A Night With Neil Young: Once-In-A-Lifetime Theatrical Event Slated For February 29

Next Monday promises to be a historical event for Neil Young fans. That’s when select theaters from coast to coast will air two movies that haven’t been seen on the silver screen in a very long time.

The February 29 showing of Rust Never Sleeps and Human Highway will be part of a one-night event that also features a live and interactive Q&A session with Neil Young moderated by Almost Famous author Cameron Crowe. Monday’s double feature and interactive chat are sponsored by AARP in conjunction with Fathom Events.

NEIL YOUNG and CRAZY HORSE – Cortez the Killer (vinyl) https://t.co/IC1N8Rdspj

— Malinthe Samarakoon (@malinthe) February 22, 2016

Rolling Stone describes Human Highway as a “surreal comedy” that revolves around a Cold War-era diner in a podunk town, Neil Young as a less-than-intellectual gas station attendant named Lionel, and a nuclear power plant that inadvertently causes a planetary apocalypse.

Mark Mothersbaugh and other members of the 80s art band Devo appear in the 1982 film as nuclear utility company workers who unintentionally trigger the end of the world. Human Highway, which also stars Dennis Hopper, Russ Tamblyn, Dean Stockwell, and Sally Kirkland, took four years to film and 30 years to edit, according to Rolling Stone.

Said Mothersbaugh upon revisiting the movie some ten years after filming, “I liked it more in retrospect. Devo actually has some of the best parts of the movie. It’s a truly weird piece of history.”

According to Post Perspective, an online journal by and for filmmakers, Human Highway began shooting in 1978 and made its big-screen debut at a film fest in Mill Valley, California, in 1982. Unsatisfied with weak reviews, Neil Young started re-editing the film right away. Thirty-four years later, Neil — and his auteur alter ago, Bernard Shakey — are finally satisfied with the results.

In September of last year, a completely re-edited and remixed version of Human Highway received much better reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Will Mitchell, a producer with Neil Young’s film company, Shakey Pictures, told Post Perspective about Neil Young’s participation in the three-decade editing and re-editing process.

“Young was always a part of the restoration and remixing process. He was right there in every step of editing the picture; for the final mix, he was there in the room supervising. It was quite a journey for all of us, and we had a lot of fun doing this with our crew here at Shakey Pictures.”

Rust Never Sleeps is a whole ‘nother story.

Rolling Stone calls Neil Young’s 1978 concert film “an undisputed masterpiece.” The one-hour, 43-minute documentary offers an up-close look at Neil and his Crazy Horse band at the peak of their prowess. Filmed at San Francisco’s Cow Palace on October 22, 1978, the rock doc features Neil Young along with Crazy Horse axe master Frank “Poncho” Sampedro, skilled bassist Billy Talbot and spot-on drummer Ralph Molina. Vocalist Nicolette Larson, bassist Joe Osborn, and drummer Karl T. Himmel also make appearances in the critically acclaimed concert film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMvjfBdeiKw

As reported by Ultimate Classic Rock, remastered versions of Rust Never Sleeps and Human Highway were released on DVD this week.

At an age when many musicians are content to do their rocking in a rocking chair, Neil Young remains relevant.

On February 24, the Memphis Daily News reported that Neil Young is slated to headline this year’s Beale Street Music Festival. Young, who has not played Memphis since a 1983 gig at the Mid-South Coliseum, will be backed by Willie Nelson’s sons Micah and Lukas and their touring band, Promise of the Real.

In addition to Neil Young, the other 60 or so scheduled festival acts include Modest Mouse, Weezer, Train, Los Lobos, Violent Femmes, and Lunchmoney Lewis. The three-day festival in Tom Lee Park kicks off the month-long Memphis in May concert series.

Last summer, the venerable and socially conscious Neil Young made headlines when he barred extreme conservative candidate Donald Trump from using his dystopian Reagan-era anthem, “Keep On Rocking in the Free World,” in his presidential campaign.

[Photo by Tristan Fewings/Getty Images]