(photo: Danny Clinch)
The Godfather of Grunge is back on the road! Neil Young, the iconic and irascible singer-songwriter-model train enthusiast, has recently embarked on his first tour since 2019, and fans are in for a treat!
Dubbed the Coastal Tour 2023, Young has been performing in venues up and down the West Coast of America, visiting places such as the Berkeley Greek Theatre close to San Francisco to sold out audiences.
In terms of the set lists so far, the show itself seems to draw from Young’s Californian songwriting days, appropriately enough. He may be Canadian, but he’ll forever be associated with the Laurel Canyon scene, and his performances have been liberally peppered with selections from his Buffalo Springfield and CSNY days. A hippy renaissance? Perhaps!
Chatting to his audience all night, and deflecting requests in his characteristically ornery manner (‘Thanks for being so supportive. I’m listening to every word you say’, is the typical response just now), Young went between guitar, harpsichord, an old black piano and even a harmonium.
For long-time fans and true believers, this tour seems like a great opportunity to hear a very specific Neil Young: one with a carefully curated set of deep cuts of fond memories. Will he tour over in Europe and the UK? At the moment, that’s anybody’s guess, but Neil Young fans know to expect the unexpected from their hero, so only time will tell.
