Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Birmingham LG Arena, 11 June 2013

For Neil Young devotees this must have been the perfect concert. His voice has not lost its power over the years and, combined with fine playing by a truely together band and with certain songs treated to very long jams, this was classic Neil Young. His guitar playing, while not flashy, is passionate and uniquely suited to his music and he clearly enjoys playing with Crazy Horse. (At times the guitar players closed in together and it was as if they forgotten the audience was there.)

So why did I feel at best detatched from, and occasionally frankly bored with, what was happening on stage?

Admittedly the remoteness of Block 5 from the stage at the LG Arena is an issue. (I like to be right up there in front of the stage ideally). But that's the deal with arena gigs. Secondly, which I respect his Neilship and am pleased to have seen him, I don't count myself as a real fan. I didn't particularly like 'Harvest'. There are no Neil Young songs where I'm thinking "I really hope he's going to play that".

Then there was the fannying about with props: roadies in white coats unpacking enormous mock-ups of amps and, bizarrely, a 6m high microphone. A (work experience?) girl criss-crossing the stage with a guitar case during 'Singer without a song'. Durrrh?

Finally there's the music itself. Solid, rooted, loud, multi-layered, but mostly (plodding) single-tempo. After the support band, the excellent Los Lobos, left the stage I heard nothing that made me want to move, let alone dance. This is definitely not dance music - a conclusion evidenced by the almost total lack of movement in front of the stage. If the music DSO makes lifts you off the ground, then this surely makes your feet sink! So sombre! Some songs come across as positively dirge-like. It's enough to make you want to give the poor man a hug.

By the end I'd enjoyed most of it but was ready for him to finish; no regrets and his (solo) rendition of "Blowin' in the Wind' alone made the trip worthwhile.


Set List

Love to Burn
Surfer Joe and Moe the Sleeze
Psychedelic Pill
Walk like a Giant
Hole in the Sky
Heart of Gold
Blowin' in the Wind
Singer without a Song
Ramada Inn
Cinnamon Girl
Fuckin' up
Cortez the Killer
Mr Soul
My my, hey hey
enc: Powderfinger