The Greek Theatre (Berkeley, July 15, 2023)

I missed the second encore.

I had been following the tour closely and Neil Young had not done a second encore on any of the prior stops. What I didn’t take into account was that the stop at UC Berkeley’s The Greek Theatre on July 15, 2023 was the hometown show for Neil. After living outside San Francisco at his Broken Arrow Ranch in Woodside for the majority of his life, the Bay Area was as much a hometown for him as Omemee. On a prior trip to the area, I’d even roamed around Woodside and visited a couple special spots. So I should have realized this show was going to be a special one, an exuberant celebration of Neil’s ties to the area. Indeed, he mentioned buying the pump organ positioned at the top of the stage in a pawn shop in Redwood City (“It may have been a furniture store. You can't quote me on anything”) and the burned grand piano right there in Berkeley. Still, it was a rookie mistake to not stay until the very end…I later read fans got guitar picks from the road crew at the end, too.

Let’s rewind a bit. When I read that Neil was finally going back out on the road, but only on the west coast, I was a little dismayed. However, my loving wife was incredibly supportive and said “You should go.” Plans were hatched, and I found myself making a whirlwind weekend trip to stay with very dear friends I don’t see often enough. Not only that, but my best friend for more than two decades was going with me. He wasn’t really a Neil fan, but wanted to go with me and I couldn’t be happier. It was shaping up to be a special trip. After a morning hike around Devil’s Slide and some cheeseburgers, we set out to roam around Berkeley before the show. I had never been over there and it’s a very cool town. As we meandered toward the venue, I spotted multiple Neil Young shirts. We stopped in Amoeba and I took a look at their Neil vinyl. Half official releases, half bootlegs of live shows. As it should be in a college town.

Once the doors opened and we got in the venue, we headed for the merch booth. My friend picked up a sweatshirt and I remarked he was a Rustie now. Through Neil Young Archives, I was able to get seats in the pit, so we were only nine rows back. A singer-songwriter named Chris Pierce opened the show with a short set of deeply meaningful songs. He seemed very grateful to be there and the crowd’s response was fairly positive (Of course, some people will always rudely ignore the opener). The sun was setting and Neil was seemingly waiting for a bit of a darker stage. Finally, the stage lit up and the audience braced themselves.

“I’m The Ocean” is an incredible song. Every line is unique and there’s no real chorus. Originally done with Pearl Jam, it’s one of the highlights on Mirror Ball, an album of good songs buried by a muddy mix. It’s also extremely frank about how Neil sees himself. As a concert opener on acoustic guitar, it’s quite a statement. He launched straight into it without much of a preamble and it’s six minutes long. Almost as if he was saying “buckle up, I have some things to say.” If you weren’t ecstatic or affected after that first song, it was going to be a weird night for you. The overall setlist had not changed much from previous nights, but each song was still a fascinating moment, given how little known many of them were. As Neil quipped at one point, “…found these songs way back there somewhere, buried by hits.” The wry punchline was that he didn’t have to dig very far down.

“Homefires” has long been a fan favorite and it’s great to hear it right away in the set. Even though he has played “On The Way Home” many times, I really enjoyed his performance of it. I’ve always liked “My Heart” from Sleeps With Angels with the unique tack piano sound. I’m not sure how he replicated that plinking sound (unless that was the tack piano), but it worked well. “Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)” on the pump organ was simply beautiful. I miss the Crazy Horse harmonies on it, but Neil more than makes up for it with that otherworldly sound. I was personally really excited to see him bust out Old Black on a couple songs, including a rousing “Song X.” It gave him a chance to solo a little bit and to this day, the sound of Old Black’s tone is so specific, it instantly transports me back to the first time I heard it as a teenager. Just the sight of Old Black was enough to give me goosebumps. I was happy to glimpse the Whizzer through the legs of the piano and talked for way too long about it to my friend…Oh yes.

A couple songs in, I remembered my friend beside me. I was so riveted and focused on Neil at first, I didn’t look to my side enough. I asked him halfway through if he was enjoying it, and happily he said it was incredible and captivating. Another one converted to the cause! What I didn’t know then was that he actually was very affected by it. Later he told me “something about him all alone up there was the most haunting bittersweet thing I’ve experienced.” It’s true, there’s something about when Neil is onstage by himself, surrounded by instruments and light stage dressing (a wood stove, a train set, and a tribute to his recently departed artist friend Sandy Mazzeo)…it’s unlike any other solo performance I’ve seen. Neil walks around, changes instruments, pauses, has commentary. It feels like a person walking around inside their own mind, rummaging through their memories and laying himself open before a crowd.

Neil’s ongoing relationship with the audience is one of the things that amuses me the most about him. He has this almost Steven Wright deadpan wryness that tends to play on purposeful contradictions (I’ve always loved his introduction of “Don’t Let it Bring You Down”). The above quote about hits is a perfect example. However, he also has a funny way of dealing with audience members shouting out song requests. If you shout out a song, it’s almost guaranteed he won’t play it. And he may even chide you for it. “You can shout out as many songs as you want…I’m listening to every word you say” was followed by a lot of laughter. Amongst the short stories and quips he’s been saying at all the shows on this tour, he frequently asks the crowd “What’s your favorite planet?” The goofiest question possible becomes important later on.

In a shocking moment of timing, a shouted comment about David Crosby led Neil to relate how he wrote “Ohio” when he was with Crosby out in the woods and first saw the infamous Kent State photo. After strapping on the white Gretsch Falcon, he gave a rousing performance of the protest song that has lost none of its power. I’d dare say it has taken on a new power in the last few years. I quite like “Don’t Forget Love” from Barn. It’s a simple song, but with a sentiment I think is good to keep in mind. He closed the main set with one of his few hits, “Heart of Gold.” Look, it’s a great song. It’s just so ubiquitous, it’s hard for me to be excited to hear it. Then again, while he was playing, I was riveted anyway. You just can’t deny it.

When he came back out for the first encore, he again asked “What’s your favorite planet?” This time, the crowd was a bit more together with their answer of “Earth.” Neil proceeded to walk us through what he wanted next, a simple sing-along with just two words, “Love Earth.” The song from World Record was the first single from that album and in the lead up to that album, I recall him mentioning the songs were kind of protest hymns. As he started the song, the crowd sang the refrain in increasing boldness, until it became an exultant and uplifting moment of unity. What could have easily been a moment of embarrassing cringe, instead made me smile and have a moment of optimism. It was an incredibly effective moment of crowd participation. So much so, I think he should have made it the final song of the main set. The second song in the first encore was his favorite song from his childhood, “Four Strong Winds.” A perfectly nice song, but an odd one to end an encore on…

Of course, I missed it when he came back out and sang “Comes a Time,” a song I like quite a bit and would have liked to see. I was a little paranoid about getting stuck in a mass of people (I had to be at the airport in a couple hours for an early flight back) and I really didn’t think he would come back out. Oh well, lesson learned. That said, I am not disappointed at all in the show and experience. Neil was in fine form, with a voice that, at 77, still sounds as enthralling and unique as ever. He was engaging and funny, with many moments of pure Neil. I saw him wail on Old Black again, this time closer than I ever had been before. Not only that, I was there with a friend that enjoyed it just as much as I did and that made it all the more special.

Long live Neil.

Top 3 moments:

1. Love Earth sing-along
2. Seeing and hearing Old Black again, especially on Song X
3. the I’m The Ocean tour de force

Thanks for reading Only Castles Burning! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.