Neil Young: Coastal

Greetings again from the darkness. Over his 60-year career, Neil Young has proven to be one of a kind. As an incredibly talented songwriter with an instantly recognizable singing voice, he's also acclaimed for his guitar playing. Few musicians have cut a wider swath of diverse music than the Canadian-born Young. His success began in the 1960's with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. A solo career with two amazing albums ("After the Gold Rush", "Harvest") took him to new heights in the 1970's, followed by some hard-rocking tunes with Crazy Horse. Since then, he's kept fans guessing as to what style each successive record would feature.

He has also dipped his toe into directing movies, and the most recent one I saw was MOUNTAINTOP (2019) directed by Young's nom de plume, Bernard Shakey. The film was an interesting look at the uneasy process of Young and Crazy Horse collaborating on a new album. This time out, Young/Shakey is not directing. Instead, it's Neil's wife, actress Daryl Hannah. She spends most of her time behind the camera, though we do catch a few glimpses of the SPLASH (1994) star. She gets full credit for the crisp black-and-white look of the film.

It opens with Neil Young writing in the sand as the waves flow in and out. It's a reminder that writing is his true gift, and this occurs just as he's undertaking a short tour on the west coast. Each show will be held at an outdoor venue ... including the stunning amphitheater, The Ford. Thanks in part to COVID, this is Young's first tour in four years, and his son Ben joins him for one leg of the tour. As the miles go by, we eavesdrop as Neil and his Silver Eagle bus driver, Jerry Don Burden, chat about a few topics ... including Howard Hughes.

The conversations aren't particularly interesting (and neither man appears to be wearing a seatbelt), but we do gain some insight that Young's activism remains in place as he hopes the crowd will understand the meaning behind his song, "Love Earth". A later singalong reinforces this. Of course, Young's blistering "Ohio" in 1971 solidified his voice on social topics.

Beyond all of that, this film, and most of Neil Young's career, has been about the music. In these beautiful venues, Young digs deep into his catalog for some rarely (maybe never before) played live songs. His musicality is expressed through many guitars, a piano, a reed organ, and his ever-present harmonica. This solo act is something to behold, and it raises another question: has the renowned curmudgeon softened? This appears to be a kinder, gentler Neil Young. He even serves up playful banter with his audiences. Perhaps recovering from a brain aneurysm has caused this, or maybe it's the steady presence of his wife. Either way, it's a good look for the 79-year-old musical genius - the one who sips tea from a Willie Nelson porcelain mug.

In theaters for one night only on April 17, 2025.

Saw this film yesterday. It's not for everyone, but if you're a Neil Young fan it's worth it. There are scenes on the bus traveling between gigs that captures the uneventfulness of road trips. It includes the arrival, prep, and show of 4 venues (is it 3?). I actually attended one concert on this tour at the Ford Theater across from the Hollywood Bowl. All I can say is that it was totally enjoyable. Daryl Hannah, his wife and director/cinematographer is only briefly viewed in 3 sequences in the bus (but it's a truly brief appearance). The concert performances with Neil strolling on stage talking about being nervous is classic Neil and for fans of his music and his persona will be love the insights.

The music is excellent. Neil Young looks haggard, but when onstage he still has his presence, musicality, great songs old and new, voice, stoner sense of humor. He plays acoustic 6- and 12-string, electric guitar, piano (he carried an upright and a grand on the tour!), and organ (also carried a weird old pipe organ), and always adds harmonica, which he wears on a rack.

Some aging legends take it easy in performance, letting the band carry it, but Young did the opposite, doing it all himself. Great to hear him.

However, the movie is embarrassing whenever he's offstage. He rides in a fancy bus and chats with the driver. His wife, the filmmaker, is there but mostly invisible and inaudible. There also are a couple dogs, his disabled son, and probably a few other people on the bus, but we only hear the dull chat between Young and the bus driver. When they arrive at a gig we see some of the setup, him walking around backstage, interacting with the crew. He drinks one beer at the end of each show and smokes a joint in the day on the bus, otherwise no visible drug or alcohol use. There are special-effect animations during songs that look like something a freshman film student would add.

I enjoyed the glimpse into Neil's backstage preparations. His swaying performance style when standing is becoming a signature.

The film was let down though by the position of a fixed camera close to his driver's knuckles, but probably the only available location if you really want both to be in frame. More challenging for me was the camera operator's desire, in most of the stand up performance sequences, to include the tops of background features (such as palm trees on distant hills) resulting in Neil being cut off at the ankles. Axiomatic, I would have thought, for stage shots to be full length.