EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS IS SOMETHING

 went to both shows at Madison Square Garden. Both were outstanding shows.

Forever Young.

He's cantankerous onstage, yet under that crusty exterior Neil Young remains one of rock's most exciting acts whether he's strumming an acoustic Martin guitar or shredding on his vintage Gibson Les Paul.

Here are some photos that I took at the Philly show.

It was just music at Monday's back-to-basics Madison Square Garden concert - no razzle-dazzle (unless you count the wooden cigar store Indian stage right). Young plugged in, tuned up and turned on the sold-out arena at the first of a two-performance engagement.

Unlike some of rock's other seminal musicians, Young doesn't feel hobbled by his past.

His two-hour-plus set was a fan-pleasing mix of songs from the beginning to now. He even joked about a new tune: "I just wrote this on the break." Yet no matter how powerfully he muscled his way through his new green-themed numbers, it was the classics - "Hey Hey, My My" "Cortez the Killer" and an incredible "Cinnamon Girl" - that moved MSG.

At 63, his raw onstage energy is striking. Strapped into his guitar, Young writhes like a Pentecostal snake handler - head banging, hair flying and his already ugly kisser as distorted as the notes he plays when he gets lost in a musical trance.

After his electric attack opening (which included a very tasty version of "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere"), the crowd delighted when Young unplugged and put on his singer-songwriter hat.

Strumming a big-bodied acoustic six-string, he turned back time with true-to-the-charts guitar-and-harmonica versions of "Heart of Gold" and then "Old Man."

These two songs were among the concert's highlights and both benefited by his gray hair, weathered face and musical maturity that lent the tunes depth and poignancy: great songs that Young penned as a youth but has grown into over the years.

Nobody was shocked at the past-midnight, show-ending songs, "Cowgirl in the Sand" into his standard sign-off, "Rockin' in the Free World," but after a very lengthy set he chose to encore with a cover of The Beatles' "A Day in the Life." He didn't write it, but it was a perfect closing, summing up the show with its mix of melodic calm and sonic storm. link

Comments

[Tanuki]

He's using the same kind of amp in this concert as me ('59 Fender Bassman Ltd re-issue)! I will get his newest album, whatever it is, just because you like him so much. I used to be a fan, even played his songs in coffee shops when I was a kid, and I do love his classics. Why are you so enchanted with this guy? lol.