Red Rocks Live: Neil Young Friends & Relatives

An amazing show, even without Crazy Horse. Ben Keith, Jim Keltner, 'Duck' Dunn and Spooner Oldham provide a polished yet fresh sounding accompaniment to Neil's unique style of presenting classic songs from various stages of his varied career. Those expecting the obvious numbers like "After the Goldrush" and "Heart of Gold" will be initially disappointed that these are not part of the show, however the sheer quality and heart on numbers like "Razor Love" and "Walk On" more than make up for the non-appearance of some of the better known parts of Neil's back catalogue. The highlight for me is the richly powerful version of "Cowgirl in the Sand", which is lifted in particular by Dunn's powerful bass and Keltner's superb drums. Neil's wild solo is one of the few times in the show he truly lets himself go, and combined with the rain drenched crowd jumping around in delight makes this a true essential for Neil fans. There are also several light moments, Keltner appears annoyed that the rain is getting near his drum kit...which is fair, it probably cost more than a Cadillac. Neil's wife Pegi and sister Astrid (providing superb backup vocals) are clearly freezing...they should have ignored fashion and gone for some coats at the start of the show....