Liverpool’s International Music Festival will open in legendary fashion as Neil Young & Crazy Horse kick start the new event.
Following the positive reviews that greeted the recent expansive double-album ‘Psychedelic Pill’, Neil Young & Crazy Horse will come to Echo Arena Liverpool on 18 August as part of his Summer 2013 tour. This show will also be the opening concert for the Liverpool International Music Festival.
The tour represents Young’s first UK dates since the summer of 2009 which included triumphant headline sets at Glastonbury, the Isle of Wight festival and Hard Rock Calling, as well as his first UK dates with Crazy Horse (Frank ‘Poncho’ Sampedro, Billy Talbot and Ralph Molina) since 2001.
Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson said: “We are delighted Neil Young & Crazy Horse are going to be part of the first Liverpool International Music Festival. This is a fantastic coup for the festival and for the City. Neil Young & Crazy Horse are world renowned artists and having them as part of the Liverpool International Music Festival will get the week off to an inspirational start”.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse recently completed a North American tour and are next scheduled to tour Australia and New Zealand in March.
Current album ‘Psychedelic Pill’ opens with ‘Driftin’ Back’, a gripping, 27-minute epic which starts with an acoustic intro (the only section of the album which was recorded in Kamuela, Hawaii) before it pokes down pathways that have been hinted at before, but never fully explored. Jesus, the Maharishi and Picasso make appearances in the song, Young noting how the images and messages associated with them are invariably corrupted or misconstrued. And, he fears, his own message and art have been corrupted and diminished by the very technology that has made it more accessible.
Two other songs on the album touch in similarly expansive musical territory, the elegiac ode ‘Ramada Inn’ and the spirited prayer of ‘Walk Like A Giant’. Other highlights include ‘Born in Ontario’ which offers further detail and new perspectives to the explicitly autobiographical thread that winds back to ‘Helpless’; ‘Twisted Road’ is a joyous thank-you note to some of the others who inspired (and continue to inspire) him, with Bob Dylan (“Like Hank Williams chewin’ bubble gum / Askin’ me ‘How does it feel'”) at the fore; and the title track is phased, swirling stomp in which he honours the rock ‘n’ roll spirit at its most pure.
Tickets go on sale on Wednesday 27 February at 9am.
To book tickets log on to www.echoarena.com or call the Echo Arena Box Office on 0844 8000 400.
Tickets are priced at £55 /£45 / £35 subject to a booking / handling fee.
