![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Jun. 19th, 2003 07:00 pmWho the hell planned a Neil Young concert in an outdoor venue in June in Wisconsin?! Concerts should be indoors until summer!
When I left home, I brought a jacket along. When I left Subway with my sandwich, I thought, "it's a little chilly. I'm glad I brought the jacket." When I got downtown, I though, "damn, it's cold. I'd be surprised if it was warmer than 60°, and it was windy. The amphitheater is partly closed on the sides, and we were right on the end of our row, right by one of the openings to funnel the breeze in.
I was so cold. I had only the denim jacket over my t-shirt. I was shivering, and my teeth would sometimes chatter.
Lucinda Williams opened up the show. She was pretty good. There were a couple of songs that didn't impress me - the ones I've heard on the radio - but the rest of the show was great.
Neil's show was... Since it was with Crazy Horse, I expected it to rock. The father of grunge and all that. Rockin' in the Free World. Cinnamon Girl. You know, that heavy fuzz-toned guitar and feedback. Nope. Mellow rootsy stuff like a lot of his solo records. Harvest and such. It's good stuff, just not what I was hoping for. And I was really hoping for something I could get up and move to, to help keep me warm. His latest record is about things that go on in this small country town named Greendale. They played it straight through, and had sets and people up on stage acting out what he was singing. Kind of cheesy. Low budget too. So he started with that and we left before it was over, so we never got to hear any songs that we were familiar with.
I don't recall ever leaving a show early on account of weather, but I just couldn't enjoy the music. Lucinda and Neil both played good, solid, rootsy music. Nothing that would reach out and grab you, but music that you could relax and let take you. I was so cold I couldn't relax and enjoy the music.
On the way down to the show, I heard part of an interview with Mark Mothersbaugh, a cofounder of Devo. He said that in their early days, they'd put cards in with the records that people could send in to order t-shirts. At the time, they were on the same label as Neil Young, and someone from the label told Devo that Neil was bummed that they were doing that. He thought that was too commercial, I guess. Guess what we saw as soon as we walked in the gates of the amphitheater? You wouldn't believe how much concert shirts go for these days (if you haven't been to a show in a while). Not only that, but the tickets say (just above "Neil Young & Crazy Horse") "A CLEAR CHANNEL EVENT." WTF? Sponsorship by that particular company goes against some of the message that I got from his latest record. Hey Neil? This note's for you.
When I left home, I brought a jacket along. When I left Subway with my sandwich, I thought, "it's a little chilly. I'm glad I brought the jacket." When I got downtown, I though, "damn, it's cold. I'd be surprised if it was warmer than 60°, and it was windy. The amphitheater is partly closed on the sides, and we were right on the end of our row, right by one of the openings to funnel the breeze in.
I was so cold. I had only the denim jacket over my t-shirt. I was shivering, and my teeth would sometimes chatter.
Lucinda Williams opened up the show. She was pretty good. There were a couple of songs that didn't impress me - the ones I've heard on the radio - but the rest of the show was great.
Neil's show was... Since it was with Crazy Horse, I expected it to rock. The father of grunge and all that. Rockin' in the Free World. Cinnamon Girl. You know, that heavy fuzz-toned guitar and feedback. Nope. Mellow rootsy stuff like a lot of his solo records. Harvest and such. It's good stuff, just not what I was hoping for. And I was really hoping for something I could get up and move to, to help keep me warm. His latest record is about things that go on in this small country town named Greendale. They played it straight through, and had sets and people up on stage acting out what he was singing. Kind of cheesy. Low budget too. So he started with that and we left before it was over, so we never got to hear any songs that we were familiar with.
I don't recall ever leaving a show early on account of weather, but I just couldn't enjoy the music. Lucinda and Neil both played good, solid, rootsy music. Nothing that would reach out and grab you, but music that you could relax and let take you. I was so cold I couldn't relax and enjoy the music.
On the way down to the show, I heard part of an interview with Mark Mothersbaugh, a cofounder of Devo. He said that in their early days, they'd put cards in with the records that people could send in to order t-shirts. At the time, they were on the same label as Neil Young, and someone from the label told Devo that Neil was bummed that they were doing that. He thought that was too commercial, I guess. Guess what we saw as soon as we walked in the gates of the amphitheater? You wouldn't believe how much concert shirts go for these days (if you haven't been to a show in a while). Not only that, but the tickets say (just above "Neil Young & Crazy Horse") "A CLEAR CHANNEL EVENT." WTF? Sponsorship by that particular company goes against some of the message that I got from his latest record. Hey Neil? This note's for you.