W.S. Walcott Medicine Show

Neil Young and Chrome Hearts Live at The Jones Beach Ampitheatre (2025-08-23)

I’ve had Aug. 23rd marked on my calendar for months now as in my mind it was Neil Young & Chrome Hearts day. With a ticket sitting in my wallet for the pit and a gorgeous night I was super stoked as I rolled up to the Jones Beach Ampitheatre early enough to secure a prime spot in the pit. So you can only imagine my annoyance and disappointment as I entered the venue to find out that the pit was closed and off limits for the show due to high tide flooding fears due to the aftermath of Huricane Erin. As I sat in my seat in the orchestra, a good seat, yes but still not the pit, and looked down to see a completely dry pit area, my frustrations grew exponentially.

All of that ceased to matter at all once Neil & Chrome Hearts took the stage and opened up with what is arguably my favorite NY song “Ambulance Blues”. The set would proceed with classic “hits” like Cowgirl, Southern Man, and Mr. Soul to name a few. We would also get treated to Long Walk Home a fantastic tune off of the largely overlooked Life LP from 1987 in addition to a deep cut that only diehards would know since its never been released officially and its only been played live a handful of times, in Singer Without a Song.

In any event once the evening was over, I’d almost forgotten about the pit frustrations that had taken me over earlier in the night. (And for what its worth, even though the pit was dry at the beginning of the show, there indeed was a GOOD amount of water in there by mid show).

Neil Young & Chrome Hearts Slideshow