As promised, Neil Young is bringing shows for free to fans in quarantine, dubbed the "Fireside Sessions." During these sessions, Young not only performs in front his cozy stone fire place, but around his house. The entire performance is filmed by his wife Daryl Hannah.
Last night the first session went live on the Neil Young Archives website's "Hearst Theater." The 28-minute acoustic set was filled with rarities and deep cuts and it's, to simply say, absolutely beautiful and exactly the type of warmth everyone needs right now.
It kicks off with Young performing "Sugar Mountain" out in his front yard as it's snowing, giving off a calming effect to an already peaceful-sounding song. Aiding the performance is the staple harmonica solo, which is propped on a DIY Harmonica holder made from a horseshoe and fireplace tool.
"Sugar Mountain" is a deep cut favorite that Neil performs solo a handful of times. In 2019, he performed it twice, and once with Promise of the Real. With Crazy Horse, he last performed it in 2003.
Next he offered a few comforting words:
“I hope you’re doing well. And I hope everything is OK in your house and I hope you have a place to be where you’re with your loved ones.”
After this we find ourselves by the fireplace where Young did some super rare cuts like "Little Wing," which has never been performed solo by him before. He's only performed it with his short-lived band Ducks.
He also performed Homegrown track "Love Art Blues," which was last performed by him in 2008. "Vampire Blues" off On the Beach was another rare appearance in the set - his first solo rendition since he live debuted it in 1974. NY+POTY have performed it 16 times, but not since 2016. That means this song has been performed less than 20 times in Young's entire career!
After the Gold Rush favorite "Tell Me Why" was also played. He's only done this solo three times in the past two years. NYCH hasn't performed it as a band since 1987, while NY+POTR played it three times in 2018.
Closing out the set on with his back facing toward us as he played the piano was "Razor Love." This song was performed solo once early in 2019, but before that it hadn't made a cameo at one of Young's solo shows since the early 2000s. NYCH performed it twice in 1997, while NY+POTR have played it four times so far, once in 2018, and three times in 2016.
Make sure to watch the entire performance over on the website! And keep your eyes and ears peeled for the next session, and Young and Hannah stated that they want to make this an "ongoing" occurrence while we all are stuck at home, keeping safe from Coronavirus.
“Happy to have you hang with us for a little while. It’s pretty rough around the edges, as any down-home/low tech slow interwebs production could be. … Hope you enjoy. Take care. Sending love and we’ll try to keep ’em coming.” -N&D
