Aberdeen, Scotland Neil Young Concert Reviews: 6/24/09
"Rockin in the Free World" by Neil Young in Aberdeen, Scotland last night.
Thanks TinySpark37!
Neil Young will be performing tonight at Aberdeen Exhibition Centre, Aberdeen, Scotland.
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by thrasher@PermaLink: 6/24/2009 05:25:00 PM
49 comments
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49 Comments:
Thanks Neil!!!!!! What a show!!!!!
Absolutely astonishing performance, everysong outstanding special mentions for Spirit Road,Cinnamon Girl (which was sung out of sequence much to the amusement of Pegi and Rick) DBTR,Comes a Time, at the end of which he looked directly in my kids and I's direction as if to say I've played your request. and wait for it------- CORTEZ, holy smoke that was brilliant. Thanks Neil, the rest of the band and road crew and also Laura Marling and band you were all absolutely superb.
My first real concert, I couldn't have seen anybody better.
I could barely walk afterwards! I think that says more than I could.
The Needle and the Damage Done...didn't see that one coming! Amazing concert. Didn't know Frank Hadden was a NY fan.
Amazing night - the band were in great form and looked like they were really enjoying it - a different vibe from the last time I managed to see Neil. Many thanks for the show, it will live long in the memory.
i just saw neil young, at aberdeen.
and he played a two hour set, so this 90mins, must just be for festivals.
what a sold performance, for an old man, he still know how to rock.
Drove from manchester worth every mile. You are a legend Neil!
Can't wait for Hyde Park:D
Just made it to the gig and no more ( I won't bore with the details). Got in just as he hit the second verse of Hey Hey, My My.
This is the 5th time I have seen Neil and it was an awesome show. He looked as though he was realy enjoying hiimself and put his heart and soul into every note he played or sung as always. During the extended outro to Cinnamon Girl he had the crowd eating out his hand.
Great version of Down by The River and was surprised and very pleased to hear Cortez. Loved the squeeling feedback reverb drenched guitar at the end of Day in the Life.
Great Show Neil and hopefully you will return to Aberdeen someday.
Now I can return hunting through the Archives.
This was a really great show. I really can't thank Neil, his family, his band and his crew enough for coming all the way up here. It clearly meant a lot to so many people, myself included.
From memory, almost certainly out of order -
Hey Hey My My
Mansion on the Hill
Are You Ready For the Country?
Cortez the Killer
The Needle & the Damage Done
Everybody Knows This is Nowhere
Mother Earth
Unknown Legend
Cinnamon Girl
Harvest Moon
Down By the River
Comes a Time
Get Behind the Wheel
Keep on Rocking in the Free World
A Day in the Life
Have to say that the whole band was smoking, not just Neil. I have to echo the earlier comments regarding Chad and Rick. They are something else. 'Down by the River' was funky. Literally. What can you say about Ben Keith? He's the man behind the man. Danny, Poncho, Nils and to an extent, Stills all brought something to Neil over the years but Ben elevates Neil even to this day. Pegi and Anthony were in great voice too.
At the end of the show, Neil tore all the strings off Old Black and played his pick-ups with the broken strings. Then he went up to Pegi's xylophone and hit a few notes seemingly at random. It was a perfect ending, even Neil seemed pretty amused by the whole thing.
If there were any justice Neil Young would be leaving Court today carried head high as punishment for his 2 hour unprovoked assault on a musical instrument.
From the first chord of Hey Hey My My when his stubby fingers hammered into the strings of his guitar to the encore of “A day in the life”, where the final roar and scream of the feedback eminated from the luckless instrument as it stood alone on its stand , broken strings bouncing off the picks ups, the assault continued almost unabated.
Neil young has multiple personalities,
A folk singer of unsurpassed ( well, Cohen may be his equal) sensitivity
Grandfather of grunge rock
The former got out to play for about half an hour as the electronics were switched off and the acoustic gutter, piano, harmonium and harmonica gave us cause to stand in awe and catch our breath.
The latter rocked at the pace of a twenty year old but with the skills and stagecraft of a man who has entertained us regally for over 35 years.
The main complaint from this concert goer was the lack of “ Like a hurricane” but that can be overlooked as I have the definitive rendition of that number on American Stars’n bars to fall back on for solace.
A word of warning for those going to future concerts on this tour, don’t clap too early. Neil h plays more false endings than Lynyrd Skynyrd on “Freebird” and your hands will be on fire with another hour of the concert still to run.
Last night I am proud to tell you , I was in the presence of genius.
We're two sisters who have been fans of Neil since the early 70s. Never thought we'd see him especially in Aberdeen. What a performance! He really seemed to enjoying himself, as did the rest of the band.
We are still in a state of bewilderment and havent had much sleep- its all been like a dream really.
This comment has been removed by the author.
brilliant my 5th time seeing him loved it much better gig than edinburgh please come back to glasgow need 6th ticket for space in my picture frame ...oh what went on at the front last night ?looked like someone tried to spoil things as usual!like the man he is it didnt stop him rockin x ev.
I've left disappointed from some Neil concerts in the past but not so last night. From the first note of 'Hey Hey, My My' to the last of 'A Day In The Life' an utterly spellbinding and jawdropping performance. Neil and the band were on top form.Too many highlights to single out any one song. A great setlist and it was a real privilege to see them in action.
An absolute stonker of a show. The best show I have been to in many a long year. CORTEZ - outstanding, THE NEEDLE - outstanding, ROCKIN' IN THE FREE WORLD - well.... take me now lord. I'm ready!!!!
I have seen NY perform five times now, first time was his Trans tour around 1982 at Wembley. Last nights show was, by a long way, the best!! Not bad for a 64 year old hippie that some idiots campaigned against highlighting the Isle of White Festival. I actually preferred his ‘Electric Band’ to ‘Crazy Horse’. NY was out of this world – that’s twice he has played Scotland in a year (last year was Edinburgh Playhouse). I would love to see him play Edinburgh Castle – maybe someone should mention to him what a show that would be!
No one seems to have said anything about the Buffalo Springfield track he played last night – and for the life of me I cant remember what it was now!!
Long May He Run….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FEwqaOrgR4
Just one of many great tracks from an unbelievably good show, voice was amazing, guitar playing was even better
OK here's the full set in the right order. If only the Aberdeen crowd had clapped a bit more after the encore he's have done Hurricane...
Great gig, not quite the heights of last year's show in Edinburgh but totally brilliant.
Hey Hey My My
Mansion on the Hill
Are You Ready For the Country?
Everybody Knows This is Nowhere
Spirit Road
Cortez the Killer
Cinnamon Girl
Mother Earth
The Needle & the Damage Done
Comes A Time
Unknown Legend
On the Way Home
Harvest Moon
Down By the River
Get Behind the Wheel
Rocking in the Free World
A Day in the Life
The "Cowie Sisters"..What a great name for a Neil Support band!
Well, We dreamed we saw the Knight
The "Silver Chalmer"
out of his mellow days,
just havin' Fun
There were Sporran's flyin'
and Scotsmen cryin'
Around Neil..The chosen one!
All in a dream, in Aberdeen
Neil's jamming had begun
Playin'all his hits
and smilin' and jokin'
In our dream
and we're here as one!!
Hagas Dip
He played 2 hours
He was just ours
Last night was the 8th time in 27 years of Young watching. I have never seen him so committed, engaged and crucially, enjoying himself. Truly inspirational. So many highlights, but an amazing 60's pop version of On The Way Home was a real treat. A special word for the band as well who were with him every step of the way.
Welsh Neil
Phenomenal
Barry Greig got the right order of set list as I remembered it
No .. Pocahontas?
No .. Burned?
love, karen
First time I'd been to a NY gig and the 6hr round trip was more than worth it! To see my very own 'old man' rocking like he was my age again was amazing.
'Hey Hey My My' had me stood in awe, 'Cinnamon Girl' singing my heart out, 'Unkown Legend' had me beaming and 'Rocking in the Free World' had me bouncing.
Was gutted to miss him in Edinburgh last year but last night more than made up for that disappointment!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAFg6Mbsp8g
Rockin in the Free World
Excellent gig.
Possibly the best version of Cortez I've heard.
(Since the 2nd Glasgow Apollo gig)
I thought the improvisation on Down by the River wasn't very great.
The Cinnamon girl "coda" was excellent.
'Fraid Rockin in the free world never real did it for me. The lyrics don't really sit with as a stadium anthem.
BUT the choice of "A day in the life" as a closer will stay with me to the end of my days. Wonder when it dawned on him that the cacophonous sections were a precursor to his own mighty "extreme noise terror" improvisations? Bet that goes down a storm in London
karen,
no....body seems to care. except for you.
-NAG
Karen
Last Trip to Tulsa, Sugar Mountain, After the Goldrush, I Am A Child, Hawks and Doves, Tell Me Why, Southern Man, Don't Be Denied, Mr Soul, Alabama, Words, Thrasher....need I go on? We would all still be at the gig if he played all his good songs!
i'm sure the show was fantastic! setlist sounds great, i was just wondering, that's all.
love karen
thats another one "Wonderin", from his worst Album (Everybody Rockin)
: )
yes, it would be a long concert if he were to play all of our favorites! the never-ending show! i'm in.
love karen
that was an awesome concert. neil young took aberdeen on a muscial journey through his career. what a night. third time i have seen him and this was by far the best. excellent show. neil young makes me proud to be canadian. a great winnipeger.
Anybody know what happened before DBTR when Neil seemed to be calling some guy stupid???
Last night was just incredible, the best gig ever.
I've been lucky enough to see Neil 3 times in the last 2 years, and this was the best of them. It even beat Edinburgh, it was that good.
I still can't believe how young he looked last night. I could have been watching him about 20 years ago, and I honestly don't think I'd be able to tell! What energy!
From the opening riff of Hey Hey My My, to the closing notes of A Day In The Life, Neil just never let up!
Highlights for me were On The Way Home, Are You Ready For The Country?, Spirit Road, Cortez, RITF, and to be honest, the whole bloody show. Not a bad moment in it, apart from whatever the guy did to annoy Neil after Harvest Moon...
He even played Comes A Time, a song I have been shouting for on TW for about 2 months now. And then, just near the end of the song, he looked right at me, my dad and my sister, and nodded, as though he was adknowledging my request (as my dad mentioned earlier, 2nd comment here). Spooky or what! I can dream that he knew who had been requesting it all along I guess... :-)
I'm lucky enough to be seeing him in London again on Saturday, although I'm sad to say that I doubt anything will ever beat Aberdeen. (Prove me wrong though Neil!!!!)
All I can say is, thank-you Neil, for choosing Aberdeen as one of your shows this tour, it was incredible, the best ever, and I personally will never forget it.
My only hope is that I'll see him live again, after Hyde Park, because he is the best there is, was, and ever will be. I hope Archives Guy or some of Neil's people can pass that message on to him.
So thanks Neil, Pegi, Ben, Rick, Chad, Anthony, Larry and all of Neil's crew, for keeping the best show in the world on the road!
Keep On Rockin' In The Free World Neil! And we'll look forward to seeing you back in Europe next time, it'll be "good to see you again"...
:-)
Davie from Scotland
A phenomenal show. Probably the best I've ever been to. Great it was in Aberdeen.
Hello everybody,
was my 3rd time seeing Neil last night and it was my favourite by far. Thought Neil and the whole band were on cracking form! Personal highlight had to be Rockin' In The Free World, it is the song that introduced me to Neil and it was the 1st time i managed to catch it live.
To the guy asking about what happened between Harvest Moon and Down By The River, some guy was trying to whistle in time with Harvest Moon, really badly, and it seemed to distract and irritate Neil and the band.
Great video TinySpark37 -thanks for sharing it with us all! Neil just keeps looking and sounding younger each video I watch and I`ll be seeing him myself live on Saturday! His hair looks great too - he seems to have a bit of a fringe back? Highlight for me would be Like A Hurricane but I know I`ll be getting blown away whatever he chooses to do.
Jill
The Aberdeen show was like a hybrid between the Trans Tour in Berlin and the Ragged Glory Tour in San Francisco.
What a brilliant night in Aberdeen.I would put in on a par with the 1976 Glasgow Apollo concert.The set was a great mixture of Electric and acoustic.The version of "On the way home"was magic.Thank you,big man and the band !
Jim McAllister
Aye, i'd have loved to hear Like A Hurricane last night too but realise if he'd done that then we wouldn't have got Cortez .... and that was just incredible! Loved the extended outros too,seemed like he loved playing the songs so much he didn't want to let them go!!! First time i've seen Ol' Shakey live AND IN ABERDEEN. Didn't think it would ever happen.A very special evening. Haste ye back!
WHAT A NIGHT - MAGICAL! MEMORABLE!
how feckin' good to be a neil young fan in the uk this week
hope the bbc show us something good tomorrow and see you all in hyde park
xx luckypaul
What was the song he dedicated to the alcoholics? The Tattie Express said it was Stupid Girl .. But I dont think he played that ?
And no I wasnt drunk
Stuart
Great gig. Fourth time I've seen Neil (VA beach, 96; Sheffield 2001; Hop Farm, 2008). This was the best apart from the first time (but that is a bit hazy..mostly with nostalgia;). Neil got pissed with someone who'd been calling out during the acoustic songs. He said something like.." the guys that can't handle the sensitive songs are usually inadequate in some way. And they end up doing bad things, on their own, when no ones looking. You don't want to end up like this guy(meaning the character in DBtR)" Then he launched into a an intense version of Down By the River. It broke down in the middle - bit like the version with Phish on YouTube then built up again. Great stuff. I've posted two videos on Youtube of "Everybody knows.." and "Comes a time". The later includes his into to the band...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNvTiAB9VhE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn1O1iTIPbA
The Song dedicated to all THE ALCOHOLICS was Spirit Road
Second time I've seen Neil, saw him in Edinburgh last year (sorry people, was still a marginally better gig last time, although it looked like he was really enjoying himself!) I unfortunatly was near the two guys he was talking about before Down by the River and basically think they had just had far too much to drink and were whistling badly along to Harvest Moon and wooping through The Needle and The Damage Done...they were escorted out during Down By The River surprise surprise...Any footage of Neil laying into those two anywhere??
Thank you Scotland for being a great crowd and hosting another great Neil show after last year.
After Nottingham I didn't care what he played but it was another cracking set - even Spirit Road sounded good (must have seen it 8 times since Edinburgh!).
Cortez was a surprise and went down a storm and agian DBTR was just awesome.
14 hr round trip but well worth it!
Des
Hi,
Neil was brilliant in Aberdeen, saw him last year at Malahide. Dublin but this time he looked as if he was enjoying himself. I was on the front row, directly in front of Neil (about 3 feet away, he was really pissed with those guys during Harvest Moon and said they were stupid enough to do the same as Down By the River. I shouted Thanks to him for Harvest Moon, as it was our 30th wedding anniversary and he replied 'You're Welcome'!! At the end larry through my husband two plecs, one was used for 'Rockin in the freeworld', at the end and the other was unused...he is in seventh heaven...we came home to Liverpool from Scotland today and the first thing he did was pick up his guitar and play with Neil's plec.
We had an amazing time. Thanks Neil and company for being so bloody brilliant!!
Val. Liverpool. England
Edinburgh last year was my first NY show after being a fan for many years. To have another Scottish show even closer to home so soon after!!! Heaven!
I can only agree with other posters and say that Neil was awesome and having as much fun as we were - great set.
My wife came along - rather grudgingly as she has never quite revered Neil in the way that I have - and left very impressed.
Having just seen CSN at Edinburgh Castle (what a month to remember!) I totally agree that Neil would blow the venue away. CSN were good - Neil would have rocked the castle.
How about Inverness next time?
Jon from the Black Isle
Went to CSN at Edinburgh Castle too - great! Surprised it was not sold out. CSN AND Y at Edinburgh Castle would be fantastic and not a chance of a spare seat in the house
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