Concert Review: Neil Young At WAMU Theatre, Seattle, WA 10/23/07 - Page 2

Heavy on rarities, and even some never before heard songs, I can honestly say that I never thought I would live to see such rarely played songs as "Ambulance Blues" from On The Beach performed live by Neil Young. Yet there it was, as the very second performed tune of the evening in the acoustic portion of the show, sandwiched in between the opening "From Hank To Hendrix" and the never released "Sad Movies," (rumored to be intended for the likewise unreleased Homegrown album).

I've been to numerous Neil Young concerts where I have heard songs like "Rockin In The Free World" and "My, My, Hey, Hey" performed dozens of times (neither were here). But there was no denying the feeling that this was something special. Of course, since such typically played songs were not performed, you had the usual "rawk n' roll" types screaming out for them — a fact that Neil seemed to take with uncharacteristically good humor. At one point, when one such fan yelled for "Like A Hurricane" (which was later played in the encore), Neil responded by asking "where's the segue?"

From Rust Never Sleeps to Greendale, Neil Young has also become known for the goofy ways he likes to decorate his stage, and this show was no exception. There was everything up there from a cigar store Indian, to an oddly lettered backdrop — which didn't seem to make any sense at all until the end of the evening when it appeared to spell out "Pegi And Neil." During the electric portion of the evening, there was also a huge easel where each song was introduced by a different painting depicting the song title.

Speaking of the electric set, words simply cannot describe the way he tore into a twenty some odd minute, feedback drenched version of the song "No Hidden Path," from the new Chrome Dreams II. This was vintage, cranked up Neil playing in that trance-like state he gets himself into where he sways back and forth so hard you just hope he doesn't fall over and hurt himself.

I've read some other reviews of this show on the internet — mostly linked over on Thrashers Wheat — where it has been suggested that Neil looked old, or that he otherwise was "phoning it in." I don't know what show they were at, but from my 14th row vantage point Neil both looked and sounded great to me.

Article Author: Glen Boyd

You'll find Blogcritics music editor Glen Boyd sharing his Thoughtmares on his personal blogs The World Wide Glen, and The Rockologist. Glen is also the author of Neil Young FAQ, scheduled for a spring 2012 release by Backbeat Books/Hal Leonard …

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