Watch Neil Young’s 1st Concert Performance Since 2019 At Stephen Stills’ Autism Speaks Benefit

Former Buffalo Springfield and CSNY bandmates Neil Young and Stephen Stills performed together on Saturday at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles as part of the Autism Speaks Light Up The Blues Concert. The all-star benefit hosted by Stills and his wife Kristen Stills was Young’s first concert performance since Farm Aid 2019.

Saturday’s benefit lineup also included Willie Nelson, Lukas Nelson + POTR, Sharon Van Etten and others. Light Up The Blues returned for its sixth installment after a three-year, pandemic-forced hiatus.

Young’s performance followed his appearance in February at an anti-logging rally in his native Canada that saw him play a short solo acoustic set at the United For Old-Growth event held outside the British Columbia Legislature Building on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The 77-year-old, twice-inducted Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer cited feeling unsafe due to the pandemic when canceled his appearance at Farm Aid 2022.

Young’s Light Up The Blues set began with solo acoustic offerings of “From Hank To Hendrix” and “Comes A Time.” Young was then joined by members of Promise Of The Real – bassist Corey McCormick, drummer Anthony Logerfo, percussionist Tato Melgar and keyboardist Logan Metz — as well as Chris Stills and a trio of backing vocalists for “Heart Of Gold.”

Stephen Stills then came onstage for the CSNY classic “Helpless.” A pair of Buffalo Springfield songs followed, “On The Way Home” and “Everybody’s Wrong,” the latter having not been played live by Young since his Buffalo Springfield days. Young’s “Human Highway” came next, with the rest of the set filled in with Buffalo Springfield favorites, “For What It’s Worth,” “Bluebird” and “Mr. Soul.” Guitarist Steve Postell came out for “Bluebird” and Joe Walsh played guitar on “Mr. Soul.”

“Long May You Run,” the title track to Young and Stills’ 1976 collaborative album, was selected for the encore. View audience-shared videos of Saturday’s collaborations below: