Neil Young News: Europe Winter 2008 Concert Tour: Reviews

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

This tour's song chart is now complete.

And here is a chart analysis:

The addition of Homegrown on the last show made for 53 different songs in 21 shows. The last show was the longest one, with 26 songs in total. The core setlist of songs that he would play on every concert of this tour consisted of: From Hank To Hendrix, Ambulance Blues, A Man Needs A Maid, Harvest, Love Art Blues, Dirty Old Man, Spirit Road, Oh Lonesome Me and No Hidden Path.

He would vary the set throughout the tour, especially the acoustic set. There he played rare songs like Try, Kansas, Stringman, Love In Mind, Campaigner, Separate Ways, Flying On The Ground Is Wrong, On The Way Home and even Mexico. Mexico and Try were debuted on the American leg of the tour in 2007, and Neil seems to like Try, he played it on over half the shows in Europe.

Both Spirit Road and No Hidden Path proved again to be good jamming-songs. Neil enjoyed them both, and especially No Hidden Path became longer and longer, turning into a 25+ minute song on one show. Quite often would Neil hurt his fingers or nails while attacking Old Black on No Hidden Path! The Sultan made its appearance again, which would always be played on the last show of a run of multiple shows in one venue.

On the last of the three Amsterdam shows, Neil changed the electric set. He not only started playing Powderfinger as of the 2nd show, but on this 3rd show also introduced three new songs for the band, Down By The River, Hey Hey My My and Too Far Gone. After this show he would add more songs associated more with Crazy Horse than with any other band: Fuckin' Up, Roll Another Number and Tonight's The Night. However, those last two featured Ben Keith and Ralph Molina on the original arrangement, so it's quite a logical choice for the band.

Neil was very talkative on these shows. There would often be some chatter with the crowd, and some of the rarities played on the tour were direct requests from people in the front rows.

Neil Young Winter Europe 2008 Concert Tour Reviews

Stadschouwburg, Antwerpen, Belgium. - 02/11 & 12/08 - Concert Reports

Le Grand Rex, Paris, France - 2/14 & 2/15/08: Concert Reports

RAI, Amsterdam, Netherlands - 2/17, 18 & 20/08: Concert Reviews

Austria Center, Wien (Vienna), Austria - 2/22/08: Concert Reports

Teatro degli Arcimboldi, Milano, Italy - 2/24/08: Concert Reviews

Berlin, Germany - 2/26/08: Concert Reviews

Copenhagen, Denmark - 2/28 & 2/29/08: Concert Reports

Edinburgh, Scotland - 3/3/08: Concert Repviews

London, England - 3/5 & 6/08: Concert Reports

London, England - 3/8 & 9/08: Concert Reports

Manchester, England - 3/11 & 12/08: Concert Reviews

- London, England - 3/14 & 15/08: Concert Reviews

Also, see Winter 2008 Europe Tour Highlights.

Interactive Tour Map on Rust Radio

Also, see:
- Neil Young Euro 08 Tour - Links to other Euro pages
- Neil Young in Europe 2008 - The Ueberholspur.
- Official Neil Young Tour Dates

Check Sugar Mountain for setlist updates. Also, see Statistics on Numbers On The Site and Grid Chart on Rust Radio.

Also, see Neil Young 2007 Continental Tour and Concert Reviews.

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69 Comments:

At 12/13/2007 04:46:00 AM, Anonymous said...: There's no links at livenation just yet, but the juices are flowing!!!!

It's a very quick announcement, tour itinery released late on the 12th, tickets on sale on the 14th. It sounds like the real fans can get in there before it becomes widely known. It'll also be interesting to see if the dates grow due to demand as has happened on the soon to finish "continental tour".

I'm surprised that there are no dates for Vicar St Dublin as he has enjoyed that venue in the past.
At 12/13/2007 05:38:00 AM, Anonymous said...: he will also play in Paris at Le Grand Rex on 14 & 15 of february.
tickets have just been on sale.
from 78 to 135 euros!!!!

http://magnetophone.francebillet.com/recherche/rechercheRapide.do?search=neil+young&searchOkButton=ok

cheers for your great website from paris, france.
At 12/13/2007 01:27:00 PM, Jamie Summers said...: Well, the real fans who have lots and lots of money can get in there first.
I'll be skipping it, mostly out of principle, and also because the greendale show at that london venue was so terrible.
At 12/13/2007 01:48:00 PM, pdh1978 said...: This post has been removed by the author.
At 12/13/2007 01:51:00 PM, pdh1978 said...: Wooooooooh!!!!

Let me first say I'm not rich by any means, but I paid £55 each for the 3 nights in Hammersmith '03 and every penny was worth it!

And Edinburgh now as well!!! :)
At 12/13/2007 03:11:00 PM, Blundsummit said...: Excellent, just got 4th row for Paris on Valentines Day. Will look to snag Manchester tickets for both nights tomorrow.
At 12/13/2007 04:34:00 PM, Espen said...: Hello Rusties. I live in Norway, and I don't wanna miss Neil on this tour. I'm gonna get a ticket for either the Manchester show the 11th, or the Hammersmith the 6th, but im not sure which one to pick... The price will be the same. What do you think? Can anyone recommand either of the venues?

Regards, Espen.
At 12/14/2007 05:25:00 AM, charlie g said...: got tickets for the 5th in London. Row E, that'll do nicely. Thank you thashers, without I would not have found out in time.

I'll have to sell a kidney but that is simply what it costs.
At 12/14/2007 05:46:00 AM, beecee34 said...: at long last... after 5 odd years since the last gig in Glasgow with the Horse i have just secured tickets on row E for both Sat and Sun nights at the Hammersmith....
what a start to the weekend!!!

thanks thrasher.
At 12/14/2007 05:46:00 AM, dorian.gray said...: I managed to get 6th row tickets in Manchester. Like Charlie G, if it wasn't for Thrashers Wheat, I wouldn't have known. I Can't quite believe it's true at the moment, I never thought I'd get the chance to see Neil live.
At 12/14/2007 05:52:00 AM, pdh1978 said...: Same here, I honestly didn't think we would ever see him overseas again.

Edinburgh + all 4 Hammersmith for me = huge hole in wallet and no Christmas presents for anyone!!! :)
At 12/14/2007 06:15:00 AM, dorian.gray said...: pdh1978, that's some expenditure! How on earth did you book them all up? It was tight for me to get two decent tickets in Mancs. I'm so pleased this was kept low-key. No big news coverage etc.
At 12/14/2007 06:18:00 AM, pdh1978 said...: I had a friend buying a couple of dates.

I got onto seetickets, got Edinburgh then it told me Saturday was sold out, but it let my mate have tickets!
At 12/14/2007 06:22:00 AM, dorian.gray said...: Nice going, I used ticketmaster, they didn't put the Manchester ones on sale until about 9.15. I was starting to worry. Had row Z tickets held on ticketline.co.uk but decided to see if I could do any better - it turned out for the best as I went up the alphabet considerably :-)

Have you seen Neil before?
At 12/14/2007 06:27:00 AM, pdh1978 said...: Yeah, Brixton '02 (still my favourite gig ever) and 3 nights in Hammersmith '03. And I can't wait till March!!! :)
At 12/14/2007 07:06:00 AM, Falling At Your Feet said...: Got tickets for Hammersmith Apollo March 8th, got row B in balcony. I noticed there was ZERO promotion for the tickets going on sale, either on Ticketmaster itself, or on any of the music websites. This is no error, this is deliberate, to keep it low key so fans like us can get them easily.

Second Point - anyone notice that their ticket confirmation e-mail says it's "Neil Young And Crazy Horse" this is obviously an error ??
At 12/14/2007 07:27:00 AM, David said...: Is he is playing with Crazy Horse, i was told he was but all i can find is that he will have a backing group !!
At 12/14/2007 07:56:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Here's what I read...

"Neil Young is confirmed to play a series of dates in March 2008 that represent his first UK shows since he toured in 2003 in support of the Greendale album.

Next year’s gigs promise to be a special occasion as Neil Young will perform two sets; the first an acoustic performance and the second an electric set backed by a full band consisting of Ben Keith (guitar), Rick Rosas (bass) and Ralph Molina (drums). The tour also has an exciting support artist in the shape of Young’s wife Pegi, who recently released her self-titled debut album, and will be performing with Anthony Crawford.

Neil Young’s recent stateside shows have received universal acclaim with a set list that featured a mix of his best loved songs and some rarities. A review from The Boston Herald stated that Young possessed “as much bluster and energy as anyone making music today.”"
At 12/14/2007 10:42:00 AM, mellow my mind said...: The UK fans have been given a gift here, thanks to the absence of promotion for this tour, I've been able to get tickets. There's no-one I've wanted to see more than Neil, I've been hooked for the last six years. I missed out on the Greendale tour but so many times I hoped against hope that I'd have the chance to see him one day. Cheers for putting one in for the Ordinary People Neil; regardless of the cost of tickets, by enabling me to at least have the chance to buy one, you've made my dream come true.
At 12/14/2007 11:24:00 AM, Ged said...: Last seen Neil in 1982 at Birmingham with Nils Lofgren, it's been a long wait !! at last !
At 12/14/2007 11:58:00 AM, simon the fireman said...: Will finally get to see him tried and failed miserably since 1973.Am going to edinburgh circle row f taking son and son in laws more converts to Neil Young. What a great birthday present for me
At 12/14/2007 03:38:00 PM, RDR said...: Well, I had 2nd row tickets for the last night in Manchester. Then my bank fucked me and denied my card. Had to use my roommate's, ended up with 8th row on the last night in Manchester, which, honestly, is good enough for me. $155 USD total about (75.50 pounds).

I live in California so I'm looking forward to the trip, never been to Manchester, thought about going to London again, but the tickets were more expensive and I figured I'd visit a city I've not been to before.

And the last night of his Europe tour (all be it a very short one), how could I pass it up? All I'm hoping for is The Sultan, I just wanna see that crazy blast from the past live.

Hopefully there are some friendly faces across the pond attending this one as well? Can't wait for this one, a wonderful spring break indeed.
At 12/15/2007 10:25:00 PM, Danny said...: Thanks very much for putting up the details for the live nation link, I actually came across details for the tour on the Teenage Fanclub messageboard of all places (althought to be fair they once wrote a song called Neil Jung!). Thought it was worth checking out the fan info here though as I was havin no luck on seetickets, the awful and infamous Glasto ticket site. Have got a pair of tickets in the circle for Saturday night. After being told by my cousin how incredible the show in D.C was I couldn't miss it. So glad I heard about the tour! Phew!
At 12/16/2007 08:27:00 AM, Anonymous said...: I am from Ireland looking foward to see Neill Young on stage in Paris 2/14/07. I hope he comes to Ireland.
I hope it is the same set as in America
At 12/16/2007 02:32:00 PM, luckypaul said...: . . . a frantic Friday morning trying to get tickets, success for 2 in London - hooray! But everything sold out in Edinburgh by nine forty five.
Went to Toronto for the concerts there last month which were of course wonderful and reading the reviews for the rest of the tour I'm now eager to hear those tunes live again. Roll on March!
At 12/17/2007 05:42:00 AM, Anonymous said...: The Copenhagen shows sold out in 15 minutes... but I got my hans on five tickets! Woohoo!!!

/Daniel
At 12/17/2007 09:16:00 AM, BrynjarTakle said...: The chances were slim, but I managed to get tickets for both shows in Copenhagen!!! Seeing him in such an intimate theatre will be a treat for sure, but just 4000 tickets for the whole of Scandinavia is ridicilous really. On the other hand, the shows has barely been promoted, so I guess the tickets got snagged by the real hardcore fans. Hopefully.
Living in Norway, I had no hope that he was ever coming over here on this tour. So I've been green with jealousy reading all your great stories about it (and catching a few quick YouTube-clips along the way). But now that I'm goinig to see two shows myself, of his most interesting tour in years, I can barely contain myself!
At 12/17/2007 05:26:00 PM, Jodahl said...: Got tickets to the Copenhagen show! I saw the Greendale tour at the same venue and hopefully I will catch Neil when his limo arrives this time as well :-)
At 12/18/2007 05:09:00 AM, halfbottle said...: I had been checking neils website and ticketmaster the last month everyday for info about a euro tour. Then due to xmas festivities hadnt checked from the end of last week until monday. Cue mad panic to get tickets!
Edinburgh was sold out, as I imagined it would have. But in the end got tix for London on the 6th. Up in the balcony but who cares! Always loved the glasgow to london road trip.
At 12/18/2007 05:45:00 AM, Gör Bosse Larsson 40 år yngre said...: What a chock! No tickets for the Copenhagen shows! Sold out in 15 minutes puuuhh..........
I saw him ´76 (march 16)doing an aborted Sad movies,i always thought that the title was "Sailboat song".I remember the concert as my best ever(including Dylan 80, Springsteen 81,85).Poor me!
At 12/18/2007 07:05:00 AM, melnik said...: Too late for a ticket for Antwerp?
Maybe it's not too late yet for Paris ?

If you like the Master, maybe you'll like us as well ?
Check our My Space...

http://www.myspace.com/melnik13
At 12/18/2007 01:53:00 PM, The Velvet said...: Two Dutch concerts has been added to the tour:
17.+18. February. Rai, Amsterdam.
I have tickets for Frederiksberg and Berlin - hope to get for Amsterdam too :-)
At 12/19/2007 06:04:00 AM, Chemo said...: Does anybody have any clue when the Frankfurt tickets come on sale? I don't wanna miss this tour!
At 12/19/2007 03:47:00 PM, Anonymous said...: apparenty Frankfurt is cancelled in favor of a Milan concert... I was gonna go to Frankfurt, but now it seems i will miss this tour.
At 12/19/2007 04:56:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Tickets are selling for TWO EXTRA LONDON DATES on 14th and 15th March on ticketmaster and seetickets sites. Get yours quick, as they're already back to row R as I type.

Dave
At 12/19/2007 07:57:00 PM, w3c said...: Yeah, i've got my ticket to Paris, 02/14, Neil will rock the "Grand Rex"! I'm dying waiting for this show!
At 12/20/2007 06:21:00 AM, junkyard choir said...: firstly good on you to those who have tickets for the hammersmith shows.
The first & only time i saw Neil was at the Fleadth festival in 99 (i think)amazing, so amazing...
Ive been looking on ebay & it actually makes me sick to look at all the people who are obviously not fans & just abuse the fact that good people like myself will be forced to pay ridiculous prices for tickets to see a legend.
I feel sorry for the kids. When i was 14 i went to see Pink floyd at earls court & it blew me away!! How is a 14 yr old gonna afford £300 quid. I agree get your tickets early, but the week before xmas has left me broke & im gutted.
Will hopefully get tickets after xmas.
im a believer
At 12/20/2007 06:22:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Extra date Amsterdam 20-02-2008!!!
At 12/20/2007 11:15:00 AM, Anonymous said...: There is a petition to bring Neil to Portugal. Please, help us:
http://www.petitiononline.com/neil2008/petition.html
At 12/21/2007 08:32:00 PM, an annonymous whole life follower said...: Here's my own petition for bringing Neil to Spain. Could it be possible to add any additional concerts to this new Euro tour so that we can have the chance to see him here as well? I hope so.
At 12/23/2007 11:06:00 AM, the following... said...: Well, my mate and I have got two tickets for Manchester on the 12th March!!! The day before my birthday as well - so birthday off work to recover from Chrome Shock! Oh yep - this is gonna be good.

I feel like a lightweight fan though as I only have 38 Neil Young albums...

13th Row - not the best, but certainly not the worst either.

Someone was asking about the venues. I've been to the Apollo I don't know how many times. Lovely old building, can be tricky to get the acoustics right for some lesser artists; I'm sure Young will be fine. Watch out though, with smoking being banned, if you do try smoking, the nazis on security will take great pleasure in throwing you out and kicking you on the way too. But a few hours without a smoke is a small price to pay to see Neil Young live - an opportunity like others that I thought I'd never see.
At 12/27/2007 06:31:00 AM, Anonymous said...: What happens with Spain????? we love him downhere too!!
Its not fair!
At 12/27/2007 07:10:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Yeaaaa...I got tickets for Copenhagen 28.2. on the 2. row. Amazing since both concerts were sold out in 15 min. Can't wait...
At 1/02/2008 08:26:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Going to Hammersmith can't wait, my first Neil Young show, I honestly thought I would never see him. My set list is as follows (slightly optomistic with some of them I know, but I can dream!)
Acoustic:
Four Strong Winds, Needle & Damage Done, Old Man, Down by the River, Heart of Gold, Thrasher, Pocahontas, After the Gold Rush, Comes a Time, Only Love can break your heart, Helpless, Harvest, Harvest Moon, Cowgirl, Jouney Through the Past.
Electric:
Powderfinger, Hey Hey My My, Rockin in the Free World, Ohio, Cinnamon Girl, Hurricane, The Loner, When you Dance, Ordinary People, Dirty Old Man, Southern Man, Sedan Delivery, Tonight's the Night, Cortez, Welfare Mothers.
At 1/04/2008 03:06:00 PM, Anonymous said...: HI,I can't tell you how nice to think people are into neil.I'm from Santa Cruz/Canoga Park.In my 53years I've been able to see him over 200 times.
At 1/08/2008 04:59:00 AM, Lucio said...: Hi, I would like to know if there any availble tickets as I couldnt get any. I saw Neil at Hammersmith Apollo in 2003 with my friend Heike from Germany. a little help from Paul Docker of course and again in the same situation. if you know somebody with spare ticket let me know.cheers
Lucio Polli: puseypolli@hotmail.com
At 1/12/2008 04:45:00 PM, Maarten said...: I managed to get two tickets for the first night in Antwerp, 1st row! I'm 20 years old and I never thought I'd get the chance to see my favorite artist play live, so I just burst into tears when I received the confirmation mail :)

First I have to pass some exams, but THEN!!

Enjoy the tour everyone,
greetings from Maarten (Ghent, Belgium)
At 1/14/2008 03:11:00 PM, musicarcade said...: hello,
i have 2 tx for second antwerp show on tuesday 12/2, row 18 and 20. contact me on pevdb@skynet.be
At 1/14/2008 04:51:00 PM, John` said...: Guys hi, desperate for two tickets for Neil Young in Hammersmith either 8th or 9th, since I will be in London then. Genuine fun, saw him in London back in 2001 in a 3 hour show.
please contact me jkennis@gmail.com
fingers crossed

John
At 1/23/2008 12:04:00 PM, Anonymous said...: hi. i would like to get hold of two tickets for any of neil's london shows on 5th or 6th march. these are for my uncle and his daughter,who is coming over from australia to see him. unfortunately, he has terminal cancer. this is not a request to obtain tickets in bad taste but a genuine attempt to surpise them and give her a nice memory with her father. if you can help me out please contact me via challengechappers@hotmail.com or 07929 915037. no touts or timewasters please as this is a sensitive issue. many thanks, Jason
At 1/27/2008 02:06:00 PM, Grandpa Green said...: I guess with the high ticket prices the shows aren't for "ordinary people" anymore. Long may the retirement fund run.

Seems like the coins will be tossed to roll home to you.
At 1/30/2008 03:02:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I am From Ireland and am going to see Neil Young for the frist time in Paris on the 15th Febuary 2008 can not what to see him.

Rock on Neil your the man
At 2/01/2008 05:53:00 PM, Anonymous said...: TICKETMASTER HAS RELEASED MORE STANDING TICKETS FOR ALL OF THE LONDON DATES!
At 2/13/2008 05:53:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I can't understand why Neil Young doesn't play in Spain! I wish he'll come here soon.... Spain loves Neil Young!!!!
At 2/18/2008 11:07:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I have an extra ticket for the 20th at RAI, but no-one to bring yet. I'm not asking for much for the ticket, maybe a drive there, or taxi fare home to leidseplein - you must be a big fan of course (I'm not sure how I'll be able to tell lol)

send email to gavinonymous'at'hotmail.com subject Neil at RAI

p.s. I'm leaving Canada for Amsterdam tomorrow, sorry for the short notice, I just found out myself that I'm going!
At 2/27/2008 07:33:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Hi, going to see Neil for first time since 2001, can't wait. I've got 1 extra ticket to the final show in the Hammersmith Apollo if anyone needs. Cost price.
At 2/29/2008 01:00:00 PM, paul yorks said...: hi
unfortunately i couldnt get tickets for manchester, big fan for over 20 years.
chrome dream 2 is awesome.
anyway if anyone has spare ticket out there name your price
email highwaytohellgiver@hotmail.com

rgds
paul
At 3/02/2008 01:07:00 AM, christine said...: anyone have any updates on the rumour that Neil is set to play 'live at the Marquee' in cork, Ireland?
At 3/03/2008 06:35:00 PM, Lucky Paul said...: If reading those reviews whets your appetite... now that there are
festival gigs to get to in Europe this summer I'm selling my 2 tickets for Thursday at Hammersmith seats 36 & 37, Row J in the circle - just about central and the best sound in the hall. Face value £65.00 but there were charges on top of that so £80 each.

email a phone no. & I'll contact this evening. Can deliver in london on
Wednesday.
pgxe2000@yahoo.co.uk
At 3/04/2008 01:16:00 PM, Ged said...: Edinburgh 03/03/08

FANTASTIC !!!!!
At 3/05/2008 10:44:00 AM, Anonymous said...: neil to play 2 dates in ireland 29 june and 30th june tickets on sale next monday also confirmed for roskilde festival denmark early july
At 3/08/2008 08:15:00 AM, baotzebao said...: Oh, C'mon!!! ITALY, please!!!

http://www.baotzebao.eu/2008/03/08/radio-neil-young-rust-never-sleeps/
At 4/06/2008 04:22:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Hi Thrasher,

Looking forward to Neil's concert in Cork. I hope this time he'll need a stable!!
At 4/06/2008 04:38:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I am realy lookin foward to see the rocker Neil Cork in June. The last time I saw neil was in Paris and he was great on stage rocking away.

You are the King of rock. You rock. You are the man. Keep rocking.

Rock and roll can never die
There's more to the picture
Than meets the eye.
Hey hey, my my.
At 6/01/2008 04:27:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Neil is also appearing at the Alsatian Wine Fair in Colmar (France)on Friday, 15th August. Tickets are only €46, available from www.foire-colmar.fr
At 6/03/2008 05:12:00 PM, mike glueck said...: attention attention - some dates are wrong here - neil is playing in wiesen austria in august, and as it seems the france show is in august too .... how many else????
At 6/04/2008 03:19:00 PM, Anonymous said...: The Colmar show is definitely in August (the 15th), I just bought my tickets today at Fnac: http://www.fnac.com/
At 8/17/2008 05:53:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Is the Coburg show sold out? I was at the Colmar show and must get to another before Neil goes home.

Is Coburg open-air or theatre?
At 8/23/2008 05:27:00 PM, Anonymous said...: did the zurich show get cancelled?