Neil Young: Silver and Gold (2000)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Looking Forward / Out of Control / Buffalo Springfield Again / Philadelphia / Daddy Went Walkin' / Distant Camera / Long Sun / Long May You Run / Harvest Moon / The Great Divide / Slowpoke / Good To See You / Silver & Gold
This concert film was recorded in Austin, TX during Neil Young's 1999 solo acoustic tour. I'm relatively new to the work of Young even though I've known his "greatest hits" for several years. I saw him live for the first time in Louisville on the 2010 Twisted Road tour and then again the following year in Cincinnati. As I go back over all of his studio albums, live albums and of course Concert films I'm really started to gain more and more respect with each new thing. This concert here runs just over sixty-minutes and is missing many of the "greatest hits" but I think it's a very impressive performance with a couple incredibly strong tunes. "Harvest Moon" is one of my favorite Young songs and he does an incredibly strong version here with just the guitar and harmonica. "Long May You Run" sounds a lot different than the studio version but the added touch of the organ really does bring out the power of the lyrics. "Philadelphia" is a song that has pretty much been overlooked due to Springsteen and "Streets of Philadelphia" but Young does a terrific version here. I was really impressed with the entire show and found many funny things including how much this solo performance reminded me of the solo shows I saw from the recent tours. I'm sure old-time Young fans already knew this stuff but for a newbie it was interesting just seeing him wonder around the stage as if he's thinking about what to play next or the dipping of the harmonica in the water. One of the funniest bits happen when, as often happens, people start screaming out songs they want to hear and someone in the crowd screams back for them to shut up, which has Young breaking up laughing. Seeing that was worth the price of the disc alone.