Festivals 2009 (Apocalypse Sound AS179)
Glastonbury Festival, Pyramid Stage, Worthy Farm, Pilton, England – June 26th, 2009: The Needle And The Damage Done, Words, Get Behind The Wheel, Rockin’ In The Free World, A Day In The Life
Hard Rock Calling Festival, Hyde Park, London, England – June 27th, 2009: Mother Earth, Down By The River.
Big Day Out Festival, Olympic Park Showgrounds, Sydney, Australia – January 23rd, 2009: The Needle And The Damage Done
Bonus Feature: Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Phoenix Festival, Long Marston Airfield, Stratford-upon-Avon, England – July 19th, 1996: Hey Hey My My, Heart Of Gold, Cinnamon Girl, Like A Hurricane
Festivals 2009 collects together pro-shot footage of three of Neil Young’s festival appearances in 2009. Apocalypse Sound use excellent visuals taken from the telecasts themselves. The first part is taken from the Glastonbury Festival on July 26th. Young was the headliner of the first night and played his set in the huge pyramid with the laser shooting out of the top.
He played his full setlist but the telecast has only a small fraction of the set. And it’s presented out of order. “Needle And The Damage Done” was played eighth but leads off here and features Young playing solo on stage. The excellent song “Words” was played earlier than “Needle” but in the telecast is second. The full ten minutes of this epic minor masterpiece is presented too.
The tape continues with the final three songs of the night. “Get Behind The Wheel” and “Rockin’ In The Real World” were the final two songs of the set and “A Day In The Life” is the encore.
The second chapter presents two songs from the following night. Young headlined the first night of the Hard Rock Festival in Hyde Park and played the full set. The telecast has only two songs. The visuals are excellent quality, but it is a shame the encore wasn’t telecast. That is when Paul McCartney joined Young on stage for his cover of the Beatles’ “A Day In The Life.”
Only one song from the Big Day Out Festival is available, “Needle And The Damage Done.” The bonus footage is taken from the Phoenix Festival on July 19th, 1996. Four songs are presented of Young playing with Crazy Horse. The quality is again excellent and it’s and seeing Young thirteen years younger is a startling contrast to the new footage. Overall this is a good collection of documents.
