This week, I'm joined by my friend, Brett Baldwin, who is also The Current's Managing Digital Producer. Brett had the opportunity to see one of the many Neil Young tour shows here in the Twin Cities.

Here's our chat:

MARY LUCIA: You went last night to the State Theatre?

BRETT BALDWIN: To the Orpheum Theatre.

MARY: The Orpheum Theatre. State Theatre is…?

BRETT: Tonight.

MARY: Tonight. Tell me about this experience, because it was an experience, wasn't it?

BRETT: Absolutely. So this is a show that sold out almost immediately to people who subscribe to the Neil Young Archives. And it was like visiting the Neil Young Archives. He had a chair that was circled by all of his guitars and banjos and a bunch of harmonicas. There was a pump organ, a piano. And in between songs, he'd just be like, "Mmm… I'm going to walk over here and I'm gonna play this song" or "Mmm, no, I think I'm going to go over here and play a different one." He was charming and funny the entire time. It was just a delight. It just made you feel so warm and amazing.

MARY: That's what I got a sense of. And what's the story with the guitar with the bullet hole in it?

BRETT: You know, he started talking about it, but I didn't get the full story. He was like, "Well, this is a guitar that Stephen Stills gave me, and if you look at it, here's the Broken Arrow sign, and there's the bullet hole. Anyway, here's 'Like a Hurricane'…" and he just went right into it.

MARY: And so now, if you're following along, it's like, what? A $20 subscription a year or something?

BRETT: Twenty bucks a year and you get his whole catalogue and first access to these shows and live streams and stuff like that. And it had to be just murder on the crew who were doing the live video stream of it because, like I said, he just got up and walked around, and then, like I said, he would start a song and then he'd say, "Aw, I don't want to do that." Take the plug out of the guitar and go to the next one.

MARY: And you know, Neil Young, I know is for a lot of people one of those artists that you may even think, "Well, I'm not the biggest die-hard Neil Young fan," but I'll bet you knew at least half the songs that he played.

BRETT: Absolutely. I love Neil Young, but I am not the guy who knows all 40 studio albums or however many he has.

MARY: Were some of your favorites played?

BRETT: Absolutely. "Like a Hurricane," "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere." He did a song about his dog, "Old King," and he did that one on the banjo, and it was so perfect.

MARY: That is so cool. So Neil Young, I'm not sure, has he done this in other cities or are we special?

BRETT: So he played in Wisconsin, I can't remember if it was Milwaukee or Madison. But absolutely we're special; he's playing all of these theaters: he started at the Pantages, he did the Orpheum, is doing the State tonight, and then he's at Northrop on Thursday. So he's talking about going to all these old, wonderful venues where we have them, and I think it's such a great thing.

MARY: Oh, it's so wonderful. I'm so glad that — maybe you got a ticket, maybe you're going to go, maybe you're a subscriber and you can watch the video. But Neil Young, hardcore, four nights, and it's kind of chilly here!

BRETT: Yeah! It's a little cold. It's a little cold. And that's the thing — and I don't know if we want to get into it, but Neil Young definitely wants the fans to get the tickets and not the scalpers, so everything was will call. So the Orpheum Theatre is 2,500 people, so if you can imagine everybody going through will call - it was a sea of madness, and yet it was effortless. Everybody was so kind.

MARY: Oh, that is so cool. Thanks, Brett!

BRETT: Thanks, Looch!

External Link

Neil Young Archives