Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts Dig Deep at ‘Love Earth’ Tour Kickoff

Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts kicked off their Love Earth world tour Wednesday evening at the Dalhalla open air theater in Rättvik, Sweden. The set was heavy on classics like “Cinnamon Girl,” “The Needle and the Damage Done,” “Like a Hurricane,” and “Old Man.” But there were also a handful of real curveballs, including two songs from his 2003 rock opera Greendale, and two deeply obscure CSNY tunes from their latter-day reunion albums.

The first surprise came when he broke out “Be the Rain” right after opening the the show with an acoustic rendition of “Sugar Mountain.” The anthemic Greendale song was played nightly on the 2003/04 Greendale tour, but only appeared since then at a trio of European Crazy Horse shows in August 2014.

Midway through the night, he dug out the title track to the 1999 CSNY reunion album Looking Forward. He debuted the song at the 1998 Bridge School Benefit, and played it practically every night of his 1999 solo acoustic tour, and 2000 CSNY reunion trek, 81 times in total. But prior to Rättvik, he hadn’t sang it since April 2000.

He followed it with the Greendale deep cut “Sun Green,” which he hadn’t played since the Greendale tour wrapped up March 21, 2004, in Amherst, Massachusetts. (The vast majority of Greendale hasn’t been done since that night, with the exception of “Be the Rain,” “Double E,” which came back at two Promise of the Real shows in July 2015, and now this lone “Sun Green.”)

Near the end of the Rättvik gig, Young and the Chrome Hearts dug out “Name of Love,” which comes from CSNY’s 1988 LP American Dream. This was their first group effort since 1970’s Déjà Vu, and it received little love from fans or critics. In the years that followed, even the members of the group admitted it was far from their best work. But Young has always had a fondness for “Name of Love.” He regularly played it with Crazy Horse in 1987 before it was even released, brought it with back the Horse on their 2014 European tour, and revived it once again earlier this year at a special benefit show in Lakefield, Ontario.

Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts debuted at Farm Aid in September 2024. One week ago, they released their first studio LP, Talkin’ To The Trees. They didn’t play even a single song from it in Rättvik, but that’s likely to change at some point along the run. The tour continues Friday night in Bergen, Norway. An extensive North American leg begins August 8 at the PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts’ June 18, 2025, Setlist in Rättvik, Sweden