“THE SUN WAS SETTING, BUT NEIL YOUNG WAS RISING” | BST HYDE PARK WELCOMES ANOTHER LEGENDARY SHOW
LIVE REVIEW | NEIL YOUNG | BST HYDE PARK by Robert McAlaney
Neil Young’s musical career spans over five decades, he is considered one of the greatest song writers of all time – often finding himself in the same sentence as Bob Dylan when on the subject of lyricism. Similar to Dylan, his voice isn’t exactly in tune, but for many this only heightens his appeal; part of his everyman charm. Ultimately, Neil Young writes what he writes and sings how he sings. He is an outcast in the sense he doesn’t belong to anything, as he refuses to claim it, he is Neil Young, a feat far from simplicity. If you were unable to catch him at Glastonbury, the 79 year old Godfather of Grunge came down to Hyde Park for the evening, and left a piece of himself in the rustle of the trees.
Neil Young and his Chrome Hearts dawned the stage to ‘Ambulance Blues’ a lyrical behemoth that took the crowd on a journey from nostalgia – all the way through to weary bitterness – it was a vulnerable recount of a life travelled with dizzying distance. His guitar wept alongside Hyde Park’s audience as everyone braced themselves for what was to follow. Tears were swiped away but the nomad’s guitar had no intention of drying up, ‘Cowgirl in the Sand’ blared through the speakers and Young belted words that could pry a Pharaoh from his tomb, just to have him dance. Neil Young believes in what many don’t – those who stand in front of him, he believes in those who inhabit his earth, this was made more than clear during his live rendition of ‘Be the Rain’ – a performance best described as a passionate affair with Mother Nature. Quite fitting for Hyde Park’s Great Oak Stage.
The sun was setting, but Neil Young was rising. “Sometimes we do things wrong, sometimes we do things right.” Was how the musician aptly introduced ‘Fuckin Up’, as he spewed his lyrics through a grimace with intent to harm. He resembled a rabid dog infected with rock and roll. Neil Young must have learnt to strike a guitar before he could speak, for it comes as naturally so – accented during ‘Sun Green’, whilst he French-kissed a harmonica, the instrument’s approval echoed throughout the park. Then everything calmed down, as we were tucked beneath a warm blanketed sky, that perfect balance of pink and orange waltzed above our heads as those all too familiar opening chords of ‘Harvest Moon’ planted a kiss between our brows. I apologise for those who weren’t – but trust me when I say – you just had to be there. ‘Looking Forward’ then crept from Young’s lips, an homage to his Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young days; with gentle lyrics that pack a hell of a punch, they cradle you whilst you sink to your knees.
Neil Young traded in his guitar for a grand piano, conveying his masterful grasp over both instruments for ‘After the Gold Rush’ a song that resembles a Vonnegut novel – deeply intimate with a touch of the surreal. Young and his Chrome Hearts then turned the dial until it could be turned no more with ‘Rockin in the Free World’. The world-renowned chorus was shrieked again, and again, and again – with three false endings the show eventually had to be cut due to curfew.
Having witnessed Neil Young in the flesh I finally understand why he is one of the greats; it’s because he is fucking great.
