Neil Young - TransTour 1982
What we talk about when we talk about Neil Young's 1982 tour is usually those strange performances of the Trans material — especially the choreographed dance routine with Nils Lofgren on "Transformer Man." "Here I am singin', and every time I open my mouth, it would trigger a synth version of Neil's voice," Nils recalled in Shakey. "It was so wild. Neither of us had instruments, so we were like walking videos." Funny to think that the last time Lofgren had toured with Neil, it was during the tequila-soaked Tonight's the Night days. Are we still in Miami Beach, boss?
But the Transband (AKA the Royal Pineapples) weren't only playing the computerized stuff during this era; their repertoire was pretty diverse, really, maybe more wide-ranging than any other backing band to date, tackling everything from old Buffalo Springfield tunes to Crazy Horse jams to Stray Gators country rockers. So! As a followup to this week's Trans-heavy All One Song talk with Matt Valentine, here's a nice three-hour comp of tapes from '82, giving us cool (if occasionally blurry) snapshot of this underrepresented / underrated collective. I especially dig the long, grinding "Like An Inca" here, featuring some truly piercing guitar work from both Neil and Nils, powered by deep conga grooves. Joe Lala fans unite! If you want to get high, build a strong foundation ...
