The need to take a deep refreshing drink of Neil Young and Crazy Horse each time they come to Australia is always something that the faithful believers of his art will try their best to do.

The people that ‘get’ Young and his muse come with open eyes and ears knowing that whatever is offered up will be honest, soulful, and mesmerising. He and Crazy Horse proved that New South Wales would not soon forget this galloping force after two stellar gigs at Bimbadgen Winery in the Hunter Valley on Saturday and at the Entertainment Centre in Sydney this past weekend.

From the opening and extended jam of “Love And Only Love”, the Horse was in full flight from the get go. This sonic force washes over you and then eventually Young sings and you sigh with wonder that his voice has not lost that aching quality.

For 15 minutes Frank “Poncho’’ Sampedro and Young duel with their guitars while the equally stunning Billy Talbot lays down a solid wall of bass. Ralph Molina is a modest rock on the drums.

This first number is just an announcement to all where this concert is going tonight. It will be loud, it will have feedback, and it will be amazing.

Saturday’s winery gig was outdoors in a glorious night with the band in top form but there was a bit more thrash, a bit more distortion, and a very elongated version of “F@&*% Up”. Young and Crazy Horse laid down a groove and then sort of kept rapping and whispering at times to the crowd about what ‘fuck ups’ they are.

With lengthy versions of “Walk Like A Giant”, “Ramada Inn” and a crackling and crunchy “Cinnamon Girl” there was no mistaking they were in excellent shape.

Not one to chat too much with the crowds, Young did go off on some ramble about “the girl in the green dress, this is for you, and you know who you are” – quite bizarre.  Young has been on a sobriety kick for a little bit and had stated that he rarely played straight with Crazy Horse.

Tonight he had a bit of a glint in his eyes and one wondered if he might have been into the vineyard’s wares.

Sunday in Sydney may not have been as zany, but the added pre-game festivities with white coated lab technicians setting up the stage was worth a chuckle. The stage replicated some of the feeling of the vintage Rust Never Sleeps Tour with giant Fender Amps and the biggest microphone ever seen.

This was a touch they did not add to the vineyards but within the Entertainment Centre it added a surreal visual.

Young and his buddies are not one for altering the ingredients list too much night after night. Kicking off with the same intensity of “Love and Only Love” they then delivered one of the most impassioned and expressive versions of “Powderfinger” ever heard. With vocals and harmonies added at times, its easy to fell the energy and camaraderie of this band.

The Crazy Horse rocking huddle of Sampedro, Talbot, and Young hunched over, jamming in front of Molina is legendary; never going on long enough and time passes so quickly.

Young tipped his hat to his biggest selling record and to the few people that thought they might get tunes from Harvest. Slipping on ‘Hank’, a 1941 Martin D-28 Acoustic previously owned by one Hank Williams, Young performed his biggest hit, “Heart Of Gold”.

“Twisted Road” from Psychedelic Pill continued the short acoustic break and the homage to Dylan, The Grateful Dead, and Roy Orbison was played to hoots and hollers. The ability Neil Young has to captivate on that old acoustic is a measure of his legend.

“Singer Without A Song” is a new number debuted around 4 months ago. The song itself is the quietest moment of the concert and Young has added some theatre as a female with a guitar case wanders around the stage looking somewhat lost. (Maybe she was looking for the hook?)

Nice to hear Young harmonise with Talbot and tinkle the ivories, but you could hear the heavy breathing of The Horse wanting to gallop once again.

Sampedro, with his silver hair and consistent, shit eating grin, came back out as the band slipped into a very lengthy version of “Ramada Inn” from Psychedelic Pill; the groove throughout was somewhat reminiscent of the songs from Greendale, and could easily be an out take from those sessions.

The droning guitar and searing solos blend as Neil wails about love, regret, longevity, good times, and sobriety. It has that special texture of a classic Crazy Horse jam that takes the listener far, far away.

Young then set out on a trek through the past, or ‘a journey through time,’ as he called it. Reciting his records in reverse chronological order, the time machine stopped at “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere” and “Cinnamon Girl”, that infused the room with the usual light that occurs when this number’s up.

“Mr. Soul”, from the Buffalo Springfield songbook, was one of the top moments of the evening and sort of fell apart at the end; Young smiling as he drawled that it was “good, but I was thinking maybe we played it a bit too fast.” Whatever speed, it was a cracker.

Time was ticking and “Hey Hey My My (Into The Black)” turned the crowd into a fist pumping choir. All that was left from here were the encores and Young dealt out the obscurity cards tonight. Prefacing “Prisoners Of Rock”, from his 1987 record Life, with some comment about “we are doing this just to see how wrong we can get it.”

Grinning from ear to ear, they bashed through and closed off with the cacophony of ‘Opera Star’ from his 1981 album Re-Ac-Tor. A jaw dropping finish to a high class display of rock and roll pyrotechnics.

Taking in the love Young said they felt earlier, Crazy Horse bowed, as their leader beat his chest and made primal, caveman sounds at the audience who echoed his chant. No third encore was forthcoming but the magic had been cast.

They had turned back the clock and unleashed The Horse one more time for Sydney. They proved once again that rust never sleeps and time fades away. If this was the last time they graced a stage here, there was naught to complain against the time spent in their shadows.

Keep on conjuring, Neil Young.

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