"Just as the Horse are breaking full stride, Neil jumps like a bucking bronco into the acoustic section of his set with what, as near as I can tell, is an open letter to Stephen Stills to put their first band back together. It also seemed as though Dewey Martin may have been in attendance as Neil addressed him personally. 'Hey Dew! This note's for you.' From Hank to Hedrix to horseshoes, man -- Neil should know better than to try to sedate a crowd that he spent half the set trying to get pumped. Take my advice, open the show with the acoustic set (like you did in the 70's), and you won't lose the attention of half the drunks in the crowd. My ear drums, however, did appreciate the downtime. 'Helpless' and 'Slowpoke' closed out the 'quiet' portion of the evening -- the latter being fantastic, and the former featuring Frank on piano. Much like 'Powderfinger' and 'Hey Hey, My My,' familiarity breeds no contempt; on the contrary, the older it gets, the better it gets. "
"The first part of Neil Young's set was completely dedicated to his current album Mirror Ball, starting with 'Big Green Country' and the great 'Song X'. Apart from a few slower moments like 'Throw Your Hatred Down', this was completely fat-free rock music, stripped down to the bare bones. Simple, but effective, with a band that sounded very compact.
For the second part Neil sent the others off stage and played some acoustic tracks. First came a very touching rendition of 'The Needle And The Damage Done', a bit later the always brilliant 'Hey Hey, My My', which has been evoking even more emotions since Kurt Cobain used the line 'it's better to burn out than to fade away' in his suicide note. 'Broken Arrow' and another very old song fell off somewhat; they sounded dusted and showed that his early years were not his best. "
"He gave fully of himself in his performance.... energized!!!! Hard to convey
through the written word, the music is a language all it's own. An electrical
current seemed to run through Neil during the whole performance. When he
plugged in his guitar, he plugged himself into 'The Horse'. "
May 26th & 27th, 1978 - YOUNG'S ONE STOP WORLD TOUR, The Boarding House, San Francisco, By Paul Nelson, Rolling Stone, 27th July 1978:
"In the manner of the best of the traditional blues singers, Neil Young seems totally alone on stage in a way that almost no contemporary performer ever does. But he's not foreboding, and you don't feel shut off. Head down, chin tucked into his shoulders like a boxer, he peers out at you with those all-knowing eyes filled with humour and flashes that beatific, silly grin. Like Muhammad Ali, he may well be the greatest."