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

Neil Young & Chrome Hearts Hollywood Bowl - Sept. 15, 2025Photo by Josh Martin | LiveforLiveMusic

Over the years, we've featured quite a few items from Bob Lefsetz and his Lefsetz Letter on Neil Young.

Why?

Simple. Because Bob Lefsetz "gets" Neil Young.

Here is a clip by Bob Lefsetz from Lefsetz Letter on Neil Young and The Chrome Hearts @ Hollywood Bowl on September 15:   

“Doesn’t mean that much to me

To 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). 

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