Neil Young & Promise Of The Real Treat Eugene To Dream Setlist

With each passing show on the Rebel Content Tour, Neil Young seems to dig deeper into his massive repertoire for gems to play with Promise Of The Real. Last night’s show at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Oregon featured three songs that hadn’t been performed at any of the tour’s first 17 shows including the second-ever performance of a 40-year-old tune.

Neil opened the show with five solo performances. Each stop on the tour has started off with “After The Gold Rush” and “Heart Of Gold,” but last night Young showed this wouldn’t be a typical show early on by subbing “My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)” for “Heart Of Gold.” The Rust Never Sleeps classic had been on the shelf since 2011 until Thursday night. “Helpless” then emerged for just the fourth time this tour.

Rarities kept coming once Promise Of The Real joined the guitarist for the electrified portion of the evening. “September Song” made its third appearance of the tour as did “Alabama,” while “Human Highway” emerged for just the second time on the run. Following “Everybody Knows This Is Nowwhere,” Young and Promise Of The Real kicked into the tour debut of “Are You Ready For The Country?” While Neil has played the Harvest tune at a number of solo shows in recent years, last night marked the first electric “Are You Ready For The Country” since 2009. The fun continued with the tour’s third “Roll Another Number” and second “Powderfinger” before “Love And Only Love” brought the main set to a close.

As if diehards weren’t satiated enough by the main set, Neil Young & Promise Of The Real saved their biggest surprise for last. Thursday’s encore consisted of just one lone song – “Vampire Blues.” Young recorded “Vampire Blues” for 1974’s On The Beach during a period of time he was using “Honey Slides” (a mixture of marijuana and honey) regularly. Neil played “Vampire Blues” in public once that year and never again until last night according to fan site Sugar Mountain. As we say around here, now THAT’S a bust out.

Neil Young and Promise Of The Real continue the tour tomorrow night in Santa Barbara.

Watch the first video of “My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)” to surface thanks to Flaradgirl:

Setlist (via Sugar Mountain)

Set: After The Gold Rush / My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue) / Helpless / Old Man / Mother Earth (Natural Anthem) / Out On The Weekend / Human Highway / Unknown Legend / Wolf Moon / Words / Alabama / Walk On / September Song / A Rock Star Bucks A Coffee Shop / People Want To Hear About Love / Big Box / Monsanto Years / Down By The River / Workin’ Man / Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere / Are You Ready For The Country? / Roll Another Number / Powderfinger / Love And Only Love

Encore: Vampire Blues