I am in recovery mode after seeing Neil Young last night. Luckily I have the day off to recover & get ready to watch Monday Night Football. On to the show: it was amazing! Neil was in a very good mood & gave us a memorable show. His backup band, Promise of the Real, was excellent & they seem to have energized Neil. This band can play. Willie Nelson's sons are both excellent young musicians & the rest of the band are just as good. Really good 4 part harmonies. Show started with short set by NYC performance artist Rev. Billy & the Stop Shopping choir. They were ok & fit in with the theme of the tour. Then Neil came out by himself & played some classics. "After the Goldrush, Heart of Gold, Old Man etc. His voice was in fine shape. Then the band came out for some mellower songs such as "Unknown Legend" & "Walk On". The show definitely got more rocking as it went along. "Words" was awesome. The new material was better live than on the record. Maybe some of the songs aren't Neil's best but his heart is in the right place & he was clearly into it. The classics were stunning. "Down by the River" was about 20 minutes. We also got "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere". The set ended with a really uptempo "Love & Only Love". I really liked the faster version & the interplay with the guitars was stupendous. For the encore we got a great "Cinnamon Girl" which went right into "@#$%&' Up". I'm drained! Neil has been playing 2.5 to 3 hour shows. We got the 3 hour version. I highly recommend going if you get a chance. The sets are changing nightly but the mix of old & new stuff is really good. I will definitely go see Promise of the Real if they come around with their own show. Winner!

Set list: After the Goldrush/Heart Of Gold / Comes A Time / Old Man / Mother Earth (Natural Anthem) / Here We Are In The Years / Out On The Weekend / Unknown Legend / Hold Back The Tears / Wolf Moon / Words / Bad Fog Of Loneliness / Walk On / A Rock Star Bucks A Coffee Shop / People Want To Hear About Love / Big Box / Down By The River / I Won't Quit / Workin' Man / Monsanto Years / Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere / Love And Only Love // Cinnamon Girl / F*!#in' Up



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-10-05 16:57 by crholmstrom.

I can't go to a show for the hits over and over again and Neil's output in the last decade has been abominable at best. Glad you enjoyed it though.

Looks like a great setlist and, imo, not all that dense with standard "hits" at all. Thanks for the report!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-10-05 19:03 by Tate.

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rbk
I can't go to a show for the hits over and over again and Neil's output in the last decade has been abominable at best. Glad you enjoyed it though.

But he can still put on a great live show, and with this new band you are getting a really fresh perspective on many songs. I take it you are not too happy about the Stones shows for last couple decades?

Neil is an international treasure just like the Stones and with a 3 hour set I'd say he's really putting it out there. Nice review.

Sounds great crholmstrom!
Looking forward to seeing Neil again next week w/Social Distortion opening at the L.A. Forum.
Last time was several years ago with Crazy Horse at the Hollywood Bowl, and it was exceptional as always.

Here's a nice write-up/interview with Mica Nelson about the summer tour from August 10, 2015 (prior to adding more dates).
Inside Neil Young's Epic Summer Tour With Promise of the Real

Neil w/Promise of the Real

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

Nice review.

The last couple of times I've gone to see Neil I've always thought - 'Can I really be bothered to sit (or more tiringly) stand through another 25 min version of Down by the River'. But I always end up getting sucked right back in.

The clips I've seen of him with this new band look pretty exciting. As you say Naturlust, Neil Young is a treasure.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-10-05 18:56 by Roll73.

he is on my small list of people to see

Now would be a good time to see him keefriffhard4life.
As crholmstrom noted, he covers most of the bases of his career- from mellow acoustic to loud and raucous, and alot of stuff in between.

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

That's a dream set list. To have After The Goldrush, Heart Of Gold, and Old Man in the first 4 songs must have been incredible. And then Out On The Weekend, Words, Walk On and Down By The Rive to name just a few more classics....well wow!

My ears are still ringing!

Looking forward to seeing Neil, Lucas and the boys next Saturday at the Santa Barbara Bowl

I saw him in Reykjavik last year. I was really impressef by the concert, and also his social thinking, which was evident in að intarview.

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Naturalust
Neil is an international treasure just like the Stones

Indeed!

It seems he's having a lot of fun with this tour, according to the man himself:

"Writing on Facebook, Young said, 'Thanks to Promise of the Real for making this tour such a wonderful experience in my life. I love all the bands I have played with, but this band (and the multi generational thing) is epic!

“The #RebelContentTour was an experience I will never forget. Once in a lifetime. The guys, Lukas, Micah, Corey, Tony and Tato are the greatest!

“Amazing how easy and natural it was to rock on the old songs and the brand new ones – from Cortez to Big Box, from Wolf Moon to Out On The Weekend.

“We played songs we had never played before EVERY NIGHT That has never happened to me the new songs and the hits & 3-hour performances night after night. The crew loved it, the band, and people too! Playing with these guys was a gift – Such positivity, pure energy & no fear I loved rocking with Promise of the Real I love this band Lets keep it going…”


[www.uncut.co.uk]

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rbk
I can't go to a show for the hits over and over again and Neil's output in the last decade has been abominable at best. Glad you enjoyed it though.

When he's been bad, he's been bloody awful this past decade (fork in the road etc).But I really liked the non orchestral Storytone, and thought Physchedelic pill was a masterpiece. Before that Chrome Dreams II had its moments, and Prairie wind was lovely.

Always great live.

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letitloose

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rbk
I can't go to a show for the hits over and over again and Neil's output in the last decade has been abominable at best. Glad you enjoyed it though.

When he's been bad, he's been bloody awful this past decade (fork in the road etc).But I really liked the non orchestral Storytone, and thought Physchedelic pill was a masterpiece. Before that Chrome Dreams II had its moments, and Prairie wind was lovely.

Always great live.

The songs from "The Monsanto Years" worked way better live. Promise of the Real are a very good band, indeed. I'm going to check out their stuff.

I saw Neil perform without a band at a show a few years ago. He was excellent, although we didn't like his newer material. Thank you for the report from your show, it sounds fun!

Thats a motherfu*cker of a set IMO.

Nice review, crholmstrom, thaky you! I have never seen Neil and I guess I should. Your review really makes me want to see him :-)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-10-06 07:21 by Happy24.

I saw him 2 years ago with Crazy Horse. Excellent concert with a good mix of old and new songs. Possibly one of the best I've seen.

"Here We Are In The Years" was the first performance of that song since 1976. According to the hardcore Neil sites he's performed that song under 20 times total.

Yeah Neil's picked a good band!

I spent the summer listening to (audience) tapes of the NY/POTR shwos and I had a great time!

"Here We Are In The Years" :
[www.sugarmtn.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-10-06 13:31 by dcba.

FYI for those in L.A. - a batch of floor GA tix have been released, and upper level nosebleeds price dropped to $29.

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

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dcba
Yeah Neil's picked a good band!

I spent the summer listening to (audience) tapes of the NY/POTR shwos and I had a great time!

"Here We Are In The Years" :
[www.sugarmtn.org]

I would love to spend my autumn listening to those tapes, where would be a good place to start?

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Paddy2008

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dcba
Yeah Neil's picked a good band!

I spent the summer listening to (audience) tapes of the NY/POTR shwos and I had a great time!

"Here We Are In The Years" :
[www.sugarmtn.org]

I would love to spend my autumn listening to those tapes, where would be a good place to start?

There are a bunch under Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real here: [archive.org]
Not a pirate site. Have to be ok'd by the artist to have shows posted here. The Drive-By Truckers section is mind blowing!

Dimeadozen is always a good place to start...

Neil played "Vampire Blues" last night in Eugene, OR. Another one he hasn't done since the 1970s. Wow! Let's hope he puts out something from this tour. I'm watching for boots....shhhh!

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letitloose

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rbk
I can't go to a show for the hits over and over again and Neil's output in the last decade has been abominable at best. Glad you enjoyed it though.

When he's been bad, he's been bloody awful this past decade (fork in the road etc).But I really liked the non orchestral Storytone, and thought Physchedelic pill was a masterpiece. Before that Chrome Dreams II had its moments, and Prairie wind was lovely.

Always great live.

Totally agree with the above.

Plus as you say Prarie Wind was lovely, an underated classic.

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BluzDude
Looking forward to seeing Neil, Lucas and the boys next Saturday at the Santa Barbara Bowl

There's a pretty good recording of the Santa Barbara show up on Guitars101. A little boomy & there's some crowd noise but not a factor when the Les Paul comes out, haha. Listened last night. You sure got a good show! Amazing how much Lukas Nelson sounds like his dad on "September Song". Very nice. & "Times Fade Away" is a cool surprise. I sure hope Neil puts out some of this tour legitimately. The set lists have been amazing ("Vampire Blues" in Eugene!!!!). I wish some of these bands with dedicated fanbases would put out more shows. You know they are recording everything. The Who made every show available & Wilco puts out select shows for nominal money ($10). You would think the Stones could do that. It's not hard to do. I had the Neil boot less than 12 hours from when the show ended from 1200 miles away. No need to doctor the recordings, just give us the raw shows from the soundboard. I've always found the beauty is in the flaws. That's when the magic happens!

Great 3 hour show, I did a review on another site, and yes, Lucas does sound just like his dad! Best sounded venue I've been to!

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BluzDude
Great 3 hour show, I did a review on another site, and yes, Lucas does sound just like his dad! Best sounded venue I've been to!

The Santa Barbara Bowl is not only great sounding, it's a beautiful setting nestled in the hillside!
I'm going tomorrow night at the Forum in GA section, so will try and get up front center for some pics.

Care to share review? Or maybe an abbreviated version? Would love to hear about it!

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......