Now 78 years old, Neil Young is still breaking new ground: On Saturday, the iconic singer-songwriter debuted a new live band named The Chrome Hearts, at this years Farm Aid event. The abridged festival set in Saratoga Springs, NY come’s just three months after Young had abruptly scrapped his summer tour with long time backing band Crazy Horse due to illness within the band.
The Chrome Hearts band members include organist Spooner Oldham (Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section), guitarist Micah Nelson (Particle Kid), and Promise of the Real‘s Corey McCormick on bass and Anthony LoGerfo on drums.
Whereas Crazy Horse was heralded for high-octane, heavily distorted concerts with lengthy improv-friendly versions of classic songs, the first gig by The Chrome Hearts was a much more subdued and sentimental performance. “This is something we can to help all the farmers,” Young told the crowd of Farm Aid. “When the earth is solid and the earth is healthy, the farmers can really do their thing. Not the corporate framers. Not the factory farmers. Not the farmers with the big offices. The farmers, the real American farmers, all kinds of people on the earth together, all Americans, working together.”
Young kicked off his 40-minute, eight-song set with a trio of “Harvest” tracks: “From Hank to Hendrix”, “Harvest Moon”, and “Unknown Legend”. Backed by an acoustic guitar, Young’s quivering vocals were more of a vocal point than at his summer concerts with Crazy Horse. The capabilities of his backing band remained a constant, however, as The Chrome Hearts deftly maneuverered the delicate compositions, contrasting to Crazy Horse’s power force the new band is tight, Neil’s voice is clear, great harmonies.
Moving to the piano, Young un-shelved “Journey Through the Past” from 1973’s “Time Fades Away“ for the first time since January 31st, 2019, . The at-times cantankerous Godfather of Grunge then engaged in a bit of crowd work, introducing the next number by asking the crowd what their favourite planet is ahead of “Love Earth”. Micah Nelson was given the space to shine on slide guitar on a rare full-band “Heart of Gold” before Neil finally brought out his “Old Black” Les Paul electric guitar.
The last two songs of the set took up a combined 12 minutes. First, Young cranked up the volume for “Homegrown”. The groovy title track to Young’s “lost” 1975 studio album again hit at the theme of the agricultural benefit concert while also letting out a bit of the leash for The Chrome Hearts to display their rock n’ roll chops. Ending the set with a blazing “Powderfinger”, Young’s distorted guitar playing was the star as he fired off a couple biting solos.
The contrast between Crazy Horse and The Chrome Hearts was perhaps most noticeable here, where The Chrome Hearts remained on the tracks and avoided the delightful musical cacophony of their predecessor. In short, The Chrome Hearts kept it straight while Young went off into the overdrive-laden ether, whereas Crazy Horse would follow him down the distorted highway.
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