Hop Down To The Farm

Vince Power has done it again and brought us a new mini festival that with a few tweaks could be a must add fixture to next years festival calender.
The Hop Farm is billed as a return to basics with a single stage, no sponsorship and few frills.

A grey start to the day was put to bed with a stirling performance of Leonard Cohen's - Hallelujah by the much stripped down Rufus Wainwright and as the sun broke through and brightened the sky up so did the days proceedings.

My Morning Jacket played a superb set and the crowd were getting warmed up for the bigger names to come, a typical Supergrass set, most of which I missed while queueing for the toilets (an ongoing disappointment of the day). I got back just in time to catch a great set by Primal Scream.

In March when I last saw Neil Young he wore a paint-splattered jacket and played on a stage resembling a ramshackle artist's studio, so some things don't change! But instead of opening with an hour of acoustic self indulgence, he crashed right in with what on another day might be his closing sequence - the rock epics 'Love and Only Love' (Ragged Glory) and 'Hey Hey, My My' from the great album Rust Never Sleeps. See full set list below.
During the inevitable quieter section he sounded in great form, a superb gospel like version of 'Mother Earth' also from Ragged Glory was followed by 'The Needle and the Damage Done' and one of my favourite quieter tracks, Heart of Gold.
For the third part of his two-hour set, Young cranked it up again for more string bending, ear-bashing, guitar marathons. The senior citizen of rock played the longest version of 'No Hidden Path' (Chrome Dreams II) I have ever seen, sweating and almost beating his guitar into submission he left the stage. He returned for the encore, a fiery, fuzzed-up cover of the Beatles classic 'Day in the Life' (Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band).
Reminded me a bit of Jimi Hendrix.

Here is the full set list, courtesy of my good friend Del Q:

1. Love And Only Love
2. Hey Hey, My My
3. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
4. I've Been Waiting For You
5. Spirit Road
6. Fuckin' Up
7. Oh, Lonesome Me
8. Mother Earth
9. The Needle And The Damage Done
10. Unknown Legend
11. Heart Of Gold
12. Old Man
13. Get Back To The Country
14. Words
15. No Hidden Path
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16. A Day In The Life