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home » festivals » Glastonbury Festival » Glastonbury Festival 2009
Neil Young keeps on rockin' for the Glastonbury faithfulGlastonbury 2009 reviewWednesday 1st July 2009 After many apparent years of attempts from Glastonbury, and many months since eFestivals put themselves on the line in predicting that Michael Eavis had finally got his man, the night of finding out if it was all worth it had finally emerged. We kick off with 'Hey Hey My My' and I am staggered at how loud, rumbly and yet tuneful Neil Young's guitar work is. 'Mansion on the Hill' continues the guitar noise and showcases the capabilities of the backing band and singers. It soon becomes apparent, having never seen this hero of mine live before, that he does like to elongate the endings of many of the songs, noodling indulgently but to great effect. As I sing-a-long, I take in the stage appearance. Some tatty old instruments are rolled out, for instance an old piano that must be a right laugh to transport between gigs without it collapsing. Neil Young himself matches this in many ways. His lines of age are on full show via the big screens. But he's got energy that I hope I'll have when I get to be 63. The sneer that he sings with that could suggest a dislike for this live performance, but in practice probably reflects the intensity that he puts himself through to deliver the songs the way he likes them. And he does smile at times from 'Cinnamon Girl' onwards. Songs well-known to aficionados fly by thick and fast. The guitar intensity is eased for 'Words', 'Mother Earth' is sung from some sort of church organ, & 'The Needle and the Damage Done' is an entirely acoustic-solo sad sing-along. 'Comes a Time' and 'Unknown Legend' gently bulk out the middle of the set, then the one actual UK hit, 'Heart of Gold', gets the crowd's voices put to good effect. This song in particular highlights some beautiful slide guitar and the general support from the band. 'Down by the River' also shows this support, but from the angle of keeping the loud ones both properly anchored and in time with whatever the Neil is doing. The song also marks the point at which I nip to the latrines and grab refreshments, all within good earshot of the well-designed stage. As I walk, the aural image of a guitar being throttled comes to mind, albeit in a most delightful way. Despite the break I'm back on the outskirts of the Pyramid Field and that song's still cranking along majestically. Like me, the many punters around this area seem more than happy with that. 'Rockin in the Free World' is another cracker of audience participation. Treated to another long one, we then get three bonus endings. Or was it five? Each one has a different feedback onslaught that gradually dies to a whisper. Then all of a sudden he's back at the mic, with the thoroughly tight musicians bang in time, and we're racing off from the final chorus once more. Definite smiles from Mr Young as he pulls this trick again and again. Surely not once more but we're all the better for it, and it marks such a good memory to end the main set with after one and three quarter hours. An encore of The Beatles' 'A Day in the Life' is a surprise when certain other Neil Young standards hadn't been aired. It matters not, the set was so varied and fulfilling. Neil Young seemed so into it, whether shaking his guitar to get the extra ounces of magic out of it or showing us how capable a musician and songwriter he is. He was maybe not the obvious chart-fuelled trendy headliner, but he's now hopefully no longer an unknown legend to the many. review by Clive Hoadley
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