I had seen Neil Young in concert four times before last night, but never as a solo act. The previous events always featured either Crosby, Stills and Nash, or the band Crazy Horse as his sidemen. The idea of seeing Neil and his Martin guitar alone on the stage of the Schnitzer Auditorium was a prospect I could not resist. So, I was first in line with a few thousand other people when the tickets went online a few weeks ago. I got good seats and knew I would be in for a special evening. That was unless the "other" Neil Young showed up... the Neil Young that produced awful recent recordings like "Fork In The Road" or "Are You Passionate?". Those of us who have followed Neil since the Sixties know that he is prone to go down such strange artistic paths from time-to-time. You never know for sure who'll you'll get next time. However, what transpired Monday night exceeded my expectations.
First off, it wasn't a solo acoustic show. It was a solo acoustic, electric, electronic effects, vocal effects, feedback, piano and organ show. Neil, always the tall dominant figure onstage with any band, somehow became even larger up there all by himself. Dressed as some funky country gentleman in white hat and long coat, Neil wordlessly took the stage, grabbed his Martin, sat down and launched into "Hey hey my my, rock and roll will never die, there's more to the picture than meets the eye..."
At 64 years, Neil is a grandfather in the music business. It might be tempting to cut him some slack and say, "You know, he still sounds pretty good for an old guy." Let me tell you something. In spite of a long career and near-death due to brain disease, Neil has lost nothing. His voice was pitch-perfect and sharp, still capable of hitting those high notes. His guitar playing has only gotten better, even now embracing new technologies of sound. And on this night, he reminded us that he is still one of the great songwriters of our age.
The New Stuff - Everyone goes to Neil Young shows to hear the old songs, right? There's an emotional connection and personal history connected to those songs. I hoped he'd play "Pardon My Heart" or "For The Turnstiles". Certainly many in the audience gave Neil suggestions as the night played on. But it was the new music that made the strongest impression on me. Evidently, Neil is working on a new record, to be produced by Daniel Lanois of U2, Peter Gabriel and Bob Dylan fame. If the recording emerges anywhere near what I heard this night, I'm pre-ordering. "You Never Call" was a passionate and funny conversation with someone on the other side... in heaven... that Neil is longing to hear from. "Peaceful Valley" was a long and slow story about pioneers and bison, prospectors and gold, greed and oil, and the deteriorating health of the planet. "Love And War" was the song in my head as I woke up the next morning, far more authentic and personal than any of the songs on Neil's "Living With War" album. In all, he played seven new songs. My favorite was the encore closer, "Walk With Me", that left the Schnitzer audience vibrating long after the soaring closing moments of pendulum-swinging feedback and echoing voice.
The Old Stuff - Yes, Neil delivered the beloved songs and reached way back into his early catalog in doing so. He played, "Tell Me Why", "I Believe In You" and "After The Gold Rush", all from his third solo album. He played an achingly beautiful and delay-accented version of "Helpless" that we all first heard on CSNY's "Deja Vu". He surprised us with an old song that we'd never heard before, "Hitchhiker". Written over 20 years ago but performed only a few times in 1992, Neil has resurrected this incredible song. It's not surprising he never released it, because it is an intensely personal journal of growing up in a world of his own progressive drug use, fear of fame, and crushing paranoia. I really hope it makes the new record.
In no real need of a backing band, he played impressive solo-electric versions of "Cinnamon Girl", "Down By The River", "Ohio" and "Cortez The Killer". And it seemed completely appropriate that his first encore was "Old Man" from "Harvest". The audience joined him in singing that one and I don't think he minded.
It might seem strange to some that Neil played his electric guitar songs without some band like Crazy Horse behind him. But the solo approach was magical. According to someone I know with inside information, Neil has specially wired some of his electronics so that the upper strings on his guitar sounded one way and the lower strings sounded another. I could swear there was a bass player up there, hiding behind the curtains, but it was all Neil. Since he had no rhythm section behind him, Neil couldn't afford to wander off into spacey lead solos. He had to carry the whole song, so he was more of a rhythm/lead player, and he was very good at it. Thinking back, I don't think I've ever seen Neil play electric guitar quite like that. As a guitar-player myself, it was impressive to witness. I also want to point out that Neil is a master at delivering and controlling feedback to the benefit of the song. At times, his electric guitar literally groans with emotion that is only matched by Neil's own voice. We got to hear his famous "Old Black" Les Paul and the equally historic White Falcon Gretsch that dates back to Neil's days in Buffalo Springfield. Dare I say, I first saw that guitar at the Memorial Coliseum in 1970 during the CSNY "Four Way Street" tour. Thanks to Bill Mosser for getting me to that show. I've been on board ever since.
They call it the Schnitzer Auditorium, but to me it will always be the Paramount Theatre. It's a great place to see live music... maybe the best place. The acoustics are excellent and its such a beautiful room. The air is filled with ghosts of legends long passed through. Appropriately, I got to watch this concert with John Nilsen, fellow musician and friend since childhood. We have seen many amazing concerts together over the years at the Paramount. We agreed afterwards that this Neil Young solo show belonged among the very best concerts that we ever saw in that hall. By the way, the Portland audience was exceptional this night. Very quiet during the quiet songs and very appreciative of all the new music. Neil was virtually silent, with almost no between-song dialogue, but I could sense that he liked the crowd and was happy to be up there playing for us.
A closing highlight for me is that my good friend, Jason Moore, used his well-earned connections to be able to get on Neil Young's beautiful tour bus after the show and actually sit with Neil to chat privately for twenty minutes while the artist ate his post-show meal of fish and wine. Jason described Neil as "very down-to-earth" and "just like you and me, only a superstar." I'm going to buy Jason a beer just so I can hear the WHOLE story for myself.
If you've got good speakers on your computer, turn this video clip up loud...
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