You can’t pull the plug on an iconic song that literally demands you “keep on rockin’ in the free world.” And if Neil Young is the guy playing it, he damn sure isn’t going to let you.
As San Francisco Chronicle reports, the legendary rocker was headlining BottleRock Napa Valley Festival over the weekend when he decided to ignore curfew. He was finishing his set with his classic closer, “Rockin’ in the Free World”, when someone ran out on stage to warn him about the impending cut-off. But Young and his band were in one hell of a groove, and they decided to keep right on rockin’ on. The plug was indeed pulled, and the musicians continued playing for a full minute and a half more. Even without mics, their stage amps and the voices of the crowd made for one hell of a finisher.
Check out footage below; the sound gets cut around the 8:00 mark
The California festival has had a strict 10:00 p.m. cut-off since people in the residential area surrounding the event complained after its inaugural 2013 edition. Neil Young isn’t the first one to keep “Rockin’ in the Free World” after having their BottleRock set powered down. The Cure did it the first year of the curfew in 2014, and Foo Fighters took “Everlong” over the limit in 2017.
