Neil Young and Crazy Horse Live at the Forum, 1978

I'm Lazing in my dinky little apartment on San Vicente Blvd and there comes a knock at the door. I answer and it's my next door neighbor(and old high school friend) Tom. He's holding two concert tickets in his hand and wants to know if I'm interested. He has a schedule conflict and needs to get rid of them. Two tickets to Rust Never Sleeps and would I be interested! HolySHIT!? Does a bear shit in the woods?! I take him up on his offer in a millisecond and prepare for the concert. As we're preparing to go, unbeknownst to most of the concert goers, a fire has been set on the other side of the Santa Monica Mountains by some piro and is burning , out of control backed by a fierce windstorm. The smoke is turning the sky a brownish grey and backed by the Santa Anas, the firemen are powerless to stop it. On the street behind us, owners of expensive homes are backing Uhauls up to their houses and loading them with their belongings. For even though the fire is clearly visible from the bluff overlooking the Santa Monica Canyon, which is full of expensive homes, the fire, now a firestorm, is clearly heading straight for the beach. And not for our little apartment. And no dumb epic firestorm is going to keep me from seeing the concert of my life! As we course down Manchester Blvd in bumper to bumper traffic, it is now dark and ashes and sparks are raining down from the sky. It almost appears to be the Appocolypse! But Neil and the Horse don't disapoint. Our seats are halfway up the left side, a great location. And it is easily the LOUDEST concert and best stage set-up I have ever been to. I can only imagine how sublime it must be to have seats in one of the first ten rowes! I don't think my ears have ever recovered from this sound onslaught. And, during the concert, the fire burns Neil's little Trancas beach house to the ground. In an interview, Young states the symbolism suits him just fine, as He has already moved to his new enclave in La Honda up north. They caught the little miscreant who set the blaze, and he is in the clink for Life. Obviously never got enough attention growing up or something. But the concert remains high up on my best ever list. I can still smell the Horse to this Day!!!