Neil Young News: Hop Farm Country Park, Paddock Wood, Tonbridge, Kent, England Concert Reports: 7/6/08

Sunday, July 06, 2008

Hop Farm Country Park, Paddock Wood, Tonbridge, Kent, England Concert Reports: 7/6/08

Photo by Breezehillpete

A nice review below in comments and a photo gallery by Breezehillpete.

Thanks Pete!

Rust Never Sleeps & Alternative York » Blog Archive » Mr Soul lives on by Steve Bradley:

"While many of the “old guard” like Dylan and, to a lesser extent, Bruce Springsteen, are content to see out their careers playing the old hits and relying on their back catalogues, Neil Young continues to be daring and is constantly evolving. Perhaps he sounds so fresh because he’s always sounded this old? “Show me the way and I’ll follow you today” sings Young in No Hidden Path. After a show as riveting and vital as this I’ll follow him anywhere."

Uncut.co.uk | Live Reviews - Post details: Neil Young - The Hop Farm, July 6, 2008

Neil Young at the Hop Farm - pneumonia on a summer night « Mac Uaid

Photo Gallery by Trevor

From Amplifier Magazine: HOP FARM FESTIVAL (LIVE) by Oliver Gray:

"Uniquely brilliant and worshipped by all, Neil Young’s lengthy set included a pleasing number of favourites like “Needle and the Damage Done” and “Heart of Gold.” One moment, he’s wrenching out astonishing guitar effects, the next he’s sitting at a pipe organ like a cross between Rick Wakeman and the local parish organist. The jaw-dropping climax consisted of a 25 minute version of “No Hidden Path” with an endless coda that you genuinely didn’t want to stop, followed by a truly mind-blowing take on the Beatles’ “A Day In The Life.”

Photo Gallery by Steve Bradley on Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Neil Young will be performing tonight at Hop Farm Country Park, Paddock Wood, Tonbridge, Kent, England.

Got a report? Drop a comment below. No registration required.

Check Sugar Mountain for setlist updates. Also, see Grid Chart on Rust Radio.

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26 Comments:

At 7/06/2008 06:27:00 PM, Anonymous said...: 07-06-2008, Hop Farm Country Park, Paddock Wood, Kent, England
w/ Ben Keith, Rick Rosas, Chad Cromwell, Anthony Crawford and Pegi Young
Love And Only Love / Hey Hey, My My / Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere /
I've Been Waiting For You / Spirit Road / Fuckin' Up / Oh, Lonesome
Me / Mother Earth / The Needle And The Damage Done / Heart Of Gold /
Old Man / Back To The Country / Words / No Hidden Path // A Day In The
Life
At 7/06/2008 07:28:00 PM, Nige said...: Loud, great suit, great set...around two hours long, sounded really good. Plenty of feedback in a very long 'No Hidden Path' to close the set before 'A Day in the Life' brought things to a close. No strings left on Neil's guitar by the time he'd finished with it and stacked it against the amp before leaving the stage.

Before that the band were tight and the songs varied between old and new. I've been lucky enough to see him play before, at Brixton Academy a few years ago (an amazing gig which remains my favourite concert) but despite standing today for 10 hours and getting a thorough drenching I still left this one and went home very happy.
At 7/07/2008 06:22:00 AM, Anonymous said...: What a fantastic day at the Hop farm: the whole bill seemed to worship at the church of Neil Young. Rufus Wainwright saw off the rain with his cover of the Leonard Cohen's (the second greatest Canadian) Hallelulah (spelling?!) then the sun shone on My Morning Jacket, Supergrass and Primal Scream before the sheer volume of Neil's guitar just about fended off the rain clouds until after the curfew. Excellent stuff. Long may you run. with love a broken guitar strings, Toby the Tractor shagger xxx
At 7/07/2008 06:44:00 AM, Anonymous said...: nice review and pics here:

http://blogs.notw.co.uk/showbiz/2008/07/neil-young-prim.html
At 7/07/2008 08:52:00 AM, Pete said...: Well, what a weekend! I'm officially knackered! And very happy!

I worked 'til 6pm on Saturday and then Lynn and I drove down to
Colchester to stay at our daughter, Jennie, and son in law's, Mark,
house overnight, approx 250 miles. They weren't at home at home as
they had gone to Brighton for the weekend.

Refreshed after a night's sleep, we drove over the Dartford Crossing
and met Jennie, Mark and Ethan, their six month old, for about 20
minutes. It was great to see them all but I was really antsy to get
to the gig and everyone could see it!

The drive to the Hop Farm was gloomy as it was strong winds and heavy
rain. I was putting on my best brave face, thinking it was going to
be bloody miserable! When we were about 20 minutes from the site I
got a phone call from my brother Keith and his wife Joyce to ask
where we were ask he had already seen two acts.

We arrived just as the Guillemots came on stage. We walked the arena
having a look around hopelessly failing to dodge the rain that was
coming sideways at us.

Found Keith and Joyce, then Rufus Wainwright came on. He's not
everybody'd cup of tea but I like him, even when I don't like his
songs, he always makes me smile. As he was singing his last song,
Cohen's Hallelujah, the rain stopped and the sun came out, well, a
bit!

Didn't know much about My Morning Jacket but they did a good set. At
this point we started to move towards the stage in preparation fot
Neil. Supregrass were good. I really liked them. Good
entertainment. Primal Scream were interesting. At first they looked
like an attitude band, sort of more attitude than music, but I
changed my mind and thought they were great.

Then Neil. But it had started to rain again! By this time we were 4
people back from the front of the crowd just to the right hand side
of the centre of the stage, a great position as Ben and Rick were
positioned to Neil's left, just as he had them during the Spring tour.

He came out with a great version of Love and only Love, of which
there is a video clip if you follow the link below. Sound isn't
great but the energy is fantastic.

He kept the energy high with Hey, Hey, My, My before moving into a
great version of Everybody Knows.

Not sure about Mother Earth, sort of gave him a breather but was good
link into acoutic music. I thought Unkown Legend was done really
well with great steel from Ben Keith.

Words, coming after the acoustic songs, lacked passion or coherence,
thoough many would argue that this version is true to the original!
My borther Keith commented that he seemed to get stuck in the
extended guitar playing in words.

No Hidden Path = long, very long. Very enjoyable. Great backing
singing by Pegi and Anthony. It helped the song to remain strong as
it teetered to a drawn out finale.

Then a Day in th Life - well, it was amusing and passionate. a clever
way to end the show. I did wonder if Neil knew where Blackburn was
though, or what the House of Lords was?

Then it was over. We had one of those hated waits in the car park.
We didn't even try to move the car for over an hour, then it took us
30 minutes to get off the site and we didn't get home until 5.35am.
Lynn had to be in work for 8am and I had to work from 9am, though
thankfully I was home by 12 noon.

So, what a day. Well worth it.

Got some photos and 1 video clip at
http://picasaweb.google.com/Breezehillpete/8HopFarmFestival

Time for a sleep

Pete
At 7/07/2008 09:30:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Is it really acceptable to be left in a dark car park/field after this great concert. A long day in the rain and a wait of 2 hours to even see any cars moving off the site. Where were all the high-vis Stewards when we needed them. I got home to Brighton at 3.45am shattered. I have seen Neil many times over the last 35 year and he is always brilliant but I bet he would be horrified to know that this is how the organisers treat his loyal fans. I would go anywhere to see and hear Neil and he never ever disappoints me. I wish I could say the same for the organisers of this event. Take your money - then leave you to stew at the end.

Rita - Shakey Fan
At 7/07/2008 11:49:00 AM, jamesayliffe said...: After nearly 40 years of admiration, sometimes for his music, sometimes for his attitude, through periods when I hardly heard him at all, to others when I feasted; at last I've seen and heard Neil Young in the flesh. What was most unusual was that this hero didn’t let me down.

Veteran on of many outdoor events, in recent years much more dance than rock, I was nevertheless trepidatious on arrival, as rain slashed across the site and the wind blew the Guillemots last songs into audio tatters, but Rufus Wainwright soon warmed our hearts, I saw a smile appear on Bettina’s face during ‘Hallelujah,’ and once properly fed and watered I began to feel braver about the weather, just as it decided to be kind anyway. MMJ were entirely new to us, and were as Raymond Chandler might have said, I found them ‘light, pleasant work.’ Not a huge fan of American music of that genre, I was impressed and found my limbs jiggling pleasantly as they caught fire on twin guitars.

Supergrass… ahhh… I always think of good times when I hear Supergrass, and as my old mate Julian said afterwards, ‘they do exactly what they say on the tin,’ The sound could have been better, a lot of cross-phasing as the techies fought the wind, and it could have been louder altogether, but that did not diminish the band’s natural ebullience, and those deliciously hooky tunes of theirs cut through splendidly in the end. Lots of smiles from here on in!

I’ve generally found Bobby Gillespie to be a bit of a wanker, biting the hands of his audience, being stupid, frequently. Rock music needs its iconoclasts, its arsey rebels, and I’ve tolerated him in that way without ever liking him or thinking Primal Scream were more than derivative posers… until yesterday evening. I didn’t undergo an epiphany, but I did find myself enjoying every bloody minute of it, derivative or not. He sang better, and the band played better than I’ve heard on live TV offerings. I was bouncing delightedly by halfway through, and wished they could have gone on much longer by the end. Still think he’s a bit of a wanker, but with 95% more respect than previously.

Neil went for the heart’s main aorta from the first song, and I gave myself up to him completely for the next two hours. Any of us could have written a set list with or without any of the songs he played, but I thought the pacing and the choice was nigh immaculate. Once he had played He Hey My My, one of my top ten revolving Neil Young favourites of all time – Rust Never Sleeps was possibly my most played album of 1980 – he could play whatever he liked, and I’ve have been just as happy. As it happened, every song, familiar and unfamiliar, compounded into a blaze of supreme magnificence. I was glad there were such big gaps in my knowledge of his material, because I love hearing music for the first time, and I certainly did that. If there’s anything I love it’s a good trancey guitar wig-out, and he left me drooling with rapture, punching the air and wailing as he did things to his instrument that can’t have been legal, and went beyond rock music in to pure sonics. Prehistoric feedback dragged from the pit of creation ended the night, Neil’s guitar a naked soul exposed, as it lay against the drum-riser, burnt out but still sputtering in the memory of music; utterly ravished…

Might have got a bit carried away there, but I’m still high from it, and I’m about to have thrash at my acoustic, and sharpen some memories of one the very finest gigs I’ve attended since I bought my first ticket, in 1970.

The car park situation at the end was dire, and I'm sure Vince Power knows it by now. I'll bet that next year - if there is next year (and hoping there will be - nice site, great atmosphere), it will be much improved.
At 7/07/2008 02:27:00 PM, J Phimister said...: I just have to post my thoughts and feelings on the Hop Farm Festival, which took place on July 6 in a lovely corner of the Kent countryside. The bill was solid: Primal Scream, Supergrass, My Morning Jacket, Rufus Wainwright, and my own personal god Neil Young. How could I not attend?

Well, the weather would have been one reason not to. I guess it's all part of the Festival fun, but fuck me did it pour down. And personally, I can think of a number of things that I'd rather do than spend nearly four hours getting soaked. I love rock'n'roll, but that's just taking the piss. And it just wouldn't let up! It was like the meteorological equivalent of Jim Davidson: unpleasant and relentless.

I had arrived early, to make sure I caught every act, and must first tilt my hat at the sterling organisation. A bus picked us up at the station, there was no queue to get in (the perks of getting there early, maybe) and every act was pretty much on time. Plus, the bars were nice, the food varied and interesting, and the sound was great for an outdoor venue. Thumbs up to the organisers!

But, by the time the first act, the pretty decent country-rock quintet Everest, came on, it was pissing down. Despite my hood and umbrella, and their excellent set (well, for a first band on, it was tight, smooth and melodic - can't really ask for more at 12.30 in the afternoon!), it was pretty dispiriting, so I went to take refuge under a tree during the second set, by folky 18-year-old singer Laura Marling.

So, it was on to Guillemots, an atypical "new rock" act, who have somehow managed to take the tired Franz Ferdinand - Razorlight - post-Strokes sound and inject a little originality by adding a sense of fun and wackiness most modern bands desperately lack. I can't say I like all their songs, but singer Fyfe Dangerfield is impossibly charismatic and funny, and they have a Flaming Lips-ish vibe and several lush, over-the-top melodies that worked like clockwork on my senses. Latest single "Get Over It" is a pounding, unrelenting, shouting bit of pure hard-pop energy, but it was the epic duo of "Trains to Brazil" and lengthy closer "Sao Paulo" that really got me going. The music is lush, with gently shifting and subtle rythm patterns, and an overload of bonkers sounds that at times even had me thinking of Roxy Music at their peak. No small compliment. Plus, Fyfe has a cracking voice, a bit like Thom Yorke, only madder and less overblown. "Sao Paulo" was actually stunning, as the band let rip, bringing on a bunch of roadies to bang away on random percussion as Fyfe punished his keyboards and the guitarist wailed away like an indy Kevin Shields. Shame about the rain...

Next up was Rufus Wainwright, after I'd refreshed myself with a surprisingly tasty burger (funny what seems delicious when yer knackered and cold!). He's always reliable to give a good show, even on his own, as was the case here. He played his most distinctive songs ("My phone's on vibrate for you", "The Art teacher", "I'm going to a town"...), in his glorious tenor, which is just as arresting live as on record, adding a little bit of camp glamour to the otherwise muddy event. And, just as he rolled through a gorgeous rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah"... the sun came out!!!!! This prompted whoops of glee from the crowd and added a moment of simple poetry to the day, especially as it remained mostly clear until the end. Thanks Rufus, you bring the sunshine into all our lives!

At this stage, I have to admit to feeling butterflies in my tummy. The reason was that My Morning Jacket were the next act, and I always feel nervous when a band I love is set to perform, especially if it's the first time I'm seeing them. Will they deliver the goods? MMJ are also relatively under-appreciated in the UK, so I was willing them to kick off this crowd's introduction to them with a bang. Thankfully, I needn't have worried! Although I can't say I'm that keen on the material from their latest album Evil Urges (decent enough tunes, but not memorable, and a couple of them were too soul-inflected, never a good idea if you're a white rock band. Only Todd Rundgren and Antony Hegarty can really pull off white boy soul, guys!). But the tunes from Z, my personal fave by these Kentucky-ites, were just stunning when subjected to the live treatment. Here, Jim Jones fabulous high voice soared out on the wings of his superbly crafted melodies, drenched in reverb, but always powerful, whilst around him the whole band blasted out the album's thumping alt-rock with a fervour and energy that only Neil Young would surpass later. The guitars squealed and roared, Jones prowled the stage like Gary Rossington in his prime and the keyboardist ripped weird and wonderful noises out of his machines like Eno in full flight (ok, maybe not quite, but still). "Off the Record", "Anytime" and "Wordless Chorus" deserve classic status, in my books, and these guys proved just why rock remains the ultimate live music with this all-too-short high-octane set. Rock on!

And now, it's confession time. I have to admit that I had actually managed to confuse Supergrass with The Stereophonics! Either way, I had little interest or familiarity with the music that came next (collective gasp from Brit-pop fans, who supposedly look at Supergrass as legends). Instead, I took advantage of their set to catch up with some friends and have a wee and a pizza (not at the same time). I did bop away to "Alright", but, given how static these veterans were, I was quite happy to do so from a distance.

The same kind of goes for Primal Scream. I know they are the darlings of the UK indy scene, but (second confession), I'm not that fussed. They have some good tunes, but few that have ever stood out in my mind, and like their predecessors, I found them rather static. I know that this means they supposedly exude an overwhelming sense of cool-ness, but for me there's a fine line between seeming cool and seeming bored. So, I was happy to focus most of my attention on the vodka jelly shots a charming chap was selling at 5 for £5. If the band I'm watching seems bored, it tends to make me feel bored as well. Having said that, the rest of the audience was loving it, which meant for a great atmosphere, and I was very pleased to head towards the front of the crowd for "Rocks" and "Movin' on Up", which were actually better live than in the studio, and really had everyone jumping. Again, I won't be listening to either track at home, but I did enjoy hearing them belt out from the stage to the roars of thousands of adoring fans.

And so onto the big one. The Loner. Shakey. The Godfather of Grunge. Again, I could feel the butterflies. How would my idol hold up to the scrutiny of this youthful (ok, there were some oldies in there, but more than a few scrawny indy kids too) crowd, many of whom I suspected were mainly there for Primal Scream? The massive crush to get to the front suggested at least that he had a loyal following in there, and of course, I needn't have worried.

To put it succinctly: Neil. Young. Fucking. Rocks. I am beginning to think there is no-one quite like him out there. I'm pretty sure they must have been able to hear this set in Calais! He kicked off with a beyond-grungy version of "Love and only love" and never looked back. Old Black, his trusty Gibson Les Paul screamed, roared, squealed, moaned and howled over nearly ten minutes as the old fucker stamped around the stage, his face screwed up in an expression of sheer, what? Anger, hurt, delight? It's hard to tell with old craggly-face, and it doesn't matter. What matters is that no one, not Elton, Macca, Dylan or Prince, plays with such fire and rage in their bellies as Young. And this was just the first song!

The stage set up, identical to the one from his Hammersmith Apollo show of a few months ago, had me wondering if I was going to get the same set. Again, why was I worrying? Have I no faith in the man? After all these years? What a cock! Some songs were the same, but there were enough surprises and jolts to have me grinning like a teenager whose just got laid for the first time and is about to tell his mates. "My My, Hey Hey" came next, and, if possible, things got louder. The feedback roared out of the speakers like a monstrous sonic kraken (a pretentious metaphor, I'm aware, but sod it), and I was half expecting earthquake reports this morning. These were My Bloody Valentine-worthy noise levels. We then got the first surprise in "I've Been Waiting For You", a song that goes back 40-odd years and still sounds like it could have been written by, oh, My Morning Jacket. Or Guillemots. Or fucking Primal Scream! Then came "Spirit Road", which continues to grow on me, especially when watching Neil, all of 62 years old, jumping up and down like Pete Townsend circa 1978. I can't enumerate all the delights. We had pure grunge, of Nirvana or Dinosaur Jr. intensity (only better than both) with "Fuckin' Up", a superb acoustic set (maybe slightly more predictable - "Old Man" and "Heart of Gold" are the only songs I believe he has played in all three gigs of his I've seen), and then a heart-rending finale.

I''ve seen Neil three times. Each time I've cried. And I was at it again as the thundering riff of "Words" rang out across the crowd. Who were enthralled - talk about blowing away the competition! I could actually see several jaded twenty-somethings turn and gaze goggle-eyed at their friends, stunned by the intensity and power of this old fogey and his equally ageing mates. They were like a gang, and his guitar was the gang-leader, exhorting its cohorts with each screaming solo or driving riff. And, y'know, it may not be what it was in 71, but Neil's voice still rings out strong and true, and "Words" was the perfect demonstration. It stretched out for over ten minutes, but even that didn't compare to what came next: his rousing new set-closer, "No Hidden Path", easily the stand-out track of Chrome Dreams II and of his live show. It just goes on forever! Each time you think the latest solo is the last one he suddenly leaps back for more, dragging more and more notes and noises from his protesting axe. At the end, it had become a raging, boiling mass of feedback and squalls as Neil raged, "Ocean skies/Sea of Blue/Let the sand wash over you" over and over as the rain and wind battered at the stage and us poor souls, who couldn't give a care in the world, such was the trance he had us in. And yes, the tears flowed down my cheeks as the joy gripped my heart and I was yet again reminded of why Neil Young is the most important living music artist today.

His encore song, a ragged version of The Beatles' classic "A Day in the Life" that out-did the original in terms of sheer intensity and power, and even managed to be more psychedelic, as Young once again abused poor Old Black, and more and more twisted, elegiac notes sounded out across the Kentish valleys. He ended up ripping the strings off the neck in a possessed rage and pounding the poor axe on the floor to drag out even more feedback (as guitar tech Larry Cragg looked on in obvious horror), before storming off with nary a glance at either his beleaguered (but ecstatic) audience or his bandmates. Punk still lives! It's 62 years old and it's name is Neil fucking Young!

Afterwards, I wandered in a daze for a few minutes, still stunned, still overjoyed. Then it was time to pile into coaches and head back to London and normality. As we cruised past dark fields and empty office buildings, I put my iPod on and tuned into "Down by the River". To keep the dream alive a bit longer. Seeing a true rock legend, an icon, a legend, a hero, will do that for you. You just don't want it to end. Despite the ringing in your ears...
At 7/07/2008 02:43:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Neil Young was awesome. But No Hidden Path at 25 mins long is just over indulgence regardless of how great the guitar work was. Had a great day and would do it all again.
At 7/07/2008 02:49:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Dear J Phimister,
Thanks for the very best review on a NY 2008 summer tour concert! Great and wonderful words.
Only one note: Neil Young is the most important living music artist today. I personally would leave the word "music" out. Neil Young is the most important living artist today. B.S.M.
At 7/07/2008 04:33:00 PM, Anonymous said...: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/trevorfcarpenter/HopFarmFestivalNeilYoungEtc2008
At 7/07/2008 05:12:00 PM, Steve Bradley said...: http://rustneversleeps.org/2008/07/07/93/

My review of Hop Farm can be found at the above link.

Pete, I was the guy in the blue bandana you and your brother spoke to in the crowd. It was my first Neil gig and it blew me away!
At 7/07/2008 08:45:00 PM, Steve Bradley said...: Hey thanks for the link to my review!

I've put a permalink to this site on mine.

Cheers
At 7/08/2008 02:41:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Supergrass, MMJ and Neil Young in one day sounds amaazing to me. One of the best British bands of recent years, one of the current best American bands and a living legend! I envy anyone that went to this.

Not a huge Primal Scream fan but at least you get to see the legend that is Mani.
At 7/08/2008 03:36:00 AM, Pete said...: Steve, Nice to catch up with you again! I trawled through my photos and saw that you are in one of the crowd shots.
Glad that you had a great time. Doesn't matter whether it's you first time or your xxxth, you know that you're going to have a ball.

Pete
At 7/08/2008 05:29:00 AM, clanger said...: What a brilliant concert 3rd time I have seen Neil 1st time with CSN at Wembley Stadium in 74 (also brilliant) 2nd time in Finsbury Park a few years ago it rained that day as well.

I was at friends a few miles away watching the GP & the 1st session of the tennis (friends wife wanted to watch tennis & would give us alift after it had finished but she relented when they went off for the 1st rain break) thank goodness we didn't wait till it finished we would have missed a good part of Neils set.

My only complaint to Neil was not playing either Like a Hurricane or Pocahuntus especialy as she is buried in Gravesend just a few miles up the road.

Congratulations to Vince Power for organising the day & keeping the prices to a low level only £5 for a 40 page programme & burgers from only £3.50.

I sympathise with the people held up for hours in the car park but having spent many hours getting out of Knebworth many years ago, it was nice of my friends wife to come & pick us about a mile or so from the site so I was home before midnight.
At 7/08/2008 02:17:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Wonderful concert by Neil. A piledriving start with Love and Only Love, the fans went into ecstasy with Hey Hey My My. The Harvest / Harvest Moon songs - Heart of Gold, Old Man, Unknown Legend, Needle and the Damage Done - were captivating. My personal highlight was Words, it just rolled along, was he playing a Gretsch? I saw him at Hammersmith Odeon in March which was also brilliant, but this concert had more energy and raw power. I can't wait for him to come to the UK again!
At 7/08/2008 04:57:00 PM, Steve Bradley said...: All my photos from Hop farm can be seen at http://s153.photobucket.com/albums/s226/sjb512/Hop%20Farm%202008/
Hope you like them!
At 7/08/2008 04:58:00 PM, Anonymous said...: There is a 6 minute clip of the opener, Love and Only Love from Malahide on Youtube that just rips ... wow ... I'm completely blown away... Neil doesn't even approach the microphone for 5 minutes at the start just jammin' like only Neil can jam ... mean, nasty riffs ... just awesome, beyond words really ... what a cool opener. The clip fades after one verse and a little more jammin .. then text comes across the screen saying that the song went on for another 9 minutes ... just unreal... Neil is on another level, completely on top of his game, pulling out timeless classics out of his vast canon of songs and rippin them like nobody's business ... friends, we must treasure these shows, treasure Neil, savor every note...
At 7/08/2008 07:43:00 PM, Anonymous said...: "But No Hidden Path at 25 mins long is just over indulgence regardless of how great the guitar work was."

Bullshit. That's all I have to say. Bullshit.
At 7/09/2008 01:41:00 PM, Anonymous said...: A blistering show that succeeding in scaring off (most) of the weather. Great enthusiastic and appropriately respectful audience only marred by proximity to american screaming "weeeeeeeeoooooo" continually for two-thirds of it -there's always one. Neil started off his set the way most acts finish theirs. What a god.

Hot Tip in case he plays at Hop Farm again: Don't park in the car park, it's more pleasant walking a bit than waiting for ages.
At 7/09/2008 07:03:00 PM, Babararacucudada said...: You can catch my comments on my blog:

http://babararacucudada.blogspot.com/

I went on even longer than j phimister!!

There's a You Tube mini gig there too.

A wonderful day. A wonderful gig.

Nobody does it better.

In fact nobody else does it at all.
At 7/10/2008 03:04:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Another great Neil show - I was hoping for the odd surprise but the set was near enough like the Dublin show a week earlier.

Pleased to see Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere for the first time though. It was an interesting Neil show as I'm sure a good deal of the crowd weren't just there to see Neil.

There was a real mix of people there & I wondered what they would think of a full on Neil especially come no hidden path time.

The other bands there were mostly great - I liked Everest and the Guillents had their moments. I think with Rufus Wainwright you either love him or hate him. My mate Dave loved his set, I wasn't too keen but I have to admit his version of Hallelujah was special.

My Morning Jacket were good, even brilliant in places (the last couple of Neil-esque songs). Supergrass were good but I was disappointed with Primal Scream. They weren't quite bad as Soundgarden at Reading '95 though - I remember they played for what seemed like a fortnight when everyone was just waiting for Neil next - it was then a one and a half wait for Neil after a long weekend!

The change between PS & Neil was an hour I seem to remember which I expected - I'm sure some people were bemused watching though - how mny roadies does it take to move the Indian to the front of the stage?

It was all worth it as Neil hit the stage - he seemed more chatty than at Dublin and riped through the rockers early on - a shorter Love & Only Love to start with and a great I've Been Waiting For You. We were about 10 or 12 rows back and had been there or thereabouts most of the day.

I knew the set wouldn't be too long with it being a full 9 band day but we can't complain with 2 hours. I know he doesn't do 'the hits' all the way through a gig but I thought he got this set list spot on - a few rockers early on which totally dwarfed anything else the other bands did & the chlled out later section. He really did look diffeent class on that stage. And what else would a festival punter want - Old Man, Heart of Gold & Needle.

As I said, not everyone was there for Neil (and there was a lot of people there!) but he seemed to go down a storm. I can see his back catelogue been plundered in South East England this week - which will top up his pension fund and hopefully get him to come back soon.

Agree about the organisation and whilst the day seemed a success how bad was the carpark!

There's being a few times now where we have been stranded at Neil gigs but I suppose that is karma for seeing such great shows. Stuck in the taxi rank in Malahide for an eternity, the longest train ride ever (via a coach half way through)on the way back from Finsbury Park, the walking around aimlessly in London getting off the wrong underground station after Brixton Academy, searching for the one remaining open kebab shop after Edinburgh etc.

Anyway cheers Neil - hope its not the last chance we get to see him in the UK.

Des.
At 7/11/2008 07:33:00 PM, Geoff Hands said...: Re: "But No Hidden Path at 25 mins long is just over indulgence regardless of how great the guitar work was."
No way was this "over indulgence" -you cannot have too much of a good thing! Another 10 minutes would have been fine by me. Once you are into a musical composition like this, time perception changes.
At 7/13/2008 10:28:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Brief review here:
http://amplifiermagazine.com/reviews/live/hop_farm_festival_live.php
At 8/01/2008 09:09:00 AM, Anonymous said...: I left my camera battery in the car. Has anybody got any photos as a momento of the great gig.