Crowded House & Neil Young
Posted by David Wright on 7 July 2008 - 7:19pm.
Good evening. Just wondered if anyone had seen Crowded House at the Cornbury Festival, any gossip, set lists etc?
My friend went to see Neil Young at the hops festival down South somewhere last night.Apparently Young, in straw hat, spent a while watching Supergrass from the side of the stage. It took nearly an hour to set up his equipment; apparently he had a massive organ onstage and my friend informed me, that when Young struck his first chord; the sound was as powerful as an atomic bomb. Anyone else attend?
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Rocking In The Free World
I spoke to my mate this evening who said that when Young walked on stage he thought that he looked really old.
As soon as he cranked up his guitar he changed his mind. He still wigs out tremendously apparently.
A wooden Indian Chief
was on the side of the stage during his set (and someone was painting on canvas as he played). First time seeing NY though and thought he was awesome - and funnier than I expected. Some good quips to the crowd:
'How you all doing?'
Crowd roars
'Well...[pause]...that's just great.'
He was on typical elemental
He was on typical elemental form, including turning 'No Hidden Path' into a 20-minute feedback odyssey, and pulling all of the strings out of his guitar to make a horrible, mangled noise at the end of a surprise encore of 'A Day In The Life' (very strange to hear Neil singing about "Blackburn, Lancashire"). A surprisingly well-chosen supporting cast, too: Laura Marling, Guillemots, Rufus Wainwirght, Supergrass and Prmal Scream - there wasn't a bad performance all afternoon. And, having heard Mr Ellen on the podcast, I was driven to sample a Yorkshire Pudding "wrap", washed down by Old Speckled Hen. Happy days.
Forgot to mention thaat,
Forgot to mention thaat, like the design brief, of Brian Potter's refurbished Phoenix Club, the themse for Neil's stage set seemed to be "old shite". As well as the smoking Indian chief, the pump organ and the easels, there was a telephone sat on the drumkit for no apparent reason.
No Hidden Path
It was dreadful.
It's not great on Chrome Dreams II and stripped of its choir and transforming it into a grunge dirge did it no favours. I thought I had entered Dante's 1st circle of Hell. It just went on and on. I thought he was winding up after about 8 hours when he sang the chorus three times in a row, but no it's a return to more chord grinding. More choruses. Great it's ending. Oh no it's not! It just went on. And on. And on......
And what was that telephone about? We were expecting a call from Bono.
I did enjoy Words though. I've seen Neil at least half a dozen times and I can't recall him doing that before.
Each to his own: I loved it.
Each to his own: I loved it. He was deliberately testing people's patience with the repetition of the lyric at the end, but I loved the way he made so much out of two chords, sometimes just patting Old Black to make the ever-shifting, discordant sound.
A success story
My patience was well and truly tested and found wanting. Strange thing is I paid money to be entertained, not have my patience tested.
Or are you going to tell me if I want to be entertained I should go and watch a bunch of clowns?
No Hidden Path
was the sole low point at Hammersmith. To go on for 25 minutes it needs to be a memorable song, and NHP just isn't.
I can't see anyone complaining if he'd done a 25 minute Like a Hurricaine, or Cortez, can you?
That's entertainment
Neither of them would have tested my patience at all.
Neil Young
It was worth every penny to see Neil Young for the first time despite having bought After the Goldrush in the 70s. It was a back to basics festival, pretty much music and food and sitting in a field all day, plus rain of course. I don't think anyone would have gone specially to see any of the other bands, so there was a growing sense of anticipation, although Rufus Wainwright and Supergrass, and also Guillemots were excellent. The sun came out as Rufus sang "Hallelujah" which was magic.
Neil was on fire I thought, incredible intensity which put all the other acts to shame. Love the way he wrestles (wrangles?) the guitar. The rock endings were a bit drawn out, he could have fitted another song in, but hey, this is Neil Young, he does what he wants. The acoustic section was magic, Old Man particularly, but Needle and the Damage Done and Heart of Gold also gorgeous.
I agree NHP was too long, but there was some great guitar playing in there, and a feeling of having seen something extraordinary by the time Day in the Life ended in a storm of feedback.
Only 2 hours getting out? You were lucky.....
Getting out
I feel quite smug about this; we managed to get out in 50 minutes which was but a fraction of the time that it tok Neil to play No Hidden Path.
Thought NHP took 8 hours? We
Thought NHP took 8 hours? We went to sleep and were woken at 1am by a woman shrieking "I've found my car"!! Now that is the true festival experience. Also the security men who told us to take down our umbrellas due to "health and safety". We said er, no. I don't call pneumonia safe....
Arithmetic
As a fraction of 8 hours, 50 minutes is about 1/9th.
Was it a woman in a red plastic mac who we saw looking very confused as she walked past us a few times?
Possibly. I was trying to
Possibly. I was trying to get some shuteye.
Neil setlist
Love And Only Love
Hey Hey, My My
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
I've Been Waiting For You
Spirit Road
Fuckin' Up
Oh, Lonesome Me
Mother Earth
The Needle And The Damage Done
Unknown Legend
Heart Of Gold
Old Man
Get Back To The Country
Words
No Hidden Path
A Day In The Life
Was tempted..
I was tempted by this but it would have been a hell of a round trip from Manchester. I saw NY at Manchester Apollo in March, one of the best gigs I've ever been to. And I love "No Hidden Path". "Ordinary People" goes on a bit though...think he made the right choice of the two.
I'd have loved Ordinary People
Assuming he didn't grunge it up too much.