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Van’n’Neil capture the castle – Malahide Castle, Dublin Thurs 26 June, 2025

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Van’n’Neil Capture the Castle – Malahide Thurs 26 June 26, 2025

With Neil Y looking like he might never play live again in recent years, the chance to see him cut loose on Old Black one last time was not something I was likely to pass up. The addition of Van M – the only artist in my collection to rival Neil for sheer length of fandom and number of albums I own – made the bill doubly enticing.
The only fly in the ointment? The gig was at Malahide Castle – universally reviled as being the worst venue in and around Dublin to schlep to and from. The leaden skies – nobody does leaden skies quite like Ireland and nowhere in Ireland does leaden skies quite like Malahide – the 25-minute trudge to the venue was like Bonaparte’s Retreat. (Obviously feeling our pain, VTM would include the song in his mid-set medley). While I didn’t arrive in time to see the opening act, Everyone Says Hi, I heard two or three OKish-sounding numbers and wish them well for the future.
And so to the main event. The similarities between V and N are numerous. While both can be – and have been – notoriously capricious (alright then, downright bolshie) in their career choices, when it comes to performing live, each is capable of achieving a transcendence few other artists can match. The differences are equally profound. An unashamed ‘Dweller on the Threshold’, Van’s music is inward-focused and, to my mind, best appreciated in smaller indoor venues. Neil, on the other hand, is famously a self-styled pagan whose sharp-edged widescreen soundscapes are equally at home in clubs, theatres, enormodomes and huge open spaces.
While the evening sun was bravely trying to crack a smile when Van and his 10-piece band took to the stage at about 7.30, the man himself was positively beaming and in atypically chatty form. With only an hour to play with, most artists would have settled for a run through of the hits interspersed with cuts from their latest release. Getting his one track from his new album (Cutting Corners) out of the way second song in, Mr. M went down a far more adventurous route.
The end result was generous 12-song set that contained plenty of old favourites (the opening Into the Mystic, Wild Night, Bright Side of the Road and Gloria), plus a variety of deeper cuts. His run through of his rarely performed cover of Robin Williamson’s For Mr. Thomas from Philosophers Stone Vol 1 (still waiting for Vol 2 28 years later, Van) was a particular highlight. Featuring some sublime interplay between himself and the band, the night’s climax, Common One’s Summertime in England was an even braver choice. A brisk run through Gloria and, huffing and puffing away on his gob-iron, Van left his excellent sidemen and backing singers to bask in the deserved acclaim.
By the time Neil and the Chrome Hearts (essentially Promise of the Real augmented by long-time collaborator/pal, Spooner Oldham on keys), it was nearly 9.15. With an 11 o’clock cut off, some songs were going to have to go – the intro acoustic number was one of them. The band simply kicked off a blistering hour-and-a-half of music with Be The Rain. An apt choice considering the rain that bucketed down for most of the set.

Interesting that while every bit as capable of mixing up his sets every night as Van M, Neil’s running order for this tour has been pretty static. The most inspired choices among the 14 songs he played at Malahide and again last night were his reimaginings of uber deep cuts, Looking Forward and Name of Love – both songs he’d given away to largely mediocre and deservedly long forgotten CSNY reunions. As at Glasto last night, the only longeur came in the endlessly dreary plod that is Son Green – surely a song like Ordinary People would have been a much more “innaresting” choice.

2

Comments


  1. SIE

    Nneil Y

    BTR

    Nol


    CG

    SETLISTS – VAN
    Into the Mystic
    Cutting Corners
    Only A Dream/Bonaparte’s Retreat/No Prima Donna
    Bright Side of the Road
    Days Like This
    Ain’t Gonna Moan No More
    Precious Time
    Crazy Jane on God
    For Mr Thomas
    Wild Night
    Summer Time In England
    Gloria

    SETLIST NEIL

    Be The Rain
    When You Dance, I Can Really Love
    Cinnamon Girl
    Fuckin’ 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

  3. Excellent! Quite like Sun Green myself. Am pleased Neil is resurrecting some Greendale stuff. I am re-considering going to see him as the setlist is very different from last year with the Horse. Tickets for the 2nd show in Toronto mid August are plentiful, trouble is it’s an 800km round trip. Hmmm. Might really be the last time though. I would go for sure if Van was there, not sure I will see him again.

        • That’s my 10th time for Van (= with Bruce at the top) and 7th for Neil.

          Would have seen both loads more but lived and worked overseas from 1981 to 2013 which limited my gig going opportunities somewhat

          Van plays quite a lot in Ireland these days so I should get to see him agipain.

          Guy and his wife in the same hotel as me on Fri am had also seen VTM do a small (300 seat) dinner show at the Europa Hotel and said it was fabulous.

          Bit expensive if you catch Van on a bad (rather tan a wild) night..

          • Neil is at 16 for me if you include CSNY. I lived in Bristol for 3 years in the 90s and saw many Van gigs at that time. He was living in Bath at the time and liked to play gigs within about an hour radius of home so he could sleep in his own bed, so Bristol, Cardiff, Gloucester, Cheltenham etc

        • Agreed. Not convinced so far that it’s quite as good as some of the reviews have made out but it’s certainly the best in a while and @jaygee ‘s review and the setlist also suggest he’s got his mojo back.

  5. I was at the Malahide gig too. Flew over from Manchester, having failed to get Glastonbury tickets this year (sob), it looked like my best bet for catching Neil.

    Made sure to get there for Everyone Says Hi, having also seen them play the Deaf Institute last October. Nice opening set, playing mostly from what is my favourite album of the year so far.

    First time seeing Van, found it a fairly pleasant, though very middle-of-the-road set. As a non-Van-fan, I would’ve liked a couple more familiar hits, but wasn’t surprised not to get them.

    Neil! My last NY gig was Leeds 2016, so I was very excited! He’s got a great band at the moment, and there is a feeling I just can’t put into words which is translated through the heavy sound he makes. The electric stuff was best for me, with Be The Rain and Sun Green my highlights. I’m a big Greendale fan, and until the first European setlists started coming out last week, never thought I’d get this material live. Otherwise a decent balance of favourites for first timers, and obscurities for those who’ve followed more closely. I’d have loved a couple more songs (and better weather!) but it was a great show.

    I thought Malahide worked fairly well, we booked the Concert Express bus back to the centre for an easy connect to our hotel. A wider beer selection, a bar further back, and more loos might have been good, but I was pretty happy with the setup for an outdoor show overall.

      • Yeah, get a copy to also confirm The Clash’s 17 Top 40 entries. Van only has 5 (including Them). However “hits” can also mean radio hits, favourite tracks on hit albums, songs heard in films, live favourites etc. Songs that last longer than a couple of weeks in the sun.

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