Project Description
. Jeff Martin @oz.craftypics . . Richie Lewis @oz.craftypics . . Celebrating Neil Young, Shane Nicholson, Jeff Martin, Richie Lewis @oz.craftypics . . Richie Lewis @oz.craftypics . . Shane Nicholson @oz.craftypics . . Stefanie Duzel @oz.craftypics . . Jeff Martin @oz.craftypics . . Shane Nicholson @oz.craftypics . . Stefanie Duzel @oz.craftypics . . Celebrating Neil Young @oz.craftypics . Jeff Martin @oz.craftypics . CLICK THE PIC TO VIEW THE NEWS
.
CELEBRATING NEIL YOUNG
featuring
RICHIE LEWIS (Tumbleweed)
+ SHANE NICHOLSON
+ JEFF MARTIN (The Tea Party)
@ The Gov, Adelaide,
11th September 2025
(Live Review)Review by Colin Reid
Photos by Michael Selge (@oz.craftypics)
On Thursday night in Adelaide a near sell out crowd got to witness a rotation of three fabulous vocalists; Jeff Martin (The Tea Party), singer songwriter Shane Nicholson and Richie Lewis (Tumbleweed) all backed by a terrific band featuring amongst other Paul McDonald on lead guitar and Stefanie Duzel on acoustic guitar and occasional lead vocals, as they celebrated the musical legacy of Neil Young. Their passion and love for the material is obvious and made this a truly memorable night as they took us on a two-set journey through a series of iconic songs that spanned his solo work, the albums with Crazy Horse and also some of his compositions from the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young days.
It must be a challenge for any artist to pay tribute to one of the most influential musicians in rock history, to try and do justice to the work of such a well known and loved musician and present your interpretation to a room full of ardent fans. We all have at least one or two Neil Young songs that resonant deeply within our psyches that it makes it difficult for any band to delivery such an undertaking. Young himself rarely performs a song the same way twice, be it different arrangements or different tunings, and with no definitive version of some of the songs it must have been hard to get all of the band on the same page but they achieved it magnificently.
There is such a breath of material in Neil’s back catalogue that I was wondering how the songs were chosen. Was there a wish list? What didn’t make the cut? Was there competition between the vocalists for their favourite tracks? I’d love to know what went on in rehearsal.
I really like the way that they delivered the songs. Unlike other Australian tribute shows such as ‘The Beatles White Album’ show or ‘The Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers’ show where the vocalist changes with each track and therefore slows down the pace and momentum, this celebration featured brackets of songs shared between the three singers. Not being tied to rigidly following an album track list helped in this regard, and having the same vocalist for three songs in a row certainly helped to keep the energy and momentum going.
Richie Lewis kicked the night off with ‘Hey Hey My My’. His eyes wide and intense, arms twisting as he danced and swayed when he wasn’t gripping the mic stand tight. He connected straight away with the audience as all the singers did throughout the night. Paul McDonald’s guitar is exquisite and the band is loud and tight, all seven musicians squashed onto the stage, driven on by Gareth Richards’ drumming as Richie conducts the crowd in time with the drum beats. ‘Powderfinger’ drew whoops of delight from the crowd, Paul’s guitar solo was incredible cutting through and skating over the top of the other three guitars.
First change of vocalists brought Shane Nicholson to the stage “We all know its Thursday night but were all here to have a f#%king good time!” and with that they smash out a powerhouse version of the classic ‘Down By The River’ and I’m already fighting the urge to sting along. Luckily, we are encouraged to join in throughout the night so I don’t feel too bad about inflicting my frankly awful voice on those around me. The big songs keep coming as they move into ‘Ohio’ the protest song written by Young in response to the Kent State University shootings in 1970 and then to the first Neil Young song that Shane had ever learnt ‘Comes A Time’ which also featured Shane on the harmonica.
Next vocals switch to Stefanie for a stripped-down version of ‘After The Gold Rush’ and then back with the full band ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart’ featuring Shane on the harmonica once more. It feels so emotional, almost as though the song is hugging all the broken hearted in the audience.
The loudest applause of the night so far greets Jeff Martin. He shares that he is soon to be an Aussie citizen but is Canadian born and therefore having more a connection to Neil’s work than most. He says that Neil’s music was part of growing up. “If you were down at the lake then you were either playing his music on your boombox or you could hear it from someone else’s”. He also talks about the glamorous and mystical side of living a rock and roll lifestyle but also the dangers it brings and with that the band delivers a powerful rendition of ‘Needle and The Damage Down’ in which Neil’s lyrics reflect upon heroin addiction, telling a story to relieve the pain of two of the Crazy Horse band and entourage that died from heroin overdoses. Then they close out the first set with an awesome version of the song ‘Helpless’. There is great interplay between Jeff and Stefanie and it is strong way to finish the opening half of the show.
The band take a brake and even the intermission soundtrack is great, a mix of The Rolling Stones, Nick Drake, Patti Smith, Leonard Cohen, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed. I feel that this is perfect for our demographic. After all while there is a surprising number in the crowd that are considerably younger than my 60 years there are, unsurprisingly, many more that are my age and above and we all grew up listening to this stuff in the 1960s and 70s.
The second set kicks off with another three songs from Rchie and as good as ‘Unknown Legend’ and ‘Old Man’ are it is his version of ‘Fuckin’ Up’ that has to be one of the absolute highlights of the night. It is superb everyone is on fire totally rocking it out, the music is like a sonic storm washing us in the magic of Crazy Horse sound! It was so good that Shane gave Richie an extended hug with genuine passion as the vocals changed again.
“Its time to raise the bar” announced Shane. I was wondering how it could get any higher after the last song but it was clear that the band were all ready to give it a red-hot crack. What they delivered was three absolute show stoppers in a row! ‘Tonight’s The Night’ starts slow and quiet but builds and builds “what a f#%kin’ song that is!” Shane proclaims at it’s end and it is impossible to not to agree with him! Next comes ‘Cortez The Killer’ featuring incredible guitar solos from both Shane and Paul before closing out the last of his bracket with crowd favourite ‘Like A Hurricane’ that has everyone singing the chorus with all the power in our lungs.
Stef tackles probably the most famous of Neil’s songs ‘Heart Of Heart’ and it is beautifully done with plenty of the crowd singing along.
Jeff comes back to the stage and makes the statement “When your band is this good, you need to put down your guitar and do your best Liam Gallagher impression” as he waves a tambourine and the crowd laughs. He goes on to tell us that the next number was his absolute go to Neil Young song for singing around the campfire and they play ‘Harvest Moon’ which is truly magical. The tempo changes and the regular set is closed out with heavy guitars of ‘Cinnamon Girl’ that has the whole crowd singing along once more.
They return for the encore will all three vocalists on stage. Jeff is clearly emotional as he introduces ‘Rockin’ In the Free World’ and talks about the state of American politics within the context of what was happening when the song was written and also the murder of Charlie Kirk earlier today. The song is incredible, all rock out and no one, either in the crowd or on the stage, seems to want it to end.
Whether you’re a die-hard Neil Young fan or simply appreciate exceptional musicianship this has been a brilliant evening that both showcased the extraordinary songwriting skills of Neil Young and brought to life a catalogue of songs that has soundtracked the last half-century.
Check out Michael Selge’s (@oz.craftypics) full gallery of this event HERE
Check out Jill Hodges’ (@live_music_shoots_photography) full gallery of the Sydney event HERE
Check out Alec Smart’s (@alecsmart_fotos) full gallery of the Brisbane event HERE
AMNPLIFY – DB
