Neil Young live @ Hammersmith Apollo 14th March
Another Neil Young gig… Expectations were kind of low after the last Greendale tour, when he seemed to have transformed into an overly quaint Garrison Keillor storyteller dude. But as you know, I only review gigs I like…
Neil was in incredible form on this occasion, it was better even than the first time I saw him in Finsbury Park in 93 on the Booker T tour. The stage was set up with an artist painting pictures based on the songs throughout the show. It wasn’t really a distraction, it just gave a relaxed and homey vibe to the gig. the first part of the show was Neil playing solo on guitar, piano and organ. And what a set list. He opened up with From Hank to Hendrix, off the over-produced Harvest Moon album, and it was great. He must have done 20 others, including Ambulance Blues, Love in Mind, it was just a dream set list.
One thing I remember is when he played After the Goldrush. For the first time in my life I actually saw the song like a movie, with images opening up in my mind. When he sang “I was lying in a burned out basement with the full moon in my eyes” I was right there, lying on a bare mattress on the floor and looking up through the curtain-less window at a full moon. Then the next line hit me like a psychedelic dream: “I was hoping for replacement when the sun burst through the sky”. Suddenly I saw in my mind’s eye the sun appear out of nowhere and shine out in place of the moon. I mean, it’s supposed to be a moonlit night, right? So that’s totally fucking surreal, right? I got the whole thing like the cuts in a movie and it was amazing. I was stone cold sober and for the first time in my life I was open enough to the music to actually experience it. Which is what rock music is supposed to be about, isn’t it?
The second set was 2 hours of beautiful electric rock. He came on with a band featuring Ralph Molina on drums and Ben Keith on slide / electric guitar. Again, a brilliant set list of favourites - not necessarily the famous ones - and some new ones off Chrome Dreams II like The Hidden Path. I mean, in one respect that song’s just another 4 chord vehicle for Neil to solo with, but on the night I really got lost in his playing and could let my mind wander. He jammed on The Hidden Path for a good 20 minutes, and I enjoyed the sound of his electric guitar playing so much. Compared to the harsh sound produced by so many noise and indie bands, his sound was very much controlled and well mixed and just so rich in texture. Sure it was distorted, but it was a distortion that you could hear and enjoy the sensation of. It wasn’t in-the-red digital crap, it was nuanced and expressive and sounded great.