Neil Young and Crazy Horse played three shows in the New York area in September, 1978 which happened to coincide with my first month attending Queens College as a freshman.
I was already a fan of Neil Young’s music and I had missed Neil and Crazy Horse the last time they were playing in the area at the Paladium.
For some reason I did not go to the first Maduson Square Garden show and my friends who did go told me I was going to love it. I do not recall where my seats were supposed to be that night but while outside the Garden before the show a scalper had fifth row center seats for $30.
Now today that deal seems like a no brainer but at the time $30 for a college student to buy a concert seat was cause for some consideration and I almost did not do it. With some encouragement from my friends, we bought the orchestra seats and headed in to the world’s greatest arena for what my friends already knew would be an epic show.
We found our seats before the start of the show and we were literally five rows from the stage dead center. The now famous Rust Never Sleeps stage was right in front of us; this was an extraordinary sight to behold as the Rust Never Sleeps album had not even been released yet so unless you went the night before this stage set up was a revelation.
The Rust Never Sleeps movie (in Rust-O- Vision) captures the magical quality of the performances that we were fortunate enough to see live in front of us. This concert was a game changer for the concert industry and for me. Neil Young’s extraordinary vision was brought to life by Neil Young and Crazy Horse and to this day I believe that this was the best show I have ever attended.
The following night at the Nassau Coliseum was a different experience as my friends and I reverted to our wandering ways since we did not have the prime seat location of the night before. At one point I found myself walking in front of the first row directly
beneath a solo acoustic Neil Young singing “Already One”.
I have not missed a U.S. Neil Young tour since then (and most tours I have gone to multiple shows). Rock, country, blues, Crazy Horse, Blue Notes, CSNY, International Harvesters, Shocking Pinks, with Family and Friends or Booker T and the MGs-
Hey Hey My My
The road goes on forever.
I Am a Child
GQ