So what seperated the 2007, $170. a ticket version of Neil Young in concert, from previous models seen and heard at considerably more reasonable prices in past years?
In a lot of ways not much, truth be told. Although — unlike past Neil Young shows where you usually got either an exclusively acoustic show, or the more hard rocking, cranked to eleven model (usually with Crazy Horse) — with this past Tuesday's Seattle stop on the Chrome Dreams Continental tour, you did get the whole package in one shot. And you got quite a bit of it to boot, in a show that ran nearly three hours figuring in breaks and intermissions.
Another big difference with Neil this time around was the way the show ran like clockwork. Despite its length, it started and ended right on time, and the intermission times between sets — at fifteen and twenty five minutes respectively — were strictly adhered to, and kept as though handed down by law.
This actually made for some discomfort during the break between the acoustic and electric sets. The twenty five minute break alloted you barely enough time to stand in the single line bathroom, and you could pretty much forget about attempting to grab a frosty beverage (in keeping with the inflated ticket prices, a Bud Light at the WAMU cost $8.25 anyway).
So when the familiar strains of a particularly cranked sounding "The Loner" sounded the alarm to return to your seat, you were then made to wait in the lobby until the song ended. Which only created a mass of people trying to get to their seats by the time of the second electric tune, "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere." A pretty pointless exercise all told, since this actually made the visibility for those already seated even worse in the flat-as-a board WAMU Theatre (there is no slope in the rows at the venue), as a throng of folks crowded the aisles in search of their seats.
With that said, the setlist at this show was nothing short of a dream come true for a hardcore Neil Young fan.
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
i read a review in a seattle newspaper that said the show was spectacular, except for this one guy in the audience who kept yelling "hey, this fuckin' ticket cost me an arm and a leg!!!" during the quiet parts.
2 - Glen Boyd
I think that was Paul Allen.
-Glen
3 - thrasher
Glen,
Great review! I'm looking forward to Neil making back east. The setlist has been pretty unbelievable. I mean Ambulance Blues and Sad Movies?! Definitely a tour for fans with few of the "hits".
Linked back to your review at Neil Young News: Concert Reviews: Seattle, 10/22/07.
Thanks for the L-L!
Thrasher
4 - zingzing
so do you think you got your money's worth? how could you, really... short of a blow job from good ol' neil hisself? but whatever. i'm glad you enjoyed it.
i'm currently searching for "ordinary people."
wamu theater does suck. fuck it. fuck seattle. i just moved to nyc. fuck nyc. i'm just unhappy everywhere. i am an unhappy man. maybe paris. nah. gawd.
5 - El Bicho
I downloaded the Idaho show, so I am ahead $170. Same line-up except Campaigner and Journey Through The Past were played instead of Harvest and Tonight's the Night instead of Hurricane
6 - Glen Boyd
Yeah I think so Zing (got my moneys worth that is). I've seen Neil a dozen times or so, and the setlist was probably the wildest I've ever witnessed. The truth is I was pretty happy with it by the time of the second song, "Ambulance Blues."
I still haven't forgiven Neil for charging what I consider an outrageous price to see anybody. That said, I still enjoyed the show a lot. The best show Neil show I've ever seen still remains the night he debuted much of what became the "Freedom" album (at the time it was going be called "Eldorado") at Seattle's Paramount in 1989.
By the way Bicho, I've got a great recording of that show if yer interested in maybe trading some discs...
-Glen