Neil Young opens festival set with 40 minute "Down by the River"

I mentioned the New Orleans set in another thread but "Cortez" was about 25 mins there; "Love & Only Love" just over a half-hour.

 

Don't spook the horse....

 

My sentiment exactly. Just self-indulgent.

 

Which would truly reflect a lack of respect for the people who help "pay the bills". That kind of self-indulgence would be inexcusable; in fact, wasting 40 minutes on that crap should qualify for an automatic refund for anyone who asks. Just awful.

 

It seems the Memphis show and New Orleans the next day were the real start of the "long set with as few songs as possible" trend. (they did a whopping 12 songs in Memphis and eight in NO, I take it both shows were over two hours). Will be interesting to see where this goes...

 

I disagree. Neil has done whatever Neil wants since The Buffalo Springfield days. Fans should know this by now. This has been going on for almost 50 years. Seeing him live or buying his latest art piece is a risky en-devour for some and a near religious experience for others. I'm just happy he's still around to shake things up.

 

He didn't play an 80-minute version? Wotta wuss!

 

Neil Young has written some great songs, mostly over 40 years ago IMO. Pity that those in attendance didn't get to hear that many of them because of this self indulgence. Honestly I do like Neil but he ain't a good enough guitarist to solo as incessantly as he has been doing since Psychedelic Pill. And no guitarist no matter how great should make the audience sit through over 5 minutes of noise.

All IMO of course

 

Definitely agree. This version is about a half-hour too long

 

There's been a few concerts I've attended when the performer did NOT play their current hit single. I'm sure many in the audience went to the show to hear THAT SONG and were disappointed. (I surely was surprised they didn't play it...)

In that situation, do you think that band displayed "a lack of respect for the people who help pay the bills"?
With your logic, should they (I) have asked for a refund?

Furthermore, would anyone - the band, the promoter, the venue - even entertained our disappointment and request?

 

In this case it's not really about guitar solos (though there were plenty). The set I saw was very much a band effort, it was really about maintaining a groove and everybody getting into "the zone" together. He can definitely do more exploring with this band than he could with Crazy Horse and this tour is clearly more about the sonic possibilities than the actual songs. Not everyone's gonna like that, but it's Neil.

Besides, he does throw in a couple of songs everybody likes-- RITFW and Powderfinger in my case.

 

It all boils down to taste I guess. Neil is a national treasure where I come from and I absolutely love his classic tunes - but honestly that jam session sounds no better than any that I have been involved in with strictly amateur musicians.

 

Boy, I'd hate to see the reaction if he did

Down By The River > Drumz > Space > Down By The River

 

Agreed.

I understand I may be biased; my first Neil Young show was for the Trans tour. And I loved it.
However, I also saw the Greendale show, and as another said, the encore songs saved it.... Kind of.

I can only imagine those lucky ones that heard the Rust Never Sleeps songs performed live for the first time on tour. Undoubtedly, there were some knuckleheads that went on a beer run or bathroom break during Thrasher, Pocahontas, Powderfinger, Ride My Llama...

 

I only saw Neil once a few years ago with Crazy Horse and he did long jams alongside solo acoustic pieces...he also played '****in Up' even though he knew the show was being broadcast live. Neil is more Punk than most 'punks.'

 

A Neil Young fan going to a Neil Young concert and hearing him open with 40 minute version of one of his best songs is not going to be totally unexpected. This is one of the features of seeing him live. What will he do this time?
And seriously, Neil Young is known to extend material, jam, experiment, trick, treat, you name it. Why the surprise?
70 yrs old and still up there blasting on the stage.,
Hats off.

 

A LOT OF YOU ARE JUST BIG BABIES. YOU HAVEN'T LIVED UNTIL YOU'VE BEEN SUBJECTED TO A 57 MINUTE VERSION OF "ROCKIN' IN THE FREE WORLD" THAT NEIL HAD TO DO BECAUSE IN HIS WORDS, "I HAD MY DAMN HANDS STUCK ON THAT RIFF." I SURE AS HELL DIDN'T GET UP AND WALK OUT OVER IT.

 

Kinda fonda this idea!

 

These aren't Neil fans who are whining.

 

I do believe that the Horse has been put out to pasture. Permanently. Promise Of The Real is the new Crazy Horse.

 

Wrong

 

Full video:

 

Sure - the artist can play whatever he or she wants. But we don't have to like it. And I certainly won't be dropping a dime to watch him perform as long as jam sessions like this are what I'm gonna see.

 

This reminds me of an incident recounted in that Eagles documentary, where Meisner complains about singing "Take It To the Limit" one more time. Either Frey or Henley gets in his face and says "you think I ever want to sing 'Take it Easy' again? I hate that song! But we're professionals and people spent good money to hear it so I'm gonna sing it, and you're gonna sing your song or you're fired." I take it plenty of people went to Eagles shows specifically to hear Meisner sing that number but would they have started a riot over it or demanded a refund?

 

Disagree. This meandering 40-minute jam over a simple two-chord progression doesn't hold my attention. Doesn't mean I don't know how to listen. Just means I find it musically uninteresting.