Time weighs heavily on Neil Young and his veteran band Crazy Horse these days – but you wouldn’t know it from this blistering gig.
Recent album Psychedelic Pill repeatedly harks back to the sixties – to battles lost, bittersweet moments and wistful regrets – and guitarist Frank Sampedro has hinted that the band may soon call it quits as age catches up with them.
But Alchemy proved to be the perfect name for this tour, as Neil and his cohorts are still producing the gold in a show full of theatricality and playfulness.
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Some fans were a bit restless through the early section featuring new songs Psychedelic Pill and Walk Like A Giant, but the band attacked them with a ferocity that was awe-inspiring. The latter song culminated in a wall of sound that sounded like an earthquake – I swear I heard the sound of falling rubble and buckling girders in the electronic howl.
It was almost shocking when they were followed by the sweet and fragile acoustic numbers Hole In The Sky and Heart Of Gold.
And a slew of classics including Cinnamon Girl, Cortez The Killer, Hey, Hey, My, My (Into The Black) and Powderfinger proved that they still have that ragged glory.
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