He’s so interesting — and so worth it. He’s truly an artist of our collective lifetime. I saw him in concert in the summer of 2023 at the Greek Theatre. His show was a fascinating melange of devoted musicianship helmed by, well, a rather awkward, odd fellow. (To be clear, I loved it. My review here. )
I’m hoping Neil Young: Coastal, a new documentary about the maverick Canadian-born composer/musician, will deepen my appreciation.
Directed by Young’s wife, Daryl Hannah, Coastal is getting an unusual roll out. The movie will be blasted onto worldwide screens on the same day, April 17. This augurs something cool, at least in the U.S. where we are tantamount to beleaguered peasantry of Louis XVI France. A lunatic and his henchmen are jerking us around day by day.
Coastal takes an intimate journey with Young, an unguarded iconoclast as he navigates a return to the stage post-Covid. He’s seen in his silver eagle tour bus, where his impromptu observations evolve into his candid, wry banter with his audience. The illuminating film features songs rarely played live.
In the past I have been spellbound by Festival Express a 2003 British documentary film about the 1970 train tour across Canada taken by Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, Buddy Guy, Flying Burrito Bros, Ian & Sylvia’s Great Speckled Bird, Mountain and Delaney & Bonnie & Friends. Among other things, the movie left me gobsmacked by Jerry Garcia’s guitar virtuosity. I’m game for similar revelations about Neil Young from Coastal.
Neil Young: Coastal | one night in theaters worldwide | April 17
