At last year's Farm Aid, Neil Young introduced a brand new backing band known as the Chrome Hearts, featuring guitarist Micah Nelson, bassist Corey McCormick, drummer Anthony LoGerfo, and legendary session organist Spooner Oldham. Since then, Young and the Chrome Hearts have been busy. They released their debut album Talkin To The Trees last week, and they'll spend the next few months on a world tour. Young wanted that tour to begin with a free concert in Ukraine, but they had to cancel that plan. Instead, the run kicked off last night in Sweden, and Young broke out a few relative obscurities that he hasn't played live in a long time.
Wednesday's gig at Rättvik's Dalhalla was the Chrome Hearts' first public performance since last year's Farm Aid, and it was the first time that they were actually on the bill. As Rolling Stone points out, Young began the evening with a solo acoustic version of "Sugar Mountain," a song that he wrote on his 19th birthday. When the rest of the band joined him, they went into "Be The Rain," a song from Young's 2003 rock opera that hasn't been a part of Young's live show since 2014. Later on in the evening, they also played "Sun Green," a Greendale track that's been absent from live shows for more than 20 years.
The set also included two late-period songs from Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, 1999's "Looking Forward" and 1988's "Name Of Love." You can't call it an obscurity, but Young played a solo version of his classic 'The Needle And The Damage Done" for the first time since the pandemic. There were plenty of other hits in there, too: "Cinnamon Girl," "Hey Hey My My (Into The Black)," "Harvest Moon," "Old Man," an encore of "Rockin' In The Free World." Below, check out some fan videos and that show's setlist, via Setlist.fm.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=V44JzbHKeJU
https://youtube.com/watch?v=uJyu3-E99Xc
https://youtube.com/watch?v=4pj9GzYh07w
https://youtube.com/watch?v=MBjv_3NF8SE
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZRXhPyOYVzI
SETLIST:
01 "Sugar Mountain" (Neil Young solo)
02 "Be The Rain" (first time since 2014)
03 "When You Dance, I Can Really Love"
04 "Cinnamon Girl"
05 "Fuckin' Up"
06 "Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)"
07 "The Needle And The Damage Done" (Neil Young solo, first time since 2019)
08 "Harvest Moon"
09 "Looking Forward" (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young cover, first time since 2000)
10 "Sun Green" (first time since 2004)
11 "Love And Only Love"
12 "Like A Hurricane"
13 "Name Of Love" (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young cover)
14 "Old Man"
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15 "Rockin' In The Free World"
