Comes A Time” for Neil Young
by tarryrob on 2009-07-08MTS Centre - WinnipegRating: 5 out of 5To quote Dave Crosby, “It’s Been A Long Time Coming” for Winnipeg to bring back “hometown-boy-made-good,” Neil Young. His last appearance here as a solo artist was at the Winnipeg Arena back in October 1996. He was scheduled to appear at Winnipeg’s staging of the Juno Awards in 2005, but had to cancel because of a near fatal brain aneurysm. Granted, he had donned the stage at Winnipeg’s MTS Centre in July 2006, but that was with his “on again off again” cohorts Crosby, Still and Nash. Though arguably Young’s original contributions stole that particular show, it was still primarily a CSN&Y reunion gig not a Neil Young concert.
So it was with baited breath that 13,000 fans packed the MTS Centre to welcome Neil Young home. After the opening acts, Everest and Death Cab For Cuties, had warmed up the crowd, the lights dimmed, Neil and his band strode on stage and the crowd erupted, giving Neil and his band the first of many standing ovations.
But what kind of Neil Young was Winnipeg going to see: folkie Neil, country Neil, rocker Neil or….? Neil has always done things his own way, making it impossible to predict what he may do at a concert. Young chose to perform a good cross section of his back catalogue that was surprisingly hit laden.
Dressed in jeans, sneakers and a jacket that looked like it had been finger painted by a five year old, Neil took centre stage with his Les Paul electric guitar, Ol’ Blacky, slung over his shoulder and launched into “Love and Only Love” from his 1990 CD Ragged Glory.
If anyone in the crowd had reservations that the sixty-something Young had lost a step due to age or health, Neil quickly banished any doubt. His energy level never flagged throughout the concert. He quickly followed his opening number with a blistering feedback saturated version of “Hey Hey My My” that literally shook the arena. Young stalked the stage, attacking his guitar like some crazed madman, wringing every ounce of emotion from each note. Nor had that instantly recognizable voice lost any of the range, or emotion as it bleated urgently above the songs’ signature riff.
During the electric portion of the show, Young continued pulling chestnuts from his back catalogue performing such as “Everybody Know This Is Nowhere,” Cortez the Killer and his 1969 pop anthem “Cinnamon Girl.”
At this point, those more interested in “Harvest” era Young may have been getting a little antsy. But they needn’t have worried. Neil finally donned his acoustic and performed classics such classics as “Heart of Gold,” “Old Man,” and the fan favourite “Needle and the Damage Done” before moving to the organ and performing the poignant ballad “Mother Earth.”
At one point the band made a false start and Neil upbraided the musicians tongue in cheek saying, “Hey we gotta do that over again and get it right cause this is Winnipeg! You can’t get away with that in Winnipeg!” which brought more adoring cheers from the crowd. He also took a friendly poke at a local newspaper for whom his dad had once worked who had failed to cover the concert because it’s workers had gone out on strike. Neil said, “I’m gonna mail in my own review and tell ‘em what a great audience you guys have been!” By now, Neil had the crowd eating out of his hand.
But Neil Young is not content to sit back on his laurels. He introduced a few of his new tracks such as “Just Singing A Song Won’t Change the World,” “Sea Change,” and “When Worlds Collide” before bringing the house down with steaming versions of “Cowgirl in the Sand” and “Keep on Rocking in the Free World.”
After a deafening encore call, he returned and performed a version of the Beatle’s Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band classic “A Day in the Life.” Given the number of sure-fire unused songs that Young still had remaining (“Down by the River” being an obvious choice) which he could have use to end the night, attempting this Lennon -McCartney sacred cow was a brave choice. But Neil delivered a captivatingly unique version, making the song his own and leaving the ecstatic Winnipeg fans howling for more. Neil Young was long time coming – let’s just hope he’s not a long time gone. Come back real soon Neil!