So, cards on the table, I'm not a really big Neil Young fan, I have enjoyed what I have heard so far and, like many folk, I had a basic knowledge of the guy. A 67 year old (OK I looked that bit up!) Canadian singer-songwriter who was a founder member of Buffalo Springfield back in 1966, a sometimes member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young from around 1969 and a prolific solo artist and collaborator with Crazy Horse. That was the sum total of my knowledge of the guy until 1990 when I heard all 7 minutes and 5 seconds of Country Home from the Neil Young & Crazy Horse album Ragged Glory. In fact, I was so blown away by the song that I recall pulling the car over into a lay by so that I could concentrate on listening to the song! Since then I have been much more interested in the phenomenon that is "Neil Young & Crazy Horse"!
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| The band |
The gig 'started' at about 20:35 when a half dozen or so 'mad scientist' types in white overalls and big hair took to the stage to get it set up after the support act - Los Lobos, had finished their set. The boffins were then joined by several 'labourers' in 'hi viz' vests and hard hats who were directed to lift, carry, haul and generally get the stage ready. There was a great deal of naff acting, pointing, gesticulating and nonsense whilst the 15 foot 'crates' were raised off the 12 foot high 'Fender speakers' to reveal the set for the main event, this was all undertaken to the Beatles Day in a Life. Then at about 20:45 Neil Young & Crazy Horse took to the stage whilst a Saltire was projected on the back wall and Flower of Scotland was built up to a crescendo, whipping the crowd into a jolly sing-a-long (almost) frenzy!
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| Neil Young |
Then, as the unofficial Scottish National anthem faded, we were assaulted by the thunderous cacophony that is Love and Only Love from 1990's Ragged Glory and ten minutes later (we were still only one song in!) I thought WOW! Wonderful, Original, Weird, this is gonna be special! That one, initial song encapsulated just about everything about the gig: grungy, grinding guitars interlaced with clear, crisp, clean lead guitar solos; throbbing bass lines and the steady beat of tub thumping drums!
Next up, we had Powderfinger and Psychedelic Pill which continued the crashing carousel then things slowed down for the gentler whistling introduction to Walk Like a Giant which includes the line:
I used to walk like a giant on the land /Now I feel like a leaf floating in a stream
The stage set with its huge 'speakers' and 12 foot tall 'microphone' seemed to ape the title of this song, however, the lyrics told of a truth closer to home, that of a bunch of guys who, having met back in 1967, and who are now aged between 64 and 70 are feeling their grip on things loosening. The song continues:
Me and some of my friends / We were gonna save the world / We were trying to make it better / We were ready to save the world / But then the weather changed / And the white got stained /And it fell apart /And it breaks my heart.
This from a song released in 2012 which expresses a real sense of regret and as if to underscore that depth of lost opportunity we were then......exposed I think would be a good word for it to 13 or 14 minutes of 'industrial noise'. It sounded like jet engines; jack hammers; elephants howling; chain saws; gritty, growling, grunge. I thought that I had somehow been transported back to 1980 and into a gig by Germany's proto industrial band Einstürzende Neubauten (“Collapsing New Buildings”)! Crazy Horse certainly gave vent to their darker side during this part of the show. I found it perplexing in the extreme, the grand father of grunge laying claim to his domain one last time? Who knows but it did make me think!
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| The light show |
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| The light show |
However, things settled down with the, as yet unreleased, Hole in the Sky and Heart of Gold which were followed, rather oddly I thought, by Bob Dylan's Blowing in the Wind, the only cover version of the night, if you exclude the Buffalo Springfield number Mr Soul. By now it was becoming apparent just how cohesive this bunch of guys really are. They glided about the stage, one minute gathering as a group at the base of Ralph Molina's drum podium and then setting off on their own to the ends of the stage only to get back together again as a loose group with Frank ‘Poncho’ Sampedro & Neil Young trading 'blows' on their respective guitars, whilst Billy Talbot stood back keeping the bass line pounding. Talking of the band, it is interesting to note that Neil Young, who began performing in a group covering Shadows instrumentals in Canada in 1960 is 67 whilst Crazy Horse guitarist Frank Sampedro, from West Virginia, (wearing a Jimi Hendrix T-shirt) at 64 is the 'baby of the bunch'! Drummer, Ralph Molina, from Puerto Rica (a member of Crazy Horse since they were formed in 1962 as a Doo-wop group called Danny & the Memories) is 70, as is New Yorker and bassist Billy Talbot.
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| Neil Young |
Molina's drumming, plain and simple but with intricate beats and fills, was mixed in with Talbot's thumbing base to give a throbbing bottom end to the sound whilst Sampedro's guitar chugged along steadily providing a solid base on which Young laid out some magnificent, higher registered solos. Indeed, both guitarists traded off each other as only people who know each other so well can and it was a joy to hear their solos particularly during Ramada Inn and F*!#in' Up (as it is called on the album Ragged Glory!) I should add that during this last number, Billy Talbot played some wonderful, thrumming, throbbing bass lines. Exquisite would be near the mark! Given the respective ages of these guys (collective age of 271!), I felt privileged to have finally caught up with them live as I reckon that this sort of 'connection', this kinda ethereal, instinctive union only comes along once or twice in any life time.
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| Frank 'Poncho' Sampedro |
I would also like to mention the camera work which was a major part of the visual experience. The stage was bracketed by two huge projection screens in the shape of 1960s TVs and, given the size of this tin shed that is the SECC in Glasgow, even in the front standing section I was still some distance from the stage and the action (hence the poor quality photos!). So these screens helped to 'bring the show to us'. and there were some great shots of the band which helped to makes us feel more of an integral part of the concert. At one point I struggled to work out what was on the screen but then realised that there was a camera inside the huge 'fake' Fender speaker stacks and we were watching Neil Young fiddle with equipment hidden inside and so we saw him play guitar with one hand and distort the sound with the other. On another occasion we were to see Ralp Molina and his drum kit from the inside of the other stack prop. In fact, these huge 'speaker' stacks also played a big visual part in the show as they provided a structure on which to project all manner of colourful shapes and objects so, all-in-all, there was a great visual feast on offer along with the aural one. Magnificent!
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| The light show |
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| The band |
By this point, over an hour and a half in to the show, Neil Young had welcomed us home, asked us how we were doing, thanked us for coming and said he was glad to see us. A man of few words, it has to be said! Which was fine by me, as it meant we were treated to more of his particular brand of music, a furrow that he and Crazy Horse alone seem to plough. Then, after the ever popular My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue), the gig was brought to an end with another as yet unreleased song called Don't say it's Over, a fitting final song to a stupendous gig. Needless to say, there was no way that the band would have been allowed to head off into the sunset at that point and so they returned after some more cack-handed tomfoolery from the boffins to finish the show with a two song encore which finally drew the proceeding to a close some 2 hours and 25 minutes later during which we also had Neil Young on piano, a girl in a white dress flitting about the stage with a guitar case, virtual rain and roadies in rain coats and hats and songs from as far back as 1972 and as recent as last year! 16 songs played, averaging out at around 9 minutes each, this was not a gig for those of short attention spans or faint hearts. Weird and sublime in equal measure!
I have always been a sucker for bands with two 'lead' guitars and having now seen Neil Young and Crazy Horse I am not sure that I will see better, even the 20 odd minutes of almost unlistenable 'industrial noise' scattered throughout the show didn't spoil it for me! These guys were so good that there were outstanding, probably the best gig I have seen this year and certainly one of the best ever!
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| Neil Young & Crazy Horse |
Gig started at 20:45
Beatles Day in a Life
Flower of Scotland
Set List
Love and only love - Ragged Glory 1990
Powderfinger - Rust Never Sleeps 1979
Psychedelic Pill - Psychedelic Pill 2012
Walk like a giant - Psychedelic Pill 2012
Hole in the sky - previously unreleased
Heart of gold - Harvest 1972
Blowin' in the wind -The Freewheelin' Bob
Dylan 1962
Singer without a song - 2013
Ramada Inn - Psychedelic Pill 2012
Cinnamon girl - Everybody knows this is nowhere 1969
F*!#in' Up - Ragged Glory 1990
Mr Soul - Journey Through The Past 1972
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| Farewell....... |
My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue) - Rust Never Sleeps 1979
Don't say it's over - previously unreleased
Encore
Roll Another Number (for the road) - Tonight's the Night 1975
Everybody knows this is nowhere - Everybody knows this is nowhere 1969
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| and "Good night" |
Gig ended at 23:10
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