Neil Young has written angry comments over the weekend after the news broke of his summer 2019 concert with folk rock legend Bob Dylan in London's Hyde Park. Young was expressing his frustration on his website, complaining both about the way in which the show was announced and the title sponsor of the massive double headliner.
Young wrote on his site, apologising for the unexpected announcement, "You..... who were taken by surprise waking up to the BOB DYLAN/ NEIL YOUNG - HYDE PARK CONCERT announcement posted on every outlet except NYA [Neil Young Archives], might wonder why it was not on NYA... and you should.” Young said he too did not know the show was being announced on Nov. 27 (with tickets going on sale on Nov. 30), remarking that he was still "finessing" the art for the poster and trying to make sure all the details of the gig were "agreeable to me. Then, suddenly, someone jumped the gun. The tickets were put on sale and the announcement was made, all without my knowledge."
According to Billboard, the July 12 show is a feature of the huge British Summer Time festival sponsored by Barclays bank-- which has been heavily criticised in the past for financing oil pipelines and fossil fuel projects. Young, an ardent environmental advocate, apologised to his subscribers who have been promised pre-sale access to his show, and he informed them that he was not pleased with the situation, or the show's official sponsor. "In addition, I learned that the show had a sponsor, 'Barclays Bank, a fossil fuel funding entity. That doesn't work for me. I believe in Science. I worry about the Climate Crisis and am deeply concerned about its massive global ramifications and my beautiful grandchildren's future."
The post, ended with "there's no doubt about it - Its been a massive fuck up!" Young said his team has since had a number of meetings and they are trying to fix the situation, including talks of changing the sponsorship. "We are quite confident that nothing like this will ever happen again," he wrote. "We're sorry for this situation -- it is -- and shall remain an anomaly."
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