Neil Young is set to kick off his first tour in four years, a July solo outing on the West Coast that appears likely to be a prelude to a more extensive national concert trek. The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee plans to largely showcase songs he he has never performed before, along with some of his classics.
The tour will run from July 1 to July 23. It includes a July 11 San Diego concert at the San Diego Symphony’s Rady Shell at Jacobs Park.
By coincidence, that bayside location at Embarcadero Marina Park South is where Young, now 77, performed a captivating solo show in 1992 — 30 years before The Shell opened at the same site in 2021. This will be his first area appearance since a 2015 concert with his band at RIMAC Arena at the University of California San Diego.
The specifics of Young’s West Coast concert trek were announced Friday morning by Live Nation, the tour’s promoter. He disclosed the tour — but not the cities or dates — Wednesday via a private Zoom session with paid Patron subscribers to his Neil Young Archives.
The storied singer-songwriter told the subscribers he has prepared about 15 songs for the tour. About 80 percent of them are songs Young will be performing on stage for the first time, including “Prime of Life” from his 1994 album, “Sleeps With Angels,” and “If You Got Love,” an outtake from his 1982 album, “Trans.”
Young indicated the tour will kick off with a four- or five-night residency at a “tiny, little unknown theater that’s close to one of the most well-known theaters in the world.” The venue in question is the John Anson Ford Theater in Los Angeles, which is across the street from the Hollywood Bowl. He will perform four shows there in early July.
Chris Pierce will be the opening acts for all dates on the tour.
Tickets for Young’s July 11 concert at The Shell will go on sale to the general public Wednesday at 10 a.m. at livenation.com, ticketmaster.com and theshell.org, as well as at The Shell’s box office at 222 Marina Park Way. An online-only pre-sale will be held Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at theshell.org.
Tickets for the San Diego concert are priced from $59.50 to $149.50, plus service fees. The tables that the symphony usually has set up in the seating areas closest to the stage will be replaced by additional rows of reserved seats for Young’s performance. The capacity for the concert will be 7,400.
Neil Young tour dates, with Chris Pierce
Saturday, July 1 – Los Angeles, CA – John Anson Ford
Sunday, July 2 – Los Angeles, CA – John Anson Ford
Tuesday, July 4 – Los Angeles, CA – John Anson Ford
Wednesday, July 5 – Los Angeles, CA – John Anson Ford
Friday, July 7 – Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl
Saturday July 8 – Paso Robles, CA – Vina Robles Amphitheatre
Tuesday, July 11 – San Diego, CA – The Shell
Thursday July 13 – Los Angeles, CA – The Greek Theatre
Saturday, July 15 – Berkeley, CA – The Greek
Monday, July 17 – Bend, OR – Hayden Homes Amphitheater
Tuesday, July 18 – Ridgefield, WA – RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater
Thursday, July 20 – Auburn, WA – White River Amphitheatre
Sunday, July 23 – Napa, CA – Oxbow RiverStage