From The Vault: Neil Young, August-September 2003

Rediscover our cover feature, published as he unveiled his ambitious concept record, Greendale.

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Relix Daily
September 01, 2025

September 1, 2025

With Neil Young back on the road, we’re opening the vault to revisit our August–September 2003 cover story. Published just after the release of Greendale, it captures a moment when, before podcasts, streaming, and social media, Neil was telling stories the old-fashioned way, with a sprawling record that defined the era. We’re also sharing a recap of his shows from the past week, highlighting how his timeless storytelling still resonates on stage today.

He is a helpless pyromaniac in the face of his own creative fire. “It has a life of its own;’ he says of his music, with a possessed look in his eye. He is a slave to his art. It controls him. It whispers in his ear while he sleeps, often waking him to a moment of inspiration. And he listens to that inner voice without hesitation, which is perhaps his greatest quality. He is defined by his indefinable nature. After more than three decades, he has yet to fade away and his passion for the muse continues to burn. 

Tonight, Neil and his longtime band, Crazy Horse guitarist/keyboardist Frank “Poncho” Sampedro, bassist Billy Talbot and drummer Ralph Molina-captivated an attentive crowd at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Just moments after a blistering five-song encore, which included anthems such as “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black);’ “Like a Hurricane” and “Powderfinger;’ musicians and actors are celebrating with friends and family backstage. Almost three weeks into the Greendale tour, the consensus is that tonight was the best yet; ”A new level;’ Young would later say. The post-show celebration spills out of the dressing rooms into a packed corridor decorated with vivid, framed photos of the venue’s most famous performers. At the end of the hall, Neil emerges with a grin, eating a bowl of fruit salad and passing by images of Lennon, Elvis and Sinatra. Dressed casually in shorts and a T-shirt, he blends in with the crowd, although given his legendary body of work, he could just as easily be hanging on the wall.

He stops to pose for a picture with some eager fans, and a record label rep asks if she should hold his dessert. “No;’ he says with a hint of sarcasm, “they’ll find out I eat.” A crowd of meet-and-greeters begins to surround him and rave about his new material. “Yeah, people like it because it’s not just a rehash;’ he tells them. CONTINUE READING

On Saturday, Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts arrived at Northwell at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, N.Y., for the latest appearance on the Love Earth Tour. During the second half of the single set performance, Young entered a sonic time machine and transported the crowd to the late ‘80s, where he revived the Life track, “Long Walk Home,” for the first time in 36 years. On the way back to the present day, the bandleader paused in 2013, picking up “Singer Without a Song,” and effectively ending a 12-year lapse in plays. 

On Wednesday night, Neil Young and The Chrome Hearts arrived in Chicago for their latest appearance on the Love Earth Tour. The midweek concert, held at Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island, saw the five-piece band boldly express their political frustration through “Big Crime,” a new song that took the 13th slot in the set, positioned after Young’s Crazy Horse co-release and environmental activist prod, “Sun Green.” The band’s boisterous stance against the Trump administration was a commanding moment, emphasized by the lyrics, “There’s big crime in DC at THE White House.”

On Monday evening, Neil Young returned to a former haunt, the site of the original Woodstock Music & Art Fair, and current Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, N.Y. Young’s first-ever appearance at Max Yasgur’s farm occurred during the electric portion of CSNY’s festival gig, in the early morning hours of Monday, August 18, 1969. Young turned up during the band’s electric set, arriving on “Mr. Soul,” a song that also appeared on last night’s Love Earth Tour stop, and evoked a 56-year throughline from his Buffalo Springfield days to his current Chrome Hearts Band. 

On Tuesday, August 19, Neil Young and The Chrome Hearts delivered their second night of music on the Budweiser Stage in Toronto. During the concert, which occurred in Young’s hometown, the bandleader continued his current trend of reviving personal material during the first half of the performance, carving a slot for a tour debut, and reintroducing a select song into the mix. Resuming the motif, Young led the band through the first “I’m The Ocean” since the group’s enthusiastic embrace of their 2024 run at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, N.Y. 

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On Wednesday, August 13, Neil Young and his Chrome Hearts Band turned in their latest live appearance while performing at the Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston, Mich. During the midweek concert, Young committed to continuing the placements of previous tour debuts, “Southern Man,” “Daddy Went Walkin’” and “New Mama,” and added Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s Vietnam protest anthem  “Ohio” to the fold.  Two moves ahead of the Kent State memorial track, Young pulled out “The Loner” for the first time since 2019. 

On August 8, Neil Young and his Chrome Hearts Band arrived at PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte, N.C., for the first in a series of U.S. appearances as part of their ongoing Love Earth World Tour. The initial night in the States came to be after the band turned in a full slate of European concerts, making headlines for reviving select songs from Young’s catalog of originals. In line with the European setlist standard, the ensemble provided their Tar Heel State audience with two tour debuts during Friday’s return.