Back on a Sunday night in September, seemingly most of the musical talent that happened to be in New York that weekend converged to Bowery Ballroom for the first night of Neilfest, a tribute to the great Neil Young put on by The Best Fest. Not only was it a grand old celebration of a musical genius, but it served as a benefit to the Sweet Relief charity. So not only did you get some amazing artists, old and new, covering Neil Young, but it was all for a good cause. What’s not to love?
Cabin Down Below Band served as the backing house band for all the guests, and these guys are veterans of these sort of things by now, also serving as the backing band for the previously held Dylan Fest, Petty Fest and Stones Fest. They kicked things off with “Come On Baby Let’s Go Downtown,” and then handed the torch to a different band or artist to take over the song, and then pass the torch down the respective line.
There were too many highlights to mention each one individually, and quite honestly, everyone offered something uniquely enjoyable and memorable in their own right. But particular highlights came from Elvis Perkins’ “Tonight’s The Night,” getting to see Danny Masterson (Hyde from That 70s show) and Adam Busch deliver “Thrown Your Hatred Down,” Nicole Atkins on “Harvest Moon,” Charles Bradley’s performance of “Heart Of Gold,” Jakob Dylan, Pat Carney, Brian Fallon and Butch Walker coming together for a hard hitting cover of “Ohio,” and finally, the magical cover of “Old Man” handled by the dream tandem of Ryan Adams (who seems to be the cover master these days) and Norah Jones.
It was a magical night, one that was repeated the next day with mostly the same crew, plus a special guest or two. This was shamefully my first “Fest” experience, but I will make sure to find my way to the next one, because it’s simply an essential event, all for a great cause.
Find a large gallery of photos of each of the performers posted below.
Cabin Down Below House Band:
Steve Schiltz:
Chase Cohl:
Caveman:
Streets Of Laredo:
Elvis Perkins:
Ryan Miller (of Guster):
Adam Busch:
Danny Masterson:
Nicole Atkins (w/ Danny Clnch):
Summer Moon:
Michelle Branch:
Adam Green:
Sammy James Jr.:
Donald Cumming (of The Virgins) and Nick Zinner (of Yeah Yeah Yeahs):
Nick Zinner:
Valerie June:
Matt Hitt (of Drowners):
Kim Gordon (of Body/Head and formerly of Sonic Youth):
Norah Jones:
Sasha Dobson and Jillette Johnson:
Ruby Amanfu:
Charles Bradley:
Brian Fallon (w/ Danny Clinch):
Jade Castrinos:
Jakob Dylan:
Patrick Carney (of The Black Keys):
Jakob Dylan, Patrick Carney, Brian Fallon and Butch Walker:
Ryan Adams:
Ryan Adams and Norah Jones:
Butch Walker:
Join the conversation