British Summer season Time: Neil Younger and the Chrome Hearts
Hyde Park, London
eleventh July 2025
Neil Younger returns to Hyde Park with a efficiency that’s equal elements blistering and transferring. Elliott Simpson opinions.
Pushing eighty, Neil Younger nonetheless generates his justifiable share of headlines. Within the build-up to his Glastonbury efficiency final month, he managed to stumble right into a beef not solely with the BBC – threatening to tug out until his set was stored off iPlayer – but in addition present pop it-girl Charli XCX, who performed reverse him on the Different Stage. In some ways, these small tiffs feed into the general public picture Younger has maintained for the previous few a long time: the cantankerous elder statesman of rock. All the time outspoken, and at all times prepared to ruffle some feathers – even when these feathers belong to his most devoted followers.
And although the beefs and information headlines are enjoyable, additionally they draw consideration away from the rationale Neil Younger grew to become such a monumental determine within the first place: the songs. Not solely is he one of many biggest songwriters of all time, but in addition one of many biggest guitarists. And, in its greatest moments, his efficiency at Hyde Park italicised these info. If Neil Younger appeared misplaced in a post-Brat Summer season Glastonbury, then that’s as a result of his greatest songs exist outdoors of time. They really feel like they’ve at all times existed.
The afternoon build-up to that headline set was stuffed with performances from smaller acts, resembling the superb Naimi Bock, in addition to two songwriters who rose to prominence concurrently Neil Younger: Van Morrison and Cat Stevens. Each artists at the moment are fifty years faraway from their industrial peak, however have principally managed to age gracefully into their heritage act period. Cat Stevens adopted the persona of a playful grandfather on stage, grinning on the viewers and inspiring hearty sing-alongs. Although the dynamic together with his band felt a little bit stilted at occasions – and some songs, resembling If You Need To Sing Out, Sing Out, veered too near youngsters’s entertainer territory – his set was the best balm for the thirty-degree warmth. His barely wizened voice added some extra melancholy to his greatest songs. Father and Son, already extremely transferring in its authentic kind, felt a lot heavier coming from a seventy-something Cat Stevens.
The identical could be mentioned of the highlights from Neil Younger’s set, such because the opening acoustic dirge of Ambulance Blues. A real deep lower, the music set the tone for the present, signalling that it wouldn’t simply be a biggest hits run-through, that an viewers anticipating Coronary heart of Gold would stroll away dissatisfied. For dedicated attendees, although, this was an excellent commerce. Ambulance Blues stands as certainly one of Younger’s most interesting songs: a sprawling meditation on the dying of the sixties that has solely collected extra emotional heft over time. The band adopted it up by tearing into Cowgirl within the Sand, a primitive rocker from the early days of Loopy Horse. Facet by aspect, these opening songs acted as an ideal showcase of Neil’s twin abilities: wordsmith and electrical guitar shredder.
A lot of the remaining set leaned on the latter of those abilities, exploring the heavier, looser aspect of Neil Younger’s again catalogue. Fuckin’ Up stays a enjoyable, if blunt instrument, with its yell-along refrain and chugging chords, whereas the brooding rigidity of Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black) had the entire crowd bashing their heads alongside. The temper solely dipped in a number of locations, primarily when the band waded into newer materials, with the viewers viewing the eleven-minute Solar Inexperienced as little greater than a possibility to get one other beer. The music’s broad, environmental lyrics lent it a bland preachiness that stood out towards extra basic materials. Although Neil Younger’s activism has at all times been an enormous facet of his music, nobody would argue that he’s at his greatest when he delves into extra private territory.
Regardless of his status as a guitar shredder, probably the most affecting moments of the set got here when Neil stripped issues down. The one-two punch of The Needle And The Injury Performed and Harvest Moon elicited the strongest response, with the gang’s smooth sing-along to the latter being one of many greatest highlights of the night time. One other was the solo rendition of After The Gold Rush. Accompanied solely by a piano, Neil’s voice sounded prefer it was filled with holes; his seventy-nine years grew to become extremely seen when all of the guitar suggestions was stripped away.
In what seems like a practice, Neil Younger and his band closed out the night time with Rockin’ in The Free World, a music that solely turns into extra related on daily basis. Among the many bleak lyrics of heroin-addicted moms and neoliberal decay, it additionally incorporates one of the simple riffs of his profession. The band tore via the music for an excellent ten minutes, littering the stage with false endings, till the ten-thirty curfew lastly silenced them for good.
Though he was in the end lower off at Hyde Park, it’s unattainable to think about Neil Younger ever placing down his guitar for good. He’s, and has been for the previous sixty years, the easiest at what he does.
~
All phrases by Elliott Simpson. You’ll find extra writing by Elliott for Louder Than in his creator’s archive and different work on his web site. His 33 1/3 ebook on Yo La Tengo’s And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out is accessible now.
A Plea From Louder Than Conflict
Louder Than Conflict is run by a small however devoted impartial crew, and we depend on the small amount of cash we generate to maintain the positioning operating easily. Any cash we do get shouldn’t be lining the pockets of oligarchs or mad-cap billionaires dictating what our journalists are allowed to assume and write, or hungry shareholders. We all know occasions are powerful, and we need to proceed bringing you information on probably the most fascinating releases, the newest gigs and the rest that tickles our fancy. We’re not pushed by revenue, simply pure enthusiasm for a scene that each certainly one of us is captivated with.
To us, music and tradition are eveything, with out them, our very souls shrivel and die. We don’t cost artists for the publicity we give them and to many, what we do is completely important. Subscribing to certainly one of our paid tiers takes only a minute, and every sign-up makes a big impact, serving to to maintain the flame of impartial music burning! Please click on the button beneath to assist.
John Robb – Editor in Chief
