Neil Young at Carnegie Hall and Canada*

crosby and nash both do "ohio" during their solo shows.

and both treat it quite reverently.

not a song to clap to, unless, of course, you are totally ignorant of it's content.

 

That's the only complaint I have with Neil solo shows -- I get so excited for them beforehand that I forget how uncomfortable it is once the show starts and the idiots start hollerin'. I mean, I wanna hear "White Line" as much as anyone, but c'mon man!

Though I guess it truly isn't a Neil show without palpable tension.

 

Interested to see how much the setlist will change over the four nights.

 

oddly, the last couple of times i've seen jackson browne he actually seems to encourage the yelling of song titles.

and yes, i also find it very uncomfortable.

 

Thanks for posting that. I'd love to see a show like that, but between the price and the fact that everyone I know always comes back saying the crowd almost ruined the show keeps me away.
(One notorious Philly show has been bootlegged as "Shut Up A--hole" after a Neil comment)

Did he talk at all? Those early shows he put out are such a contrast to some of his solo stuff nowadays. He's run out of stuff to say............

 

Wish he'd revisit Sample & Hold or Computer Age in this context. Not kidding.

 

Someday with The Bluenotes was the original master, recorded in 1988. A demo of this song was recorded in 1987 for another project. It's possible that Neil the released version was simply an overdub of the previous demo

Someday with The Bluenotes, recorded in 1988, is the original master. So the piano/acoustic Someday are the "Live "versions.There's a stripped demo version, recorded in 1987 for another project, uncirculated. Someday debuted in 1987 during the American Tour with Crazy Horse.

 

A wonderful show last night. Neil took a lot of edge off of the yellers by telling us that he walked off the Carnegie stage in 12/70 when that threw off his concentration.
Still some jerks though, BUT overall a very respectful audience in terms of noise and sitting down.
A beautiful Someday on tack piano, Hank2Hendrix opening and Goin'Back on 12 String were highlights.
Only issue was he over-relied on the "bullet" mic which is set on his harmonica brace for vocals which were not as clear as the standup mics.

 

Last played in 2005 (once) at Farm Aid and last played solo (also only once) in April 1999.

 

He performed it at a benefit on October 30, 2010 and also a couple of times in 1997. Before that, 1990 was the last performances.

 

Solo, that is...CSNY did it in 2000 and 2002.

 

23yrs of going to concerts and the most disrespectful 'fans' I've ever seen were at the NY solo shows here in PDX. Shut the hell up!

 

I think Neil brings a bit of this on himself though.
On the 1999 solo tour, he went from instrument to instrument like he had a clear purpose in mind.
The solo sets in 2007 and last night, he has a tendency to wander, looking at various things like he's trying to make up his mind as to what to play next, which leads to calls from the audience.

One of the funnier things I've ever heard, was a Neil performance from 1970 (can't remember which one). He's in a good mood, talking to the audience, getting ready to play the last song of
the solo set, and he says "Is there anything anybody wants to hear?" and the place just exploded with people calling out song titles, mostly Springfield stuff as I remember it.
I'm pretty sure it was the last time Neil asked for requests from an audience.

FWIW, if he plays "Birds" on Thursday night, they may need the cleaning crew to come mop up whats left of me off the floor.....

 

Hopefully an audio recording at the very least.......

 

The fact that he didn't test out any new material, or make it a covers heavy set to preview the rumored forthcoming covers album, makes me wonder what these few special dates are for.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled he's doing them in NY and I can see the shows, just curious as to his motivation. Maybe he just wanted to play Carnegie Hall again? Maybe they're being recorded for a future Performance Series release?

The most recent songs he played were from 1992. That's very un-Neil, and therefore, very Neil! Always keeps us guessing.

 

Question for anyone who was there last night: what time did the show start? (I'm going tonight.)

 

Neil came on stage around 8:10p

 

That'd be fantastic. "Transformer Man" would be great...he did do an acoustic version on the "Unplugged" album.

 

I hope he tours nationally with this. Great setlist and I was impressed to hear he played about 2 hours and 20 minutes vs. some of the shorter shows he's done lately. I was really disappointed that he only played about 80 minutes on the last solo tour. IMO, with the ticket prices he was charging it was unacceptable for an act like Neil to only play a roughly 80 minute show.

 

Wow - a dream set-list. Hoping for an eventual Blu-ray compilation of these performances.

 

Quite the review from RS:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/n...tter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter

 

I'm really glad to see the info and discussion in this thread, although it's kinda too bad the thread title and OP is limited to the first-night setlist, since there's gonna be three more shows, meaning this thread is heading for instant obsolescence.

I wonder if this thread might get combined with the earlier Neil Young to Play Carnegie Hall January 2014 thread, or maybe a Gort can revise the title to cover the whole run?

 

Excellent question. Maybe Neil figured the best way to shock his audience now is to give them what "they" have been asking for since the release of Harvest and never thought they'd get -- just him on stage for 2+ hours doing pretty much nothing but hits!

It's amazing that most acts announce a tour or do a show and you don't even think about it -- the artist is just doing their job, getting their cash for entertaining their fans, end of story. But it's a sign of Neil's true mark as an artist -- one so attached to his musical muse -- that fans question his motivation for simply putting on an awesome show. Gotta love Neil.

 

Psyched I got a ticket

 

Maybe that's why he started singing Phil Ochs songs.