Neil Young / Promise of the Real

Looks like they will be doing a tour next year.

If you are a Neil Young fan you really need to see him with The Promise of The Real Band.

You can tell they love playing together.

Neil said in an interview that The Promise of the Real knows more of his songs than any of his other bands have.

Go see them is all I am saying

They leave it all on the stage.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2020-04-12 17:47 by bv.

Thanks for the heads up jumpontopofmebaby - I've been hoping and waiting for this news. With all the curveballs Neil comes up with, wasn't sure what he might do next. Having seen him with Promise of the Real five times now from the gigantic Desert Trip to the tiny Pomona Theater (as well as the L.A. Forum), I can vouch for what you say. I was skeptical leading up to the first show I saw them play with Neil a couple of years ago, but they proved more than worthy and truly leave it all on stage - they've given old Neil some extra energy! I still think Crazy Horse was a step above - some of those shows I saw back in the day rank at the top of any concerts I've ever seen, but this is the next best thing and some of these current shows I've seen now also rank near the top.

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

Great band! I saw them in Santa Barbara. I hope they do tour again.

Now if Neil could write some actual songs to play on the tour...

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ab
Now if Neil could write some actual songs to play on the tour...

Sounds like a the same dilemma the Stones constantly find themselves in.

But to Neil's credit, at least he plays his new songs - four or five last year from the Peace Trail album before it was even released. And while all of them weren't great, you gotta give him credit for at least trying.
I suspect he'll be playing more brand new stuff during the upcoming tour along with some classics, not to mention several deep cuts. He'll probably even have a new album before the tour starts!
And then there's the recently released Hitchiker album from the archives...might have to play some of those as well.

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

Neil Young Announces New Album The Visitor. December 1st, 2017



Neil Young has once again teamed up with his backing band the Promise of the Real (which features Willie Nelson’s son Lukas). Their new album is called The Visitor, and it’s out December 1 via Reprise. It features a new song called “Already Great.” Listen to it below. Neil and Promise of the Real worked together on the 2016 album EARTH and the political 2015 album The Monsanto Years. Earlier this year, Young and Promise of the Real also released a one-off single called “Children of Destiny.” The song preached an anti-Trump message: “Stand up for what you believe/Resist the powers that be.”

The Visitor:
01 Already Great
02 Fly By Night Deal
03 Almost Always
04 Stand Tall
05 Change of Heart
06 Carnival
07 Diggin’ a Hole
08 Children of Destiny
09 When Bad Got Good
10 Forever

Neil Young + Promise of The Real - Already Great (Official Audio)

Thanks Cristiano - just received email and came here to post the news.
The new tune Already Great sounds quite a bit better than the previous Children of Destiny (though it's a bit of a curveball itself) - and hopefully there's better tunes on the rest of the album.

My review: Promising.

Looking forward to the tour as that's where most of his his strength seems to lie at this point.


ps - Walk With Me from Le Noise just came blasting on after the new tune finished...what a great tune that is!

When life imitates art:

"I’m listening to Neil Young, I gotta turn up the sound
Someone’s always yelling turn it down..." - Bob Dylan

*My wife is not a big fan of Neil Young - especially at 9:00 in the morning.



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

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Hairball
Thanks Cristiano - just received email and came here to post the news.
The new tune Already Great sounds quite a bit better than the previous Children of Destiny (though it's a bit of a curveball itself) - and hopefully there's better tunes on the rest of the album.

My review: Promising.

Looking forward to the tour as that's where most of his his strength seems to lie at this point.


ps - Walk With Me from Le Noise just came blasting on after the new tune finished...what a great tune that is!

When life imitates art:

"I’m listening to Neil Young, I gotta turn up the sound
Someone’s always yelling turn it down..." - Bob Dylan

*My wife is not a big fan of Neil Young - especially at 9:00 in the morning.

Listening to "Already Great" now......

"Promising" The Real.

Looking forward to this tour.

I really hope he includes London on this tour. As Hairball said, he was quite superb at Desert Trip - one of the highlights.

I would like to see Neil with this band. I think Neil's run of LPs from Everybody Knows this is Nowhere through Rust Never Sleeps is the most impressive run of LPs put together by any of the legends of the era.

Having said that, I can't remember the last time I was excited about a new Neil Young song. I just don't think he's got it in him to create new music anymore. I kinda liked the title track from Living with War but otherwise his more recent compositions just don't do it for me.

As for more recent, maybe try the album Le Noise with just him and his guitar (acoustic and electric) - many great tunes on that one though maybe not to everyone's liking.
Or the last album with Crazy Horse - Psychedlic Pill. The tune Drifting Back at 27+ minutes long is a journey through the past in itself.
Starting with the vintage acoustic Neil sound, it suddenly erupts into an electric tour de force and practically never stops.
There's some other good tunes on that album as well.

Neil Young with Crazy Horse: Driftin' Back




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



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2017-11-04 03:00 by Hairball.

I've bought every album he's put out, but I find myself questioning just how much he's trying, even when he makes a new album a year. There doesn't seem to be much craft to his art these days. Much of Peace Trail sounded like it was made up on the fly and bashed out in one take. With no one in his camp left to tell him something's crap, e.g., David Briggs, he has become a bit of a hack. He has always had a "the more you think, the more you stink" attitude, but his recent songs sound like he put minimal effort into them. He was just content to bludgeon with his message. I'm usually down with the sentiments, but how about an actual song? That said, I'm looking forward to The Visitor.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2017-11-04 14:27 by ab.

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ab
With no one in his camp left to tell him something's crap, e.g., David Briggs, he has become a bit of a hack.

I wouldn't go that far but you have a point. The quality of NY's output has known a steep decline since Briggs died (1995).

As for the sheer quantity of the music he produces it's possible that Neil's being afflicted with the "i'd better do as much as I can before I'm too old/dead" syndrome.
Hence the "a new album a year" thing and the shelving of any new "Archives" releases.

I like how Neil always listens to his muse. Sometimes the songs aren't so great but the occasional gem pops out. Live with POTR, is still phenomenal. I've got some compliations put together by fans of the last US & European tours that have practically every song performed (a few exceptions). They are stunning. I saw him in Seattle & to my ears it was nearly as good as Crazy Horse in their prime. Lukas Nelson is clearly talented & coming into his own. His brother Micah is no slouch either. Go, if you get the chance! This year illustrates that you never know if you're going to have another chance to see Neil. Prime example of mortality is Tom Petty. I saw him a few weeks before he passed. I was a bit disappointed in the show as something seemed off. Now it has come out that Tom was injured (& other issues it turns out). I'm glad I went.

[twitter.com]

POTR is currently touring so live tapes of this band pop up...
Imho they're a bit disappointing as if without NY to boost them they sound a bit weak and bland.

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dcba
POTR is currently touring so live tapes of this band pop up...
Imho they're a bit disappointing as if without NY to boost them they sound a bit weak and bland.

Perhaps so - I don't know any of their music and have never seen them live (without Neil), but the same could probably be said about all of the Stones' backing musicians gigs without the Stones.
I wouldn't pay $10 to see Bernard's band, Darryl's band, or Tim Ries, Matt Clifford, or the new guy Karl's band.


As a backing band for Neil, Promise of the Real are they are the real deal - almost as great as Crazy Horse!
I was skeptical before seeing them the first time several years ago, but they proved to be beyond worthy - every show I've seen since (from giant Desert Trip to mini Pomona Theater), they've been absolutely fantastic!

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

To be more specific there's a tape of their Paris'17 show where they do "Cinnamon Girl" and it's somewhat empty/bland.

PS : I love the POTR+NY association!

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dcba

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ab
With no one in his camp left to tell him something's crap, e.g., David Briggs, he has become a bit of a hack.

I wouldn't go that far but you have a point. The quality of NY's output has known a steep decline since Briggs died (1995).

As for the sheer quantity of the music he produces it's possible that Neil's being afflicted with the "i'd better do as much as I can before I'm too old/dead" syndrome.
Hence the "a new album a year" thing and the shelving of any new "Archives" releases.

Have the Archives officially been shelved? Very disappointed if they have.

Drew

Neil's launching his Archives site on 12/1.

[www.neilyoungarchives.com]

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bye bye johnny
Neil's launching his Archives site on 12/1.

[www.neilyoungarchives.com]

Great! Thanks.

Drew

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Cristiano Radtke
First Listen: Neil Young & Promise Of The Real, 'The Visitor'

Thanks Cristiano - very tempting to hear it all, but want to hold out until I have the proper release and the proper state of mind to listen - giving it the traditional drive up the Pacific Coast Highway first listening experience which I usually do for every highly anticipated new release.

OK can't hold out- just clicked randomly on Digging a Hole - Neil sings the blues!!!
Will savor the rest at a later date under the proper circumstances mentioned above.

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

Thanks for the link, Cristiano. Album's rather underwhelming imo, but if that's what Neil might have needed to hit the road with a simpatico band, it's a fair exchange. ;-)

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Promise Of The Real on 'CBS This Morning', November 25:

"Find Yourself" - [www.youtube.com]

"Fool Me Once" - [www.youtube.com]

"Forget About Georgia" - [www.youtube.com]

LOVE,LOVE,LOVE LUKAS!
The next big rock star!
thx for posting.

i had a quick listen to the new record & was underwhelmed. of course, the songs could easily get much better live. i found that to be the case with the monsanto years material.

They were great at Desert Trip

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crholmstrom
i had a quick listen to the new record & was underwhelmed. of course, the songs could easily get much better live. i found that to be the case with the monsanto years material.

The Monsanto Years was unlistenable to me.

I did like Peace Trail, but honestly I’ve got to be a mood to listen to Neil Young.

the shoot 'em dead, brainbell jangler!

Neil Young + Promise of The Real - Already Great - [www.youtube.com]

Welcome The Visitor

nyoung.me/thevistor



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