gdt (03/14/83)
Finally decided to post this.
Started out with "Comes A Time." Album version all the way.
Nice rendition of "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere."
Did "Don't Let it Bring You Down" too early in the evening. It was
done too quickly and I was very disappointed with his effort on this
song.
Great job on "Helpless." Played a gigantic grand piano. I kept waiting
for Joni to join in (ala the Last Waltz).
"Old Man" very well done. Assisted by someone playing a panjo and
steel guitar.
Super job on "Down By the River."
Played 3 new songs: One a bar-time piano cut telling us about how
a man needs a woman; a panjo tune where he sang about California;
and a second panjo song in which he sang about wanting to be a cowboy.
"Heart of Gold" was played. He joked about how the song really
appealed to the masses and said he enjoyed playing it on the tour.
Ended the first set with a fantastic version of "Don't Be Denied."
I thought this was his best effort of the evening.
Second set started out with: "Pocohantus (sp)" and "Sail Away." Both
sounded just like the album cuts. He did a nice acoustical version of
"Powderfinger." Then, it was "Ohio" followed by "After the Gold Rush."
Two outstanding efforts. "Ohio" was done with a screen background where
actual Kent State footage was shown. Quite moving. "After the Gold Rush"
is a classic. Now would have been a great time for "Don't Let it Bring
You Down" or some other somber tune ("Damage Done","I am a Child",
"Oh Lonesome Me", "Journey Thru the Past", or "The Bridge"),
but, in turn, he did "Transformer Man" off of the Trans album.
That was followed by "Hey, Hey, My, My" rock 'n roll will never die.
Other Trans cuts were: "Mr. Soul" and the last song of the evening
"Computer Age." He did 2 encores: "Sugar Mountain" and "Computer Age."
Neil was chatty and relaxed. He had a TV crew with him and they
interviewed some students and a couple of road hands. One road hand
showed off one of Neil's guitars - the other showed and explained
some of Neil's new electronical gadgetry.
During the intermission, Neil himself gave in to a small interview.
This was show 34 of the tour. Neil commented that of all the places he
has been, the US of A was the most beautiful. I was shocked at how
talkative he was. He seemed very relaxed and put on a super show.