Neil Young staged his first ticketed performance in four years as part of his former bandmate Stephen Stills‘ Light Up The Blues benefit concert on Saturday. The fundraiser for Autism Speaks at L.A.’s Greek Theatre saw the two monolithic songwriters honor their late bandmate David Crosby as well as revisit their days together in Buffalo Springfield.
The sixth-annual Light Up The Blues also featured appearances by Willie Nelson, Joe Walsh, Sharon Van Etten, Chris Stills, and Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real. However, it was the promise of Young’s appearance—backed by the Promise of the Real and a trio of backup singers—that was the main event, with Stills building anticipation prior to the show by saying, “It’s all very fluid until we get to the rehearsal day two days before the dress rehearsal.”
Following a cavalcade of abridged two- (or in Willie’s case three-) song performances, Young took the stage to chants of “Neil” for an 11-song headlining performance. The 77-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter gave a brief survey of his solo work with Harvest Moon‘s “From Hank to Hendrix”, “Comes A Time”, and finally “Heart of Gold” before inviting out Stills to join on guitar and vocals.
Surprisingly, the duo offered only one song from the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young catalog, though they made it count with Young’s gem “Helpless”. From there on it became a Buffalo Springfield reunion featuring 2/3 of the living members (singer/guitarist Richie Furay was not in attendance). While the five-song trip down memory lane to Young and Stills’ old stomping grounds included classics like “Mr. Soul” and of course “For What It’s Worth”, the band also had a surprise in store with Young’s live debut of “Everybody’s Wrong”, a Stills-sung rarity from the band’s 1966 self-titled debut.
Considering the recent passing of David Crosby, coupled with Young’s COVID-induced reluctance to perform for the past four years, there was something extra sentimental about the show-closing “Long May You Run”. Audiences unfortunately missed out on a more robust CSNY partial reunion as Graham Nash played a solo show in Pennsylvania that same night, though he did record a video message and submitted an archival clip of him and Crosby performing “Guinnevere” with Wynton Marsalis at Jazz at Lincoln Center. But as Stills and Young joined in on vocals for “Long May You Run” as they had at many CSNY concerts over the years, the focus became less on what we lost and instead on what we had. And most strikingly what we had was Neil Young back on a stage.
Young will stick around Los Angeles for this weekend’s 90th birthday party for Willie Nelson at the Hollywood Bowl. Aside from the two legendary singer-songwriters, the two-day event will also include Bob Weir, Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, Billy Strings, Margo Price, Kacey Musgraves, The Chicks, Snoop Dogg, and many more.
Neil Young – “From Hank To Hendrix” – 4/22/23
[Video: mano1971music]
Setlist: Neil Young | Greek Theatre | Los Angeles, CA | 4/22/23
Set: From Hank to Hendrix, Comes a Time, Heart of Gold, Helpless [1], On the Way Home [1], Everybody’s Wrong [1] [2], Human Highway, For What It’s Worth [1], Bluebird [1], Mr. Soul [1] [3], Long May You Run [1]
Note: Backed by members of Promise of the Real, and three background singers
[1] w/ Stephen Stills
[2] FTP by Neil
[3] w/ Joe Walsh