World Premiere of Greendale

The Undermain Theatre, Dallas, Texas will have the theatrical premiere of Neil Young’s Greendale on March 29-May 3, 2008.

For some, Greendale was a "half-baked, convoluted musical" and "beyond comprehension". For others though, Greendale was hailed as a "groundbreaking concept album similar to The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and The Who's Tommy."

Even for Neil's biggest fans, Greendale -- as Sharry observes on Rust -- "inspires extremes of liking and loathing".

From Keep on Rockin’ in the Stage World: Neil Young’s Greendale at the Undermain:

"Rock operas, though, are odd ducks - more than a concert, less than a full-fledged musical. Few composers have written one, despite the huge success of the Who’s Tommy and Pink Floyd’s The Wall. So a rock opera by music legend Neil Young getting a world-premiere staging from the Undermain is a rare bird. It’s the first time anyone has performed Greendale without Young’s direct involvement. Until now, Young is the only one who has sung all the parts. This means that adapting Greendale has involved figuring out point of view, determining just who sings what. Katherine Owens explains.

Owens: If this person sings this, what does it say about what we’re saying about the dramatic action? We have not changed one note, one line, anything, nothing’s been changed. On a fundamental level, all we did was assign the parts. But that’s the whole issue.

Greendale has demanded a lot from the small but highly regarded company: eight months to get permission, assembling a sizable cast and band, even ripping out a back wall to expand the stage. It’s an ambitious, tricky project."

The live band for Undermain’s upcoming production of Neil Young’s Greendale will be composed of legendary musicians of the Deep Ellum [Texas] music scene. Leading the way as Music Director and lead guitarist is Kenny Withrow of New Bohemians. Paul Semrad of Course of Empire will perform on bass guitar. Joining the band on drums is two time Grammy award winner Alan Emert, of Brave Combo.

The Dallas Morning News reports that musical director Kenny Withrow "has worked hard to get Mr. Young's musical ideas across and to make sure the words come across, too. But there are limits.

'Kenny warned me that it is going to be loud,' Ms. Owens interjects. 'He says, 'It's rock 'n' roll, isn't it?' 'Plan your life [on it]'."

Greendale hits the stage at another particularly timely moment. We wish the cast and company all the best in their performance run. Because the inconvenient truth of Greendale is that Sun Green was right -- we've got a job to do.



And -- inconveniently -- the job is bigger than saving just Alaska.

The inconvenient truth of Greendale is that regardless of whether you loved it or hated it, it was -- as we wrote five years ago -- "the most important album of 2003, the musical equivalent of Silent Spring".


Antarctic Wilkins Ice Shelf Disintegrates - March 25, 2008

"You can make a difference, if you really try" - BE THE RAIN

Nils Covers Neil

News that Nils Lofgren will be covering Neil Young on an upcoming CD. Nils says on nilslofgren.com:

"On another note I'm happy to announce we are planning to put out a new CD of music in May. I recently recorded my favorite Neil Young songs live in the home studio on piano and acoustic guitar. It was an idea inspired by my manager Anson and we think it came out great. We'll have more info in the near future but our hope is it will be avaliable in early May so stay tuned."

Here's some more on Nils on Neil:

"Q: In a paragraph or less, what is Neil Young’s particular brilliance?

NL: In a paragraph or less, it would have to be that he is as great a songwriter as there will ever be. Everything else is a distant second. Neil’s a great musician, he’s very eccentric, eclectic and has a beautiful, haunting voice. But you know what? All of those things are a distant second to being an amazing, amazing songwriter. The same thing could be said about Bruce Springsteen. When you combine the words with the melody and the music, it’s a power that everything emanates from. They happen to be amazing singers and musicians, but if they weren’t, they couldn’t ruin those songs. They would be still be part of our emotional landscape and be just as powerful. You can’t hurt songs that good."

More on Nils Lofgren and Neil Young.

Thanks e2f!

Getting Neil: Another Perspective on the Mystique

As you might imagine, we come across all kinds of Neil stories. And, because we sometimes like to think that we "get Neil" there's a tendency to just sort of surf by a lot of stuff. But every now and then we come across a post that nearly stops us in our tracks and makes us realize that -- in fact -- we don't really "get Neil" and probably never will.

So this team post by Kat, Laura and Liz was a real eye opener. For one, we often feel that Neil is mainly a "guy" thing. So it's really refreshing to get another perspective. Especially when it so clearly demonstrates that there's a lot more to the picture than meets the eye.

So check out what Kat, Laura and Liz have to say about Neil on
no good for me.

Italy Tour Dates Announced

From baotzebaoNeil Young Italy tour dates announced for June 22 Florence and 23 Verona.

More on 2008 Europe Summer Concert Tour Dates.

No Hidden Path: Atomic Sunrise or a Nuclear Sunset?

No Hidden Path, London - 3/9/08
Photo by Dan on Flickr

From Uncut.co.uk London 3/6 review by Allan Jones:

And then there’s a show-stopping, simply colossal “No Hidden Path”, nigh on 20 minutes of it, Neil’s solos sounding like ruptures in the earth’s crust, fissures appearing everywhere, tectonic plates shifting and crashing beneath him. The stage now and the people on it are drenched in a burning golden light, that mixed with the red back-spots bathes the band in the burnished glow of an atomic sunrise or a nuclear sunset, I’m not sure which. As the song reaches towards an awesome climax, Neil stands facing the massive klieg light to the left of the stage, soloing into it, head thrown back, then lowered into it, as if he may at any moment be consumed by it, beamed up, the next stop presumably being the Phoenix Asteroid.

I have a feeling of being witness to some sun-cult ritual, a worship of light as the source of eternal renewal. It’s a spooky fucking couple of minutes, this bit of the show, and I am at a loss to even begin to explain how he wrings from his guitar the sound he makes in the song’s final, dying moments, which provokes much awestruck head shaking and how-the-fuck-does-he-do-that looks at anyone who catches my eye.

More on Neil Young in London, England - 3/8 & 9/08: Concert Reports.

Cortez The Killer Cover by Carrie Rodriguez

Here's Carrie Rodriguez's sultry MP3 cover of Neil Young's "Cortez The Killer". Carrie's accompanied by Tim Easton.

Carrie Rodriguez - Cortez The Killer

So why was Cortez The Killer banned in Spain?

Neil: An Unsung Hero of the Iraq War

A new book, "So Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits -- and the President -- Failed on Iraq" by Greg Mitchell is a timely read. As we enter the 6th year of the Iraq war with 4,000 U.S. soldiers and thousands of innocent Iraqi's dead, Mitchell's book arrives at a particularly relevant moment to look back at who was wrong -- but just as importantly -- who was right about the fiasco.

Among those who Mitchell credits as right on Iraq is Neil Young. From Salon

Neil Young: Rock star as journo? It essentially happened in 2006 when Neil Young, son of a famous Canadian sportswriter, hurriedly wrote and released (only online at first) his ripped-from-the-headlines "Living With War" CD. He even proposed impeaching the president "for lying" (and "for spying"). In one of the songs in the collection, Young sang repeatedly: "Don't need no more lies."

He emphasized the prohibition against the media showing pictures of coffins with the American dead being returned from Iraq, singing: "Thousands of bodies in the ground/ Brought home in boxes to a trumpet's sound/ No one sees them coming home that way/ Thousands buried in the ground." In another song: "More boxes covered in flags/ but I can't see them on TV."

When Young urged that Americans "Impeach the President," he included audio clips of embarrassing Bush statements ("We'll smoke them out ..."). But a highlight of the collection was the blistering "Shock and Awe," which, along with its antiwar lyrics, included the more philosophical "History is a cruel judge of overconfidence." He also recalled that "back in the days of Mission Accomplished ... the sun was setting on another photo op."

And Mitchell replies back on Pressing Issues: May he stay, forever Young.

More on "Living With War" as rock's "Fahrenheit 9/11".

Broken Arrow Magazine - February 2008 (#109)

Boston - December 2007
Photo by Steve Babineau

Once again, we got a little behind on our reading last month with all of the tour excitement and just finished up reading the latest issue of Broken Arrow Magazine, published by the Neil Young Appreciation Society.

Issue #109 (February) of Broken Arrow Magazine - as usual - has some fine articles, commentary and nice photos. Great photos by Steve Babineau of the Boston gigs including a nice two page spread of "The Sultan" finale in all of its retro glory.

Also in Issue #109:

• Road reports of the 2007 tour
• Ralph Molina and Anthony Crawford interviews by Steve Cross
• German Human Highway Meetings by Brigette Herker, NYAS #5839
• Chrome Dreams II review by Mark Golley, NYAS #1098 and Richard Hoare, NYAS #130

And as usual, a news section edited by Guy Haslam, with lots of innarestin' items.

Check out the Neil Young Appreciation Society page for more info on how to join.

Don't be denied!

Thanks Scott and everyone who is supporting the NYAS & BA!

Thrasher - NYAS#2476


More on back issues of Broken Arrow magazine.

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London, England - 3/14 & 15/08: Concert Reviews

London, 3/5 - Photo by hoodrat on Flickr

Awesome report by Cyril on Rust: Close Encounters of the Neil kind!

Thanks e2f!

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Neil Young will be performing tonight at Carling Apollo Hammersmith, London, England.

Got a report? Drop a comment below. No registration required.

Check Sugar Mountain for setlist updates. Also, see Statistics on Numbers On The Site and Grid Chart on Rust Radio.

Also, see Neil Young 2008 Europe Tour and Concert Reviews, Europe Tour Highlights and the right, middle sidebar for updates.

Concert Review of the Moment: Manchester, England - 3/11/08

Photo by Manchester Evening News

The Concert Review of the Moment is from Manchester, England - 3/11/08 from jan in wakefield:

i've only just found your site, after going to see neil young at manchester appollo last night (11th march).
it looks a fab site.
reading the comments about last night, i felt i had to add my thoughts. yeah it was quiet; during the acoustic part i sat hardly breathing, it was such an intense experience. tears were rolling down my face when he even walked onto the stage at the beginning. i felt awed by the whole experience, not because of his 'starry' ness, but because this man has written such powerful songs, that were the soundtrack to much of my life, especially when i was a teenager 35 years ago. to be there, with him singing them in front of me, in such an intimate setting was wonderful. it felt such a privilege to be there, especially with all the health scares he's had. and the electric half was fab too. i personally would've liked 'like a hurricane', what with the fan blowing at the back of the stage...i thought for sure it was gonna be on the list.
but i don't feel short changed, it was a classic neil young gig, as far as i'm concerned. he was fit and well, and had his family around him, both on and off stage. i felt a lot of love a goodwill going towards him from us in the audience, and i hope he felt that too.
a wonderful night, one of the best gigs i've ever seen, and i've been going to gigs for 35 years.
i've loved his music all that time, and last night was just wonderful.my life laid out in songscapes. powerful, raw, reaching amazing heights, touching something else outside yourself. thank you neil.
a lotta love jan

More on Manchester, England - 3/11/08. Also, see Neil Young 2008 Europe Tour and Concert Reviews

Five Years Ago Neil Said

Just about five years ago, we made our first blog post. It was a time when we were looking for an outlet for our frustration with everything happening around us. Thrasher's Wheat had been all but dormant since its founding in 1996 and the timing seemed right to resurrect the site and give it a makeover when suddenly Neil jolted us out of complacency.

From a March 2003 post, Neil Young had just inducted Mo Ostin into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for Lifetime Achievement Award in the Non- Performer Category. Neil said that night on the eve of the Iraq War:

"We're having a good time tonight, but we're going to kill a lot of people next week. The country, under our current leadership, [is like] a gas-guzzling SUV speeding down the road with a drunk at the wheel."

And here we are five years later, still speeding down the road in our gas-guzzling SUV's with drunks at the wheel.

And if you have reservations about what's going down, check out Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan | Iraq Veterans Against the War this weekend for live streams of testimony by vets. Truly heart wrenching stuff that won't be covered by the corporate mainstream media.



Tip of the hat to Zumafan on Rust and his ongoing "Neil Said" series.

Yes - Neil Young IS upstaging Dylan

Believe me, we're not trying to resurrect the Bob vs Neil skirmishes we've had in the past.

But this posting from The Dylan Daily posed the question and started the discussion. So, FWIW, here is what one die-hard Dylan fan said after seeing Neil in London last week:

“Neil Young upstaging Bob? You better believe it!

“Having seen Bob over 100 times (an amateur compared to some, I know), I was struck last week by Neil doing a full one hour acoustic set, the like of which we haven’t seen from Bob since the 1960s, and a storming electric set … active, prowling the stage, playing his own lead …

“I was left with the feeling that going to see Neil was an altogether more satisfying experience than Bob in recent years, stuck behind the piano, or even doing his few guitar songs. “Sad to say, my conclusion is that Bob will never undergo the kind of renaissance that Neil obviously has!”

More on the musical influence of Bob Dylan and Neil Young on one another.

New Europe Tour Date Added in UK

A new Europe tour summer 2008 date added for Sunday 6th July, Hop Farm Country Park, Kent.

Tickets on sale 9am Tuesday 18th March 2008.

Neil Young News: 2008 Europe Summer Concert Tour Dates

Manchester, England - 3/11 & 12/08: Concert Reports

"Winterlong" on Gretsch White Falcon - 3/11/08
Photo by breezehilllpete

From Uncut.co.uk | Live Reviews - Manchester Apollo, March 11 2008 by ROB HUGHES:

"Much has been made of “No Hidden Path” this tour, and rightly so. It’s an immense, spectacular thing. But for pure rock’n’roll dementia, head-buckling riffs and roaring solos, “Spirit Road” is its equal tonight. Huddling up to Keith and Rosas, riding the exchange like a tempestuous bull, Young is cutting loose. “Down By The River” is colossal too, Young turning his back, hunkering down and rocking so wildly you fear he’s going to topple into Molina’s lap. It’s a huge ball of knotted noise. At one point during a similarly frenzied “Hey Hey My My”, it sounds like it could easily smash the place to pieces."

From Manchester Confidential by Rob Haynes:

"Playing 1969’s legendary ‘Down By The River’, he indulges himself in a guitar solo in which a visit to the bar and a leisurely stroll to the toilet can be comfortably accommodated. In other hands this would usually be a cause for a small death of the soul, but in Young’s it is as though the audience’s collective astral body is being taken for a flight in the sun-soaked California sky. He lurches around the stage as if pursuing electricity itself, and the thought that this a man in his 60s recovering from a brain aneurysm just makes the spectacle all the more stunning."

Amusing review thread on RedIssue Forums - United Fanzine.

Thanks breezehilllpete and iFarah!

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Neil Young will be performing tonight at Manchester Apollo, Manchester, England.

Got a report? Drop a comment below. No registration required.

Check Sugar Mountain for setlist updates. Also, see Statistics on Numbers On The Site and Grid Chart on Rust Radio.

Also, see Neil Young 2008 Europe Tour and Concert Reviews, Europe Tour Highlights and the right, middle sidebar for updates.

London, England - 3/8 & 9/08: Concert Reports

March 5 - Photo by Tom Hambleton on Sugar Mountain

Neil Young will be performing tonight at Carling Apollo Hammersmith, London, England. (See here for reviews of 3/5 & 6/08).

Got a report? Drop a comment below. No registration required.

Check Sugar Mountain for setlist updates. Also, see Statistics on Numbers On The Site and Grid Chart on Rust Radio.

Also, see Neil Young 2008 Europe Tour and Concert Reviews, Europe Tour Highlights and the right, middle sidebar for updates.

"A Man Needs A Maid" Cover by Dala on Cinnamon Girl Benefit CD

We've written a bit about the benefit CD Cinnamon Girl - Women Artists Cover Neil Young for Breast Cancer and what a great project this is.

So here is a sample via Cover Lay Down. Seems appropriate for Neil's current tour. A cover of "A Man Needs A Maid" by Dala.

Dala, A Man Needs A Maid

Note: song has a long fade-in...

More sample clips on Amazon.com. If you hear something you like, you'll be helping benefit breast cancer research and you'll be supporting Thrasher's Wheat. Thanks!

London, England - 3/5 & 6/08: Concert Reports

Photo by Tom Hambleton on Sugar Mountain

Super photo gallery on Sugar Mountain. Thanks Tom!

Great review from Uncut.co.uk by Allan Jones:

"Neil is again at Hammersmith, and the place is crackling with lively anticipation, something so electric in the air it’s like those moments of meteorological turmoil that preface stormy weather, lightning on the horizon, the wind beginning to whip and buck, cloudbanks rising, a low distant rumble of thunder.

No one, you’d be right in thinking, is going to sleep through what follows."

Thanks iFarah!

And, if you have a chance, leave a comment (not here, but there) for this wretchedly warped review on Telegraph: "I went to a long-awaited gig last night".



Another nice photo gallery by hoodrat on Flickr.



Neil Young will be performing tonight at Carling Apollo Hammersmith, London, England.

Got a report? Drop a comment below. No registration required.

Check Sugar Mountain for setlist updates. Also, see Statistics on Numbers On The Site and Grid Chart on Rust Radio.

Also, see Neil Young 2008 Europe Tour and Concert Reviews and the right, middle sidebar for updates.

2008 Europe Summer Concert Tour Dates & Reviews

UPDATED 8/18/08:North American Fall 2008 Neil Young Tour Schedule



Concert Reviews

06-22 Florence, Italy

06-23 Verona, Italy

06-25 Lyon, France - HALLE TONY GARNIER

06-27 Rock in Rio Madrid - Spain

06-29 Dublin - Ireland

06-30 Live at the Marquee, Cork - Ireland

07-04 Rock Werchter - Belgium

07-05 Roskilde Festival - Denmark

07-06 Hop Farm at Paddock Wood, Kent, England

07-08 Leipzig

07-09 Oberhausen

07-11 Bospop - Netherlands

07-12 Optimus Alive - Portugal

2nd Leg
2008-08-07, Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Finland
2008-08-09, Way Out West Festival, Göteborg, Sweden
2008-08-11, Oslo Spektrum, Oslo, Norway
2008-08-13, Stadtpark, Hamburg, Germany
2008-08-15, Le Théâtre de Plein Air, Colmar, France
2008-08-17, Lovely Days Festival, Wiesen, Austria
2008-08-19, Zitadelle, Berlin, Germany
2008-08-21, Hallenstadion, Zurich, Switzerland
2008-08-23, Schlossplatz, Coburg, Germany
2008-08-26, Koengen, Bergen, Norway
2008-08-28, Forum Horsens, Horsens, Denmark


Interactive Tour Map on Rust Radio

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UPDATE: 3/21/08


THE HOP FARM | NEIL YOUNG + MAJOR SUPPORTING ACTS

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UPDATE: 3/6/08

Live at Malahide Castle - 29th June ‘08
Live at the Marquee, Cork - 30th June ‘08

Tickets will go on sale This Monday 10th March at 9am

Thanks Roel!

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UPDATE 3/1/08

Neil Young has been confirmed for the Rock Werchter Festival in Belgium this summer.

The lineup for the July 4 concert:
NEIL YOUNG | MOBY | THE VERVE | BABYSHAMBLES | DIGITALISM | DUFFY

Tickets on sale on March 1.

More summer Europe dates may possibly be announced. Also, this looks to be shaping up with Crazy Horse!!!

Thanks Jim!

Also, see Neil Young Europe 2008 Winter Tour Highlights and Europe Winter 2008 Concert Tour Reviews.

Also, see Neil Young 2007 Continental U.S. and Canada Tour and Concert Reviews.

Buddy Miles Covers “Down by the River”

Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Miles

Sad news recently on the passing of Buddy Miles. Buddy's drumming on Jimi Hendrix's final album Band of Gypsys has been hailed by fans and critics ever since.

So here's a MP3 cover by Buddy from MetalSucks.

Totally funky!

BUDDY MILES (covering NEIL YOUNG) - “Down by the River”, from Them Changes (1970)

Edinburgh, Scotland - 3/3/08: Concert Reports

Enduring master delivers rough and the smooth - Independent.co.uk By David Pollock:

"Dressed in a battered cream suit, unkempt white shirt and scuffed trainers, Young plays the dishevelled musical polymath. Once opening pleasantries are exchanged with a gorgeous 'From Hank to Hendrix', he rises from the nest of guitars in centre stage, warms his hands against the orange light behind his head and strolls the stage like a man who's unsure quite where he is. He strokes his chin for a few seconds, affects a fearful cower when the audience's applause swells towards him and half-stumbles to the piano."

Uncut.co.uk | Live Reviews: Neil Young - Edinburgh Playhouse, March 3 2008 by DAMIEN LOVE:

"He sits alone inside a circle of acoustic guitars – seven of them, plus a banjo – absently, fondly, touching one and then the other, as though waiting for them to tell him which one wants to go first. He dips his harmonica in a china teacup of water like a man dunking biscuits in a rest home. He looks shambling, distracted; and then he starts to play, and his focus and intensity sucks the breath from you."

Living legend is Young at heart - Edinburgh Evening News:

"David Ferguson, 36, an IT executive from Broughton, added: 'I've never seen so many guitar amplifiers on a stage and don't remember enjoying a gig as much as this since I saw David Bowie in Manchester a few years back.'"

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Neil Young will be performing tonight at Edinburgh Playhouse, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Got a report? Drop a comment below. No registration required.

Check Sugar Mountain for setlist updates. Also, see Statistics on Numbers On The Site and Grid Chart on Rust Radio.

Also, see Neil Young 2008 Europe Tour and Concert Reviews and the right, middle sidebar for updates.

"On the road again" - Interview with UK Telegraph

Interview with Neil Young in UK's Telegraph "On the road again". Neil sums it all up: He's "Reclusive. Business-orientated. A slave-driver."

A Tribute to Neil Young in London: "Long May You Run"

As a warm-up for Neil's run of gigs in Hammersmith in March, six bands are covering their favourite Neil Young songs as part of their set, as well as a DJ playing rarities, covers and requests from the last 40 years.

"Long May You Run": A Tribute to Neil Young
Sunday 2nd March, 5pm - midnight
The Windmill, 22 Blenheim Gardens, London SW2 5BZ
Nearest tube: Brixton

With Jason McNiff, Wet Paint, Jim Clements and the Right to Die, Pocus Whiteface, 4 or 5 Magicians, TJ and Ollie

More information:
http://www.windmillbrixton.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/onfireareonfire
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=10295086244

Thanks Joe! Have fun!

Smokestack Lightnin’: Neil Young’s Model Train Paradise

A nice summary of Neil Young and model trains on Smokestack Lightnin’: Neil Young’s Model Train Paradise by Jerry McCulley.

Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon recalls a surreal scene on Young’s bus during her band’s tour with him in the ’90s. As Gordon prepared a meal, Neil sat nearby tinkering with his trains.

“Part of the train set was a model cow that made moo-ing noises,” Gordon recalled with a chuckle. “And Neil wasn’t happy with the cow sound. He didn’t think it was realistic enough. So he kept fiddling with the electronics. He’d get the cow to moo, and he’d ask us what we thought. ‘Was it realistic enough? Did it need some more work? What was wrong?’ He was at it for an hour or so. It was amazing how a toy cow could maintain his interest for so long.”

Thanks for the shout-out Jerry!