When I arrived downtown, the night started in typical drunken Vancouver concert night fashion. Within 5 minutes of arriving downtown I bumped into an extremely intoxicated man in a Neil Young t-shirt. He was wearing a very nice vintage Crazy Horse shirt, but he appeared to have had one too many wobbly pops on this particular evening. He was having a hard time navigating his way through the pub (The Kingston) that we stopped at for pre concert beers, and the show was still about two hours away. It is probably safe to assume that the guy didn't make it past security at the Arena, which would have been a shame given his cool shirt and obvious long standing fanhood. An inexcusable rookie mistake, but perhaps he does not get out much anymore. Oh well, looks like he had fun up to that point anyway and the night was off to a good start, "Keep on Rockin' In the Free World" I guess. To avoid being called a hypocrite, I must admit I missed an entire Poison Idea gig because of this kind of pre-show nonsense once, but I was only about 22 and never made that mistake again.
Knowing the deafening volume levels of Crazy Horse and Neil Young, I was planning on skipping this show as I am working my way into semi retirement regarding concerts and gigs. Years of playing in bands and concerts have damaged my hearing a bit and I would rather save what is left of them for my own jamming and messing about. I figure I have been to over 250 shows, probably seen 500 or so bands and it is just sort of time for me to be more selective in picking artists I have not already seen in most cases. Anyway, I was offered a free ticket and we are talking about Neil Young with Crazy Horse, so it was a no brainer to change my plans and make an exception. It was a bit weird watching a concert from a luxury suite high above the masses below, to say I felt detached from the action while sitting with the rich would be an understatement, but I will not complain about a free ticket and just say that it offered me an interesting new perspective.
Canadian born Neil Young is almost 70 years old (in fact it was his 67th birthday at midnight) and even after his diagnosis in 2005 of a brain auneryism is showing no signs of slowing down or turning down. Those expecting a nice country inspired mellow set from Mr Young would be sadly disappointed, this was not a greatest hits setlist for casual fans, the first tip off to any complainers should have been the fact that it was a Crazy Horse show. Instead, what we got was a no holds barred maelstrom of distortion and noise with a few classic songs thrown in for good measure. The carefully controlled feedback and distortion at times served as segue between songs and was so loud that one could be forgiven for thinking they were at a Throbbing Gristle concert.
While some may feel ripped off by the lack of "hits", one woman even complained that if she "wanted to listen to jackhammers and construction tools she would have stayed home to listen to the construction site across from her house". The truth is this was Neil Young at his best playing for himself, his bandmates and his die hard fans, but I guess you can't please everyone and especially not casual fans. If you came to see a great performance, one could not have been disappointed by the chemistry between Crazy Horse and Neil Young as it was amazing and proved yet again that they can still rock and roll with the best of their peers and are probably the best of all of them. In fact Neil Young and Crazy Horse are still a better live act than most if not all younger bands, displaying more energy on stage than bands half their age, not to mention the energy is genuine, un-choreographed honest emotion which is sadly something a lot of newer bands could take a lesson from. Neil Young plays and writes songs because it is something he must do, not because he wants to sell entertainment and with Crazy Horse you get uncompromising rude rock and roll.
The night started with a redition of the Canadian national anthem and was immediately followed by a brilliant 20 minute jam of 'Love and Only Love'. Other highlights within the two hour set were 'Powderfinger', 'Ramada Inn', a real crunchy toned 'Cinnamon Girl' and a perfect version of Mr Soul. The lack of pyro was quite refreshing after Metallica's recent Vancouver 3-D pyromania. Instead, the music did all the talking with the stage show being little more than the giant amps and road cases which you come to expect at a Neil Young stadium show. Other than that a minor light show and a bit of trash blowing in the makeshift wind. An additional nice touch were the retro tube style TV screens that he uses on the left and right side of the stage.
On a final note it was absolutely stunning how few people there were at this concert holding up their smart phones and other nerd devices. It really was incredible! With the exception of a bit of a cell phone frenzy during 'Cinnamon Girl', the most I counted being used at once was just over 10 in the entire building being used! I felt like I was transported back to a wonderful long lost place in the the past where people were not slaves to their telephones, rather, it was just a handy device to use when at home.
Neil Young was already one of my favourite artists, but after this show my respect and admiration for the man grew even larger. A masterpiece of a concert experience that I only wish I would have had better seats for. Absolutely brilliant.
The entire Setlist:
(photo by Lord of the Poser Holocaust)
Knowing the deafening volume levels of Crazy Horse and Neil Young, I was planning on skipping this show as I am working my way into semi retirement regarding concerts and gigs. Years of playing in bands and concerts have damaged my hearing a bit and I would rather save what is left of them for my own jamming and messing about. I figure I have been to over 250 shows, probably seen 500 or so bands and it is just sort of time for me to be more selective in picking artists I have not already seen in most cases. Anyway, I was offered a free ticket and we are talking about Neil Young with Crazy Horse, so it was a no brainer to change my plans and make an exception. It was a bit weird watching a concert from a luxury suite high above the masses below, to say I felt detached from the action while sitting with the rich would be an understatement, but I will not complain about a free ticket and just say that it offered me an interesting new perspective.
Canadian born Neil Young is almost 70 years old (in fact it was his 67th birthday at midnight) and even after his diagnosis in 2005 of a brain auneryism is showing no signs of slowing down or turning down. Those expecting a nice country inspired mellow set from Mr Young would be sadly disappointed, this was not a greatest hits setlist for casual fans, the first tip off to any complainers should have been the fact that it was a Crazy Horse show. Instead, what we got was a no holds barred maelstrom of distortion and noise with a few classic songs thrown in for good measure. The carefully controlled feedback and distortion at times served as segue between songs and was so loud that one could be forgiven for thinking they were at a Throbbing Gristle concert.
While some may feel ripped off by the lack of "hits", one woman even complained that if she "wanted to listen to jackhammers and construction tools she would have stayed home to listen to the construction site across from her house". The truth is this was Neil Young at his best playing for himself, his bandmates and his die hard fans, but I guess you can't please everyone and especially not casual fans. If you came to see a great performance, one could not have been disappointed by the chemistry between Crazy Horse and Neil Young as it was amazing and proved yet again that they can still rock and roll with the best of their peers and are probably the best of all of them. In fact Neil Young and Crazy Horse are still a better live act than most if not all younger bands, displaying more energy on stage than bands half their age, not to mention the energy is genuine, un-choreographed honest emotion which is sadly something a lot of newer bands could take a lesson from. Neil Young plays and writes songs because it is something he must do, not because he wants to sell entertainment and with Crazy Horse you get uncompromising rude rock and roll.
The night started with a redition of the Canadian national anthem and was immediately followed by a brilliant 20 minute jam of 'Love and Only Love'. Other highlights within the two hour set were 'Powderfinger', 'Ramada Inn', a real crunchy toned 'Cinnamon Girl' and a perfect version of Mr Soul. The lack of pyro was quite refreshing after Metallica's recent Vancouver 3-D pyromania. Instead, the music did all the talking with the stage show being little more than the giant amps and road cases which you come to expect at a Neil Young stadium show. Other than that a minor light show and a bit of trash blowing in the makeshift wind. An additional nice touch were the retro tube style TV screens that he uses on the left and right side of the stage.
Neil Young was already one of my favourite artists, but after this show my respect and admiration for the man grew even larger. A masterpiece of a concert experience that I only wish I would have had better seats for. Absolutely brilliant.
The entire Setlist:
Love and Only Love
Powderfinger
Born In Ontario
Walk Like A Giant
The Needle and the Damage Done
Twisted Road
Singer Without A song
Ramada Inn
Cinnamon Girl
Fuckin' Up
Mr Soul
Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)
encore
Roll another number
