13°c Overcast
Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION
Young mixes old with the new
Band's new double album gets plenty of play
Neil Young, as a songwriter, is more vital and innovative at age 67 than pretty much all of his peers. Young and Crazy Horse rocked the MTS Centre Friday night in front of about 9,000 fans. (JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store
Concert Review
Neil Young and Crazy Horse
- MTS Centre
- Nov. 16
- Attendance: 9,000
- 4 out of 5 stars
Four scary, monolithic speakers formed the backdrop to Neil Young and Crazy Horse on the stage of the MTS Centre Friday night. Think it might get loud?
Young aficionados had no fear, recognizing them as props from the Rust Never Sleeps tour way back in 1978.
Recycling? Maybe. That’s in keeping with Young’s zeal for ecological issues.
But it’s also in keeping with the interplay of old and new in Young’s performance ethos.
He’s not the guy to rest on his considerable past laurels with a greatest-hits playlist. So after a prologue in which white-coated lab workers unveiled the speakers and erected a giant microphone — and stood for the Canadian national anthem — Young (clad in plaid work shirt), guitarist-vocalist Frank "Poncho" Sampedro, bassist Billy Talbot and drummer Ralph Molina took to the stage just after 9 p.m. They launched into a epic 14-minute rendition of Love and Only Love, from 1990, followed quickly by Powderfinger, a beautiful and melancholy tale of violent doings from Rust Never Sleeps.
But he quickly veered to songs from the band’s new double album Psychedelic Pill, starting with Born in Ontario, a jaunty, anthemic look back at his pre-Winnipeg roots, followed by Walk Like a Giant, a meditation of the promise and failure of the counterculture. Both songs serve notice that Young, as a songwriter, is more vital and innovative at age 67 than pretty much all of his peers.
Things got weird at the conclusion of Walk Like a Giant with the band approximating what it would sound like to be repeatedly stepped on by a giant robot.
But just when you were thinking the Psychedelic Pill has kicked in, Young brought it to earth with a solo acoustic rendition of the poignant, powerful The Needle and the Damage Done followed by Twisted Road from the new album, a heartfelt paean to Bob Dylan inspired by the first time he heard Like a Rolling Stone.
Young continued to mix up old and new: Ramada Inn from the new record, Cinnamon Girl, one of his most golden of oldies, earning, not unexpectedly one of the most effusive ovations of the evening.
If the performance of the Top-40-unfriendly F***in’ Up (from 1990’s Ragged Glory) was sustained a little too long, the intense hit Mr. Soul sounded just as angry as when Neil recorded it with Buffalo Springfield back in -- holy cow! -- 1967.
Young’s Hey Hey, My My was a natural finale. Young’s assertion "Rock and Roll will never die" is a fitting end to a rock concert. (He was cajoled to return for a more mellow countrified encore with Roll Another Number.) Given Young’s refusal to stick to the hits and follow his muse, I’m thinking Neil Young will never die either.
The only people disappointed might have been Winnipeggers expecting more than a token acknowledgement of his history here. For a man who has taken to examining his past (especially in the recent doc Neil Young Journeys, an examination of his Ontario roots coupled with a solo Massey Hall concert), Young didn’t seem too eager to look at his Winnipeg roots: Fort Rouge, Kelvin High, The Squires.
Toronto quartet The Sadies started things off with a few twangy, surfy garage rock tunes that set the stage for Young’s driving, multitude-of-influences playlist, concluding with an apropos guest appearance by band buddy Randy Bachman for a surprise rendition of the Guess Who chestnut No Time.
Burton Cummings did not show up to jam with East L.A. rockers Los Lobos, who hit the stage at 8 p.m. It wasn’t like these guys needed anything in the way of added attraction, delivering potent straight-ahead rock.
History
Updated on Saturday, November 17, 2012 at 10:03 AM CST: updates with expanded version
10:05 AM: replaces photo
More Latest News
- Back to Top
- Return to Latest News
Poll
Most Popular Latest News
- Woman drove into river on purpose
- Rare comic book featuring debut of Superman found insulating abandoned house in Minnesota
- Crash claims two young women, RCMP say
- MTS to sell Allstream to Egyptian investment group, focus on Manitoba market
- Systemic approach to voter interference 'extremely worrisome': Trudeau
- First Nation celebrates groundbreaking on city's first urban reserve
- City's first urban reserve born
- Evidence ignored in dangerous driving acquital, appeal court told
- 'I do not use crack cocaine': Ford ends week of silence on crack video scandal
- Chiropractor guilty of sexually assaulting, beating ex-girlfriend
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- 87-year-old woman tells jurors, 'Somebody had to stand up to' Donald Trump
- Chiropractor guilty of sexually assaulting, beating ex-girlfriend
- Crash claims two young women, RCMP say
- 2 dead in crash near Portage la Prairie
- Grocer Joe Cantor dies at 88
- Winnipeg woman camps out in front of legislature to protest child welfare
- Rainfall warning issued for southern Manitoba
- Two men now facing first-degree murder charges in Tim Bosma test drive death
- Flood money paid for CEO's romantic trip
- Seattle man dribbling soccer ball to Brazil killed by car on Oregon Coast
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- 87-year-old woman tells jurors, 'Somebody had to stand up to' Donald Trump
- Driver crashes into tree near golf course
- Arrests made after raids on local head shops
- Aboriginal leader Elijah Harper dies
- News of city's $17-million winner leaks out on FB
- Passengers from diverted flight to leave Winnipeg Thursday night
- No threat from bag found at Winnipeg Square
- Chiropractor guilty of sexually assaulting, beating ex-girlfriend
- MTS to sell Allstream to Egyptian investment group, focus on Manitoba market
- Catching up with Arrested Development's Bluth family
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- Chiropractor guilty of sexually assaulting, beating ex-girlfriend
- Toews 'disappointed' U.S., Canada at loggerheads over meat labeling regulations
- Famous city grocer loved job, customers
- First Nation celebrates groundbreaking on city's first urban reserve
- Jockey club launches $350-M civil suit against province
- Actress Amanda Bynes arrested in NYC on a marijuana charge after she threw a bong out a window
- Katz knew golf plan doomed 'months ago'
- New owner for lumber stores
- Chiropractor guilty of sexually assaulting, beating ex-girlfriend
- Grocer Joe Cantor dies at 88
- MTS to sell Allstream to Egyptian investment group, focus on Manitoba market
- Marsh Madness: Photographers Fred Greenslade and Joe Bryksa capture spring migration's grandeur at Delta Marsh
- Famous city grocer loved job, customers
- Prominent Canadians back petition to rename Victoria Day to honour aboriginals
- First Nation celebrates groundbreaking on city's first urban reserve
- Skin picking gets status as distinct disorder, should help sufferers access help
- Order of Manitoba recipients announced
- New owner for lumber stores
- Aboriginal leader Elijah Harper dies
- Dogs can experience separation anxiety and depression just like humans
- Chiropractor guilty of sexually assaulting, beating ex-girlfriend
- 'Revenge of the redheads': Ginger-haired Montrealers gather in celebration
- Grocer Joe Cantor dies at 88
- An uncommon phenomenon
- Passengers from diverted flight to leave Winnipeg Thursday night
- Hundreds pitch in to dig out houses damaged, destroyed by Ochre Beach ice floe
- MTS to sell Allstream to Egyptian investment group, focus on Manitoba market
Ads by Google
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.
Have Your Say
New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.
The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.