Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Cinnamon Girl

So last night I was finally able to give my Dad his birthday present when I took him to see Neil Young & Crazy Horse at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. This was the second time the two of us had gone to see Neil but the first with Crazy Horse. While the last show certainly had more hits and well-known songs, this show was all-out rock! The band jammed like madmen, often extending songs to 10, 20, even 25 minutes! The place was packed when we got there just before 9 (missed the opening bands The Sadies and Los Lobos) and the air was filled with a mixture of pot haze and booze. 

About 10 minutes after we sat down in our seats (row 1 of the upper corner) the lights went out and "A Day In The Life" blared over the PA system. Then a bunch of men in white lab coats and crazy white Einstein wigs came out, frantically running around checking the set and instruments; pretty cool for roadies! The set was quite simple with 2 large amps on the sides with 2 even larger amps in the middle, standing like twin towers in between the drum kit. It was actually incredibly similar to the stage set in the video above; old school but with a modern twist. The final, different touch was the giant mic stand in the front middle of the stage. As it rose, a giant Canadian flag appeared behind the stage and the dudes in the lab coats lined up to sing "O Canada". Right before it started, Neil and the band joined them and the crowd rose to its feet, belting out the lyrics to our Nation's anthem. Something tells me they don't get to do this every night ;)

The band kicked off with a raucous version of "Love and Only Love", stomping through the chorus and extending every epic guitar solo. They sounded amazing as they tore through a few more classics before getting to the new stuff of their excellent new double album, Psychedelic Pill. "Born in Ontario" really got the crowd singing along and "Walk Like A Giant" was over 20 minutes of epic distortion, soloing, and trippy whistling. Not a lot of the crowd knew it but they sure loved it by the end! After a brief break, Neil came out with an acoustic guitar and harmonica and did a heartfelt rendition of "The Needle And The Damage Done". He wrote the song about Crazy Horse's original guitarist who OD'd in the early 70's. He was a man that Neil was very close to and truly felt he was his perfect musical partner. 

Then they played a few more quiet ones before bringing back the axes for excellent versions of "Cinnamon Girl", "Mr. Soul", and "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)". The set was closed with Crazy Horse and the crowd singing "Happy Birthday" to Neil who had just turned 67 on the east coast. Just an excellent night of rocking out with a Canadian living legend.

"Cinnamon Girl" is one of my favourite Neil Young songs. It's a great foot-stomper and probably got the biggest roar from the crowd when they started playing it last night. This is an awesome live performance of it too.

On a side note, Neil Young is definitely another honourable mention for greatest solo artist of all time. And I cannot leave this without something from the new album. So enjoy 20 blissful, psychedelic minutes of "Walk Like A Giant".