CONCERT REVIEW: Neil Young and The Chrome Hearts @ Hollywood Bowl - September 15 | Lefsetz Letter

“Doesn’t mean that much to meTo mean that much to you”Neil Young is beyond image.
He’s lived so long, played so long, that it’s just him, sans trappings. As for his contemporaries…
They feel that they’ve got to convince the audience, overwhelm them, prove that they’ve still got it, are as important as they once were, still as meaningful, you should be wowed just to be in their presence.
But you’re not.
It’s creepy. So many have had plastic surgery. Because that’s the image they want to project, of them in their heyday, youthful, meaningful. They’re in stage outfits. And the production! The hi-def screens and the lasers, they’ve got to have the latest technology, to rationalize the ticket price if nothing else. It’s a veritable assault. By time it’s over you should feel worn out, like you’ve had the experience of a lifetime. But it’s nowhere close. It’s just old people playing old songs.And then there’s Neil Young.He seemed to be having fun.Let’s be clear, he doesn’t need the money. He made that Hipgnosis deal, never mind the cash he’s already got. As for losing that money to his ex-wife… She died and probably left it to his children, so that kind of equalizes the equation. In any event, he’s got a ton of bread.But what are you gonna do with all that money? Do you need a plane? How many houses can you buy, never mind needing to manage them.So at the end of the day, you’re a musician.Let’s be clear, so many are not, especially of the younger generation. They’re two dimensional constructs made to front the work of behind the scenes writers and producers. Did you see who’s headlining Coachella? Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber and Karol G? A big time concert promoter told me he was gonna retire because he was sick of presenting music he didn’t like. I give Paul Tollett credit for changing with the ages, forgetting the old acts that he used to hire to headline, but these acts? The attendees are not going so much to see them as to show off, shoot selfies of their outfits. There’s not much there. It’s showbiz, but more pre-Beatles than anything else.So Neil Young shows up on stage in the clothing he wears off stage. This was a thing back when he broke through in 1970. But his contemporaries, they started showing up in tuxes at awards shows, wearing dignified clothing on stage. I can’t remember ever seeing Neil in a tux, he’s stayed true to himself when so many have not.
Full review @ Neil Young At The Hollywood Bowl | Lefsetz Letter.
More concert reports @ “Love Earth Tour”: Neil Young and The Chrome Hearts Concert Dates (UPDATED CONTINUOUSLY).
Labels: #KORITFW, band, chrome hearts, concert, fans, neil young, photos, presale, reviews, setlist, tickets, tour, videos
11 Comments:
That's a very fine article by Mr Lefsetz.
He makes so many great points that resonate with me - not just about the concert, but also about the state of music today, musicians, living a life and the passing of time.
He's selected some highly relevant lyrics to complement his writing, and I laughed out loud trying to imagine Neil in a tux.
Although this was the last show of the tour, I am sure he's right when he says "This was not a finale, but just another stop on an endless road."
Thanks for writing Bob.
Agreed, & my sober ears did not deceive me. Nor would I deceive you when I say that the Hollywood Bowl was one hell of a great show! Be the Rain! YBAiS
THAT was one hellofa review! Very enjoyable read. Spot on all points. Could’ve also been entitled “Why I am a life long Neil Young fan”.
I only wish ticket prices were more affordable @ local “Live Nation” venue. $30 fer nosebleeds sounds about right.
Never happen with above naming rights.
The $30 tickets were not nose bleeds. These tickets were available for a short time and were half way back on left. Great seats for the money. Those prices disappeared shortly. YBAiS
One heck of an article! Outstanding!
This comment has been removed by the author.
That 1st comment was mine - forgot to log in.
Just wanted to add that Neil has said on NYA that he and Lou Adler are working on an album of the LOVE EARTH tour. Should be good - hopefully there will be a film too!
Bit surprised Bob said he couldn't hum Ambulance Blues - I thought everyone who owned On The Beach would be at least able to hum the 'you don't know it but you are...' and 'there ain't nothing like a friend who can tell you...' parts. :-)
Anyway hope those of you going to Farm Aid have a great time - the next stop on the 'endless road' already!.
Enjoy Farm Aid! I look forward to hearing about it! Live stream? I have gotta look at that!
Love, your Brother Alan in Seattle
$30 nosebleeds were the summer sale @ local slavenation venue - for acts no one ever heard of nor wanted to pay to see.
Now I’m more envious of the $30 HB seats. Damn!
Fun review, thanks for that, and a wonderful show to be at. Always delicious to be bathed in a Neil live performance. A Neil Fix. I won't get into comparing it to any other Neil show or band. I have seen him solo and with so many great bands so many times starting in fall/winter of 1973 with the Santa Monica Flyers for the "Tonight's the Night" shows. All are worthy and the recency that can be viral right after a show can cause understandable cases of temporary "besteveritis". It may even last until the next Neil fix. Chrome Hearts joins the list, and certainly compliments him well, and is another in the long line of amazing bands that he has formed. And Micah is sublime and a multi-talented artist, and not just musician. I fortunately get to see his Particle Kid (mostly his band and not solo, now) shows at very small venues.
Loud? Not for a Neil electric show. This is because of Hollywood Bowl's declared but unpublished exact decibel limit is enforced (like the 11pm strict curfew) because of its proximity to the residential neighborhoods in the Hollywood Hills. Half way back you could still hear the annoying chattering of the not so committed attendees, and they weren't shouting. I'm sure in the pit and the Terrace and Garden Boxes it was plenty loud, yet comfy. It was plenty loud, just not as I have often heard him be at many other venues.
Neil's memory is not necessarily to be trusted, and his statement that he hasn't played the Hollywood Bowl since the 60's is one of those times, as at least as many of us were there on October 17 of 2012 when Crazy Horse pounded out Walk Like a Giant for the Psychedelic Pill Tour. Fanatic fans sometimes keep better track of details than he, much like most of our memories can be augmented. I think he has even talked about that in one of his books.
They started at 8:52, and ended at 10:38, unless my watch was wrong. Recordings will show the actual length. I am sure he must have been exhausted, with this being the last of 31 shows since June 18, and 17 since August 8. His voice was, at times, lovingly ragged, but pure soul.
Since he had played 20 tunes at the previous Mountain View show, and there was over 20 minutes before curfew, I was in the moment hopeful of him going out with a max show in Hollywood for the finale, and Powerfinger had been added and gotten 4 outings in a row, and Vampire Blues and Sail Away added at Mountain view, but the Number was Rolled and they were on the road as the time faded away. Sail Away was included for the second time of the tour. What treat. Hey, absolutely no complaints. The show was a winner.
I bought 4 $30 tickets for this show after finding out about the cheap tickets right here on Thrasher's Wheat! When the special LiveNation promotion they called "Ticket to Summer" happened briefly, I could now afford to take my daughter and two friends! They were in the L section of the Bowl, just over halfway back all the way to the right in the cavernous Bowl. I also got the promo tickets in the same section for The Who two nights later (also a wonderful show). I saw the TV advert a couple days after the tip here, after I had already bought the Neil tickets, and then started looking and there were many great bands all over the country that the promo included, some here at the Greek too, that I was too late for. The tickets in the same section that were not part of the very limited availability and quick sellout were $135 at the time, and as the show wasn't selling enough, they were reduced to $100, as several thousand (Bowl holds 17,500) that remained available with about a month to showtime did in all sections, the more expensive tickets dropped over $50. It worked, and it wasn't sold out, but it was very "fullish".
*Powderfinger*
Post a Comment
<< Home