Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Southern man don't want him around...


...according to Lynyrd Skynyrd, but Neil Young was more then welcome in Bergen. As a last minute decision, I went to see this Mexico North rocker last night. Not a huge fan of mr. Young, but he has some good tunes and I also want to check out Koengen as a concert arena, so I figured it was worth the ticket.

Mr. Young put on a really good show. For most part of the show, it was electric fueled rock'n'roll, but he had an acoustic session (sometimes solo) in the middel of the show, including some of his classic songs like Golden Heart, Old Man and Needle And The Damage Done. The dude really knows how to carry these acoustic numbers and the audience was really into it, which can be really tough to pull off live between more loud electric numbers. Of the electric numbers, Hey Hey, My My was the second he played, and he had the audience in his pocket from that moment onwards. Cinnamon Girl was also a highlight, but I must admit that I'm a sucker for Rocking In The Free World. Real good song, singalong chorus and powerchords, everthing a real rock song should have. And old Neil and his band really put some energy into this song. All in all, a great way of spending an evening. A short clip of Hey Hey, My My and a review of the concert can be found on BT.

As for the venue, Koengen had a decent sound for an outdoor venue. Yes, it's never going to be really great sound outdoor, but I've seen worse and Valle Hovin got nothing on Koengen. Thou I have to admit, Dio had better sound when I saw them earlier this year on Kopervikfesivalen. Also, last week the weather forcast said an evening in rain, but even if we had rain in the morning, the sky was without a cloud trough-out the concert, and it was even warm enough to be outside in the evening without a jacket. The rain only started when I drove back home. God loves me.

13 comments:

Wilhelm said...

How much did ya have to shell out to see Neil Young?

And it's awesome that Bergen has got a sweet outdoors concert spot in Koengen. The sound at Lerkendal was OK, but I have no love for the entering and leaving of soccer stadium thing. Too much like arriving on an international flight at Dulles...

Anders said...

How much did ya have to shell out to see Neil Young?

Just over 600NOK. 625 or 655, including fees, if I remember correctly. But then again, having paid that, you're allowed to buy beer at a 150 NOK per liters once inside.

I have no love for the entering and leaving of soccer stadium thing

Yeah, they had search thingy at Koengen too. But to be fair, they only checked for bottles and umbrellas at Koengen. Which meant, I just opened my jacket and the guards just felt outside my jacket pockets. So, not too intrusive, not the standard Gardermoen ball-juggling act.

But what bothers me with this outdoor events, is the fact that you have to go to one stand and buy a ticket for drinks, and then to another stand to hand in the ticket in exchange for a drink. What's up with that? Two lines to get one drink? And, since the tickets aren't valid after the event, you basically running the risk of getting stuck with some useless tickets. Just another way of sucking the money out of you.

So, you didn't get my hint from last night, now did you?

Wilhelm said...

But then again, having paid that, you're allowed to buy beer at a 150 NOK per liters once inside.

..so everything's ok, then

So, you didn't get my hint from last night, now did you?

Didn't see it 'til this morning, I think

Wilhelm said...

Btw; have you peeped out the G3 version of Rockin' In The Free World, with Satch, Vai and Yngwie?

Anders said...

No, I have not. Got a U+tube link or something?

Anders said...

Need some more balls.
Specifically, it lacked some of the crude rawness that Neil Young puts into it. This was too clean for me.

Anders said...

G3 are better on the Hendrix stuff.

Wilhelm said...

Not being Neil Young fan, I've gotta admit that I much prefer a version like this, where awesome instrumentalists just let it rip over the basic chord progression.

No offense to a rock legend, but the lyrics in this song appear kinda' rudimentary, like:

There's a party in the street
People dancing to the beat
That guy's clapping with his feet
Others gettin' themselves a treat
This rhyme is pretty neat
And a burger contains meat

..know what I mean?

Anders said...

Not being Neil Young fan..

Gosh, that's a shock. What's next. You not being a Kelly Joe Phelps fan? You not being an Italian food fan? You not being a sports fan?

Actually, during the first electric solo from mr. Young, my first thought was "Hey, this is something Wilhelm would hate". Definitely not your cup of tea, I guess.

prefer a version like this, awesome instrumentalists just let it rip

Oh, another shocker. What's next; you prefer your underwear dry?

Well, to be fair, I do enjoy some technical brilliant players (Joe Satriani, Paco de Lucia, Eric Clapton), but sometimes a song just calls out to be played rough, mean and slightly sloppy. Think RL Burnside here.

Re the lyrics: You should start writing more songs... LOL
;-)

Wilhelm said...

Actually, during the first electric solo from mr. Young, my first thought was "Hey, this is something Wilhelm would hate".

Considering your record collection, that must happen to you a lot.

Well, to be fair, I do enjoy some technical brilliant players (Joe Satriani, Paco de Lucia, Eric Clapton), but sometimes a song just calls out to be played rough, mean and slightly sloppy. Think RL Burnside here.

..you mean the dude who had "A Ass Pocket Of Whiskey"? Man did his playing reek, brother...

So you want more lyrics, eh?

"Rollin' down the block in my cheap-ass Hyundai.....

Anders said...

Considering your record collection, that must happen to you a lot.

LOL.
No, I just feel sorry for you, missing out on all the good music...

..you mean the dude who had "A Ass Pocket Of Whiskey"? Man did his playing reek, brother...

And you reek what you sow... ;-)
But he sho' nuff knew how to pick his titles, you'll have to give him that.

"Rollin' down the block in my cheap-ass Hyundai.....

...I had a bluesman in the back and a beautician at the wheel. We were going downtown in the middle of the night, we're laughing and I'm joking and we're feelin' alright.

Or something like that? ;-)
;-)

Wilhelm said...

...you sho' is bad, brah. And nationwide

Wilhelm said...

No, I just feel sorry for you, missing out on all the good music...

Are you saying you've got a second record collection?