Neil Young Solo Tour > Sliced Bread
Mr. Neil Percival Young is a treat and a treasure, a behemoth of musical influence and accomplishment. The Canada native's 33 studio albums explore all ends of the musical rainbow, from his popular acoustic folk and country rock, to swing, electronic, alternative rock, and amplified hard rock. He's pretty much done it all, having been a member of Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, collaborated with Crazy Horse, and had a wildly successful solo career.
Young is quite fascinating, simply as a human being. An outspoken advocate for electric energy and environmental issues, he's lived on a ranch (swoon) in La Honda, California since the 19070's. He's directed a number of films under the pseudonym Bernard Shakey. He has epilepsy. He has been named as co-inventor on seven U.S. Patents related to model trains.
Last night he brought the 2nd leg of his Twisted Road Solo Tour to Seattle and basically blew our proverbial socks off. Tickets were expensive, but rightfully so...there's no price to be put on hearing 'After the Goldrush' on an organ. After an exciting "holycrapthisishappening!" rendition of 'My My, Hey Hey', he settled in for back to back melodic ballads with 'Tell Me Why' and a heart tugging and hugging 'Helpless'. The tour consistent set list was a wonderful mix of mood, tone and instrumental variation. The solo set up and single instrument accompaniment lent itself perfectly for achieving a more natural blend between styles and removed the sometimes abrasive edge of his newer, protest-ier songs. New songs like 'You Never Call' and 'Love and War' (which we admittedly were expecting to be a tad bit "place filler-esque") were as affecting and full of emotional punch as the always amazing 'Old Man'.
But don't get us wrong...the evening wasn't all hand holding and haunting ballads. He also masterfully rocked the shit out of his guitar. One might even say he shredded. The man is just a brilliant guitar player and it's a privilege to see. Period. Ending the encore and evening with the wailing "Walk with Me" was perfect.
CORTEZ THE KILLER!!!
Ok, sorry. We're still in a bit of a post Neil tailspin. If you didn't get a chance to see him last night, our deepest condolences and you should certainly remedy that as soon as possible.
Thanks Mr. Young, for ruling so hard.
Also, he makes amaaazing faces when singing.
