Neil Young has announced a tour—his first since 2019. Earlier this week, Young told paid subscribers of Neil Young Archives that the solo acoustic shows will feature songs that he’s never performed live before. Check out the tour dates, featuring special guest Chris Pierce, below.
“I don’t want to come back and do the same songs again,” Young said (according to Rolling Stone). “I’ll feel like I was on some sort of carnival ride. I’d rather be doing these others songs I haven’t done…. I won’t have to compare how I’m doing ‘Heart of Gold’ to [how I played it in] 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, 2020.”
Among the songs Young mentioned as part of the new setlist are the Pearl Jam collaboration “Song X” from 1995’s Mirror Ball, “Prime of Life” from 1994’s Sleeps With Angels, and the Trans outtake “If You Got Love.”
Young began performing at one-off appearances earlier this year, including a rally for old-growth trees and at a Willie Nelson tribute show. In 2021 and 2022, he pulled out of Farm Aid due to concerns over the pandemic. “I am not ready for that yet. I don’t think it is safe in the pandemic,” he wrote, adding, “I miss it very much.”
In March, Young wrote a post critical of Ticketmaster and the contemporary touring industry. “It’s over. The old days are gone,” the musician wrote. “I get letters blaming me for $3,000.00 tickets for a benefit I am doing. That money does not go to me or the benefit. Artists have to worry about ripped off fans blaming them for Ticketmaster add-ons and scalpers. Concert tours are no longer fun. Concert tours not what they were.”
Young’s criticism of Ticketmaster followed his recent boycott of Spotify and his apparent subtweet of Beck’s NFL-sponsored (and Grammy-nominated) cover of “Old Man.”
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Neil Young:
07-01 Los Angeles, CA – John Anson Ford
07-02 Los Angeles, CA – John Anson Ford
07-04 Los Angeles, CA – John Anson Ford
07-05 Los Angeles, CA – John Anson Ford
07-07 Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl
07-08 Paso Robles, CA – Vina Robles Amphitheatre
07-11 San Diego, CA – The Shell
07-13 Los Angeles, CA – The Greek Theatre
07-15 Berkeley, CA – The Greek
07-17 Bend, OR – Hayden Homes Amphitheater
07-18 Ridgefield, WA – RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater
07-20 Auburn, WA – White River Amphitheatre
07-23 Napa, CA – Oxbow RiverStage
