4 posts tagged “neil young”
I don't really have the words to describe how lucky and awed I felt to see Neil Young at the Hammersmith Apollo, twice in the last week.
I was there for his first London date of the tour on Wednesday, about twelve rows back from the stage with a walkway beside me and therefore an uninterrupted view of the stage. He was extraordinary. I had actual tears in my eyes when he played one of my favourite songs "Ambulance Blues" as the second song of his acoustic set. The hour-long set touched on all parts of his long career, and he was in perfect voice throughout. His demeanour was that of a slightly grumpy old man, with occasional stories thrown in, in that slow, droll way of his that manages to be so funny.
Then he returned for a blistering 90 minute electric set, and the one drawback was that the venue was a seated one. He returned for an encore - "Cinnamon Girl", and was just launching into "Like A Hurricane" when I realised it was about 11.40 and reluctantly I had to take my leave in order to trek back to Walthamstow.
On Saturday I returned and this time I had a front row seat. The setlist was very slightly different, and this time I was about ten feet from my hero. There's no gap between the seats and the stage at the Hammersmith Apollo. For such a big venue it has a very intimate feel. This time the encore was much shorter - no "Cinnamon Girl" or "Like A Hurricane", just a down-and-dirty "Roll Another Number For The Road". But by this time I was standing, with my hands resting on the stage where Neil Young stood, so I was in heaven.
There was a little disabled boy two seats away from me - his father said he'd been listening to Neil Young since he was a baby. He was in raptures throughout, and at the end Neil came over and gave him a plectrum and a drumstick, and he was just inches away from me. That was a thrill. He's not the kind of artist who shakes hands with his crazy front row fans, but I put my hand up in a salute and he returned it, then gravely ambled off. Magnificent.
Photos taken on phone, so blurred and shakey ("shakey"... see what I did there?).
What were your top 10 favorite songs or albums of 2007?
This was the year when I lost track of current pop music completely. I spent twenty years working in pop music radio, and thus my whole working life was lived to a soundtrack of pop. And this year, I barely listened to any pop radio. Therefore, while I know Rihanna had a song called "Umbrella" that drove everyone crazy, and I know Leona Lewis had a big hit called "Bleeding Love" and I know there were lots of wimpy blokes trying to be the new James Blunt (not that anyone wanted one) I couldn't hum a note from any of these artists and songs. Therefore my list of favourite albums is deeply old-fashioned and hairy and really show my age, and I don't care. These are in no particular order.
Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Live at the Fillmore East 1970
The first in a series of archive live recordings, my only - tiny - criticism of this album is that it's too short. Live at Massey Hall was also wonderful, but I prefer noisy Neil.
Lucinda Williams - West
A grower. Nothing particularly new from Lucinda, just more of the same good stuff. "Are You Alright", "Come On" and the title track were standouts for me. Tough and tender, as always.
Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
Another grower. I've loved watching Wilco move from alt country to become one of the most daring and exciting bands in the world. This was - in part - a return to mellower sounds. But what's wrong with that, I concluded after a few listens. And seeing them live at Shepherd's Bush Empire was a highlight of the year - even the mellow songs rocked. Nels Cline is a guitar god.
Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther
I've mentioned this one before, and I think it actually came out in 2006. Prog rocky in the best way - melodic and strange and a bit Fleetwood Mac-y. I know almost nothing about this band except apparently they're from small town Texas. They sound like they're from the olden days.
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
Every middle-aged muso's favourite album of the year, I think. Way more daring and interesting than you'd imagine.
That's just five, and that's all you're getting unless I think of some more. An honourable mention to Neil Young's Chrome Dreams II, which was best mixed but does have the stand-out 18-minute epic song "Ordinary People".
By the way, none of these was my most-played album of the year. That honour is shared by two Josh Rouse albums, 1972 and Nashville, which proved perfect listening while writing Can't Let Go.
Audio: Share your favorite track from a live album.
Submitted by -Lisa.
I'm really loving the series of archive Neil Young recordings that are being released on CD at the moment. Here are two tracks.
This is Neil Young and Crazy Horse from the album Live at Fillmore East, recorded in 1970 - a blistering twelve-minute version of "Down by the River".
And for something completely different, from 1971, Neil, solo and acoustic, from the just-released Live at Massey Hall 1971:
If I had a time machine, I would go back to 1971 and be one of the adoring girls sitting in the front row at this concert:
