Back in February, Neil Young cancelled his summer European tour with the Chrome Hearts. At that time he indicated, “Everything is OK. Just needed a break. Listening to my body.” Then in mid-August he confirmed two late September co-bills with Willie Nelson & Family in the days leading up to Farm Aid 2026.

The first of these took place last night at Bridgeport’s Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater. Young and The Chrome Hearts opened with a version of  the Young classic “Long May You Run,” which led into “Human Highway” and “Comes A Time.” Then, Young and his bandmates Micah Nelson (guitar), Spooner Oldham (keys), Corey McCormick (bass) and Anthony LoGerfo (drums) debuted two selections from their new album Second Song: “Casting Me Away From You” and “Earth Girl.” The performance also included “Old Man,” “Heart Of Gold,” “Harvest Moon” and a set-closing “After The Gold Rush.” The five musicians then returned for “Living With War,” which Young last performed on 8/8/14 with Crazy Horse and then “Rockin’ In The Free World.”

Prior to the Chrome Hearts set Young also made an appearance with Nelson’s collective. He joined them for “Are There Any More Real Cowboys?” Young wrote the tune, which appears on his 1985 album Old Ways where he shared vocal duties with Nelson. The two joined forces on the official music video for the song, which appears below a clip of their collaboration last evening.

The two groups will next appear in Philadelphia on Thursday at TD Pavilion at Highmark Mann, followed by Farm Aid on Saturday at the Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater in Virginia Beach, VA.