Live Concert Review: Neil Young @ White River Amphitheatre (Auburn, Washington) — 7/20/23

Neil Young  

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

 

An in depth concert review on Live Review: Neil Young @ White River Amphitheatre (Auburn, Washington) — 7/20/23 by Mark Caicedo:

 

Opener Chris Pierce turned in a well-received folk/gospel/bluesy 35-minute opening set featuring songs that were, essentially calls to action for various causes: fighting racism, preserving human dignity, and caring for the planet. 

After a short pause to rearrange the stage, the house lights dimmed (although the sinking summer sun still illuminated the sky behind us), and Neil wandered out from the shadows, strolling onto a stage that looked like it could have been his living room. Surrounded by a “glowing” fireplace, a repurposed weather vane displaying a Mazzeo painting, and various candles and houseplants, he picked up his 12-string guitar and strummed the opening chords to “I’m the Ocean” the 7-minute epic from Mirror Ball, his 1995 collaboration with Pearl Jam.

An expansive song, I was struck by a lyric that seems to acknowledge Young’s role as an artistic bridge between his past and the future:

“People my age, they don’t do the things I do.
They go somewhere, while I run away with you”

As he sang, I thought of Walt Whitman’s, Song of Myself: “Do I contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes).” Just as Whitman’s work celebrates both the unique and universal, so too does Neil Young. A song about aging, friendship, tragedy, and technology, “I’m the Ocean” was a perfect opener for the show (as it has on every date of the Coastal Tour), its lyrics examining the depth and breadth of the human condition with all its contradictions, foibles, and imperfections:

“Trying to turn against the flow,
I’m the ocean, I’m the giant undertow”

 ...

Perhaps Neil’s most profound influence, and the reason he became a singer-songwriter, came from Ian and Sylvia Tyson’s “Four Strong Winds.” He said in his 2014 book, Super Deluxe, that as a teen, “there was a little place with a jukebox, and I would play “Four Strong Winds” by Ian & Sylvia, over and over, learning all the words and singing along. I loved that song. I had the feeling that it was about my life, and the music touched me deeply.” Neil closed the show with “Four Strong Winds” and a promise.

“I’ll look for you if I’m ever back this way”

Neil’s love of tradition and all things analog was evident in the way he’s surrounded himself with vintage musical instruments, saving them from obscurity or, worse, the landfill. His music itself is a bridge between artists who preceded him, people like Bert Jansch, Carl Perkins, and the King himself (Elvis Presley) to a younger generation of musicians who cite Young as a mentor and influence. In fact, Neil Young Archives, the website that houses and streams (among other features) thousands of hours of music and video to members aims to extend Young’s legacy well into the future.

He may prefer analog but Neil’s no technologyphobe, as demonstrated by his sprawling website, NYA, that ensures his music is disseminated in the highest quality possible. What I wrote about Neil back in 2019 still mostly holds true:

“[He] is a musician driven by his craft, an artist with a seemingly bottomless well of creativity, and a man with an unquenchable desire to connect through music. His uncanny ability to see around the corner, to recognize where society and music are headed has prompted him to collaborate with bands as diverse as Bruce Springsteen, Devo, and Pearl Jam. Today, Neil tours and records with Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real as he embraces a new generation of rockers, continuing to bolster his legacy and reach new audiences.”

[ed - emphasis added]

Soon after he walked offstage to a thunderous standing ovation, he returned to play “Homegrown,” another happy, light-hearted little ditty about getting high that’s become a protest song against factory farming. This night, it was another massive sing-a-long or, as Neil put it, “a hootenanny” and left us with the hopeful feeling that guy will be singing for a long time still to come.

Full concert review @ Live Review: Neil Young @ White River Amphitheatre (Auburn, Washington) — 7/20/23 by Mark Caicedo.

More on the NEIL YOUNG 2023 COASTAL TOUR (see concert reviews).

NEIL YOUNG 2023 COASTAL TOUR Concert Reviews  

 Also, see NEIL YOUNG 2023 COASTAL TOUR WRAPUP: Statistics, Links + More.

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Comment of the Moment #2: Neil Young's Solo Guitar Technique

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

Earlier, we featured a Comment of the Moment by lonesome me on Neil Young's solo guitar technique.

In response, our latest Comment of the Moment is from post  Comment of the Moment: Neil Young's Solo Guitar Technique by Tomatron:

At the Greek Theatre in Berkeley I had a pretty good view of Neil’s strumming technique and was taking note of that as well! 

I love TW for the opportunity we have to all to geek out on these microcosmic elements together. The personal connection for me: I had acoustics on the brain since I recently bought a vintage Epiphone, a late 60s Eldorado. Like many of its ilk, it only has the strap button on the end, none where the neck meets the body. So you have to tie the strap on, which I’d never needed to do with any of my other guitars. I’d proceeded to buy a new strap and go through the steps of tying it on so I could stand up and play if I wanted. Very quickly I discovered that my previously in-tune guitar was all out of whack! Having the strap tied there above the nut pulls on the neck, yanking the whole guitar out of tune once any pressure is applied. I decided to just sit down and play, which was the original plan anyway.

So, having experienced this phenomenon and then seeing Neil Young up there whaling away at Old Hank and the rest as he stalked about the stage, I was very aware of how we hold the guitar, incorporating strumming techniques. I concluded that Bob Rice or whoever tunes Neil’s guitars must do that standing up, so the neck is in the position it will be during the show, with the same tension on it. The tied-on strap also places the guitar at a different angle than a strap on two buttons would, or sitting down with no strap at all. The guitar might hang a little farther back. This position might lend itself to a comfortable strum closer to the guitar’s neck. As far as Neil skipping a string or performing other such “errors,” I always heard that he was known for that imprecise form, going back to at least Zuma era shows. Sometimes he doesn’t fully fret a note and it sounds a little crispy, too.

But at this concert, my conclusion was that he was strumming that way simply because it sounded good to him. You get a nice rich tone hitting the string close to or over the neck, a full and almost chiming sound. He was moving back and forth from the soundhole to the neck and varying the tone subtly for a more expressive performance. There is likely something to the comments regarding his wrapped wrist, which could easily be a carpal tunnel/ tendonitis issue if not arthritis. 

That, along with the standing position, may be a deterrent to the bridge-position palm muting. I think the standing was a choice. He wants to be up and moving, not stuck on a stool. 

The variation of soundhole to over-neck picking and strumming definitely added as well as visual dimension to the performance, and it’ll be rewarding to listen and see this again when the Atmos-mixed shows hit NYA. 

Thanks much for the comment Tomatron.  Glad we can allow for the geek out.  It's all good. Nice observations along with Lonesome Me's earlier thoughts.

More on Neil Young's Guitar Techniques:

• Why Neil Young Is Intentionally Out Of Tune? | Thoughts by Kenny Vaughan

 
Neil Young’s ‘Old Black’ Guitar

Anatomy of Neil Young’s ‘Old Black’ Guitar 

 

Now that the NEIL YOUNG 2023 COASTAL TOUR (see concert reviews) has ended, we look back as we look ahead.

NEIL YOUNG 2023 COASTAL TOUR Concert Reviews  

Also, see NEIL YOUNG 2023 COASTAL TOUR WRAPUP: Statistics, Links + More.

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NEIL YOUNG 2023 COASTAL TOUR WRAPUP: Statistics, Links + More

NEIL YOUNG 2023 COASTAL TOURvia Sugar Mountain  (Click photo to enlarge)

 

Now that the NEIL YOUNG 2023 COASTAL TOUR has concluded, it's a good time to look back as we look forward.

Via Sugar Mountain, we can see that the recently completed tour drew relatively deeply from the 1990's albums Mirror Ball  and Sleeps With Angels.

Interestingly, the somewhat short setlists (~90 minutes) drew from across 15* different albums ranging from 1960's Buffalo Springfield right up to 2023's World Record  (*oddly not listed, along w/ BARN? So, 17 albums seems most accurate.)

Concert performance debuts included: "A Dream That Can Last", "Don't Forget Love", and "Love Earth".

A total of 27 different songs were played across the 15 different concerts. 

The concert with the most songs played was  White River Amphitheatre, Auburn, WA (July 20) with a total of 21 songs.

More Neil Young concert statistics @ Sugar Mountain (thanks Tom! Sorry to miss you on this leg.)

Neil Young  

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

 

More on the NEIL YOUNG 2023 COASTAL TOUR (see concert reviews).

NEIL YOUNG 2023 COASTAL TOUR Concert Reviews

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Comment of the Moment: Neil Young's Solo Guitar Technique

Neil Young 

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

Our Comment of the Moment is from post  Neil Young Solo @ Oxbow River Stage, Napa, CA - July 23, 2023 by lonesome me:

I wonder if anyone has thoughts about Neil's performance these days as an acoustic guitar player?

I am so pleased with his voice now, I think he really hits the notes beautifully this summer. Seems like he got some new fresh strength, like going ten years back. 

Maybe the big pause has been a good thing. 

When it comes to the strings on his acoustic, he hits and strum them not like I like him to do. I think a lot of this subject. 

Maybe its a long journey that had its start many years ago. If you go back to the young Neil, he would mostly sit on a chair while playing his Martin(s). I guess Neil in this position would then have a more natural access to his typical palm muting/damping technicue. This is something that must me done near to the bridge, because of the angle of the arm and wrist, it is almost impossible to do this on the other side of the sound hole into the neck. 

When you stand you can also do it, but its like more inspiring when you sit. You are in more tight control of your instrument, and you get the urge to bang those palm muted bass notes out of the guitar body. When you stand you feel more of letting the instrument to cling out in the air, use the sustain. If its your dog, you like to let it run into the woods. 

Well, if we go a long way back, listen to the early demos of Neil, like the first demo of Sugar Mountain, you can hear that he has not developed the combination of playing whole strumming chords and hit notes on one or two strings. The next version of Sugar Mountain four years later, he does. This time Neil take a step away from Bob and becomes himself on the acoustic.

Years later when you hear Cowgirl.. on 4 way street, its accomplished. He is the only one in the world when Harvest is released that can play with his palm The needle.. like he does, and one million guys like me try to copy it. 

But slowly Neil has left his trademark. I think you even on Harvest Moon from 92, you can hear that he like the strings to more let loose, but he still has the great Neil touch, fantastic on a song like Natural Beauty. 

Jump to this summer great performance, he has overall more sacrificed the «palm hand» to the loose strumming on the other side of the sound hole, up on the neck.

I think he loves how the instrument sounds with this gentle touch on the strings. The playing reminds me much more now back to the demoes from the sixties. 

More like Dylan. But I am afraid I think it gets too loose, sometimes its a little out of the swing, and kind of random if he manage to hit the single notes on the bass strings, the small riffs I like him to give me, is often sloppy delivered. But when he picks up White falcon and gives us Ohio, you know that he is able to do it. It is as cool as ever. 

He sat on the solo tour in 2014. Take a listen to Southern Man from Carnegie Hall. I love it. 

So, I hope he will take interest once more to sit down and use his palm like only Neil is able to. 

But I know, he loves the freedom of singing through the harmonica holder microphones, wander around the stage in all directions. He has not any pledge to a fool like me, who can jump into 100 ours on YouTube to listen any time I want to his live demostration on palm muting. 

So I guess, let love rule.
On earth :)

Thanks much for the comment Lonesome Me.  And thanks for the seminar on Neil's acoustic palm technique for all of our guitar players out there.

More on Neil Young's Guitar Techniques:

• Why Neil Young Is Intentionally Out Of Tune? | Thoughts by Kenny Vaughan

 
Neil Young’s ‘Old Black’ Guitar

Anatomy of Neil Young’s ‘Old Black’ Guitar 

 

Now that the NEIL YOUNG 2023 COASTAL TOUR (see concert reviews) has ended, we look back as we look ahead.

NEIL YOUNG 2023 COASTAL TOUR Concert Reviews

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Neil Young Solo @ Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena, Stateline, Nevada - Monday July 24

SOLO in 3D!

NEIL YOUNG COASTAL TOUR

 

Watch Neil Young Play 1st ‘Tonight’s The Night’ In 5 Years At Tour Closer

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Neil Young will perform tonight at  Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena, Stateline, Nevada on Monday July 24. Also, with special guest Chris Pierce as opening act.

Got a report? Drop us a comment below.

Check Sugar Mountain for setlist updates and Chronological Grid, Recording Summary, Statistics and Extras.

Check back for updates, reviews, setlists, etc. 

More concert reports @  NEIL YOUNG COASTAL TOUR.

When Neil Young is Playing, You Shut the Fuck Up

(this includes for opening acts, as well, show'em some respect)

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Neil Young Solo @ Oxbow River Stage, Napa, CA - Sunday July 23

SOLO in 3D!

NEIL YOUNG COASTAL TOUR

 

Neil Young will perform tonight at Oxbow River Stage,  Napa, CA on Sunday July 23. Also, with special guest Chris Pierce as opening act.

Got a report? Drop us a comment below.

Check Sugar Mountain for setlist updates and Chronological Grid, Recording Summary, Statistics and Extras.

Check back for updates, reviews, setlists, etc. 

More concert reports @  NEIL YOUNG COASTAL TOUR.

When Neil Young is Playing, You Shut the Fuck Up

(this includes for opening acts, as well, show'em some respect)

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