I’ve been a longtime fan of Neil Young and his musical journey since the early ‘70s. I am a retired airline pilot (40 years of flying) but I learned to play “Heart of Gold” a year before my first flying lesson. Still listening to and playing Neil’s tunes on a regular basis today. It’s wonderful to be a member of NYA and enjoy all it has to offer.

The shows I’ve managed to attend were all worth the price of admission and more. Somehow along the way I found it interesting to check out the band’s tour bus fleet usually parked close to the venue.

After one Maple Leaf Gardens show in Toronto, might have been the “Garage Band” tour, I waited outside with my brother after the show with a group of fans near Neil’s bus. It was the old Pocahontas with the wooden bird feathers along the sides. First Neil’s plaid shirt was walked out to the bus and a few minutes later so did Neil. A quick couple of autographs and he boarded the bus.

However, before this happened, a lone figure walked up a side street towards one of the other band tour buses. He was wearing camouflage pants and a bomber jacket. It was Poncho. I should have recognized him from the show and run over to say hi but I didn’t realize who it was at that moment.

Since that night I’ve seen the newer “Zuma” bus parked at various venues in Toronto and Ottawa. These photos are from Massey Hall/Victoria Street in Toronto, early 2014, when Neil was doing a cross-Canada protest regarding the tar sands in Northern Alberta. He was inside the famous hall doing a press conference. The bus was guarded but I noticed a black floor mat on the sidewalk at the foot of the door with a broken arrow on it. Very cool.

Neil’s recent LincVolt videos have had some shots of the bus touring across the countryside. It’s a cool-looking machine and definitely one of a kind. Much like her owner.