[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

(TV) OT: Neil Young Review by One of Our Own



I know there are some Neil Young fans on the List, and thought the review below was interesting
and funny.
Leo
 
 
"Neil Young makes some lengthy forays into fretwork in Jonathan Demme's latest documentary
about the music icon." 
By
<http://search.boston.com/local/Search.do?s.sm.query=Ty+Burr&camp=localsearch:on:byline:art> Ty
Burr Globe Staff / March 19, 2010 
Three decades ago, Neil Young sang "It's better to burn out than to fade away.'' He neglected
to mention a third option, the one he's living out: Stay ornery and don't quit the stage until
they have to drag you off.
 
NEIL YOUNG TRUNK SHOW Directed by: Jonathan Demme; Starring: Neil Young; At: Kendall Square;
Running time: 82 minutes; Unrated (as PG: fearsome electric raging against the dying of the
light)

Thus Jonathan Demme's "Neil Young Trunk Show'' is something of an answer record to "Neil Young:
Heart of Gold,'' the lyrical in-concert love-fest the two men made in 2006. There the vibe was
acoustic, nostalgic, therapeutic - Young had recently survived a brain aneurysm and was looking
at the big picture. He knew "Old Man'' was about him now.

"Trunk Show'' says, in effect, screw that. Filmed at a 2007 concert in Upper Darby, Pa., the
film's a showcase for Loud Neil, the shamanic high-decibel half of his personality that erupts
on records like "Ragged Glory'' and "Weld.'' Taking the stage with a band anchored by the
stalwart Crazy Horse drummer Ralph Molina, Young creates stomping, thudding maelstroms of
guitar noise, thrashing about as if he's plugged into an electrified fountain of youth. Hey,
kids, this is what it sounded like when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

At the same time, and as is true of many concert movies, "Trunk Show'' is proof that you
probably have to be A) a serious Neil fanatic, B) someone who was there, and C) high. The
version of "Spirit Road'' (off Young's recent "Chrome Dreams II,'' an album that reconstructs
one of his long-lost works in progress) encapsulates everything wonderful and wearying about
the man: Young reels off a massive, fuzz-drenched, shambolic guitar solo, and then another, and
then another, until the song is surging against the 20-minute mark. At one point in the
screening I briefly drifted off, and when I woke up he was still soloing.

Does it get boring? Of course, partly because Young makes no attempt to engage the audience
when he's communing with his muse. He lowers his head and tilts into the solos like a bull
ramming a fence. Young has a terrific sense of sonic dynamics but he has never been a virtuoso
or one of the phallic fretboard gods. Rather, he's an endless seeker after the rock grail of
transcendence. The guitar's his crutch, his gun, his cross; each solo's a mandala and sometimes
the details are hard for us to make out.

Demme's nimble cameramen scamper everywhere to capture the show; during one song the screen
splits into nine panels for all views at once. "Trunk Show'' also lets us backstage, where we
see Young's doctor patch up a split fingernail and send him back out into the trenches. Is that
blood on Neil's shirt? Probably, although it could be paint; in another reminder of this
musician's '60s roots, artist Eric Johnson is posted at the rear of the stage daubing oils onto
canvas throughout the concert.

The movie's not all glorious noise. Young takes time out on the acoustic guitar and piano for
such standbys as "Harvest'' and "Oh, Lonesome Me.'' The high point may be "Ambulance Blues''
from 1974's "On the Beach,'' one of the all-time great works of California pessimism. As he
sings the angry, defeated lyrics and wheezes through the harmonica solo, it may occur to you
that Young's finally as old as he always wanted to sound. You can still see the mysterioso
young rocker, though - the guy who made Crosby, Stills, and Nash look like the wimps they were
- peering through his grizzled mountain man's face.

The moment passes. Soon enough Young is slamming into a 12-minute version of "Like a
Hurricane'' and thrashing through another endless series of solos. He won't stop; why should he
stop? He knows what awaits the aging rock and roller who turns off his amp.

Ty Burr can be reached at  <mailto:tburr@globe.com> tburr@globe.com. 


 
<http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2010/03/19/neil_young_trunk_show_movie_review___neil_y
oung_trunk_show_showtimes/?comments=all#readerComm> 	 Discuss	
 
<http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2010/03/19/neil_young_trunk_show_movie_review___neil_y
oung_trunk_show_showtimes/?comments=all#readerComm> COMMENTS (6)	

 

C Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.

[demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type image/jpeg which had a name of comments.jpg]
--------------
To post: Mail tv@obbard.com
To unsubscribe: Mail majordomo@obbard.com with message "unsubscribe tv"