ACL Battles: Jack White vs. Neil Young
This seems like a no-brainer right? You gotta go see Neil Young! Well, I thought that almost immediately, but then I pondered a bit on the subject at hand, and now I’m not sure I have an answer for you, at least not one we’ll all agree upon. You see, if I base it on output, Neil wins hands down; he’s been around longer, and After the Gold Rush alone is a must have in every music nerds collection. But, all in all, I can see myself aligning more with what Jack White‘s been able to accomplish in such a short time, not to mention he’s endeared himself to me with various hits that I hold near and dear. However, you also have to take into account the live performance, right? I’m worried that Neil Young might pull a Bob Dylan, taking incredible songs and making them sound horrendous. On the other hand, Jack did just freak out recently, ranting and raving at the audience; I don’t have time to put up with rock star crap. So, I’m going with Neil here. He’s got a more extensive catalogue, there’s less likelihood of a break-down, and Jack’s going to be around for a minute. I think you should do the same. Won’t you come see Neil with me?
Jack plays at the AMD stage Saturday at 8 PM, and Neil plays with Crazy Horse at the same time over at the Bud Light stage.
Why not do both? Check out Neil’s set with Crazy Horse, then manifest yourself into Jack’s ACL Studio Taping on Sunday? Just protect your ears to keep ’em fresh for Sunday’s taping… It’s a safe bet that the ACL Studio will have the finest sound conditions in Texas history, a relief from the difficult festival sound at the Festival.
That would be a great plan, other than the low probability shot at an ACL taping. I would say that starting at Jack White and then meandering to Neil that night would be a decent idea. Neil will play longer, save the classics (or at least the stuff he likes best) for the end of his set. I reckon that’ll be my chosen scenario.
Three things: songs have been written about Neil Young songs; Kurt Cobain’s suicide note had a Neil Young line in it; and finally, who would Jack White go see?