Neil Young Appeared for His First Live Performance in Four Years

Neil Young showed up at the United For Old Growth march and rally in Victoria, British Columbia. He performed for the audience “Comes a Time” and “Heart of Gold”, and this marked his first live performance since Farm Aid in September 2019. The rally was aimed at promoting and protecting old-growth trees and responsible forest stewardship.

Neil Young Live Performance

During his appearance, Neil Young told the audience he was only there for the trees that were up there. He stated that the old trees were precious and sacred and showed people the power of nature. He also pointed out how the old trees show the past and future, underlying how it all had to do with Canada and the ages if people continue to be lucky enough to actually have ages. He finished by saying that the trees have lasted for so long and deserve Canada’s respect.

For over four decades, Neil Young has been using his voice to raise awareness about environmental concerns. As far back as the 1970s, in his album After The Gold Rush, he sang about mother nature being on the run, and in the following decades, he continued to warn about the potential consequences that pollution and deforestation may have on the environment. His new album, Earth, which has a very obvious environmental theme, features unique overdubs of animal sounds like buzzing bees, soaring buzzards, crowing cockerels, and grazing cows.

Neil Young Is an Avid Environmentalist

Despite recording three new albums with Crazy Horse during the past four years, Neil Young has declined all opportunities to perform live, including the 2022 Farm Aid concert. However, he is now set to perform for the Light Up The Blues benefit at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles on April 22nd, alongside Stephen Stills. Additionally, he will appear at the Hollywood Bowl in L.A. just one week later to celebrate Willie Nelson’s 90th birthday. The event will have an impressive lineup with numerous major acts, including Snoop Dogg, the Chicks, Beck, Margo Price, Sheryl Crow, and Norah Jones.

There are also rumors of a summer tour with Crazy Horse despite Nils Lofgren being unavailable due to his commitments with the E Street Band. In a recent interview, guitarist Micah Nelson said he might join Crazy Horse for the tour to fill in for Lofgren. In a different interview, Lukas Nelson, who is Micah’s brother, mentioned that Michael has been working with the band lately. Still, Neil Young has a track record of changing his mind at the last moment, so nothing is set in stone yet.