{"id":24841,"date":"2015-10-15T10:27:20","date_gmt":"2015-10-15T18:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/?p=24841"},"modified":"2015-10-18T08:12:25","modified_gmt":"2015-10-18T16:12:25","slug":"review-neil-young-promise-of-the-real-rebel-at-the-santa-barbara-bowl-with-show-of-the-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/2015-10\/review-neil-young-promise-of-the-real-rebel-at-the-santa-barbara-bowl-with-show-of-the-summer\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Neil Young + Promise of the Real Rebel at the Santa Barbara Bowl with Show of the Summer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"photo<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Neil Young + the Promise of the Real<\/a><\/strong> took over the Santa Barbara Bowl<\/a><\/strong> last Saturday and gave the show of the summer, if not the entire year. \u00a0Returning to one of his favorite historical haunts and aided by the catalytic Promise of the Real<\/strong> (with Willie Nelson’s<\/strong> sons\u00a0Lukas\u00a0<\/strong>and Micah<\/strong>), Young<\/strong> seemed to have the energy of ten (69-year old) men<\/strong>. \u00a0Young<\/strong> and crew performed for over three hours straight and did not leave the stage until well-after the Bowl’s<\/strong>\u00a0revered 10pm curfew<\/strong>, playing until 10:38<\/strong>(ish) and finishing with the in-your-face, rollicking Ragged Glory<\/strong><\/em> cut F@*cking Up\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>(the 24th song<\/strong> of the evening). \u00a0Rebel Content Tour<\/strong> indeed. \u00a0It’s hard to believe that Young<\/strong> will turn 70 next month given the energy expended at the Bowl (and on all the other nights of his tour). \u00a0Long live Neil Young!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"IMG_0021<\/p>\n

The show would feature songs spanning virtually the entirety of Young’s<\/strong> career (see setlist at bottom), and opened with Young<\/strong>\u00a0on solo piano and singing After The Gold Rush<\/strong><\/em>, updated to lament\u00a0Mother Nature<\/strong> still being on the run “in the 21st Century.” \u00a0Throughout the night Young’s<\/strong> signature harmonica-playing<\/strong> would particularly strum the heart-strings of the audience. \u00a0The crowd-singing was also impressive here and on the subsequent, still-stirring My My Hey Hey <\/strong><\/em>and Helpless.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 Introducing the elegiac Mother Earth<\/strong> <\/em>(which he played on pump organ),\u00a0Young<\/strong> exclaimed “Welcome to California ladies and gentlemen!”<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"IMG_0022<\/p>\n

The Promise of the Real<\/strong> then joined Young<\/strong> on stage, and they performed a full-band set of acoustic songs that included favorites Hold Back The Tears, Out on the Weekend, Unknown Legend<\/strong><\/em>, Only Love Can Break Your Heart<\/strong><\/em>, and the new Wolf Moon<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0023<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0025<\/p>\n

Thereafter, it was all electric, all the time, and all electrifying. \u00a0Young<\/strong> and crew kicked off this segment with an emphatic, damning\u00a0Words (Between the Lines of Age)<\/strong><\/em>. \u00a0With his white Gretsch<\/strong> in hand, Young<\/strong> has never sounded better (early-on his vocals reflected his lines of age). \u00a0And the Promise of the Real<\/strong> sang scintillating harmonies while playing with aplomb throughout the night (along with Nelson, <\/strong>brother Micah Nelson <\/strong>on guitar\/keyboards, drummer\u00a0Anthony Logerfo<\/strong>\u00a0and bass player\u00a0Merlyn Kelly<\/strong>\u00a0were on fire<\/strong> the entire set).\u00a0\u00a0Lukas Nelson<\/strong> traded organic and invigorating riffs with Young<\/strong> throughout the night, and Young<\/strong> seemed to gather much from his young cohorts, frequently circling with them to compound the sound. \u00a0They followed up with a slamming Alabama<\/strong><\/em> before Young yielded the stage to Nelson<\/strong>\u00a0on solo piano to beautifully sing\u00a0September Song,<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0the Kurt Weill<\/strong>\u00a0chestnut that his father,\u00a0Willie,<\/strong> made famous again, .<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"photo<\/p>\n

And then Young<\/strong> brought out Old Black<\/strong> (his famous Les Paul electric) and the band tore into captivating activist songs off of the new, political album The Monsanto Years<\/strong><\/em>. \u00a0Give Young<\/strong> credit; while many have given up, he’s still fighting the fight in songs, deeds and seeds (which he handed out later, while decrying the new California “three-mile seed transport rule”). \u00a0In the process, Young<\/strong> called out Monsanto, Starbucks,<\/strong> and Clarence Thomas<\/strong>, among others. \u00a0Even if you don’t agree with his politics, you’ve got to respect his energy and commitment to causes. \u00a0The Promise of the Real<\/strong> was in full flight during this segment, cavorting and jumping around the stage, and rallying Young<\/strong> to new heights. \u00a0The best summation of the night might be the title of Young’s<\/strong> self-rallying song,\u00a0I Won’t Quit<\/strong><\/em>. \u00a0That song sang volumes about Young<\/strong> this night.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/p>\n

Included within this segment was as rocking a version of\u00a0Down By The River<\/strong> <\/em>as has ever been heard, followed by the roadhouse-styled rocker Time Fades Away<\/strong>, and a timeless and affecting Everybody Knows This is Nowhere<\/strong><\/em>. \u00a0Somewhere along the way, Young<\/strong> handed out personally-packaged (“I recognize that handwriting; what a wonderful girl”) organic seeds from his “magic basket” (see photos at bottom).<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/p>\n

The Bowl audience was well aware of the curfew passing at 10 pm<\/strong> and could only gape in awe as Young<\/strong> and crew raged on through an encore of F@*king Up<\/strong><\/em> that extended to the show-closing 10:38<\/strong> pm mark. \u00a0As usual, Young ended by tearing the roof off the joint but also the strings from Big Black<\/strong>. \u00a0That’s when you know a Neil Young<\/strong> show is over.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/p>\n

It was a show for the ages and will be remembered forever by all who attended. \u00a0Again, long live Neil Young<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/p>\n

\"Seeds\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After the Gold Rush<\/strong><\/em>
\n My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)<\/strong><\/em>
\n Helpless<\/strong><\/em>
\n Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)<\/strong><\/em>
\n Hold Back the Tears<\/strong><\/em>
\n Out on the Weekend<\/strong><\/em>
\n Human Highway<\/strong><\/em>
\n Unknown Legend<\/strong><\/em>
\n Only Love Can Break Your Heart<\/strong><\/em>
\n Wolf Moon<\/strong><\/em>
\n Words (Between the Lines of Age)<\/strong><\/em>
\n Winterlong<\/strong><\/em>
\n Alabama<\/strong><\/em>
\n September Song (Lukas Nelson on lead vocals)<\/strong><\/em>
\n A Rock Star Bucks a Coffee Shop<\/strong><\/em>
\n People Want to Hear About Love<\/strong><\/em>
\n Big Box<\/strong><\/em>
\n Monsanto Years<\/strong><\/em>
\n Down by the River<\/strong><\/em>
\n Time Fades Away<\/strong><\/em>
\n I Won’t Quit<\/strong><\/em>
\n Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere<\/strong><\/em>
\n Love and Only Love<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Encore:
\nFuckin’ Up<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

All photos: \u00a0Lefort<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neil Young + the Promise of the Real took over the Santa Barbara Bowl last Saturday and gave the show of the summer, if not the entire year. \u00a0Returning to one of his favorite historical haunts and aided by the catalytic Promise of the Real (with Willie Nelson’s sons\u00a0Lukas\u00a0and Micah), Young seemed to have the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24841"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24926,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24841\/revisions\/24926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}