Neil Young & Crazy Horse Perform 1st Show Together Since 2014

Days after announcing their return, Neil Young & Crazy Horse reunited for a performance last night at the Warnors Theatre in Fresno, California. The concert was the first time Neil Young and his longtime backing group had played together since July 2014.

Young and a Crazy Horse lineup of bassist Billy Talbot, drummer Ralph Molina and guitarist Nils Lofgren began Tuesday’s show with the opening track from their 1996 album Broken Arrow, “Big Time,” which hadn’t been performed live by Young since 2001. The quartet, performing with “no rehearsals,” then worked up renditions of “Country Home,” “Don’t Cry No Tears” and the warmly received “Winterlong.”

After the first Young performance of “World On A String” since 2009, the guitarist led the group through his first live performance of “Scattered (Let’s Think About Livin’)” since 1996. Next came a defiant romp through “Fuckin’ Up” and the first time Young has played “Too Far Gone” since 2008.

Young switched to acoustic guitar for a portion the main set and Lofgren occasionally played piano, such as on a tender offering of “Only Love Can Break Your Heart.” That classic ballad was followed by a thunderous “Cinnamon Girl.” Young instructed the house lights to be darkened as the foursome progressed through a menacing rendition of “Cortez The Killer.”

An uplifting “Walk On” was selected after the lengthy “Cortez.” A fiery “Like A Hurricane” with Lofgren on organ and a heartfelt “Mansion On The Hill” closed out the first NYCH show in nearly four years. The foursome came back to the stage to encore with the twangy favorite “Roll Another Number (For The Road).”

Neil Young & Crazy Horse will play the Warnors Theatre tonight and tomorrow night. They then head to The Fox Theater in Bakersfield, California for shows on Saturday and Sunday. View audience-shot video highlights from Tuesday’s concert below:

[Big Time | Captured by SSTLSD]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCf3qj4gVe8

[Only Love Can Break Your Heart | Captured by SSTLSD]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLmnydVz8QA

[World On A String | Captured by Ruby Inthedust]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJO9GlAiLOQ

[Cinnamon Girl | Captured by Ruby Inthedust]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gD9nWhli5M

[Cortez The Killer | Captured by Ruby Inthedust]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCrLV1qqy5I