Neil Young, My Morning Jacket@ Brisbane EntertainmentCentre, Brisbane (21/01/09)

Sun 25th Jan, 2009 in Gig Reviews

Check out our photo gallery from tonight here!

It was a case of Neil Young, the young, and the young at heart at this evening’s sell out gig at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

My Morning Jacket played a competent, if somewhat subdued, opening set. Lacking the same vigor and animation that made their Big Day Out set so enjoyable, the lads form Louisville, Kentucky seemed more intent on trying to get their music to fill the oversized barn in a swamp that masquerades as an – œentertainment centre’.

Third song in, I’m Amazed went down a treat with the audience. If Animal from the Muppets married a bushranger and they had a son, the result would be something very much like flowing bearded, long-haired drummer, Patrick Hallahan. After chatting about waking up at 3am to watch President Obama’s inauguration, singer Jim James wrapped himself up in a Dracula cape and led the band through a creepy Prince-meets-Stevie Wonder-on-acid love song, Evil Urges before segueing into a dueling Casio keyboard introduction for Touch Me I’m Going To Scream 2.

Neil Young had the same set as his Big Day Out show, a simple affair with a letters-and-numbers light bar, road cases strung from the rigging, and old-school movie set lamps from the 40’s, complete with a live painter creating mini set designs on stage. The capacity crowd had a couple of false start cheers for the last minute roadie checks, before the lights finally dimmed down and the show began.

Young opened the night with a tasty ten minute version of Love And Only Love from the Crazy Horse record, Ragged Glory then declaring “Here’s one from recent memory for old people” before launching straight into Hey Hey, My My. It was about this time that a bunch of stupid bogans loudly calling out requests. Guys, if you feel the need to make requests at a concert, go to your local leagues club and harass the covers duo there. But don’t do it at a bloody Neil Young concert.

Spirit Road from 2007’s Chrome Dreams II was received politely, although it was beginning to get pretty obvious by this stage that most people tonight were here to experience the classic Young, and therefore had very little interest in anything released after 1980. At the same time, it seemed like Neil wanted to keep the set quite contemporary, shying away from obvious crowd pleasers such as Heart Of Gold (which he actually played at BDO, but not his own concert…explain that one!), Southern Man, Like A Hurricane, Ohio, and Only Love Can Break Your Heart. Sure, you don’t want to be simply a greatest hits act, Neil, but you could have given your audience a little more of what they really wanted. Bringing the energy down to a mournful dirge-like pace for Cortez The Killer gave a good opportunity for everyone to take a deep breath before kicking straight into a lively version of Cinnamon Girl that brought people to their feet for a bit of a dance and then a mini standing ovation. Neil then cut back to an acoustic and harmonica for a slow version of Oh Lonesome Me, followed by eco organ ballad, Mother Earth from Ragged Glory (as were lots of tonight’s set choices).

Coming back front’n’centre with just his acoustic guitar, Young finally gave the audience what they were craving, in the form of an honest bare-bones version of anti-heroin plea, The Needle And The Damage Done that quickly became a sing-a-long of thousands. It was the only spine-tingling moment of the evening, but it was worth it.

Rejoined by the full band for a swag of more obscure (read newer) songs, it wasn’t until Neil quipped, “Who knew that when I started I’d be doing Internet requests?” that he clicked into another crowd dance/sing-a-long with Harvest Moon. Starting off Old Man, there were some nasty electrocution noises coming from the banjo, so Neil stopped and said “We’re disintegrating here! I’d better try another song,” to which the crowd firmly responded, “NO!” The second attempt was more successful, with big cheers for the entrance of the now miced-up banjo.

Again, there was a bit of a lull in the energy as Neil and his six-piece band, including wife, Peggy, played more unfamiliar tunes that rated polite applause. This lull was brought to a sneaky end with a long ramping intro into a frenzied Cowgirl In The Sand, complete with the multiple extended signature Neil Young solos. For a guy who is old enough to be most people’s grandfather, he has an extraordinary amount of energy and stage movement. The show was finished off with the anthemic strains of Rockin’ In The Free World which had 3 separate endings and drew out a full standing ovation from the crowd.

For the encore, Neil and co. performed a cover of the Beatles’ A Day In The Life, although for the first pass Neil forgot the words, stopped the band, declared “I hate it when I do that” and started up for a second round. Rounding off the evening with a big rock and roll ending, Neil tore the strings off his electric, smacking them on the pickups to create rolling waves of feedback, before finally dropping it on the stage and stalking off. Neil may not have given the punters all that they wanted tonight, or even all the obvious mega-hits, choosing instead to play a set that he preferred, with a mix of older and newer material. However, there is one thing that can be said, and that is Neil Young is a living legend, and we love him for it.