NEIL YOUNG + PROMISE OF THE REAL : THIS PLACE ROCKS

 

Disc One (69:30)

  1. After The Gold Rush
  2. Heart Of Gold
  3. The Needle And The Damage Done
  4. Razor Love
  5. Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)
  6. Out On The Weekend
  7. Human Highway
  8. Here We Are In The Years
  9. Someday
  10. Unknown Legend
  11. Winterlong
  12. Words (Between The Lines Of Age)
  13. Alabama
  14. Bad Fog Of Loneliness

Disc Two (78:40)

  1. Love To Burn
  2. Mansion On The Hill
  3. Fuckin' Up
  4. Western Hero
  5. Vampire Blues
  6. After The Garden
  7. Seed Justice
  8. Wolf Moon
  9. Revolution Blues
  10. Rockin' In The Free World

Disc Three (77:37)

  1. Intro
  2. Cortez The Killer
  3. Cinnamon Girl
  4. When You Dance I Can Really Love
  5. Powder Finger
  6. Country Home
  7. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
  8. Love And Only Love

Label : Crystal Cat Records

Venue : Dalhalla, Rättvik, Dalarna, Sweden

Recording Date : July 5, 2016

Quality : Audience Recording (A+)

Review : Neil Young opened the European leg of his 2016 Rebel Content Tour with Promise of the Real at Dalhalla, the extraordinary former limestone quarry near Rättvik that has, over the years, earned a reputation as one of the most beautifully situated outdoor stages in the world. With its towering rock walls wrapped around an emerald lake and a natural acoustic that few purpose-built venues can match, Dalhalla made for a fitting first stop on the continental swing of a tour that had already wound its way through the UK, France and Spain. As on the rest of this run, the show unfolded in two very distinct halves. Young walked out alone, sat down at an old upright piano and opened, as he so often did on this tour, with "After the Gold Rush," reworking a line of the lyric to nod at his ongoing environmental concerns. From there he moved through a long, hushed acoustic sequence, alternating between guitar, piano and pump organ on songs such as "Heart of Gold," "The Needle and the Damage Done," "Mother Earth" and a clutch of deep catalogue pieces rarely aired on previous tours, including "Here We Are in the Years," "Winterlong" and "Bad Fog of Loneliness." It's the kind of solo sequence that rewards a quiet, attentive crowd, and Dalhalla's amphitheatre setting, with the audience seated down in the old quarry bowl, suited it perfectly. Then came the transformation. Promise of the Real - Lukas and Micah Nelson (sons of Willie Nelson) on guitars, with Corey McCormick, Anthony LoGerfo and Tato Melgar completing the band - joined Young onstage, and the show shifted gears entirely. Described elsewhere on this tour as bringing a jolt of youthful energy to a set otherwise built around an artist deep into his seventies, the band pushed Young into ragged, extended electric workouts built on the Crazy Horse songbook: "Love to Burn," "Fuckin' Up," "Vampire Blues" and "Revolution Blues" all got the full treatment, distortion and feedback included, while newer, politically charged material such as "Western Hero" and "Seed Justice" fit naturally alongside the vintage material. As at other stops on the tour, the momentum built toward a run of the heaviest hitters in the catalogue - "Cortez the Killer," "Cinnamon Girl," "Powderfinger," "Country Home" and "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" - each stretched out well beyond its studio length, with Young and Lukas Nelson trading extended guitar passages. A blistering "Rockin' in the Free World" closed the main set, with "Love and Only Love" rounding things off as the night's final extended jam. Fan and press reports from elsewhere on the Rebel Content Tour's European leg consistently describe a similar arc: an artist seemingly rejuvenated by his young backing band, technical hiccups and all, delivering three-hour shows that swing from hushed introspection to full-throated noise within minutes. Dalhalla's setting only adds to that contrast - the rock walls of the old quarry carrying both the quietest acoustic passages and the wildest guitar excursions with equal clarity. This audience recording, capturing the tour's opening continental date in a setting few other Neil Young shows can claim, stands as a strong document of a night where the setlist ranged from the deepest of deep cuts to the most explosive of electric jams.