On 29 March 1976, I went to see Neil & Crazy Horse play at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. I had been a fan since I heard The Buffalo Springfield. A few years before that night I had played my first gig as a musician and the first song I played was Harvest. I’ve been playing Neil’s songs for over 50 years, some with my band named Ragged Glory. The band isn’t playing any more due to the ravages of time….
I’d seen Neil before when he played at Wembley Stadium with CSNY and Joni Mitchell and The Band, but the size of the venue and the huge crowds made it a disappointment for me. The sound and power always seemed to get lost. The Hammersmith Odeon with a crowd of 3,000 was much more intimate.
Neil started the show playing solo with his guitar sounding pristine, filling the air with the chords of Tell Me Why and crowd pleasers like Heart of Gold. He played about 6 or 7 songs acoustic and then after a short break he came out with Crazy Horse.
It was great to see the band, and the songs off Zuma were blistering as they played. A keyboard was slowly lowered from on high for Poncho to play. It sounded like the strings of an orchestra as they kicked into Like A Hurricane, with Neil standing next to a fan blowing his hair everywhere.
The band had one big monolithic sound and the crowd loved it. They even played The Losing End, which had always been a favourite, and some stuff that I’d never heard before. They finished with a majestic Cortez and an encore of Cinnamon Girl which felt like an earthquake. The sound was probably the best I had ever heard at a gig. It was magnificent!
Paul Astles 2019