Festhalle
Frankfurt, Germany, June 20, 2001
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Daniel's review.
(more reviews coming)
Also See:
The show details.
Uwe's show coverage.
The Festhalle in Frankfurt is quite a large venue, so it doesn't make for an intimate feel. : ) It was not quite sold out, I think that maybe 80-90% of the seats were filled. Most of the crowd were in their late 30s-60s. The number of younger guys like me (I am 25) was not very large, though some parents had brought their teenage kids. : )
The opening act was a band called More Solid Gold, which I had not heard of. They played decent bluesy rock (complete with an organ and such). The black lead singer (in an all white band) was trying the best he could to liven up the mood, but the crowd wouldn't clap hands as enthusiastically as he would have liked them to do. The lead singer was probably the most remarkable thing about this band, because he has quite an impressive voice, full of timbre and depth. He also was quite an entertainment to watch as he ran and danced on the stage. the crowd gave them quite some applause. They played 40 min.
Crazy Horse came on and played about 2 hours, giving one encore. He played some new songs, most of which I was not familiar with before. They were - what I would call - typical Neil Young/Crazy Horse rock songs. I found it interesting that just like on Silver & Gold, love was the main topic in most of these songs. I always find it hard to review new songs in concert and my impression so far is that while they are competent, they are hardly exceptional. But I definitely had to listen to them more often to judge them.
Don't Cry No Tears started the show. I read no reviews of other shows before and therfore was amazed that he played I've Been Waiting For You -- a quite good version of it. Love And Only Love was played in a similar way as on Weld with an extended guitar workout that suits this song very well. He continued to rock hard and very loud with Piece of Crap - that's the way it should be. :)
The crowd was very pleased up to that point, and they became even more enthusiastic with the acoustic mini-set that featured songs like From Hank To Hendrix and After the Goldrush. These four songs were very good, very much like the versions I heard in Nashville on the 1999 Acoustic tour. The playing and singing was excellent, although not very different from the released versions -- except on Goldrush, of course.
Only Love Can Break Your Heart was not a solo song, but had the feeling of the solo set, as Neil played the pump organ. Another excellent version.
They started to rock again now with two new songs. After those, the following songs were the most enthusiastically recieved songs during the concert. I think Rust Never Sleeps is Neil's most popular album in Germany - and it shows. The band played hard rocking versions of Hey Hey My My and Powderfinger and Sedan Delivery. Each featured extended solos and jams. They were enjoying themselves, I think -- and the audience enjoyed it too.
The closing chapter was an apocalyptic version of Like a Hurricane. Neil eventually destroyed the strings on his guitar during the song, by playing them too hard. He switched to the piano for some time at the end. It was the most hard-rocking version of a song I have ever heard Neil do. It was a great performance, going on for, like, 15 minutes.
Neil and the band bowed before the crowd before the encore, similing at the audience. But after the Like a Hurricane encore was over, they just waved goodbye and left. After 2 hours, the show was over.
It is interesting to note that more than half of the songs (nine) were from albums of the 70s. There were four new songs, three from the 90s and one song from the 60s.
Take care
Daniel