Last week, Neil Young (or one of his reps) posted a seemingly random first status update to his official Facebook page: “I have been thinking about adding vampire blues to my show but i would rather do it with a band.” As it’s been forever since I last gave On the Beach a spin, I missed that the 1974 tune was a wonderfully prescient jab at the oil industry (Neil’s longtime foe). Well, the impetus for the message became even more clear this morning as Rolling Stone’s Andy Greene points out that Young revealed the third leg of his solo tour will focus on cities along the oil spill-stricken Gulf Coast.
The only show confirmed so far is at Hollywood, Florida’s Hard Rock Live on September 23, but other dates in “Florida and on the Gulf Coast” will be announced shortly. In the meantime, enjoy some of the new songs Young debuted on the first leg here, and get acquainted with “Vampire Blues” (sample lyric: “Well, I’m a vampire, baby / Suckin’ blood from the Earth / Well, I’m a vampire, baby / Sell you twenty barrels worth”) below: