Neil Young, Massey Hall, May 10th & 11th

[Kanada Kev]

^^^^

that was a killer show.

Hey, some people are willing to pay, others are not. Everyone has their reasoning. I look to justify the spending sometimes. By that, I mean I can look at big bucks on one show and then add to it about two or three that are much cheaper/free and average out the costs. Most of the time I still fill like I'm coming out ahead.

One man gathers what another man spills ...

In honour of Neil coming back to do these special performances at Massey, here's a decent recording of one of the 2007 shows there:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/izn3zj

Neil Young

November 26, 2007

Massey Hall

Toronto, ON

Location: Left floor

Source: AKG CK1x > Custom Battery box > Sound Devices 702

Record Format: 24-bit, 48 kHz

Transfer: CF Card > CompactDrive > PC

Edit: Adobe Audition v1.5 (amplify, dynamics processor, downsample, dither, fades); CDWave v1.94.4 (tracking)

Final Format: 16-bit, 44.1 kHz

Generation: WAV [24-bit, 48kHz] > WAV [16-bit, 44.1kHz] > FLAC v1.2.1

Taper: Dave Caley

Band:

Neil Young: guitar, guitjo, harmonica, piano, vocals

Ben Keith: pedal steel, lap steel, guitar, organ, background vocals

Rick Rosas: bass

Ralph Molina: drums, background vocals

Pegi Young: background vocals, vibraphone

Anthony Crawford: background vocals, piano

Disc 1: (54:42)

01 From Hank To Hendrix

02 Ambulance Blues

03 Sad Movies

04 A Man Needs A Maid

05 No One Seems To Know

06 Harvest

07 Journey Through The Past

08 Mellow My Mind

09 Love Art Blues

10 Cowgirl In The Sand

11 Old Man

Disc 2: (72:57)

01 The Loner

02 Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

03 Dirty Old Man

04 Spirit Road

05 Bad Fog Of Loneliness

06 Winterlong

07 Oh, Lonesome Me

08 The Believer

09 No Hidden Path

Encore:

10 Cinnamon Girl

11 Like A Hurricane

Notes:

Dynamics processor was used on the acoustic set only

Band Info:

http://www.neilyoung.com

Edited April 15, 2011 by Guest

[phishtaper]

Remember when you could see Neil solo and acoustic for $5 !!

and when a bag of chips and a pop were 25 cents? ... unless of course, you "earned" from Father O'Malley ...

[bagochips]

and when a bag of chips and a pop were 25 cents?

I do remember that.

[deranger]

thanks for the link Kev. Heard a lot of people got shut out on tickets. Guess I'll have to settle for the movie version as well.

[Kanada Kev]

Never give up. You just never know. Especially once they get the film gear in there they may open up a few more seats/rows

I got in when they went on sale, but I couldn't take the hit on tix and risk losing the ones that they were supposedly pulling for me with the membership. Still haven't heard what I got Kinda spooked.

Neil Neil Neil Neil Neil Neil Neil Neil Neil Neil

[Velvet]

Long shot:

I'm looking for a single ticket for the Tuesday show. Lemme know if you hear of anything!

[Kanada Kev]

IN for Wednesday

[Velvet]

Wow.

I've never enjoyed a NY show more than that. It was constant musical bliss that deserved to not end.

All solo Neil, his classics were treated briliiantly with some substantial musical variences, the le noise material was briliiantly executed.

And oh my, the sound. Whether playing acoustically or fully distortion-drenched electric guitar, clarity was constant. The low end of his Lanois guitar positively shook the foundation of old Massey Hall; Neil was playing the building itself. The pianos sounded great and what a treat when he sat at the pump organ.

The crowd was a little screamy and stupid, but such is people, as Neil seems to know it, he acted overwhelmingly oblivious, ignoring about 98% of what got screamed, happy instead to wander about the stage or have short private conversations with his old wooden Indian.

The reason I keep going to see Neil Young play is because he refuses to rest on his laurels. He does all he can to unsure he's making interesting music whenever he sets foot in front of an audience, and the result is always inspiring at least, and sometimes, like tonight, quite staggering.

I'm looking forward to seeing his face up close in the dvd.

Though we shelled out for all three Massey shows last time around and loved it, phorbesie and I decided to only do one night this time and I'm regretting the decision. If he came out and played the same set tomorrow I would sit rapt and riveted and wanting moremoremore just like I did tonight.

Great, great concert.

Wow.

[Marcust99]

How was the scalper scene out front? Anybody trying to unload tickets? I'm thinking of going down tonight if none of the "cheap" $100 tickets show up on TM today...

Edited May 11, 2011 by Guest

[Marcust99]

http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/Y/Young_Neil/ConcertReviews/2011/05/11/18131481.html

[phunkyb]

Setlist from last night...

My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)

Tell Me Why

Helpless

You Never Call

Peaceful Valley Boulevard

Love and War

Down by the River

Hitchhiker

Ohio

Sign of Love

Leia

After the Gold Rush

I Believe in You

Rumblin’

Cortez the Killer

Cinnamon Girl

ENCORE:

Walk With Me

[Kanada Kev]

Here are links to two killer releases that are getting me through this afternoon at work until I can grab a couple of preshow brews. Anyone else want to grab a beer at The Library Pub (above the Imperial Pub) Dundas & Victoria? ENJOY.

http://bit.ly/krYkI0

Neil Young – Live at Massey Hall 1971

The second volume of Neil Young’s long-promised, suddenly thriving Archives series is Live at Massey Hall, preserving a 1971 acoustic show at the Toronto venue. Where the first volume captured a portion of Neil’s past that wasn’t particularly well documented on record — namely, the rampaging original Crazy Horse lineup in its 1970 prime — this second installment may seem to cover familiar ground, at least to the outside observer who may assume that any solo acoustic Young must sound the same. That, of course, is not the case with an artist as mercurial and willful as Young, who inarguably on a roll in 1971, coming off successes with Crazy Horse, Crosby, Stills & Nash, and his own solo debut, 1970′s After the Gold Rush. The concert chronicled on Live at Massey Hall finds Neil dipping into these recent successes for material, as he also airs material that would shortly find a home on 1972′s Harvest in addition to playing songs that wouldn’t surface until later in the decade — “Journey Through the Past†and “Love in Mind†wound up on 1973′s Time Fades Away, “See the Sky About to Rain†showed up on 1974′s On the Beach — and then there’s two songs that never showed up on an official Neil Young album: the stomping hoedown “Dance Dance Dance,†which he gave to Crazy Horse, and “Bad Fog of Loneliness,†which gets its first release here. This is a remarkably rich set of songs, touching on nearly every aspect of Young’s personality, whether it’s his sweetness, his sensitivity, his loneliness, or even his often-neglected sense of fun. True, the latter only appears on “Dance Dance Dance,†but that comes as a welcome contrast to the stark sadness of “See the Sky About to Rain.†But even if “Down by the River†and “Cowgirl in the Sand†retain their intense sense of menace when stripped of the winding guitar workouts of Crazy Horse, this concert isn’t dominated by melancholy: it’s a warm, giving affair, built upon lovely readings of “Helpless,†“Tell Me Why,†“Old Man,†and an early incarnation of “A Man Needs a Maid†(here played as a medley with “Heart of Goldâ€) that removes the bombast of the Harvest arrangement, revealing the fragile, sweet song that lies underneath. While this concert isn’t as freewheeling and rich as Young’s studio albums of the early ’70s — each record had a distinctive character different from its predecessor, thanks in part to producer David Briggs, arranger/pianist Jack Nitzsche, and Young’s supporting musicians, including Crazy Horse or the Stray Gators — it nevertheless captures the essence of Neil Young the singer and songwriter at his artistic peak. That’s the reason why this concert has been a legendary bootleg for nearly four decades and why its release 36 years after its recording is so special: it may not add an additional narrative to Neil Young’s history, but it adds detail, color, and texture to a familiar chapter of his career, rendering it fresh once more. No wonder Briggs wanted to release this concert as an album between After the Gold Rush and Harvest: it not only holds its own against those classics, it enhances them.

mp3@320

Tracklist

1. “On the Way Home†– 3:42

2. “Tell Me Why†– 2:29

3. “Old Man†– 4:57

4. “Journey Through the Past†– 4:15

5. “Helpless†– 4:16

6. “Love In Mind†– 2:47

7. “A Man Needs a Maid / Heart of Gold Suite†– 6:39

8. “Cowgirl in the Sand†– 3:45

9. “Don’t Let It Bring You Down†– 2:46

10. “There’s a World†– 3:33

11. “Bad Fog of Loneliness†– 3:27

12. “The Needle and the Damage Done†– 3:55

13. “Ohio†– 3:40

14. “See the Sky About to Rain†– 4:05

15. “Down by the River†– 4:08

16. “Dance Dance Dance†– 5:48

17. “I Am a Child†– 3:19

http://bit.ly/krYkI0

=================================

http://bit.ly/mSyOA6

Nils Lofgren – The Loner: Nils Sings Neil

Years before his lengthy tenure with Springsteen’s E Street Band, Lofgren cut a dash through Neil Young’s After The Gold Rush and Tonight’s The Night, and now pays humble tribute to the man who gave him his first big break. Accompanied only by his own piano or guitar, Nils strips the likes of Birds and Harvest Moon to their bare bones, allowing his sweet voice to carry the tunes.

The simplicity of the performances is the real triumph, leaving the listener wishing that Nils had reined in the tendencies toward bombast on his own solo albums, notably Cry Tough and I Came To Dance, solid records spoilt by over-elaboration. Like A Hurricane, in particular, benefits from being presented as a sparse, desolate lament.

Young fanatics may grumble about anyone else tackling this material, but Lofgren arguably has a more intuitive feel for it than most, and he’s clearly a better singer. Much more than a lazy covers project, it’s an album that makes a true connection with both the subject’s and the performer’s pasts.

mp3@V0

Tracklist

1. Birds

2. Long May You Run

3. Flying On The Ground

4. I Am A Child

5. Only Love Can Break Your Heart

6. Harvest Moon

7. Like A Hurricane

8. The Loner

9. Don’t Be Denied

10. World On A String

11. Mr. Soul

12. Winterlong

13. On The Way Home

14. Wonderin’

15. Don’t Cry No Tears

16. Like A Hurricane (Extended Version)

http://bit.ly/mSyOA6

[TimmyB]

Wow.

I've never enjoyed a NY show more than that. It was constant musical bliss that deserved to not end.

All solo Neil, his classics were treated briliiantly with some substantial musical variences, the le noise material was briliiantly executed.

And oh my, the sound. Whether playing acoustically or fully distortion-drenched electric guitar, clarity was constant. The low end of his Lanois guitar positively shook the foundation of old Massey Hall; Neil was playing the building itself. The pianos sounded great and what a treat when he sat at the pump organ.

The crowd was a little screamy and stupid, but such is people, as Neil seems to know it, he acted overwhelmingly oblivious, ignoring about 98% of what got screamed, happy instead to wander about the stage or have short private conversations with his old wooden Indian.

The reason I keep going to see Neil Young play is because he refuses to rest on his laurels. He does all he can to unsure he's making interesting music whenever he sets foot in front of an audience, and the result is always inspiring at least, and sometimes, like tonight, quite staggering.

I'm looking forward to seeing his face up close in the dvd.

Though we shelled out for all three Massey shows last time around and loved it, phorbesie and I decided to only do one night this time and I'm regretting the decision. If he came out and played the same set tomorrow I would sit rapt and riveted and wanting moremoremore just like I did tonight.

Great, great concert.

Wow.

Well said.

Peace,

Tim

[Kanada Kev]

^^^^^

agreed!

Loved the show last night. We had seats right beside the sbd and the sightlines and sounds were phenomenal. Add to that, the fact that Neil is a f'in genius and breathes new life into his older material while setting forth to discover new things all the time.

The only downside to the show (and it wasn't bad enough to tarnish the evening whatsoever) was the performance of Leia. UGH ... imho just didn't "fit" and it's a crappy song. Should have been used for a bathroom break.

Should be very interesting to see how the evenings all translate to film. Very few home theatres will be able to match that sound

Thank you Neil Young.

[deranger]

on another note, I was curious about tickets to Neil on the day of, so last night at about 5 PM I went to Massey Hall website and first pulled up a single row A left centre balcony seat ($204). I ditched that ticket to see what would come up next and a few minutes later got a single left centre floor row I seat 12. That's 9th row centre (just off right hand centre aisle) also $204.

I'm hoping that this was due to tickets being held back because of possible camera positions. ie they figured a camera might be in that seat and when it wasn't, or wasn't needed, put the seat on sale.

If it wasn't because of cameras, I'm stumped. Sold out shows at Massey Hall? I don't think so.

Holding tickets back for industry insiders, scalpers, friends of Massey Hall? you bet.

Although I figure this bodes well for my getting a decent single ticket to Fleet Foxes the day of.

[Kanada Kev]

There was an empty seat beside me. I wasn't complaining, but it's too bad when there's somebody who wanted to be inside who could have then experienced the show.

That 9th row seat in the middle was right around where Jonathan Demme was seated. Maybe his date stiffed him