Neil Young @ Nokia Theatre

[ernstinen]

OMG --- My wife and I went to the new Nokia Theatre in downtown L.A. last night to see Neil Young. I'm still shaken. Neil started with an acoustic solo set which featured his fantastic guitar and harmonica playing. He did some new stuff, some old stuff like "Old Man," and did "After The Goldrush" on an upright piano. Neil even pulled out a banjo and did "Mellow My Mind" from TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT --- very odd, but effective.Now comes the "shaken" part. The second set was electric, with Ben Keith, Ralph Molina on drums, and Rick Rosas on bass. Neil switched guitars a lot, but when he got out his black Les Paul on his new "No Hidden Path," I was completely blown away. And I don't say that lightly. It was like Watching Him Channel Jimi Hendrix! Seriously, probably the most incredible, creative sonic guitar display I've ever seen in my life. (I saw a Joe Satriani concert on HD the other night, and Neil makes him look like a high school kid in comparison). My jaw is still on the floor.The encore included "Cinnamon Girl" and one of my favorites, "Cortez The Killer," but by then I think Neil had blown his guitar wad, so-to-speak. So he hopped on the piano again and finished with "Tonight's The Night," an intimate and funky version with Ben Keith (a great multi-instrumentalist) playing Neil's "Black Beauty" on his lap with a slide. A fitting end to an incredible show.I told my wife that Neil's guitar workout on "No Hidden Path" was worth the price of admission alone. I'm still freaked out!Wow.Ern

[horacejesse]

Interesting. I have to say this very carefully and respectfully, but I was never very impressed with his guitar playing, albeit I have only seen him play seriously a few times, but he did seem to be going all out. In what respect did he blow Satriani away? I know these big guns have a lot of tricks up their sleeves, some of which they only show once in a while, so I am not doubting your word. I would expect him to be more melodically based than Satriani but far inferior technically. Was this the case? Being melodically driven yourself, this seems like a possibility.Of course in the overall scheme of things he is so much more important than Satriani that Joe might as well not even exist. It would be hard to argue he is not one of the songwriting giants. I am just a little surprised that as a pure guitar player you would rate him above Satriani. You are the first person I have ever heard make a statement like that. I can see where it would be entirely possible to prefer Neil's playing just because one likes melody more than note barrages. So I am just wondering what the case was. Or did he blow Joe away in a technical sense too? It would be truly awesome if that were the case.

[ernstinen]

Quote:Interesting. I have to say this very carefully and respectfully, but I was never very impressed with his guitar playing, albeit I have only seen him play seriously a few times, but he did seem to be going all out. In what respect did he blow Satriani away? I know these big guns have a lot of tricks up their sleeves, some of which they only show once in a while, so I am not doubting your word. I would expect him to be more melodically based than Satriani but far inferior technically. Was this the case? Being melodically driven yourself, this seems like a possibility.Of course in the overall scheme of things he is so much more important than Satriani that Joe might as well not even exist. It would be hard to argue he is not one of the songwriting giants. I am just a little surprised that as a pure guitar player you would rate him above Satriani. You are the first person I have ever heard make a statement like that. I can see where it would be entirely possible to prefer Neil's playing just because one likes melody more than note barrages. So I am just wondering what the case was. Or did he blow Joe away in a technical sense too? It would be truly awesome if that were the case.Well, I guess you had to be there! There's a BIG difference between Neil and Satriani. Think of Hendrix playing "Machine Gun" at Filmore East. It was a sound painting. That's what Neil's workout was like. Satriani, in contrast, strikes me as a jazz player who has incredible technique playing lots of fast notes. After about 10 minutes, I'm bored as hell. Who cares how fast a guy can play is my attitude. It's the SOUL, the CREATIVITY that turns me on.Neil created a sonic landscape that, like Hendrix, you have no idea how he's doing it. He uses some effects, but mostly it's how he caresses and works his guitar and switches pickups etc. And he has a grasp of a 3D relationship to his amplifiers. His tone goes from clean and trebley to total, bassy distortion and everywhere in between. He created a total aural environment that enveloped the whole room. People were on their feet either speechless or screaming at the top of their lungs. The ovation lasted at least 5 minutes after that performance. It was a psychedelic experience, and I was stone cold sober!Don't get me wrong --- I think Satriani is a talented guy. But I've seen SO many guitarists play like him and have never seen anything like Neil Young did.BTW, I love art, and melody is just one of 100 things that I enjoy.That's my story, and I'm sticking to it! Ern

[horacejesse]

Quote:You are the first person I have ever heard make a statement like that.I remembered that my statement was untrue. My business and songwriting partner is a great Neil Young fan too. I talked to him about this tonight. He says he saw Young blow away Stevie Ray Vaughn when they shared a bill. I remembered he had told me this before. He says he did it by controlling the sound of the room better, understanding the acoustics. You said it much more elegantly with sonic landscapes and all, but your summations are kind of similar.I too appreciate the kind of playing you describe more than what Satiani does. I agree with your description of him, great chops but really not as musical IMO as someone like David Gilmore who cannot play nearly as fast.In fact, just your description of Young's playing was exciting. The performances I was talking about were on TV. I have had several chances to see him live and passed them up. Next time I am going to have to break down and get out of the house, because between you and my partner I am beginning to wonder if I haven't overlooked something. I am pretty good at spotting the good'uns, but I have also missed them in both music and literature before.

[ernstinen]

Quote:He says he did it by controlling the sound of the room better, understanding the acoustics.Yes! That's it! I just woke up (early, because of the time change) with two thoughts haunting me: 1.) The melody of "Like A Hurricane" (I admit I like good melodies ); and 2.) How Mr. Young accomplished something amazing in the Nokia Theatre: He found the Resonant Frequency of the auditorium and used it as part of his creative solo.The only other time I've seen anyone do that was when I first moved to L.A. and saw King Crimson at an auditorium in Pasadena. The bassist, Tony Levin, was playing a Chapman Stick, which goes down way below a normal bass guitar. He found the resonant frequency of the auditorium, and milked it for all its worth! --- That's what Neil accomplished in this brand new 7000-seat Nokia Theatre (it's only been open a few weeks). What an incredible venue, BTW! Every seat is a good one, they say --- the sightlines are perfect, as was the audio.Oh, I'm glad your friend testified for my sanity, Horacejesse! So he saw Neil Young blow away Stevie Ray Vaughn, eh!? I saw Stevie Ray when he was just becoming known, and he blew ME away! But I know what you mean. I saw some jazz guitarist who was trying to do a trendy rock/fusion thang (Larry Coryell? I don't remember) open for Frank Zappa. He had the chops, played through Marshall stacks etc. and sucked. Zappa came out and completely blew this guy not only off the stage, but out of the arena. Wow, Zappa was a great guitar player! Talk about controlling feedback as part of his sound. Fantastic.Anyway, gotta go get the wife some coffee -- Best Regards,Ern

[ggalen]

Anyone interested can find Neil Youg playing electric lead guitar live recently by searching YouTube for "Neil Young No Hidden Path"As far as Young besting Satriani, I guess I don't feel that. Not to be argumentative.

[horacejesse]

When you control a room like that, you also control everyone in it, which is what every performer wants to do, come to think of it. In songwriting he is definitely one of those guys Matto talks about who has internalized the process to the point that it is mostly just a reflex. But he must have done that with guitar playing and the whole acoustic thing too. He may be a creature who knows more about the acoustics of an auditorium than the sound engineers already inside as he is driving up for the first time. We know he is very smart and has as much experience as anyone in the world. He probably pays close attention to things that most musicians have no concept or weak concepts of.As a writer of prose Saul Bellow had that ability to be a virtuoso without showing you how he did it. He could mystify you the same way you describe Young's sound. You read his words and you are very moved, so you get curious and examine the paragraphs in detail. You still are not sure how he had this power over you though, the words seem ordinary enough. I always tell people if they want to be very moved and unable to figure out precisely why, read Saul Bellow. Herzog had such an affect I could barely finish it. I thought the book was going to destroy me with truth, relevance and emotion and all that good sh*t. It was not a total mystery though. I had had a wife quite similar to Herzog's and I felt about her the way he felt about his, got the same treatment he got, and went off the deep end when the relationship dissolved. Other writers could write on the same subject and not affect me much, but Saul was the man. Ray Carver could also do that, though not as well as Saul. Time for me to sleep. I have no human schedule.

[ernstinen]

Quote:Anyone interested can find Neil Youg playing electric lead guitar live recently by searching YouTube for "Neil Young No Hidden Path"I already searched YouTube for that song, and all I found was a cellphone video which sounded terrible. I don't think there's any professional video available yet of this tour as far as I know. You can't make a musical judgement with YouTube videos!Quote:As far as Young besting Satriani, I guess I don't feel that. Not to be argumentative.Totally apples & oranges! Sure, Satriani has WAY more chops and is a fabulous musician, plus has a great sound. But Neil is --- Neil! Completely different approach to guitar playing. Neil is a sound painter, Joe is a technician. Two different styles. I know a lot of people who went to Musician's Institute of Technology in Hollywood. The guitar guys actually had classes with Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. They learned all the techniques, the tapping, the fast picking etc. etc. There are literally HUNDREDS of guys in L.A. who can play like that. I've heard them. --- Not to be argumentative! Ern

[ggalen]

Quote:Satriani has WAY more chops and is a fabulous musician, plus has a great sound...There are literally HUNDREDS of guys in L.A. who can play like that. I've heard them.I believe you. It's sort of interesting comment about the rock guitar world and achieving fame as a lead guitar player, isn't it.I admit I have never been moved by the Neil Young approach to acoustic guitar playing. So maybe it's my own bias.

[Mark Kaufman]

I have seen Neil Young play several times and have often left absolutely astounded, when all I expected was to hear some friendly old tunes. I mean it: astounded. Not just a bunch of inspired flailing, not at all.I also recall seeing footage of Neil Young trading leads with Jimmy Page on "When the Levee Breaks" upon their induction to the R&R Hall of Fame. At one point, Page just gives in, shakes his head and salutes Neil with his guitar as if to say okay, okay, you win. Still, I'm surprised he let Ben put the black Les Paul on his lap and use a slide...I mean, what if he put a nick in that old '57?