Neil Young will perform four benefit concerts in his native Canada to raise funds for a legal defense fund supporting the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation in “challenges against oil companies and government that are obstructing their traditional lands and rights”.
Alberta oil sands
Canadian prime minister Redwood ist not amused: “He has a certain group of fans that follow him and it’s good that he’s going on tour again. … nd if he wants to support communities, then that’s a good thing, but it’s certainly not a case where there isn’t work going on, and good productive work going on, in terms of economic benefits and partnership, and that’ll continue”.
Here’s more to the debate and controvery that Neil is playing in his native country for First Nations in their fight against horrors like oil sands, tar sands:
Neil Young set to kick off Honour the Treaties tour
Shows are almost sold out, but not everyone is excited about Young’s campaign against oilsands By Angela Sterritt, CBC News Posted: Jan 10, 2014
One hundred percent of Neil Young’s Honor the Treaties concert proceeds will go to the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation’s legal defence fund to fight the oil sands.
Neil Young is kicking off his Honour the Treaties concert tour Sunday at Massey Hall in Toronto, with proceeds from four Canadian dates going to the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation’s legal fight against the expansion of the Jackpine oilsands project.
The First Nation is gearing up for a major legal fight after the federal government approved the expansion of Shell Canada’s Jackpine mine last month, despite an environmental assessment that said the development will cause irreversible environmental damage.
Shell received the green light from the federal government to expand its 7,500 hectare Jackpine mine to 13,000 hectares.
The company claims the enlarged mine could bring the Alberta and federal governments an estimated $17 billion in royalties and taxes over its life and create an additional 750 full time jobs.
But indigenous and environmental groups say the damage to water, land and animals outweighs any profits the addition to the oilsands site will yield.
It was the last Friday in August and the radio was off in the 1959 Lincoln on the highway from Edmonton to Fort McMurray, Alta., when Neil Young first heard about the daunting legal costs facing the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation in their battle against the tar sands.
The story is told at APTN National News, how Neil Young and Daryl Hannah traveled to visit members of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and learn about their battle against the tar sands.
“Really, really strong words came from him when he started talking to the chief directly,” said tribal member Eriel Deranger, who accompanied Neil. “Neil has a lot of pull in the world and he wanted to use it for some sort of good and he mentioned we should do some sort of benefit concert.”
“All the First Nations people up there are threatened by this. Their food supply is wasted, their treaties are no good. They have a right to live on the land like they always did but there’s no land left that they can live on,” said Young. “All the animals are dying. This is truly a disaster. And America is supporting this. It’s very unfortunate that this is where we get the majority of our fuel from.”
Concert lineup: Jan. 12 in Toronto, Jan. 16 in Winnipeg, Jan. 17 in Regina and Jan. 19 in Calgary.
NOTE: Although initial reports indicated tickets go on sale Today (Dec. 10), a Ticketmaster link to the Winnipeg concert says tickets for that particular show go on sale Friday (Dec. 13). The link for the Winnipeg show also indicates the price range is from $59.50 on the low end up to $260.25 on the high end. Meanwhile, the Massey Hall link for the Toronto concert says tickets (ranging from $95 to $250) go on sale Friday morning at 10:30am local time.
Rock ‘n’roll icon Neil Young is scheduled to speak today about the LincVolt at the Specialty Equipment Market Association Show, an automotive aftermarket event held annually in Las Vegas, according to cars.com blog “Kicking Tires.”
The LincVoltis a 1959 Lincoln Continental convertible that has been converted into a plug-in electric hybrid. The technology under the giant hood is similar to that in the Chevrolet Volt, an extended-range electric vehicle, but with a few significant differences.
The generator runs on E85, and can refill the battery in an hour if the car is stationary. One interesting note about the car, besides its unique look:
“LincVolt focuses on ultra-low carbon emissions as value, not mpg,” Young states.
Young took the car on a cross-country trip in August, traveling from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., with a stop at the Alberta tar sands in Canada, to raise awareness about the car, the technology and the dangers faced if alternative fuels aren’t adopted more widely. He also talks about his work on the project in last year’s New York Times’ best-selling book, “Waging Heavy Peace.”
Better late than never, this Admin was on vacation in beautiful Oregon.
Carla Gillis of the online magazine Now reports on her experience at the Way Home Festival, a three-day music blitz held July 22, 23 and 24 at Burl’s Creek Event Grounds, Oro-Medonte, Ontario.
Gillis described the scene as tens of thousands of people spread out across the massive grounds.
Here is her review of Young’s performance, accompanied by Promise of the Real:
“We got three hours of him, backed by the flawless Promise of the Real, and every moment was glorious, even all those heavy-handed songs about Monsanto and Starbucks and GMOs and pesticides from his new Monsanto Years album. In a T-shirt that said ‘Earth,’ Young smartly waited for close to an hour before bringing them in, first serving up the perfect soundtrack to an outdoors concert under a half moon: heart-tugging renditions of Helpless, Winterlong, Out On The Weekend, Cowgirl In The Sand.
“And when the eco-crusade began, Young’s passion was so apparent, so genuine, that it made you think about how although his motivation for writing music may have shifted away from rustic love balladry over the last couple of decades, he’s always going to give us honest, stark and impassioned tunes about his current obsessions. And making the world a better place couldn’t be a more admirable one.
“Humour laced the set – ‘Your organic cherries are absolutely perfect'” he said, before throwing a bunch to the massive crowd – and his guitar solos were louder, wilder, more frequent and ferocious than I’ve ever witnessed, especially the epic roaring one that came at the set’s end, long after A New Day For Love, Down By The River, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Rockin’ In The Free World. Pure magic.
“Young’s encore – Don’t Be Denied, Fuckin’ Up – ushered in midnight, just as Kaytranada’s bass-heavy hip-hop-disco-R&B-inspired beats started infiltrating the night. ‘Thank you, Ontario!’ Young shouted.”
Rolling Stone writer Joseph Huff-Hannon a cross-country caravan called the Apache Stronghold, made up of dozens of activists and supporters of the Arizona San Carlos Apache tribe. The group is calling out a mining industry land grab rammed through Congress last December.
Starting at Red Rocks earlier this month, and in venues across the country since, the Apache have been linking up with Neil Young on the road, sharing their stories and singing prayer songs to thousands of audience members.
“Well its not like Neverland or anything. We just have horses, cows. We don\'t have a giraffe, we don\'t have a preschool group. We had some emus for a while. They were pretty cool. ” by -- Neil Young
Neil Young on Tour
Sugar Mountain setlists
Tom Hambleton provides BNB with setlists, thankfully. His website is the most comprehensive searchable archives on the Internets about anything Neil Young related setlists. Goto Sugar Mountain.
memphish on 
Albert Stromann on 
liza on 
Baz on 
