For the second Neil Young & Crazy Horse performance at Forest Hills Stadium (and my fourth on this “ Love Earth” tour) I attended solo and stood about five rows back behind the pit facing the left side of the stage. After the band opened with “ Cortez the Killer” and “Cinnamon Girl” Neil blew up the set list adding “ Roll Another Number”, “ Dangerbird”, and “ Sugar Mountain” into the mix while also reinstating “Down By The River” and “F*!#in’ Up”.

The overcast sky hanging over this iconic outdoor venue provided an ambience that Mr. Young seemed to appreciate.

Everything about the two day Neil and Horsefest was special somewhat taking the sting out of what I spent at the merch booth. I ran into my childhood friend and concert buddy Joe Fisk and his girlfriend in a bodega on my way to the conveniently located Long Island Railroad Station and headed home a happy man. Tonight I try to catch up on some sleep, after a whirlwind rock and roll couple of weeks with work interspersed throughout, before heading to my daughter’s on Friday afternoon where we will be in the pit for Young & Crazy at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts that night. I had taken the family to a CSNY concert at the Jones Beach Theatre when the kids were much younger, but this is the first tour either of them have seen Uncle Neil & Crazy Horse up close and personal. David Fricke wrote an outstanding review of the Neil Young & Crazy Horse concert that took place at Forest Hills Stadium on Tuesday.; a must read.
The road goes on forever…..

Like a Hurricane

Rock on!

GQ

The very long awaited, and several times postponed, Neil Young & Crazy Horse “Love Earth” tour is in full swing and it is an epic evening of rock and roll. My wife and I attended the second weekend of the New Orleans Jazz Festival a couple of weeks ago with the Rolling Stones playing Thursday, Foo Fighters headlong Friday and Neil Young & Crazy Horse Saturday. It was an absolutely outstanding weekend of music and food but the crowd around us for the Crazy Horse set was uninspired and either somewhat worn out from three days of festival or just not into Young and Crazy’s great set of mostly familiar tunes. I then broke up three days of working the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at the US Tennis Center in Queens to meet my buddy Eric from Pittsburgh in Philadelphia where we took a ferry to Camden, New Jersey to see Neil Young & Crazy Horse perform Sunday night. Reverend Billy opened; he opened for Neil at Jones Beach Theatre several years back and I remember that, for a variety of reasons, I was not digging what the Rev was pitching. I’m not sure of it’s a complete goof, or partly serious, but the evangelical gent in the white suit irritates the hell out of me. Then Neil & Crazy Horse hit the stage and just blew everyone away, starting with an extended version “Cortez the Killer” with a newly discovered extra verse that was somehow lost while recording the original. Last night, my son and I were in the pit at Forest Hills Stadium for a ferocious set that included “Vampire Blues”, technical issues throughout “Hey Hey, My My” and ending with a raucous encore of “ Sedan Delivery” then “Rockin’ in the Free World”. Billy, Ralph, Micah and Neil seem to be getting better with each show and I will be there again tonight for a second helping at the always very cool outdoor venue, Forest Hills Stadium, where there are still plenty of tickets available and a price drop for orchestra seats. It may rain but who cares; go see this show!

American Stars ‘n Bars!

Down By The River

Rock on!

GQ