Neil Young at Budweiser Gardens, October 6th 2012

On Thanksgiving weekend I had the chance to witness, in person, the man, the legend, Neil Young. On October 6th of (Canadian) Thanksgiving weekend, I went to see Neil Young (with Crazy Horse) to promote their new album Americana.

The show began right at 8 o’clock with Neil and the band stepping onto the stage to a full house of yelling 90’s grunge rock middle aged fans. A Canadian flag was rolled down behind the stage to hang as O’Canada was played through the speakers with Neil and the band singing, the song finished and the flagged dropped, this was the cue for the show to start.

I was never fully into Neil Young. I didn’t really get into his music until his recent album Le Noise which was released in 2010. I did know a few Neil Young hits however (Old Man, Cinnamon Girl, Powderfinger, Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World, My My Hey Hey). My knowledge of the Neil Young repertoire didn’t extend beyond ten songs. But that was okay, I had my die-hard Neil Young fan father right beside to enlighten me on the song titles.

I must say, for a man approaching 66 years of age, Neil sure can rock. Neil managed to stretch out each song to 10 minutes a piece. At some moments during the show I would actually wonder when the song would end. Neil would go on for minutes on end, whaling on the guitar, using all sorts of distortion to fill the arena with eerie sound effects. I looked at my dad and he was laughing, “that’s so Neil!” he yelled in my ear.

Before I knew, Neil was already five songs in. Ending each song and going right into the next. What I noticed about this concert that is different about others I have seen in the past is that Neil did not waste much time between songs. The shyness I witnessed through YouTube video’s of a young 20-year-old Neil were evidently still present. He barely spoke throughout, only briefly to introduce himself and the band and small introductions before a select few of songs. Maybe in his older years Neil didn’t like to talk a lot, maybe he was tired, I don’t know. What I do know however is there was an empty seat in the arena. It’s evident that Neil has quite the fan following in London, Ontario.

For only three mobile musicians on stage (excluding drummer Ralph Molina) they sure took up a lot of space. This can be attributed to the massive phony Fender amplifiers that were on stage. The amps (novelty) actually were concealing the much smaller real amps underneath. This is not the first time Neil has done this, it can be seen on the Live Rust album cover from the 70’s and Neil’s most recent tour with Crazy Horse in the 90’s. At the front of the stage was a oversized novelty microphone as well. Although cool-looking, it did present an obstructed view for anyone who was in the general admissions area close to the stage.

The show lasted a total of about 2 hours. I thoroughly enjoyed the show, not as much as my dad of course. It was nice to be able to see a Canadian legend playing some songs that have been around my then me. Overall great fans, a great venue and great act which makes going home for Thanksgiving for only one day worthwhile.

Setlist

1. Love and Only Love
2. Powderfinger
3. Born in Ontario
4. Walk Like a Giant
5. The Needle and the Damage Done (acoustic)
6. Twisted Road
7. Ramada Inn
8. Cinnamon Girl
9. Fuckin’ Up
10. Psychedelic Pill
11. Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)
12. Encore:
13. Mr. Soul
14. Roll Another Number

Peter Gabriel at the Air Canada Center, September 19

I must admit, after being a long Genesis fan (5 or more years), I can’t really call myself a true fan until I see the man himself, Peter Gabriel. Although the band reached high success even after Gabriel’s departure, he’s theatrics and strange stage presence was what really got me hooked on the band, that and my dad’s love for the band, of course.I saw Genesis back in 2007, of course Gabriel was absent, he was doing other projects at the time, so like always, Phil took the lead. So I never got the chance to see what made Genesis so special in the first place. But now, Gabriel was making a stop in Toronto and I was not going to miss this one. This year marked the 25th anniversary of Peter’s most popular solo album, So. To celebrate, Gabriel announced a North American 25th anniversary of So titled the ‘The Back to Front’ tour. This meant that he was going to play the album from start to finish. I purchased tickets the day they went on sale.

Fast forward to ten minutes before showtime, the lights go down and on steps a figure dressed in all black, I knew instantly it was Pete. A spotlight quickly shines on Gabriel as he welcomes the crowd and briefly describes how the show will go. “There will be a short acoustic section to start, a trip back to some of the older songs, and then we will play through the album” Peter said in his soothing British accent.

The show began will just Peter and his longtime touring bassist, Tony Levin. Peter started off with a song he had been writing but not yet finished (he told the crowd seconds before he started playing it). What aspect of the show that surprised me most was that I never knew he was such a good piano player. I had him seen play piano before on video clips, but never to the extent that he did when he started playing.

The song had no title, although Pete, being clever, titled it “Unfinished Song”. Quickly after the opening song Peter wasted no time and went right into “Come Talk To Me”, a popular song off of Gabriel’s 92 album, Us. The band then came on to join Peter to finish the acoustic set with enjoyable sing along songs “Shock The Monkey” and “Family Snapshot. The show itself was a recreation of the 1986. Gabriel made use of the  exact same lighting (manually maneuvered lights) and he invited back the same musicians that played with him on the original tour.

After the acoustic set, Gabriel and the band went right into classic throwback hits, including “Digging in
the Dirt”, “Secret World”. “Secret World” really made the show for me, it has long been a personal favorite of mine. When he whispered into the microphone, “Come with us to our Secret World…” I will admit I lost it. Following the first electric throwback songs Peter enclosed the throwback set with “The Family and the Fishing Net”, “No Self Control”, the classic “Solsbury Hill” and “Washing of the Water”.

Following the finishing of the throwback set, Peter then says, “So” into the microphone. From here on out the band from start to finish, every song on the album. This included “Red Rain”, “Sledgehammer”, “Don’t Give Up”, “That Voice Again”, “Mercy Street”, “Big Time”, “We Do What We’re Told”, “This is the Picture” and “In Your Eyes”.

This section of the show was without a doubt fantastic. It was very interesting for me (being someone who could not see Gabriel back then) to witness what the show was like back when it was originally played across the globe in 1986.

Gabriel and the performing the powerful “Red Rain“.

For the encore Gabriel played “The Tower That Ate People” which had a giant spiral of suspended fabric cleverly swallow up Gabriel. This was definitely the most impressive visual part of the show, beside the lighting.

The second song of the encore and final song of the night was the classic Gabriel protest song, “Biko”.
Gabriel had the crowd chanting he and the musicians took one last bow exiting the stage while the crowd continued to chant.

Video of Biko.

The concert overall was fantastic and I’d say worth the ticket price of over $100. It’s obvious, judging from the Toronto reception, that Gabriel still has the spark which made him so popular among fans when he first went solo back in the late 70’s. I’m just glad that I got to witness one of his shows – for hopefully – not the last time.

Setlist

Acoustic
Unfinished Song
Come Talk to Me
Shock the Monkey
Family Snapshot

Throwback
Digging in the Dirt
Secret World
The Family and the Fishing Net
No Self Control
Solsbury Hill
Washing of the Water

“So”
Red Rain
Sledgehammer
Don’t Give Up
That Voice Again
Mercy Street
Big Time
We Do What We’re Told
This Is the Picture
In Your Eyes

Encore
The Tower That Ate People
Biko