided to celebrate with a gig at a new club opening on the Sunset Strip, the ROXY. We went there and recorded for a few nights, opening the ROXY. We really knew the Tonight's the Night songs so we just played them again, the album, top to bottom, two sets a night for a few days. We had a great time. ROXY -Tonight's the Night Live is the live recording we made. There is a little Super 8 footage of us driving to the gig in the Black Queen one of those nights."
The Tonight's the Night tour concerts from 1973 are quite legendary amongst most long-time Neil Young fans. Many fans attending the tour concerts were bewildered by the experience expecting hippie acoustic sets in the post Harvest era, yet received loud, harsh, edgy electric sets. But time has since revealed the true masterpiece that the album Tonight's the Night captured. We have explored this topic in depth over the decades. (For more, see Thrasher's Wheat Comment of the Moment.)
For us, the raw Tonight's the Night recordings hold much value in peeking in on that critical timeframe: The Season of The Ditch. Producer David Briggs allegedly had a Tonight's the Night "raw version" which included all of the tape roll pre- and post-song recording. All of the studio, drunken, stoned chatter between the band, The Producer and The Artist. But the tape seems to have been lost to the ages...
Open the tired eyes.
4 Disc Vinyl Record Store Day Limited Edition Pressing
Neil Young's "ROXY TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT LIVE"
More on Tonight's the Night and the The Ditch Trilogy.
NYA new post says "playing two albums live, all songs predate the original Roxy opening" and "be prepared for Covid tests" yeah & ugh!
ReplyDeleteLooks like AXS sent out some invites for a second chance at tickets
DeleteDo you think we will also get a "50th Anniversary Edition" of Tonight's The Night, since it was recorded in 1973 as well? I am getting kind of disappointed at the lack of bonus materials for these "50th Anniversary" editions... is this just a label cash grab or does Neil have some autonomy as to what does or does not appear on these releases? I mean, I can only buy the same set of songs so many times - things ain't gettin' cheaper.
ReplyDelete"This will be the experience of a lifetime - be prepared for full cavity search"
ReplyDeleteBefore I saw Neil's post on NYA about playing two albums live and all songs predating the Roxy opening I was thinking the appropriate tribute to the 73 shows would be for Neil to turn up and play a whole album of songs no one had heard before!
ReplyDeleteI guess his comments rule that out though.
Perhaps it will be Tonight's the Night and Time Fades Away?
Frankly, with all the somersaulting backwards this year, I am really getting curious about the new album coming up. So Ron's comment hits a nerve with me. A Santa Monica Flyers Line Up #2 performing an unheard of set of all new songs bookended with a generous single encore of a shambolic TTN to placate the embarrassed audience would be something. But these are benefit shows with audiences who paid for extra expensive tickets, so nobody expects any surprises. And also Neil Young audiences have been there before more than once.
ReplyDeleteHi thrasher, just seeing if I can post in this thread, as I tried to post a reply on the last Odeon-Budokan thread but it disappeared... twice. Not sure if this is a glitch or moderation is on for some reason?
ReplyDeleteI have the comment itself saved. Happy to resubmit if necessary.
DUME vinyl edition is coming:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thornburyrecords.com/vinyl/neil-young-crazy-horse-dume
Tonight's the Night (off & on stage)Everybody knows This is No Where ( no encore)
ReplyDeleteFun sets. Just too far away logistically. Always willing to support Bridge School. Miss it terribly. It's almost that Fall Classic time o year. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteFirst review? Complete TTN and EKTIN:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.uncut.co.uk/news/neil-young-and-crazy-horse-play-tonights-the-night-and-everybody-knows-this-is-nowhere-in-full-143790/
More just a compilation of known facts rather than a review. The author was clearly not at the show. But it does collect the four YT vids that are currently out there.
DeleteVideos are very poor quality so far. The one guy does not look like Billy tho. Gray head and beard. Shot from back of the crowd. Hoping for a complete pro shot or close to that come along like we sometimes get on YT.
ReplyDeleteHey @Thrasher, I'm just wondering about this photo you have labeled "4 Disc Vinyl Record Store Day Limited Edition Pressing Neil Young's "ROXY TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT LIVE"". I'm not aware of any such 4 disc version. Do you have further info about this? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHey @ Knowledge Nomad!
ReplyDeleteBack on 4/21/18, there was a Record Store Day Limited Edition Pressing Neil Young's "ROXY TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT LIVE"".
More from TW archives @
http://neilyoungnews.thrasherswheat.org/2018/02/neil-youngs-roxy-tonights-night-live.html
Thanks, @Thrasher. Just a point of clarification: I don't believe that release was 4 discs. If you look at your original post, it indicates 4 sides, i.e. 2 discs. That jibes with everything else I've seen about this release.
ReplyDeleteahhh, got it, KN. thanks for clarification
ReplyDelete