(long post, get ready!)

Yesterday morning I went to work. Well.. work.. if you can call it that, my
mind was elsewhere! After actually getting some things done it was time to
pick up Joost. At 1:30 PM I picked him up, and I played his brand new Martin
D-16 :-) Wow.

Then off to Antwerp on a very nice and sunny day. We parked the car near the
venue and were off into town. After a drink and a long walk around the town
(we spotted a tour bus) we ran into a few other Rusties. We saw 'Bregt The
Belgian Bad Boy of Rock Depreeuw' there, he has cut his hair, but he's doing
great. The Belgian boys were hunting for autographs, and eventually got
Ralph, Rick and NEIL to sign their ticket. While they were doing that, Joost
and I got some food.

After food we had some Belgian beers with those same Belgian Rusties, and we
chatted about concerts we had been to. Getting all fired up for the show!

Finally we went inside the venue an hour early, and then we waited. There's
a nice merchandise booth with Euro-tour specific shirts and sweaters. Kinda
pricy but I might pick one up in Amsterdam. They sell one of those 'tour
programs' (actually a booklet full of pictures) which is the same as in the
US, with only the '07 replaced with '08.

Eventually 'the bell' rang, and we could go inside to our seats. I think
that Pegi played at exactly 8 o'clock. Her set was the same as in the US, no
surprises, no Neil. I love to see Anthony Crawford play, and Ben Keith was
having fun as well. The band was really good, really right. I was expecting
it to be a bit sloppy after 2 months, but no. Then a small intermission
and..

NEIL ENTERED THE STAGE. The crowd was very enthusiastic, cheering and
clapping, Neil waved to us. This was I think around 9 o'clock? The setlist
started off as I had expected, nothing special. I sent a text message to
Johnny Yuma: 'From Hank To Hendrix' (I had already pre-programmed it into my
phone, expecting it). Then an absolutely amazing Ambulance Blues, my
favorite version ever maybe (I might be biased! hehe). Most of the set was
the same the 2007 tour. However, there is a big difference: the crowd is
absolutely quiet. You can hear a pin drop while the notes fade away in
between verses. You can hear his chair squeak a bit. Hardly any clapping
during the songs (if any), a totally appreciative crowd. You could see that
Neil loved that.

His playing is flawless. Both his guitar playing and piano playing are just
great, he was very focused. He had to search for a few notes during Out On
The Weekend, maybe, but that was it. No bum notes anywhere, not even on his
piano playing (you can always expect a few here or there!). He was stroking
his pianos gently with his hand, as if they are a pets. Later he also
stroked his guitars, almost happy that they survived the trip so far abroad
or something.

Neil talked a bit, more than when I had seen him in Seattle. A story here
and there, for example about his grandma before JTTP, that was a great
performance as well. He also told us that "Mr Stills" gave him his D-45 in
1968, it's brand new. "He must have been very wealthy then." Another thing
he said was: "I'm doing these songs for myself. Trying to do what I did back
then" (not an accurate quote). The crowd responded nicely to these small
talks. Funny moment with his beer where he drank a bit, put it down again
and it all 'foamed up'. "It's not good now." (and he drank some more).

The "Mr Stills" story he told right before Out On The Weekend. He said
something like: "I'll play a different song now.. for you." (pointed into
the crowd in general)

All the props were on stage. The painter is there, we were sitting right
next to the easel on the right side. The strange red phone is there, he
talked into it just before the electric set started. All the lights, all the
letters in the back. They were lit "PEGI" and "NEIL" right after the show.

The electric set was excellent. From Mr Soul to No Hidden Path an hour of
pure bliss. The band introductions were hilarious, where Neil clapped along
while introducing the boys to the crowd and he just kept on clapping. The
crowd went along for it and Neil just kept on going. Haha! Ben Keith had the
largest round of applause of his life, I'm sure. I'm sure this must've been
an inside joke somehow.

I think during this set he told that story about his mom, the eucalyptus
trees and the hilltop. Thanks for posting that story to the list, by the
way. The full story explains why Neil was emotional at the end of the story,
he was almost in tears, I'm pretty sure! It could be right before The
Believer, tapes will have to show it. (And yes, there are tapes, even though
the security was extremely tight during the show, especially on photo
camera's!).

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere was incredible, Neil dedicated Winterlong to
Danny Whitten. Finally he launched into No Hidden Path. I think this version
lasted about 16 or 17 minutes or so, and it was just brilliant. He was
playing intense and serene, it was fast and slow, he played the frets high
and low. He brought it all the way up there and back again and it seemed to
last forever. Ben broke a low E string (what the..? haha), and switched
guitars mid-song. Neil is driving this band to new heights. Even Rick was
having a lot of fun up there, smiling a lot.

Then the encore break, the crowd went wild until they came back. Cinnamon
Girl started of weird, with Old Black in regular tuning, Neil noticing that
too late and just switched guitars and came back to the microphone to late
for the next lines. They went on a bit and drew it out long. Then came
Cortez The Killer. These encores were the only 'stain' on the evening.
Cortez simply sucked. Ralph especially was screwing up. He drummed too fast,
Neil was trying to slow him down with his singing and guitar playing but he
just didn't notice it! After Neil sang the verses he just ended it,
realising it went nowhere. This must be one of the shortest versions ever,
maybe 5 or 6 minutes, if that.

But apart from Cortez, it was AWESOME. One the better Neil shows I've seen.
I'm on a Neil-high and I will be until next Sunday in Amsterdam!

I'm sure I forgot some details in this report, maybe I will remember more
during the day..

Get ready for an awesome tour!!

--
Roel - rdvdijk@...
"Obviously Doing Well!"