Last week, Neil Young released The Monsanto Years, an agribusiness-themed concept album and a unique collaboration with Willie Nelson’s sons, Lukas and Micah, alongside Lukas’s bandmates in Promise of the Real. Now Yahoo Music is proud to premiere the accompanying The Monsanto Years film, which documents the recording of the album’s nine tracks at converted movie theater Teatro in Oxnard, Calif.
Young’s Rebel Content Tour with Promise of the Real kicked off Sunday, July 5. Each tour stop will not only include a solo acoustic set by Young plus a full electric set backed by POTR, but also “The Village of Action,” featuring information booths for local, national, and global activist groups — thus tying in to The Monsanto Years’ theme of sustainable farming, as well as other environmental and human rights issues important to Young and POTR.
Here’s the Milwaukee Journal’s review of Neil Young’s performance Sunday night, July 5 at the Marcus Amphitheater on the Summerfest grounds along Lake Michigan in Milwaukee. The tour is backed by Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real.
Written by music critic Piet Levy, with photos by Rick Wood, Piet said while the crowd may have been braced for a lecture, they did not receive one.
He writes:
“The first sight on stage may have confirmed some fears, as two people dressed as farmers tossed seeds onto the stage and watered sunflowers. But it was actually a ruse to distract the audience as Young sneaked behind a battered piano for “After the Gold Rush,” from the 1970 album of the same name. That, too, is a song with a message — ‘Look at mother nature on the run’ he sings — but the surreal words are captivating.
“So was the presence of the hunched-over rocker, dressed in black — including a wide-brimmed hat that concealed his face — as a lone spotlight beamed down from above him. It was a simple image, but powerful; the most striking visual I saw during all of Summerfest, or at any concert this year. It suggested Young wasn’t going to be a lecturer; he was going to be a showman.
“That he was, performing “Heart of Gold” and “Old Man” within the first few minutes on acoustic guitar. Watching him perform the latter with quiet anguish — his face visible for the first time Sunday as he lifted his head, veins snaking across the back of his wrinkled left hand as he strummed the guitar — took on greater resonance.
“After performing a mesmerizing “Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)” on organ, men in hazmat suits appeared, spraying the stage with “pesticide.” But again, the show wasn’t making a statement so much as preparing the stage for Real’s entrance (along with Lukas’ brother Micah).”
The only thing Neil said to the audience the first 75 minutes was, “How are ya?” And when Young did play two of “Monsanto”‘s preachiest tracks, “People Want to Hear About Love” and “A New Day for Love,” people just wanted to hear Young sing, no matter what it was he was singing about.
Print deadlines prevented a full review of Young’s set. The show ran about two hours and 45 minutes.
2015-07-05 Marcus Amphitheatre, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA Summerfest w/ Promise Of The Real
01. After The Gold Rush (solo) 02. Heart Of Gold (solo) 03. Long May You Run (solo) 04. Old Man (solo) 05. Mother Earth (solo) 06. Hold Back The Tears 07. Out On The Weekend 08. Unknown Legend 09. Peace Of Mind 10. Field Of Opportunity 11. Wolf Moon 12. Harvest Moon 13. Words 14. Flying On The Ground Is Wrong 15. Walk On 16. People Want To Hear About Love 17. A New Day For Love 18. Down By The River 19. Big Box 20. A Rock Star Bucks A Coffee Shop 21. White Line 22. Workin’ Man 23. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere 24. Monsanto Years 25. If I Don’t Know 26. Love And Only Love — 27. Don’t Be Denied 28. Double E
Tour: 2015 Rebel Content Tour Band: Promise Of The Real
Here’s a mini-documentary on Neil Young’s new album The Monsanto Years – a behind-the-scenes trailer shedding some light on the album and how the collaboration came about.
Lukas and Micah Nelson are members of the Promise of the Real are longtime Young fans, as you will find out when you view the video, and their band name was even inspired by a line from the On the Beach song “Walk On.”
What I am trying to figure out, is it “The Promise of the Real” or “Promise of the Real,” because then it doesn’t need a “the” in front of it.
In a series of interviews, they explain the collaborative process, plus just hanging out and jamming.
One thing they confirm is Young’s unpredictably. You just can’t rehearse too much. Wrecks the spontaneity.
The Monsanto Years is due out on June 29 through Reprise.
Here’s an audio of the song “Big Box” from Neil Young’s new album “The Monsanto Years.”
Reminiscent of the narrative songs within his musical “Greendale,” told in the form of a ballad.
Troubadours include Lukas & Micah Nelson, The Promise of the Real. The band name is said to have come from Young’s “Walk On,” off the classic “On the Beach album.”
From the chorus:
“Ooh baby, that’s hard to change
I can’t tell them how to feel.
Some get stoned, some get strange,
But sooner or later it all gets real.”
“Earth is not ours. We are of the Earth. That’s how I feel. When we plunder our own home we hurt our children and their children after them. I feel responsible. I like to say thank you for the precious gift we have, so when the Wolf Moon rose, I said thank you with this little song.”
Neil Young (Posted on his Facebook)
Official video of Wolf Moon, a new song from the soon to be released “The Monsanto Years,” with Neil Young & The Promise of the Real (with the Nelson Brothers, Lukas and Micah Nelson).
“I never forgot that every time a new Beatles or Dylan album came out, you knew they were way beyond it. They were always doing something else, always moving down the line.” 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.
Yahoo is offering an exclusive premiere of an hour-long movie The Monsanto Years.
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Albert Stromann on 
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