Neil Young- The Humble Hero

Photo by Graeme Mitchell

By Johnny Kosmos

Neil Young has been an elusive white whale for me over the years. Every opportunity to see him had been hampered by some poor circumstance that had prevented me from going. Until now, which just happened to be at the intimate Queen Elizabeth Theatre downtown Vancouver, in up close and personal velvet plush seats with Elvis Costello opening, I must have done something right to deserve this…

There isn’t a man alive who cares less about being Neil Young than the godfather of grunge himself. This was apparent the second he set foot on that stage. Even Elvis Costello, a legend in his own right, seemed to be floored to be sharing such an intimate stage with Mr. Young. Yet, from the get go, Neil just came out, sat on his chair and took his time deciding which of his dozen or so guitars he was going to play first. He was in no rush and paid no mind to the jeering from the audience. This method of song selection carried on for every single song of his nearly two and a half hour set. The audience ranged from notably young to geriatric yet everybody seemed as if there was nowhere in the world they would rather be. Few times in this life do we get to experience such a diverse group over a shared experience , in a historic theatre no less. These are trying times and evenings like this remind us that there is hope in this otherwise bleak seeming world.

Neil would walk around the stage, sipping his favourite beverage (water) while pondering what to play next. It seemed as if he was contemplating his life and all of its ups and downs before sitting down at one of his four pianos to serenade our souls. His circle of legendary guitars, each with its own iconic story, seemed to summon a sonic force out of this old man on stage. 

This indeed could have been anyone’s tired old grandfather on stage mumbling to himself and wandering around reminiscing, but as soon as he picked up a guitar or sat down at a piano, you realize this was no ordinary man. This was the man who has influenced every single generation of rock n roller to come after him.He played a bit of everything from his vast catalogue, starting with his early Buffalo Springfield days and weaving through his life, touching on every piece of Neil Young lore (including his infamous bullet hole guitar).He played some of his hits like ‘After the Goldrush’, ‘Ohio’ and ‘Harvest Moon’. I couldn’t help but think he was singing back to himself while listening to ‘Old Man’.  He even treated us to a brand new song but stopped midway through because the audience was sucking at clapping. He told us we either had to sing along or shut up. 

The funniest moment of the night came when he sat down at his piano to play what I think was supposed to be ‘There’s A World’ off of Harvest. He just sat there and fumbled through it for a bit, asking the audience for ‘just a goddamned minute’ eventually succumbing to the fact that he didn’t remember how to play it, ‘Well shit, I guess I’ll just have to play you guys something else.’