From the Sydney Herald, reviewer Daniel Herborn takes on “Waging Heavy Peace” on the tailend of a whirlwind Australian tour by Neil & the Horse.
Herborn has this to say about Neil’s first stab at autobiographical ramblings:
“Showing a zest for life and disdain for order and chronology, Waging Heavy Peace is rambling, disorganised, rife with hippie aphorisms and absolutely vital. Anybody hoping for a blow-by-blow account of his remarkable career will be disappointed.”
Neil Young performs in Melbourne earlier this month. Photo: Jason South
In Young’s world view, nobody is ever forgotten, and long-departed friends are just as likely to appear in the circuitous narrative as new collaborators, Herborn writes.
Another meatier review from the New Zealand Herald
“Dressed in flannel shirt, Aboriginal flag t-shirt , workboots and comfortable jeans, a jowly Young reworked some of his vast past without sentimentality. He was in fine voice and – despite a strapped right wrist – ferocious guitar.”
Australian tour end Mar 21 – Vector Arena, Auckland.
Blog on the Tracks: “Neil is a Touchstone.”
Simon Sweetman review of the Mar 19, 2013 – TSB Bank Arena, Wellington, Australia.
The writer/music reviewer says he cried watching Neil and Crazy Horse on the Australian Alchemy Tour:
Sweetman Writes:
“I’m super-grateful to have made it to the show. Twenty-three years ago I fell for the sound of Neil Young & Crazy Horse. I fell hard. There’s no picking yourself up and just dusting off, forgetting about it, after that happens. Hearing Neil Young with Crazy Horse was like hearing Hendrix, this Flannelette Coltrane with his exploratory guitar solos, antecedent for the grunge that was about to hook me in, a hark back to the heavy metal and punk sounds that were swirling in my head also at that time.
Neil Young is a touchstone, he gets called up all the time, the broken-arsed country/folk tunes and the Crazy Horse material; he’s the guy reviewers go to when they need a name that carries kudos, a handy comparison.”
At the tour opening in Perth, Australia, for the current ‘The Past, The Present, The Future’ tour, Neil Young and Crazy Horse performed a brandnew never-played-before song: “Hole in the Sky“.
an excellent review by James Morrison about the Melbourne intimate show at the Plenary:
“… Like any fan, I had my favourites that I was hoping would show up, and seeing the previous set lists I knew at least a couple were going to be there (‘Powderfinger,’ ‘Cinnamon Girl’ (my wife is a redhead…)), and resigned myself that others probably weren’t going to make the cut. When ‘Cinnamon Gir’l wound down, I was expecting to hear ‘Fucking Up,’ one of my personal least-liked. Instead, Neil wanders off to the right, his back to the others, and the intro to ‘Cortez’ starts. I’ll step into some dangerous territory here and mention (remember not a critic!) that to me, the arrangements to most of the old songs seemed very different and fresh. My wife used the word ‘ethereal’ and it was spot on.
Previous set lists were out the window, as ‘Cortez’ wound into ‘Danger Bird.’ (My only disappointment for the night was two-fold media-related – not getting this on tape in its entirety and running out of memory before ‘Like a Hurricane.’) The guitar work in this song however is worth the partial post. He does this thing with his hand over the strings, not strumming, but almost caressing, that vibrates in your chest. It was easily the darkest, most intense version I’ve heard of this song. I understand Bob’s comment about ‘out of body’ experience. Barstool Blues continued the diversion, and again taken as a group, the songs following Cinnamon Girl were played with an almost manic ferocity.
Melbourne setlist includes pearls like Dangerbird, Barstool Blues, Cortez, Sedan Delivery, Prisoners of Rock’n’Roll, Opear Star… here is the complete setlist.
““Down the windy halls of friendship
To the rose clipped by the bullwhip
The motel of lost companions
Waits with heated pool and bar. ”” by -- Neil Young
Neil Young on Tour
Sugar Mountain setlists
Tom Hambleton provides BNB with setlists, thankfully. His website is the most comprehensive searchable archives on the Internets about anything Neil Young related setlists. Goto Sugar Mountain.
memphish on 
Albert Stromann on 
liza on 
Baz on 
