So Neil straps on this old white Gretsch and starts telling a story. How it's stereo. Three strings go to one speaker, the other three to another. He's unsure of the provenance of the instrument, how someone came up with the idea, how they executed it, but here it is.
And then...
Neil Young and Bob Dylan, they're the only rock stars left. And unlike Bob, Neil has never sold out, never. Never did any commercials, never changed his look, he continued to be himself every day until now, and that's revelatory.
Like his clothing. I ask you, do you wear running shoes? Maybe even HOKAs? Come on, that's what's comfortable, that's your everyday footwear, why not wear your running shoes on stage?
That's what they used to do. That was part of the magic. Sure, it was a show, but it was more of a concert. There was no production, and the audience wasn't expecting it. They came for the music, to hear their favorites from the records come alive. And the performers were gods. They sauntered on stage in your burg, did their act, seemingly effortlessly, and then moved on to another town, not to be seen again for another year. They weren't hawking products, they weren't a brand, they were just themselves.
So Neil is wearing dungarees as we called them in the east, jeans as we call them in the west, and they've got almost as many miles on them as he's got on himself. They're faded, and they're baggy in the back, Neil doesn't have much of an ass. And he's wearing a jean jacket. And a t-shirt that says 'EARTH," a subtle statement, which has more resonance since there's no other message on stage, you're not bombarded, and you can't always see the letters anyway, because of his jacket.
And this is a solo show. Your expectations are different. You don't expect the full band sound.
And then...
After a bit of hesitation... Neil speaks slowly, with a wink, a sense of humor. He's not sacrificing his identity and he's bringing you in on the joke. And he's not taking it so seriously, the music isn't precious, it's just him, there, singing.
And then... Neil starts picking on this white Gretsch and it's "OHIO"! And it's the exact same sound from the record. I'm tingling as I write this, it was right there, 53 years later, the essence, IT WAS AMAZING!
That was enough to make the evening.
I mean come on... Today's songs are about money, I've got it and look at my lifestyle. Or platitudes. Not about the current climate, whether it be the air or politics. Because the acts are not separate, they're part of the scam, trying to get their cash, move up the food chain. But Neil? He's the other. He's separate. What he was selling last night you can't get anywhere else, NOWHERE ELSE, and it's this magic that the modern music business was built upon.
So he's singing about tin soldiers and Nixon coming and I'm remembering May 4th, I'm remembering the picture of that woman with her arms outstretched on the Kent State campus. I'm remembering when everything was vital, when it was clear who the enemy was, when you felt that standing up could make a difference, when you weren't afraid of standing up, consequences be damned, and this made the musicians, our pied pipers, even more powerful.
And there's picking and distortion and wow. I had to give Neil a standing ovation, I didn't care whether anybody else did. This is what I live for, this is what I am.
2
Now the audience was aged. There might have been some people under 50, but I didn't see them. This is not Steve Miller playing his radio hits, which have continued to endure, passed down from generation to generation, no, this is something different. Neil Young was never AM. Well, except for a moment there in '72, and then he went on an arena tour and played all new material and alienated all but his core. This is about more than the songs, this is about an artist, this is about a belief. So either you needed to be there or shrugged at best. But if you were there...
Do you remember rock and roll?
It's dead, didn't you know? Oh, there are acts out there that play in a rock style, but none of them have purchase on the entire globe like the acts of yore other than maybe Coldplay, and they broke before everything changed.
Forget that rock music became a caricature of itself at times. With the spandex and the hair ballads and...
You can still see rock music at the amphitheatre, some of the aged acts tour arenas. But... They've gotten plastic surgery, they're trying to look young, like they used to, whereas Neil Young looks just like us, he's lived, he's not trying to pull the wool over our eyes, he's not asking us to suspend disbelief, he's right there with us, and it makes you believe.
And it was only a moment, and then he was gone.
And he may never be available this way again. Playing deep cuts solo?
It was like the old days, not only pre-internet, but pre-MTV. You had to be there. You have to tell everybody you know. Because what you experienced...this was it, the essence, Neil was still doing it, stunningly, and he was connecting with you personally, even though you were one of 1,200.
Yes, it was an underplay. You felt privileged to be there. A once in a lifetime event. The kind we used to live for.
3
So there were three keyboards on stage. Not the electric kind, but a grand, an upright and some kind of pedal organ with a unique sound. As for the upright, it was originally rented back in '68. And worse for wear. But it was here, just like Neil.
And Neil is playing harmonica on almost every song. He's got that contraption around his neck. And there's a mic embedded in it, so he can march around stage playing his guitar, so he's not rooted to one spot. And Neil is sorting through the harmonicas, looking for the right one. He throws one to the side of the stage. And whenever he finds one that's right, he dips it in a jar of water, shakes it off, puts it in the holder, and begins another number.
And when he's playing the guitar, he's set up in that Neil Young position, style. You know, dipped a bit and sideways.
And then he says he's going to play the first song he recorded in the studio. And it's "Burned."
I don't think the little girls understand, however... Those of us who were alive, back in '66, when this track emerged from wax, on the first Buffalo Springfield album, the one with "For What It's Worth," "Burned" is baked into us, deep in our memory banks, never to be forgotten, from a more optimistic time, when we thought everything was possible.
"Now I'm finding out that it's so confusin'
No time left and I know I'm losin'"
Back when we had more questions than answers, when we were trying to figure it out, when it was a badge of honor not to know and to be figuring it out.
"Burned" was just like the record, but stripped down, sans the sixties trappings, and it didn't play as nostalgia, but as a part of Neil's life, you could visualize the situation that inspired him to write it.
And then another Buffalo Springfield song that Neil wrote but Richie sang, the opener from "Last Time Around," "On the Way Home," you know, the one with that delicious change...
"But you know me
And I miss you now"
Sung by Neil the sweetness was gone, authenticity was infused, you were elated, connected to what once was and forever shall be, and you also knew you'd better enjoy this moment, because it may never come again.
Then came a song from "Trans," the one that's on the album cover but not on the actual record, "If You Got Love."
And Neil sits down at the organ and starts to play it and David Geffen comes to mind, how he sued Neil for making uncommercial albums. But here Neil still is, living, breathing, creating, proud of what he once did, whereas Geffen is putting his name on buildings so he won't be forgotten.
And "Vampire Blues" from "On the Beach," after Neil alienated his audience live, and with the live album "Time Fades Away." Neil didn't want to be a dorm room favorite, the girls' crush, selling soft music like "Heart of Gold," but he ultimately played that too last night. It was deep cuts and just a couple of obvious ones. Neil was making it interesting for himself. I mean how can these people go on the road and sing the same songs they've been performing for decades, by rote, getting the hit from the audience and the cash, primarily the cash. They're calcified. Neil Young may be crotchety, worse for wear, but he's not stuck in time, he's soldiering on.
And speaking of soldiers...
The closer was "Rockin' in the Free World."
"We got a thousand points of light
For the homeless man
We got a kinder, gentler machine gun hand
We got department stores and toilet paper
Got Styrofoam boxes for the ozone layer
Got a man of the people says keep hope alive
Got fuel to burn, got roads to drive"
These problems still exist, but half the country wants to overlook them, believing there's no problem, nothing needing fixing. And it's not only the red, but the elites too... They want their money, they believe they earned it, they want fewer taxes, these problems are someone else's responsibility to solve, not theirs.
"Rockin' in the Free World" never crossed over to AM, was never a hit single, but we all know it, maybe as a result of Neil's performance of it with Pearl Jam at the MTV Video Music Awards, back in 1993, before the show became a self-promotional event, when it was still about music and attitude and a sense of humor, when the channel still meant something, when it represented the other, not only the youth, but the still vital boomers. And then everybody sold out, went home to their individual space and it was over, kaput. Today there is no center, and what is popular isn't for the audience, but the artist, singing about their troubles. Why is everybody so unsatisfied? Isn't being able to be an artist, sing your music on stage and earn a living enough?
Used to be.
Not anymore.
4
Not that it was a long show. Not even an hour and a half. Neil came out and did it, he didn't need to convince us, didn't have to rationalize the ticket price, he just sang his songs, and that was enough.
And even though the songs might have been old, the performance was new. Like Neil came over to your house and was playing in your living room, like we used to do in the sixties. It was alive, with hope and reverence... Yes, we revered Neil Young. This guy had survived and thrived, was a beacon for people no longer paying attention.
It's hard to go against the grain, people don't like it. But deep down everybody respects you, for being an individual, for having a point of view, for pushing the envelope in your art. Which is why the media is always interested in what Neil has to say, they never say no, and unlike Dylan, Neil is available. And...
Last night was a privilege.
And just like Neil Young doesn't care what you think, those in attendance don't care what those who weren't there think. Judge it, put it down, it doesn't matter. Like I said, it's only Bob and Neil, the last ones rockin' in the free world with their visions intact, making it interesting for themselves, and in turn making it interesting for us, the audience.
How would you like it if every time someone stopped by your house they told the same damn story. Enough is enough. Three times, not even four, you'd kick them out, say no mas. That's what it's like seeing Neil's contemporaries.
Artistry... It's not about commercialism. It's about honing your chops so you can express yourself, and continue to express yourself. It's about growing. It's about exploring. And although the input of the world is important, you are not imprisoned by said world. You exist outside it, so you can comment upon it.
Artistry...it's like pornography, you know it when you see it.
And we see it rarely today.
And people have no sense of history.
But if you were there, and remember...
Last night you were in the presence of a true artist, one of the very last, being himself, you couldn't even call it an act, and it made you feel alive and hopeful and special, just like the music did way back when, which is why you held it in such high esteem.
We may never see the likes of Neil Young again. Rock is dead, the paradigm has shifted.
But Neil was positively alive last night.
And it was THRILLING!
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