Neil Young Can Still Bring It

This is a kind of review, anecdote, response, to a Neil Young concert I saw last year. (April of '09, - sometimes it takes me a while to get my thoughts out here). But initially what comes to mind when thinking about seeing him live for the first time is that not only can Neil Young still bring it, he brings it with force, attitude, and raw emotion and distortion like you've never heard before, even from him.

This wasn't the piano playing mellow ballad-esque Neil from his Live at Massey Hall 1971 album for example. This was a new fresh version of the 80's and 90's, rocked out, turned up, distorted, loud guns blazing Neil Young. The Neil Young that virtually created grunge music. To see the 63 years-old man stand up there; hair still swinging, head banging, in his ripped up jeans and flannel shirt, stomping around on stage, screaming into the microphone, clutching his broken-stringed guitar and waving it front of the ear splitting amplifier; was simply a thing of beauty, it blew my mind really. I seriously couldn't rock that hard if I was 24 and on the best steroids ever invented. He brings it man, Neil young IS rock and roll as far as I'm concerned.

I have been a Neil Young fan for a long time for many of the reasons millions of others are as well. He brings a roots-rock old school style for sure with emotion that few others in the world can invoke. I mean like I said grunge was invented by Neil Young 20 or more years before it happened (check out the Mirror Ball album with Neil and Pearljam if you've never heard it). But that's just one of the many aspects of the man's music. From Buffalo Springfield, to Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, to his massively massive amount of solo work; to the work with his band Crazy Horse; his journey is a long one. His ties to other artists, his influences, his influence on other musicians and the path of his life/career is a golden thread of rock'n'roll history.

His music gives us a real sense of true rock'n'roll spirit that seems lost in today's music. Next to Bob Dylan, he is arguably the most covered singer/songrwriter of the last 40 years. So here is to you Neil Young, the baddest ass rock musician I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot of bands/musicians in my time. I will never forget Neil up on stage, like I said - hair swinging, head banging, ripped up jeans, flannel shirt, grabbing and screaming/singing into the microphone, wailing on his guitar, breaking strings, grabbing both ends of it and waving it into the amplifier, swinging the guitar by the strings, stomping around on stage... seriously, what a bad-ass. Neil Young will be forever... Young.