Neil Young is one of those musical treasures. He is unique (his hauntingly beautiful voice is instantly recognizable to anyone, regardless of age) and is a true poetic artist who tells stories through his songs. It is my opinion that we don't have enough storytellers in music today (a belief further cemented by our pre-show eat and drink at Jack Astors where repetitive thumping nonsense was pumped through the speakers for the duration to my supreme annoyance). You may not dig Neil's sound, but I don't think there is a person around who doesn't appreciate the talent of the artist he is.
To witness Neil Young live, at Massey Hall (a place that other artists I've seen here even refer to with great reverence as "Neil's House") was a real treat...one for the books, for damned sure.
The opener:
Bert Jansch, a Scottish folk singer opened the show. I have no idea if I liked him or not because I was tense with annoyance for his entire set. I don't know about you, but when I enter Massey Hall, I am not under the impression that I'm sitting in my living room. And when trying to listen to a one man with guitar folk act, there shouldn't be a competition for my attention between him on stage, and the guys behind me discussing their hot yoga class that day. Loudly. I was ready to throw down with these two. I've said it before, I'll say it again...not into the opening act? Cool - hang out at the bar until the act that you paid to see hits the stage or shut the hell up if you're too lazy to move your yoga toned ass out of your seat. Have some friggin' respect. And then...the people who owned the four seats in front of us showed up. 3 guys, one girl. The girl and her boyfriend were obviously having some kind of spat. The two other guys (the word "lunkheads" immediately came to mind) were a little too bulky for their seats and couldn't sit still. At one point, Lunkhead A knocked his hat off his head and it landed in my lap. To my surprise, he turned around and reached into my lap to retrieve it. Seriously. (shaking head). Sigh.... once Bert was done, we headed outside for some air, sending up a silent prayer to the Music Gods that the crowd would behave when Neil came on.
Jonathan Demme came on stage to introduce Neil. He was filming the show to round out the Neil Young concert trilogy. He asked for the crowd's cooperation in interacting with Neil between songs instead of during, and having experienced the bad behaviour of the audience for the opening act, I figured he was S.O.L. But I'm pleased to say that the crowd dug deep and found their respect for the artist about to take the stage.... There was a lot of hollering in between songs, and to Jakki's and my amusement, the screams of "I love you Neil" all came from men (!)
Neil:
Neil lumbered on stage wearing a straw hat and looking rather dapper, slowly picked up his guitar and opened the show with "Hey, Hey, My, My", and it was absolutely amazing. We've started seeing some artists that have had decades long careers in the past couple of years out of respect for their legendary status and because who knows if we will get the opportunity to see them again. I can honestly say that Neil Young sounds as good at 65 as he did in his prime...the voice is the very same: haunting and incredibly unique, and the man still radiates a cool that artists a fraction of his age will never capture. Filled me with pride that this jewel is one of ours. He moved across the stage with laid back ease. He was great to watch between songs, taking a moment to decide which instrument he was going to pick up next and ambling over to it. The crowd was bent forward, watching, and his movements were slow and deliberate... and he always had a place to hang his hat while he took it off to either slowly and deliberately remove or put on the harmonica. Just cool... best word to describe the man. Cool.
He played a close to 2 hour set that was filled with old classics and a pretty hefty selection off the new album "Le Noise". The new stuff has a lot of more electric guitar driven tunes. While I enjoy the album, I'm still a bigger fan of his older more intimate stuff. "Down by the River", "I Believe in You" and "Helpless" were pure magic in the Massey Hall setting. (Hear the audio only recording of Helpless here from his May 10th show). But surprisingly, one of my favorites of the night was off the new album - "Peaceful Valley Blvd". When he strummed the last chord, Jakki leaned over to me and whispered "Best History Lesson Ever" and she was absolutely bang on with that sentiment. This one was presented to us with truth, sadness and bitter sweet beauty, and the sold out crowd took it in with a well deserved quiet respect and awe.
There were a few parts to the show that I didn't really care for. For the majority of the electric guitar driven tunes played, he seemed to be experimenting with the sound by way of feedback coming off the amps/speakers. While I say "good on him" for being experimental and respect the hell out of creative license, it just didn't really appeal to me. During the encore for example, while playing "Walk With Me", he took his guitar and waved and twirled it back and forth in front of the amps to produce sound out of the resulting feedback. T'was not pleasing to me. I'm not sure if it was the venue (I've seen some heavy electric driven stuff in Massey and it CAN accomodate it), or the fact that I like my Neil a little more Tom Thomson than Jackson Pollock, but I personally didn't find it worked. (I shudder to say that it sounded like "noise" lest I be accused of showing my age....but it sounded like "noise").
Every show, I pick a song I want to hear going in. I love "After the Gold Rush". Like, really, really love it. But I didn't enjoy it performed at the show because he chose to play it on the organ. I'm not a fan of the organ. It reminds me of church. While it can be argued that we were at the church of Massey Hall and worshipping at the alter of Neil, I find the choice of the organ took away from the beauty of the song. I find organs tend to remind me of "Muzak", and what a horrible thought to run through your head listening to one of your favorite songs. Again, poetic license and good on him for changing things up, but I'd have liked to hear this one, especially, classic.
And finally, as great a story teller as he is, there was only one short moment where he actually addressed the audience prior to playing "Leia" on the piano. Neil is such a great story teller through his songs, I was hoping to hear the man speak to us in his non-musical voice. However, this wasn't a huge problem for me as his work talks volumes and I was content to let the music be the voice for the evening.
An incredible night of music, with an incredible musical legend. Even the lunkheads were filled with respect. And if that doesn't tell you something about the man and his ability to teach us with musical magic, I don't know what does.
Set List:
Hey, Hey, My, My (Out Of The Blue)
Tell Me Why
Helpless
You Never Call
Peaceful Valley Boulevard
Love and War
Down by the River
Hitchhiker
Ohio
Sign of Love
Leia
After the Gold Rush
I Believe in You
Rumblin’
Cortez the Killer
Cinnamon Girl
ENCORE:
Walk With Me
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