Neil Young

Neil Young - Pine Knob, Aug. 26, 2000
AFTER THE GOLDRUSH

Photo by Kay McEntee

When it comes to Rock 'n Roll legends, they don't come with any more 'baggage' than Neil Young. With a career spanning nearly four decades, Neil has proven himself to be the Rock 'n Roll equivalent of Chekhov, Steinbeck, and Huxley combined - a symbolist wanderer that through the faded fabric of the '60s, up through the political turmoil of the '70s, into the technological mass marketing of the '80s, and reborn as the Grand- father of Grunge in the '90s, has always managed to make compelling music filtered through the marrow of his own personal odyssey.

Neil Young has always loved Detroit (he debuted his 'Rust Never Sleeps' tour at Pine Knob back in the fall of '78) so it made perfect sense that he would kick off his first solo tour of the New Millennium at this timeless venue.

In fact, Neil even made reference to the 'Knob' after his first song ("I remember when I first played this place back in the early '70s wow an outdoor venue like you don't see many of them anymore!")

Sarcasm intact, Neil's latest outing found him with a coterie of musicians hand-picked from various bands throughout the decades. The inimitable Duck Dunn handled the chores of bass guitar, while Ben Keith managed pedal steel duties with considerable pluck & aplomb; drummer Jim Keltner played like the true professional he is, while even Neil's sister Pegi handled back-up vocals.

With a comfortable stage set up like Neil was bringing his living room on the road with him (apart from the Persian rugs I counted a huge pipe organ, a vintage Hammond B3 with a pair of Leslies, an oak Grand Piano, and several tables with gas lamps providing the stage lighting) the tone of this tour was definitely 'laid-back'.

One never knows what to expect from a Neil Young concert, partly due to the incredible expanse of his catalog. With over two dozen solo albums, not to mention his work with Buffalo Springfield and CSNY, Neil is not without choice for material.

On this outing Neil decided to concentrate on the less popular and rarely performed gems buried within the grooves of his recorded history like lost gold. From the heartbreaking warmth of Only Love Can Break Your Heart to the more contemporary lament of From Hank to Hendrix, it was obvious that not only was the capacity crowd witnessing a great performer at the peak of his game, but one that was insistent upon reminding the crowd how expansive the depth of his career truly is.

While many of the hardcore Detroit rockers were clamoring for balls-to-the-wall full-throttle rockers like Cinnamon Girl and Rockin in the Free World, without his ace-back-up band Crazy Horse, Neil's so-called 'Hits' were conspicuously absent from the evening's performance, replaced instead by the smoldering intensity of songs such as Words (Between the Lines of Age) from the legendary Harvest album.

This is not to say that the show didn't have its moments of hard-edged Rock 'n Roll intensity. Neil is perhaps one of rock's most gifted and identifiable guitarists, and he made sure to take ample room to roam the fretboard on numbers such as Powderfinger and Tonight's the Night. But the mood, much like the ominous thunderclouds in the background, was all ebb & flow; rising tides falling back into mellow prayers like Lotta Love.

Perhaps my biggest criticism was the ticket price (which fortunately I didn't have to pay). $70.00 a pop is kind of stiff for a performer that still carries the flag of Woodstock Nation on his faded jeans, but perhaps Neil is contemplating his later life as an Old Man and thinking it wise to stockpile revenue for heating his Mansion on the Hill.