Neil Young warms up for Glastonbury and airs live rarities as he kicks off 2025 world tour with Chrome Hearts

Neil Young kicked off his 2025 world tour with Chrome Hearts this week, performing a series of live rarities and classics in the lead up to Glastonbury.

• READ MORE: Glastonbury 2025: how to buy tickets, who’s playing and everything you need to know

The run of dates will see the Canadian musician make his way across Europe with stops in Norway, Denmark, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany, joined by his new backing band, comprised of guitarist Micah Nelson, bassist Corey McCormick, drummer Anthony LoGerfo, and organist Spooner Oldham.

In August, they’ll head over to the US for a 15-date run across the country starting with a gig on August 8 at the PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte, and will make further stops in Richmond, Detroit, Cleveland, Toronto, New York, Chicago, Denver, Vancouver and more before wrapping up on September 15 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

Kicking off the tour at the Dalhalla open-air theatre in Rättvik, Sweden, on Wednesday (June 18), the show saw Young and co. wheel out classics including ‘Like A Hurricane’, Cinnamon Girl’, ‘The Needle and the Damage Done’ and ‘Harvest Moon’, with fans in attendance saying the setlist was “wonderfully left field”.

The concert kicked off with a solo from Young, an acoustic version of ‘Sugar Mountain’ that gave way to ‘Be The Rain’ once the rest of the band joined him. The track comes from Young’s 2003 rock opera Greendale, and hasn’t had a live outing since 2014.

Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts at Rättvik’s Dalhalla played:

‘Sugar Mountain’
‘Be The Rain’
‘When You Dance, I Can Really Love’
‘Cinnamon Girl’
‘F*!#in’ Up’
‘Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)’
‘The Needle And The Damage Done’
‘Harvest Moon’
‘Looking Forward’
‘Sun Green’
‘Love And Only Love’
‘Like A Hurricane’
‘Name Of Love’
‘Old Man’
‘Rockin’ In The Free World’

More curveballs came later in the show when Young broke out two obscure Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young tracks – 1999’s ‘Looking Forward’ and 1988’s ‘Name Of Love’. Discussing the setlist on Reddit, one fan suggested “the whole vibe was all about love and freedom”, and could potentially explain the song choices.

“I might be wrong,” they continued, “but I personally think this is the message that Neil wants to share right now, so it makes sense that he didn’t play songs like ‘Cortez The Killer’ for example. I didn’t expect so many hits, but as I said the whole set felt really cohesive in the message of love. A truly wonderful experience.”

Earlier this month, Young shared a post on his Neil Young Archives blog following a row between Bruce Springsteen and Donald Trump, in which he expressed his hopes for peace and referenced the President’s past as a fan of his music.

“When I tour the USA this summer, if there is not martial law by then which would make it impossible, let’s all come together and stand for American values,” he wrote.

Addressing Trump, Young continued: “We will not be doing a political show. We will be playing the music we love for all of us to enjoy together. President Trump, you are invited. Come and hear our music just as you did for decades.”

The Canadian icon has in the past questioned if he’ll be able to re-enter the United States when the European tour wraps, due to his many criticisms of the President. This comes after the Trump administration has deported and detained several immigrants over their political views, including pro-Palestine activists, as well as those backing Ukraine over Russia.

Later this month, he’ll play a bill-topping set at Glastonbury Festival, and a headline slot at BST Hyde Park the following month.

Young was confirmed as the first headliner for Glastonbury 2025 in early January, after he initially pulled out of the festival due to it being “a corporate turn-off”, owing to its partnership with the BBC. He first headlined Glastonbury Festival back in 2009 alongside Bruce Springsteen and Blur.

Young’s BST Hyde Park show will see him headlining this year’s edition of the London concert series along with Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, Stevie Wonder, Zach Bryan, Noah Kahan and Jeff Lynne’s ELO. You can find any remaining tickets here.

He recently released his first album with the Chrome Hearts, ‘Talkin To The Trees’, which was previewed with politically-charged single called ‘Let’s Roll Again’. Fans noted that the Rättvik gig didn’t include any of the new numbers, but that’s likely to change at some point along the trek.

In August, Young is due to return to the US with Chrome Hearts for a run of North American tour dates.

The post Neil Young warms up for Glastonbury and airs live rarities as he kicks off 2025 world tour with Chrome Hearts appeared first on NME.