Their rain-delayed show in Franklin, Tennessee, was packed with surprises, including the first Crazy Horse rendition of ‘Vampire Blues’
Neil Young and Crazy Horse played Firstbank Amphitheater in Franklin, Tennessee, Thursday evening after a one-night rain delay. They rewarded the patient fans with a wild, extended set packed with surprises.
The first one came five songs in when Young dug out the On the Beach deep cut “Vampire Blues.” He brought the song back into his live rotation in 2015 after a 41-year break, but only at Promise of the Real and solo shows. This was the first time it’s ever appeared at a Crazy Horse concert. Drummer Ralph Molina hadn’t touched it since the original recording in 1974, and bassist Billy Talbot had never played it any capacity. (New Crazy Horse guitarist Micah Nelson performed it at several Promise of the Real shows in 2015 and 2016.)
Up until this point on the tour, Young and Crazy Horse had limited the encore set to just one song. But after the standard set closer, “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black),” they came back for the tour premiere of “Roll Another Number (For the Road).” The Tonight’s the Night song has closed out countless Young shows over the decades, but he was just getting started.
They emerged yet again for the Zuma tunes “Danger Bird” and “Don’t Cry No Tears” before wrapping up the night with a frenzied “Sedan Delivery” from Rust Never Sleeps. It was the first time Young had played the song since 2013.
Neil Young and Crazy Horse kicked off their 33-date North American tour April 24 in San Diego, California. Due to concerns about Covid, every single show is outdoors. This has caused some complications along the way, including gigs in Austin and Dallas that were delayed due to poor weather. (It wound up barely drizzling in Dallas, but it was called off due to a dire forecast.) The tour continues May 11 at Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Virginia.
Young shows are notoriously unpredictable, and he has a long history of packing his set with new songs or ones he hasn’t even released yet, most notoriously in 2003 when he played his entire eco-rock opera Greendale months before it came out. But this tour is devoted almost entirely to Crazy Horse classics from the late Sixties, the Seventies, and their 1990 comeback LP, Ragged Glory. The most recent song in the current mix is 1996’s “Scattered (Let’s Think About Livin’).” The tour wraps up Sept 29 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, but there’s been talk of overseas dates next year.
(Reporting by Joseph Hudak)
