Neil Young & the Chrome Hearts Rock for Rebellion » PopMatters

There are a few musicians who have been able to maintain both their relevance and their edge from the 1960s to the 2020s, and Neil Young remains such a trailblazer. One of the most influential rockers in music history, Young has also been a force across multiple genres, ranging from folk rock in the 1960s to what would become classic rock in the 1970s and onward to earning the honor of being dubbed “the godfather of grunge” in the 1990s. 

Young has kept it going in the 21st century, not just touring behind his classic hits but also delivering new material that continues to shine a light on the modern problems that plague society. That has included cutting-edge socio-political commentary in vibrant new music from 2003’s Greendale to 2006’s Living With War, 2015’s The Monsanto Years, 2016’s Peace Trail, and 2025’s Talking to the Trees with his current group, the Chrome Hearts. 

The Chrome Hearts aren’t really a brand new band per se, rather a recalibration of Promise of the Real, which served as Young’s band from around 2015 to 2020. Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real (often featuring Lukas’ younger brother Micah) backed Young for several tours and albums, a match made in music heaven, as Lukas and drummer Anthony LoGerfo had met at a Neil Young show in 2008. However, with Lukas deciding it was time to focus on his own career, Logerfo, bassist Corey McCormick, and Micah Nelson have carried on backing Young as the Chrome Hearts (along with keyboardist Spooner Oldham).

The Love Earth Tour has touched down for its penultimate stop at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California, and it’s a homecoming show, with the Bay Area venue having previously hosted Young’s annual Bridge School benefit shows for many years. The tour has been winning raves across the nation while also making headlines with the new song “Big Crime”, which takes direct aim at the current occupants of the White House.

“Don’t need no fascist rules / Don’t want no fascist schools / Don’t want soldiers on our streets / There’s big crime in DC at the White House,” Young sings on the song released at the end of August. It’s pretty amazing how Neil Young is yet again the cutting-edge artist with the courage to call out the powers that be for their crimes against the people, much as he was back in 1970 when he authored the instant classic “Ohio” after a National Guard massacre at Kent State University that saw four anti-war student protestors shot dead with nine more wounded.

The concourse features some tabling opportunities for activism to “Take Action” to “Love Earth”, and it feels like a timely offering, with how the Trump regime has been dragging America in the opposite direction of protecting the environment to maximize fossil fuel exploitation and profiteering. It’s a critical time for humanity and the climate, so it’s inspiring to see Young back out on the road, still rocking out at age 79, while bringing a Love Earth Village on the road with him.

“Support your friends, Support the land, And support the people that want to care for the land. The revolution starts with us. The revolution starts with you,” says a quote from Young on the “Take Action” cards being handed out that feature a QR code linking to “the many ways you can LOVE EARTH & MAKE A DIFFERENCE!”

An intriguing group, Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir, open the show with a 30-minute set that sets an insurgent tone for the evening. The Reverend, played by actor and playwright William Talen, has grown his act from solo activism in New York City’s Times Square to leading a rock band with a backing choir and an inspiring message. “We work for the earth. What’s your favorite planet? Someone give me an Earthalujah, liberate yourselves,” Reverend Billy urges as an introduction to “La La Liberate”. 

He goes on to discuss how we recognize that we need to change. “Someone give me a Changealujah! We gotta go get the billionaires and they’re surrounded by police,” the Rev laments. “Let’s make some new change,” he says as an introduction to “Can We Be Strange Enough to Change Enough”, a rocking tune that takes on an uplifting revival vibe.

Reverend Billy goes on to call out the bankers and financiers of fossil fuels, suggesting that the audience “Tell ’em what they’ve been doing wrong with their money, tell’ em to do the right thing for the Earth… You are the Earth yourself, you’re on assignment, and you love the Earth, life is beautiful, we love the Earth,” he says as an intro to “Beautiful Earth” from 2022’s Change Without Us album. With encouragement to befriend the animals, trees, butterflies, and the sea, the song concludes the set like a sermon for planetary peace and harmony, culminating in a rousing finish as the Rev calls out for collective activism to change the world.

Neil Young has been an activist rocker throughout his career, yet even more so in the 21st century. He opens the show with “Ambulance Blues”, performed on acoustic guitar, where he sings of how “the air was magic” when he played “back in the old folky days”. The vibe elevates when Young switches to electric guitar as he and the Chrome Hearts rock out on “Cowgirl in the Sand”, from his classic 1969 album Everybody Knows This is Nowhere. The giant rust-colored amplifier prop behind him makes Young seem larger than life, and indeed, he is. The number of peers who can match his impressive career arc from then to now can arguably be counted on one hand.

The bluesy “Vampire Blues” from 1974’s On the Beach album turns out to be a tour debut, as Young isn’t content to just repeat the same setlist each night. It taps into the environmentalist theme of the tour, with Young singing of a vampire “Sucking blood from the earth” to “Sell you 20 barrels’ worth”. The fan favorite “Powderfinger” from 1979’s Rust Never Sleeps gets the place rocking again with the guitar-driven sound that led to the “godfather of grunge” tag, as Young sings of when he was just 22 and “was wondering what to do”.

“Thank you for coming, take care of yourself in this crazy world, we’re just glad to be here tonight,” Young says after “Long Walk Home”, perhaps alluding to the Charlie Kirk assassination earlier in the week, among other daily insanities.

The show soars to a multidimensional level on the electrifying “Be the Rain”, as Young sings what feels like a signature anthem for the Love Earth Tour: “Save the planet for another day / Don’t care what the governments say…” The climactic closing track of 2003’s Greendale concept record, featuring his long-time band Crazy Horse, the song remains as timely now as the lyrics implore the audience to take action. “We got to wake up, We got to keep going / We got a job to do / We got to save Mother Earth.”

The Chrome Hearts sound fantastic as McCormick and LoGerfo rock a heavy groove, while Young and Nelson riff out on an extended jam. There’s something so uplifting about seeing a band rock out on a well-crafted song about standing up to the powers that be to save the planet, and Neil Young & the Chrome Hearts show how it’s done on “Be the Rain”.

“Southern Man” from 1970’s After the Goldrush gets a theme going as the band keep rocking on a classic tune that takes the South to task for its racism and moral hypocrisy. Micah Nelson displays his multi-instrumental skills by moving to piano for the song, but then he’s back on guitar when “Southern Man” leads directly into “Ohio” as the band throw down an incendiary performance of the classic anti-war anthem about “Four dead in O-hi-o”. Nelson stands out again as he fills the David Crosby role on the backing vocals, crying out, “Four! How many more?” 

Neil Young’s “Ohio” still holds a vital lesson for modern America. While the events of 4 May 1970, have been largely written off by history as a tragic accident, historical evidence suggests that President Richard Nixon had reason to hold a grudge against the militant Kent State chapter of SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) and sought to make an example of them. With another megalomaniac like Donald Trump in the White House making frequent threats against his perceived and often contrived political enemies, the lessons of 4 May 1970 loom large as Trump uses the National Guard to intimidate the citizens of America, as already seen in Los Angeles and Washington, DC. 

It’s an impactful combo when Neil Young & the Chrome Hearts move right from 1970’s “Ohio” into 2025’s “Big Crime” to make a bold and rocking statement as Young sings straight to the point: “Got to get the fascists out, Got to clean the White House out…” The song feels like it could be a sequel to 2006’s underrated Living With War (which oddly isn’t represented in the setlist), as it provides a musical boost for resistance to the right-wing extremism that America currently faces from the Trump regime.

“Silver Eagle” from 2025’s Talking to the Trees album is introduced by Young as a song inspired by his bus driver asking whether he was writing anything current. The mid-tempo road song captures the good vibes of taking the show on the road and “feeling free”. That leads to a performance of the heartfelt deep cut “Sail Away” from Rust Never Sleeps, apparently not played since 2013.

The shimmering “Harvest Moon” follows as a majestic crowd pleaser that sounds great here under the stars, as well as CSNY’s “Looking Forward” for a stellar acoustic sequence. “Looking forward to all that I can see / Is good things happening to you and me / I’m not waiting for times to change / I’m gonna live like a free roamin’ soul / On the highway of our love,” Young sings in what feels like a timely message for heavy times.

Neil Young cranks up the insurgent rock ‘n’ roll vibe with “Sun Green”, a song from Greendale about an activist who chains herself to a statue of an eagle in the lobby of a power company to protest the sleazy corruption taking place. “Hey, Mr. Clean, you’re dirty now, too,” Young sings as he and the Chrome Hearts rock out. “Mother Earth has many enemies / There’s much work to be done,” he sings toward the end. 

That makes for a great segue into the ultra classic anthem “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)”, as Young and the audience sing together, “Hey hey, my my, rock and roll can never die!” It’s an electrifying moment for those who consider rock and roll akin to their religion, which seems to be most of the crowd. Young and Nelson tear it up with scintillating riffage over the big groove as Shoreline rocks out. Another timeless classic follows with “Like a Hurricane”, as the set continues to surge. Nelson plays a keyboard with wings that descends from above on ropes, adding an extra surreal element to the performance. The psychedelic rock power here is at a high level as Young rips it up on one of his most influential tunes.

Young takes things back down a notch as he plays an organ on Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s “Name of Love”, singing “You hold the future in your hands / Do it in the name of love / Before another bomb explodes / Can you do it in the name of love?” It’s another timely question for this crazy world, where money in politics has corrupted our government to serve corporatocracy profiteering rather than serving the people. “Old Man” closes out the set with Young and the Chrome Hearts rocking righteously, before the band returns for a big encore on “Rockin’ in the Free World”. 

The iconic tune from 1989’s Freedom still sounds remarkably contemporary, perhaps aided by its status as a staple encore for Pearl Jam since the 1990s (who also backed Young on his 1995 Mirrorball album). Like director John Carpenter‘s classic film They Live (1988), the song was a lament on the politics of the 1980s, which were dominated by the hypocritical “compassionate conservatism” of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.

Yet, as in They Live, “Rockin’ in the Free World” continues to play as a prophetic vision of modern times, with the corporate race to the bottom and the corruption of politics by the military-industrial complex. Then there’s also the timeless power chords and the inevitable energy level the song conjures. 

It’s one of the great climactic closers in rock history, proven again here as Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts lead the audience in rocking out to “take America back”, as one of the tour T-shirts proclaims. At a perilous time for the US, when many musicians and artists are afraid to speak truth to power for fear of potentially offending part of their audience, Neil Young remains one of the most courageous and spiritual leaders of the rock and roll counterculture that he helped pioneer.