Lana Del Rey ventured out to west to participate in Neil Young's Harvest Moon benefit on Saturday (10/25) at The Painted Turtle in Lake Hughes, California.
Lana's appearance was a testament for how much love and respect she has for the legendary rocker because as we know our Brooklyn Baby isn't super crazy about performing a lot of shows, thus each one should be savored.
The event raised money for The Painted Turtle, a camp for children with serious medical conditions, and The Bridge School, which supports children with severe speech and physical disabilities. All the right reasons for Lana to get on stage for the 10th time this year, her first appearance since headlining at Hinterland in Iowa in August.
“This gathering, where music, nature, and purpose come together, is a powerful celebration of hope and community," Painted Turtle's executive director, April Tani, said in a statement in September.
"It’s an opportunity for all of us to support two extraordinary organizations making a real difference in children’s lives.”
If the Bridge School sounds familiar, Neil and Pegi Young organized the star-studded Bridge School Benefit Concerts from 1986 through 2016 in Mountain View. The Harvest Moon festival began after those concerts ended, which also coincided with the couple's divorce.
Whereas The Bridge School shows were weekend acoustic blow-out concerts in Northern California, Harvest Moon is a one-day version held in Southern California, combining support for both charities. The first edition took place in 2019.
Despite paring her set from 14-17 tunes, as she did this summer, down to just 9, her song choices were a bit surprising, in a pleasant way.
She kicked off her set with a nod to her host when she covered "Needle and the Damage Done," one of the classic cuts from Young's 1972 album Harvest. The song is a short, acoustic take on heroin addiction and its toll on musicians, inspired in part by the death of Young’s friend and Crazy Horse bandmate Danny Whitten.
It was the first time Lana had ever covered anything by Neil.
The lyric "I sing the song because I love the man," was sweet to hear because even though it may have been originally a tribute to Whitten, it could also have been taken on Friday to refer to Young who turns 80 in a few months.
While it may not be a huge surprise that she would cover a song from the icon who made the gig happen, her fourth song of the setlist was unpredictable. The beautiful "Let The Light In," from her 2023 album, Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd.
On the record she sings alongside Father John Misty and the only time she has performed it live (earlier this year at Stagecoach), she sang it with The Secret Sisters. Thus Saturday was not just the first time she sang it solo, it was just the second time she sang it live at all.
Before wrapping up her set, Lana brought out her young niece, Phoenix, for an adorable version of "Do-Re-Mi," the Rodgers and Hammerstein chestnut from The Sound of Music. No disrespect to Lana, but it felt like Phoenix knew the tune in her bones, which only made it more charming.
Lana's niece will now forever be known as an honorary Von Trapp child.
Joining Del Rey on stage was a full band, piano player, and string section, which really made its presence known for the final song, "Young and Beautiful."
And with that, our queen in the simple dress and white cowboy boots was done. For the year? Possibly. Probably. But hopefully not.
Her forthcoming album, now titled Stove, is not due until *after* Christmas for some reason.
While you wait for that to arrive, and if you weren't able to make it to the show but you want to donate to the wonderful causes, you can do so on the Harvest Moon website.
