After the bonus tracks from Porchfest (see below), I had the pleasure of going to see Decade, which is a Neil Young Tribute band. I was chatting with my wife about the concert, and she said cover band, but Decade goes beyond that, and I would really use the word Tribute band because they really try to pay tribute to the artist, as well as play the popular songs. People still go to Mozart concerto’s hundreds of years after he lived. Decade is to Neil Young like the philharmonic is to Mozart. The lead singer and driving force behind the band is a guy named John Hathaway. John looks, sings, and plays just like Neil Young (albeit a younger version). Scares the hell out of me that his main gig is refinishing bathrooms and building decks. I hope he does not hurt his hands!
 
I have seen a couple of their shows, and they are just outstanding, whether you like Neil Young or not, their musicianship Don’t Be Denied. See what I did there? John carefully curates their shows, focusing on a particular period or an album for a first set, and then does a set of better known songs for the crowd. What a great show. The venue, the Vogel in Red Bank, is a small space with good acoustics. There were maybe a couple hundred seats, a full bar, but very comfortable table-based seating and plenty of room to move around even with a sell out crowd.
 
The first set of the show was based on a set of 3 albums called the Ditch Trilogy (Time Fades Away, On the Beach, and Tonight’s the Night). You can learn more about it from the link above, but basically Neil was in a bit of a funk after Harvest, his most commercial album, and the death of his guitar player Danny Whitten from an overdose of diazepam and alcohol. After some tour rehearsals, Danny was fired from the tour, and he died the same night. Very sad, but it seems Neil blamed himself for the death of his friend.
 
The remarkable thing (as was pointed out by a new friend Michael who used to work directly with the band Decade and was a friend of John Hathaways’) John curated at show, based on some of the most depressing and unpopular music of Neil Young’s, and still sold out the Vogel. Pretty remarkable and that gives you an idea of the quality of this particular artist and his handpicked tribute band.
 
I don’t have a setlist for this show, but some greats I remember were the opening, Time Fades Away, Words, Like a Hurricane, Don’t be Denied, and Tonight’s the Night. John also picked Revolution Blues which is pretty dark song that is supposed to be about Neil’s acquaintance with Charles Manson (prior to the Tate-Lobianca murders). Dark, but a great blues number.
 
John has somehow captured Neil Young’s style of play to an unbelievable level of fidelity. Not a lot of people take on Neil Young covers, because the guitar work is so intricate, raw, and sometimes improvisational, making it difficult to copy. But John earned his Ph.D. in Neil Young guitar solos and it really shows. From the rocking back and forth while playing solos (reminiscent an autistic child comforting themself) to the intricate guitar work on at the end of Like a Hurricane and Cinnamon Girl. John really got into it last night, changing costumes to match the album covers from On the Beach, and Tonight’s the Night. He even matched Neil guitar for guitar, buying a flying V guitar that matched Neil’s for that era.
 
All in all, great show. I am not sure exactly which I will like better, the Decade show, or the real Neil Young tonight. Either way, the summer of music is moving along really well. If you like Neil Young, and you don’t get to see him live, I can’t think of a better substitute than Decade.