Review by Kenneth Wait
“Take my advice, don’t listen to me…”
Kind words from the headliner of this year’s HORDE Festival. But when it comes to Neil Young, diehard fans will listen. And if he’s on the Horse, it’ll be so loud you needn’t be up close. In fact, maybe this year’s shows should have been billed as the “HORSE” Festival. Seeing as how there is a new live album to support, this really must be the year of the Horse. When we all heard Neil was coming to SoCal, All I could think was — Giddyup!
After a slew of anonymous warm-up bands of various shapes and sizes, the Horse hit the stage at full volume with the opener that no one seems to tire of — “Hey Hey, My My.” It really amazes me (and may amaze Neil as well) how many shows can begin with this tune, that never ceases to get the crowd going. After a Pearl Jam song and the creeper-like power of “Hippie Dream,” they galloped into a flawless “Powderfinger.” Once again, the sheer quantity of times they’ve included this never diminishes its strength. One might even go as far as to say, Neil must be tired of playing this one by now. Judging from the quality of its performance — no way! How NY continues re-interpreting the same old songs, and still holds my attention — seems to be his secret and anyone else’s guess.
Just as the Horse are breaking full stride, Neil jumps like a bucking bronco into the acoustic section of his set with what, as near as I can tell, is an open letter to Stephen Stills to put their first band back together. It also seemed as though Dewey Martin may have been in attendance as Neil addressed him personally. “Hey Dew! This note’s for you.” From Hank to Hendrix to horseshoes, man — Neil should know better than to try to sedate a crowd that he spent half the set trying to get pumped. Take my advice, open the show with the acoustic set (like you did in the 70s), and you won’t lose the attention of half the drunks in the crowd. My ear drums, however, did appreciate the downtime. “Helpless” and “Slowpoke” closed out the “quiet” portion of the evening — the latter being fantastic, and the former featuring Frank on piano. Much like “Powderfinger” and “Hey Hey, My My,” familiarity breeds no contempt; on the contrary, the older it gets, the better it gets.
Now it’s time to brace for maximum dB as Neil saddles back up for a smoking “Crime In The City” and the blistering harp of “Modern World.” Then lo and behold, the B-side to end all B-sides, our hero just horsing around with his best funeral dirge-burnout-lazyass, don’t-give-a-shit version of an all-time fav-o-rite — “Don’t Spook The Horse.” And spooked I got when my buddy called it minutes before Neil began busting out. To say this was the highlight of the evening would be an understatement. Knowing full well there’s nowhere to go after you’ve hit the top of your game, Neil wisely played another PJ song and then finished with an uninspired, but solid take on “Rockin’ In The Free World.” If Neil retired this little ditty tomorrow, it would be no skin off my nose. But as with “Helpless,” “Powderfinger,” and “Hey Hey, My My” — “RITFW” never fails to connect with any audience. It certainly ended this show on a good foot. Or shoe…Horseshoe that is.
