NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE LIVE AT THE AMP IN BRIDGEPORT
By Kat Gullage
NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE bring their “LOVE EARTH” tour to Bridgeport’s Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater
Canadian born singer and songwriter Neil Young has been inspiring the masses for nearly six decades. The folk rock legend’s accomplishments include several Grammy and Juno awards, over fifty releases including eight with Crosy, Stills, Nash & Young and three with Buffalo Springfield. He was twice inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He’s married to actress Daryl Hannah, and both are environmental advocates.
Neil Percival Young has been dubbed “The Godfather of Grunge”, and grunge is not the only genre to be influenced by him. I have five older brothers. They all listened to Neil Young. One of them played “The Needle and The Damage Done” on his acoustic Ovation guitar a zillion times. As I write this my oldest brother called and said “You went to Neil Young? You know I love him!”.
The opener was NYC’s Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir (not a typo). Reverend Billy, portrayed by William Talen, is a pastor at the head of the Church of Stop Shopping who believes that consumerism will end humanity. They have participated in public campaigns openly targeting businesses. I found Reverend Billy annoying with his approach and hard to understand. Used car salesman meets evangelical preacher. The choir was lovely with a soulful, gospel sound. If you’re interested check out one of the books about him like: “What Would Jesus Buy? Reverend Bill’s Fabulous Prayers in the Face of the Shopocalypse” or “What Should I Do if Reverend Billy Is In My Store”.
The sold out crowd was one hundred percent there for Neil Young. It rained during the show and our seats were on the right side of the floor. The venue has a giant tent roof but no walls. Our seats were wet. I just used my sweatshirt sleeve to wipe ours off cuz I ain’t fancy. Shortly thereafter staff came out with towels to dry the seats off. It misted on us the entire show but it didn’t deter us from enjoying the gig.
Neil Young took the stage with this night’s version of Crazy Horse: Billy Talbot on bass, Ralph Molina on drums and Willie Nelson’s son Micah on guitar. The set kicked off with “Cortez the Killer” from Zuma and led right into one of his well known hits, “Cinnamon Girl” off of Everybody Knows This is Nowhere. After The Gold Rush’s “When You Dance, You Can Really Love” was a gift for the diehard fans. It hadn’t been played live in five years.
Next up was the title cut from his most recent release, “Fuckin’ Up”. The singer addressed the crowd and reminisced about losing his friend, record producer David Briggs, in the 90’s. “Some of you have friends who are with you but not here anymore.” This was the segue to “Scattered (Let’s Think About Livin’)”, a cut from Broken Arrow. Neil Young tells the audience he wrote a song about a saloon on the Pacific Coast Highway in California and presents Zuma’s “Barstool Blues”.
Heading into another cut off Zuma, “Danger Bird”, Neil was not happy with the sound of his guitar and fumbled around with it a bit. He finally called in a crew member and instructed them to “tune this for me.” He explained “we rehearsed this again and again but things happen. Thanks for bearing with us. I was going to tune it myself to save time, but these people deserve to hear it tuned right.” We then got a tuned up version of “Danger Bird” followed by another title track, “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere”. A visit to Tonight’s the Night for “Roll Another Number (For the Road) and Mirror Ball for “I’m the Ocean”.
Back to Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere for “Down By The River”. Neil addresses the crowd, “How ya doin folks?” The place went wild hootin and hollerin. The fans have been on their feet the whole time. I found this ironic because when I saw him at the Hartford Civic Center in 1991 everyone yelled at me to sit down. “Powderfinger” off Rust Never Sleeps and “Love and Only Love” from Ragged Glory are followed by title track “Comes a Time”.
At this point the band take a break and we get Neil solo with only his voice, guitar, and harmonica draped around his neck to belt out Harvest’s “Heart of Gold”. It has the whole place singing along word for word. “Human Highway” from Comes A Time followed. The set wraps with probably his most well known song, “Hey Hey My My (Into the Black)”. Neil waves as he walks off stage, “Thanks for being here, thanks very much.” But Bridgeport is about to get another rare gift from the icon. The band comes back out and plays only one song for an encore, but it’s one they haven’t played live in six years, Broken Arrow’s “Big Time”.
Neil Young and Crazy Horse sounded great. Neil looks and stands older, but his voice and musicianship were on point. No fancy footwork or fireworks at this show. Just a giant banner with the Crazy Horse logo on it behind them and minimal stage lights. The big screens were not on at all, just completely dark.
The kid next to me pulled out a small notebook and a pencil during the show. I asked if he was a writer and he said no, he was an artist. He did quick sketches. Even in the poorest lighting, they really captured the moments incredibly well, I was impressed. Funny how the writer and the artist ended up next to each other, being inspired by Neil Young in 2024.
Do you know who Neil Young is? Listen to his stuff for old time’s sake or catch one of his performances. Don’t know who Neil Young is? Check out some of his hits, because they probably laid the foundation for whatever music you’re listening to today.
Thank you faithful readers and rockers!
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