Young May You Run
Neil Young 04/22/2014 : Chicago Theatre – Chicago, IL
Neil has the rare ability to capture a time period and mood in his songs and the ability to transcend and perform stunning versions of those songs as timeless pieces. He was one of the first to desire authenticity over awards…craftsmanship over commonplace…venture over vanity. His entire performance this night was about those forgotten qualities.
The lights went down at the gorgeous theatre and there he was. Uncle Neil…rumpled grey suit coat and black fedora barely revealing his piercing eyes. The 2 set, all acoustic, mostly subdued affair started with “From Hank To Hendrix” which was the perfect nostalgic introduction including “Here I am with this old guitar, Doing what I do”. Great track from 1992’s beautiful Harvest Moon. This would be the newest song of the night. Neil’s shows vary widely in design and presentation, and I admittedly had not researched what we were in store for tonight. The central circular presence of more than 6 acoustics, a sprawling stage of 2 pianos and a riser-placed organ, and the permanently affixed harmonica to the artist gave suggestion. Large focus on early highlights of not only Neil but Rock and Roll really. Tracks from After the Gold Rush, Harvest, and a few early Buffalo Springfield songs, not to mention a few passionately played covers, permeated the show with consistent emotion. Always is emotional for me as I remember those first times of falling in love with this music. Early features were “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” and the banjo-led “Mellow My Mind”, the perfectly rough and swaying track from the perfectly intense and messy Tonight‘s The Night. The late 80s piano tune “Someday” took on an entirely new vibe and I love that Neil was discussing oil pipelines 25 years ago. His onstage humorous banter is legendary and it increased throughout the night. He briefly leaned on the old, worn piano and said, “I love this piano. I rented it in ’69.” In tribute to Phil Ochs he quipped, “He wrote so many good songs…some say he sang weird. Some say I sing weird…maybe i do…but he sang real weird and i loved it.” The first set ended with staples “Harvest”, and “Old Man” brought the audience to their feet.
Neil came back for the second set wandering about the stage with more mobility and I felt a rise in the already dense tension of this beautiful room. Never heard an acoustic “Cortez the Killer” live and his delivery and musicianship had a mesmerizing effect that would last the rest of the night. “A Man Needs A Maid” was extremely impressive as he played both piano and organ to replicate the symphony sounds of the original. Together with his trademark fragile quivering voice made this a highlight for me. Intense, fiery versions of “Ohio” and “Southern Man” raised the energy level complete with his familiar dancing limbs and contortion. Both songs are incredible social statements about real events and real lives….and churning them out so convincingly decades later was moving. Other highlights were the phenomenal Buffalo Springfield “Mr. Soul” and one of my passionate, piano-piece favorites “After the Gold Rush”, words changed conveniently to “Look at Mother Nature on the run in the 21st century”. Neil said “This is the part of the show I play my biggest hits….if you’ll stick around with me” before “Heart of Gold”. He left the stage briefly and came back for an encore of “Comes A Time”, a favorite of mine on Live Rust. Then when he left again, the crowd kept up the noise for his return and it was the best example of an audience truly demanding an encore I’ve seen. We got the stellar Stills-Young collaboration “Long May You Run”.
I felt inspired and elated after the intense yet chill show, and couldn’t stop thinking about not only Neil’s importance to music but this night’s importance to me. I’ve seen him a few different times but this was the kind of event I really wanted to experience and he seriously blew me away. Not sure exactly what it is about him but I feel the transfer of art and feeling is always directly from him to me….even though we’re worlds and times apart. Cheers to one of the all-time greats…..Long May You Run.