Comment of the Moment: Seeing Neil Young 50 Years Ago
Thanks for the memories Ron! What a long strange trip we've been on.Haha, well done John Kwit and Thrasher. Made me laugh, which is welcome these days. [ed.: Amen!)It's now the 2nd April, which is the 50th anniversary of my first Neil show at the great but long gone Glasgow Apollo. Nice to see Neil commemorating this and the London Hammersmith shows on NYA and by showing Across The Water all week in the Hearse Theatre.I had hoped to mark this milestone by seeing Neil again in Glasgow this summer, but sadly it's not to be. I can always eat a peach instead I guess. To be honest I was more surprised when the tour was announced than when it was cancelled. Just hope they are all healthy and well.Never would have thought 50 years ago I would still be enjoying Neil's music today, and be able to watch and listen to performances from that tour, and even the final encore from the Glasgow show itself. Hard to believe really.So tonight I will be having a glass or two of wine to celebrate and watching and listening to Across The Water and Odeon Budokan. Oh and I will have to watch the film of Neil busking The Old Laughing Lady outside Glasgow Central station as well - mustn't forget that!
Ever since, rusties have traditionally tried to raise the stakes with gags and jokes. TW also has a long tradition of ARC inspired April foolery over the years. On some years, literally breaking the Internet. (sorry -- not sorry)
For example, here are a few April 1 highlights from the TW Archives:
- Neil Young Helps Complete Long Lost Film Starring Dylan and Hendrix
- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Statement by Neil Young on Album BARN
- Legendary Cellar Door Nightclub Becomes A Starbuck$
- SNEAK PREVIEW: Possible Europe Setlist for Neil Young and Crazy Horse?
- Behind The Scenes at the "Americana" Album Playback Session
- Free Neil Young Warmup Concerts Canceled
- Time Fades Away To Finally Be Re-released
- NEW NEIL SONG: "I am music and I write the songs"
- Toast: New Unreleased Crazy Horse Album
- Top 10 Reasons Why Neil Young is Better Than Bob Dylan
- BIGFOOT-RARE 1972 Neil Young Harvest PROMO LP on eBay
- Neil Young Suffers Brain Aneurysm: Long May You Run! (Which -- sadly -- was not a cruel April Fool's Day joke.)
- Separating the Wheat From the Chaff ... or... REAL From the Fake - No April Fool's Day Joke
At the bottom of these posts, we often clearly indicate Happy Arc Day -- shorthand for "Don't Get Fooled Again". Even Archives Guy has commented in the past on some of our more clever attempts.
Even Neil gets in on the annual fun. See Neil's tweet in 2019.
Anyways, all in good fun. Traditionally we avoid the internet on 4/1 and are always using our disCERNment the other 364 days of the year.
The fakery and chaff reach new heights practically daily.
TW does it's part in trying to prepare folks for The Big Shift -- separating the wheat from the chaff... or truth from lies ... or real from fake -- as best we can. At least our detractors can't say we didn't try...
But hey?!
Afterall, Lukas Nelson sings "Turn Off The News" and his brother Micah sings "Everything Is Bullshit". Even Willie sings "Everything Is Bullshit".
He started having thoughts
All kinds of ideas
Grew himself a little ego
Invented a new language
But then he built a tower
Designed a system of power
You know I read it in the paper
He made a tiny computer
That fits inside your hand
Communicate across the planet
Look back into the cosmos
"Everything Is Bullshit" lyrics by Micah Nelson
So "Speak The Truth" where ever you are, when ever you can, while you can.
Freedom of Speech. no harm, no foul. sticks & stones, OK?!
peace
Labels: archives, concert, neil young
by thrasher@PermaLink: 4/02/2026 11:48:00 AM
13 comments
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13 Comments:
@Ron Nice memory. Thanks for sharing. My first Neil show was in '83, so still aways out from the 50th anniversary.
Even a man who is pure of heart and says his prayers by night ... Yadda yadda yadda . I hope Old Man was out making hay while the moon shines . As a younger but far from young man who beats a path to the loo it was a brilliant sphere burning . It felt powerful. I could see another barnyard set but lighting it would be a challenge. Enough light to see him, or them , with the rest lit naturally.
Thanks Thrasher. It sure has been a long trip. I like to think I'm not Too Far Gone yet, but No One Seems To Know really :-) .
Thanks again for all you do. I'm sure my continuing interest in Neil's music would have been less if not for all the great work you do here at Thrasher's Wheat. And thanks to everyone who takes the time to post their fascinating, interesting and on often educational comments.
I'm going to work my way through all those links over the next few days and weeks - need to have a laugh once a day at least.
Your welcome. '83 - was that the Solo trans show? Would like to have seen that tour but don't think it make it to Europe or at least that I was aware of.
I'm kinda hoping someone might post on how their first Neil show was with Buffalo Springfield or on the first Crazy Horse tour with Danny Whitten.
Was at that gig brilliant.First time at a gig there was an acoustic set followed by electric set not sure which was better.
No, it was The Shocking Pinks, and the whole second set played in that character was indeed a shock. Fun, but not as engaging as the first set. Solo Trans was earlier that same year.
Solo Trans was my 1st show on Super Bowl Sunday 1983. I don't know if I'll be around in 7 years for the 50th but I'm confident Thrasher will be there sharing all things Neil!
wow, 1983-02-04, Sundome, Tampa, Florida, USA was my 1st magical nyte, Trans Solo, & what a 'mindBlow' it was! i scored Trans shortly before & was a barely 18 year old 'peace/punk', & tho't his earlier stuff was all 'mitey windish' CS&N type stuff, 'til a friend loaned me 'Decade', i could not Fathom how 1 guy did all that in 10 years over 6 sides of Wax (still can't~!).w/the TV screens and over dubbed trans trax, he gave me all i could dream of, and soo much more! i'd never really listened 2 much acoustic solo muzik, and was hooked on it ALL (doc Watson, peter rown, et al) ever since! i would have finally hit 40 shows if Chicago in '24 & Italy '26 hadn't been Cancelled, aww well, Long May He Run!
My wife and I saw Neil in 1983, Lenox Mass, Trans and Shocking Pinks ( we got married the next summer). I thought Trans performance was dark, ominous, and brilliant. He played "I've Got a Problem" which in my view is underrated. It was remarkable to see such a huge talent go for broke with such a creative and challenging shift. The Shocking Pinks (part II) were also brilliant, we thought the band was tight, funny, but somehow out of bounds (absurdly different). I was a Neil fanatic all through the 80's but like others I was worried that he would self-destruct commercially (he actually did). In order to challenge the system, a person must be in the system in some sense. Freedom was what we were are looking for in 1989?
September 1982 Transband Eurotour at Wembley Arena in London. Can’t remember which of the three dates. Was up in row ZZ up in the gods. I remember when Neil and Nils fired up the vocoders a lot of fans started booing , but I was thrilled by the contrast with the expected guitar rock outs and just knew I was in the right place.
Think this was the only tour that ever featured an extended stage into the audience- with Neil and Nils stomping and weaving their way around each other out into the audience.
Trans is still a special album for me and astonishingly the tour T-shirt still fits 44 years later- well more or less
Tony Hambone
Wow, a lot of '83 first shows here. Pretty cool.
My first show was the '89 acoustic tour at Great Woods in Mass. Pouring rain, all day and all night. Mainly solo, with a little Poncho and Ben Keith for a few. At one point Neil yelled "I LOVE YOU PEOPLE IN THE RAIN!!" I was soaked, but flying high. Seeing "For The Turnstiles" with Neil and Ben was quite the experience.
Richie allow me to be envious. I somehow missed the announcement of the Euro leg of that tour and didn’t get tickets. Listening to tapes of the shows they sound like 90 minutes of concentrated distilled essence of Neil. What a great concert start.
Tony Hambone
I discovered Neil around 1987, and was well aware of the different genre experiments of his 80's music. I would have been happy any of that stuff, but honestly I was pretty thrilled to see a straightforward acoustic show, and I think a lot of the crowd felt the same. Plus, there was all of these new Freedom songs in the set. Kind of the beginning of what would be a glorious decade for Neil.
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