Neil Young covered Bob Dylan’s ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ at his concert in London’s Hyde Park on Saturday night (12.07.14).
The 68-year-old musician performed a version of the 1962 song during the acoustic section of his gig, part of the Barclaycard presents British Summer Time series, which he began by playfully teasing fans who had been shouting out requests.
Before kicking off the short set with ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart’, a smiling Young said: "You sad bastards stop crying and complaining out there. This one’s for you sad bastards."
He then performed the Dylan classic followed by ‘Heart of Gold’, both of which sparked a mass sing-along among fans.
Young was performing with Crazy Horse – made up of Frank ‘Poncho’ Sampedro, Ralph Molina and Rick Rosas, who was filling in for Billy Talbot who recently suffered a stroke – and they opened with ‘Love And Only Love’ followed by ‘Days That Used To Be and a reworked version of ‘After The Gold Rush’ from the 1970 album of the same name.
Modern material included the title track from 2012’s ‘Psychedelic Pill’ and ‘Goin’ Home’ from 2002 LP ‘Are You Passionate?’, while Young unveiled new song ‘Who’s Gonna Stand Up And Save The Earth?’ during his encore which contained numerous environmental messages urging listeners to protect the planet.
After a raucous rendition of ‘Cinnamon Girl’ and as the sun set over the Great Oak Stage, Young addressed the audience saying, "thank you folks, it’s just starting to get dark this is my favourite time", and then launched into a 12-minute long version of ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’.
Young and Crazy Horse closed their set – which lasted for over two hours – with a near 18-minute version of ‘Down By The River’, which Young dedicated to missing bassist and his "brother" Billy.
Famous fans at the gig included The Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde.
Neil Young covers Bob Dylan at London concert
