Featured Essay: Down By The River: My Neil Young Experience

by Donald Wells

On May 12th, I worked my first shift for Live Nation.  I walked up to Freedom Mortgage Pavilion, located on the Delaware River between The Battleship New Jersey and The Ben Franklin Bridge in Camden, NJ, unaware I would be having a surreal experience that evening.

I clocked in for my shift at 5pm, collected my uniform, and waited for our team huddle. I was super anxious- it was my first shift and wasn’t really sure what I was doing. Frank, the head of security, gave us a rundown of the night’s events.  “Doors open at 6pm, first act goes on at 7:30 and will play until 8:20, the house lights will not go up after the set, Neil will play at 8:30 and end around 10:15. We don’t expect him to go later than that based on the sets of previous shows.” Frank wished us well and told us to have a good show.

After the huddle broke, I wandered over to the glass doors in the Walt Lobby and waited for my assignment. Judy, the supervisor for the area, began asking for volunteers to work the ticket scanners.  Those positions were taken before I could raise my hand, so I found myself working the secondary screening area.  My job was to screen patrons if they set off the metal detectors and find the reason they sounded the alarm. Then we waited for the doors to open. Finally, 6pm hit and a happy crowd entered the venue.

My anxiety at this point was about gone, and I decided to enjoy myself.  People were coming through at a quick rate and racing past me as they had pit tickets and NEEDED to be as close as possible to the rock legend.  I began greeting everyone that made eye contact. “Have a great time!” and “Enjoy the show!!” came out like I was a game show host. Then Santa came through the line. Yep, an old man dressed as Santa- more on him later.  There were so many folks excited to see Mr. Young. Most of the first 30 minutes I was there were as expected.  People were irritated that they needed to be screened multiple times, but, for the most part, people were pleasant.  Most alarms were for simple things like old men wearing suspenders and women with metal hips due to osteoporosis.  We’re talking about a 78 year old rock god’s show after all.

Then something weird happened.  A supervisor tapped me on the shoulder and said, “I have a job for you. Go turn in your scanner, go outside and see Frank. Tell him Amy sent you.” So I turned in my handheld metal detector and headed outside.  Frank was waiting on the roadway out in front of the venue. I told him what Amy said, and he asked me to follow him. He said he had a job for me and another guy. We met my partner for the evening, Gary, at the backstage gate.  Amy was waiting for us and escorted us to the tour bus parking area.  We were now standing next to the coolest antique tour bus I’ve ever seen.  Gary and I were then informed that we would be shadowing Neil Young’s film crew for the evening!  At this point I’m freaking out in my mind but try to stay cool.  There was also a third guy with us and he asked Amy what he’s doing. At that moment, the door for the tour bus opened and two large dogs came out on leashes. I was expecting Neil was coming out with his dogs but it was Daryl Freaking Hannah! My brain was beginning to melt as I couldn’t believe what was happening.  The other gentleman was assigned to escort Ms. Hannah for the evening.

Shortly after this encounter, Neil’s head of security came over and told us what he needed from Gary and me. He then took us backstage to meet the film crew. Backstage was bustling with activity and the area itself was a labyrinth.  We walked back to a dressing room where we met Adam and his partner Marco. They were the documentary film makers for Neil’s tour.  Adam gave us a rundown of the evening. At 8:15, we will head out to the stage and we were to stand off to the side until Neil began his solo acoustic set. Then Adam would go into the crowd to film and one of us would go with him and make sure he had access to any area he needed to get to. He wasn’t sure when the set would begin because Neil doesn’t use setlists.  Adam explained it’s pretty much a nod from Neil, then Crazy Horse will wander off stage and Neil will begin the solo set. After that, Adam would return to the stage area and Neil and Crazy Horse would finish up their set.

Gary and I went back outside to wait for 8pm to roll around.  Gary told me a bunch of stories about his 16 years working there. He thought it was hilarious that it was my first night. As 8 approached, we headed back into the dressing room to meet Adam and Marco. While they were getting ready, I was leaning against the wall outside of their dressing room and I could hear singing.  First I thought I was hearing the opening act but then realized it was acapella harmonizing. It was Neil and Crazy Horse going through their vocal warm up.  It was like an out of body experience. I couldn’t believe this was happening. Then Adam and Marco came out with their cameras, dressed in lab coats like mad scientists. Their name tags said “Decibel” which I thought was strange- until we got to the stage. Adam said, “It’s time to go,” and we raced to the front of the stage. When we got there, all of the stage hands were wearing lab coats with silly audio themed name tags.

We were asked to stay just off to the side of the stage so Neil didn’t see us. He doesn’t like distractions during his set.  The cameramen set up center stage, the guitar feedback started and the Crazy Horse banner began to shake in front of the stage.  The first chords of “Cortez the Killer” started in. The banner dropped and the crowd went wild.  At that moment, I found myself about 15 feet from Neil Young, in between the barrier holding the crowd back and the stage, wondering what the hell is happening?  When the next song started,  I settled in and enjoyed “Cinnamon Girl” and watched the crowd.  Phones were out, hands were in the air, heads were bobbing and everyone was singing along.  I think I like this job!

The band worked their way through their set and then, just like Adam said, Neil nodded to the band and they made their way off stage. Neil’s guitar tech walked out his harmonica rig and his acoustic guitar. Then Adam grabbed Gary and they headed off into the crowd while I hung back with Marco.  Neil started in with “Comes a Time” and there was a reverence that went over the crowd.  Then came “Heart of Gold.” I’ve been to hundreds of concerts and I always get goosebumps when a crowd is singing along with a song, but I’ve always been in the crowd.  This was different. Being at the stage and staring out into the crowd as they were singing at me and the sound went through me- It gave me a rush I’ve never quite experienced before. After Neil finished the song, he apologized to the crowd because he said he was distracted. Santa was in the front row and filming him with an iPhone and it was kinda freaking him out the whole time- which brought me full circle from the beginning of my night.  One more song and the band came back out. They played a few songs, walked off and came back for an encore of “Roll Another Number” and “Down by the River.”  Neil Young and Crazy Horse came to the front of the stage for a bow and an ovation from the crowd.  Then Adam and Marco rushed us back to the dressing room so they could start packing to get on the bus to head to the next stop on the tour. 

Gary and I waited outside their dressing room, waiting to be dismissed from our very unique assignment.  While we were waiting, Daryl Hannah, leaning on her expertise of her craft, came to talk with the film crew and see what they thought of the set. While that was going on, Philadelphia songwriter and guitarist Kurt Vile walked by. This punctuated my very surreal evening.  We were excused from our duties and we walked back out to the lobby to clock out for the evening. At this point, I was suddenly exhausted, realizing that I was dialed in to a 10 for the last 3 hours and my body had had enough!

After checking out, we got our mini tour poster- which I have to say is a pretty sweet perk. I dropped my uniform in the bin and walked out into the cool Camden night and made the pilgrimage back to my car along with my co-workers.  I got to my truck, sat down and smiled. 

P.S. I told this story to friends and family the next day and got some interesting feedback.  My Dad told me I should probably quit because I was never going to top that! But I think the best was my buddy Daniel, who was also at the show, said that after all my years of listening to music and going to shows the Rock Gods were smiling down on me and giving me that experience. 

Karma is real kids! 

Donald Wells is a full time music aficionado (and also runs a hardware store). He has been listening to new artists and going to live shows for the last 30 years and he shares his love of music with his two young adult children. He recently started a blog writing about his experiences. The Cresting Sound Wave is his love letter to music and musicians. You can follow him at @donwells.bsky.social

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