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On November 2nd, 1996 I went to the Corel Centre (as it was being called then) to see Neil Young and Crazy Horse. I had scored literally a dozen tickets on the floor close to the stage for me and a pile of friends, and so we all piled into the eleventh row and braced ourselves for the onslaught that is Crazy Horse.
We’re not talking about virtuosic players here, but these guys make a huge sound when they play together and they sure can rock. And rock they did, over a setlist chockablock of songs that could be described as nothing less that virtuosic, starting off with the double-smackdown of Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black) and Pocahontas through monstrously good songs like Cinnamon Girl, Cortez The Killer, and Down By The River. There was some acoustic gold to settle the nerves somewhere in the middle, with Needle And The Damage Done, Long May You Run and Helpless, a song that’s always great to hear in Ontario.
When the keyboard descended from the ceiling I knew the encore would open with Like A Hurricane and I was right, and there is no better vehicle than this explosive lament to fully appreciate the powerful sound this band of ragtag players can make together. They whammy-ed and feedbacked up a storm (almost literally) before launching into the song proper, another of Neil Young’s magically simple works of wonder. I just love watching this band and up close the wall of sound hits you like a blissful car accident with not an airbag in sight.
The encore offered a handful of songs with the anthemic Rockin’ In The Free World featured prominently. Neil let us go with the prophetic Roll Another Number (For The Road), which in this case should be read Roll Another Number (For The Parking Lot), as my crew and I struggled and sputtered out of the notorious Corel Centre lot at the usual Kanata pace that would empower a sloth-like snail on a slow day.
And we passed the time humming classic Neil Young melodies like they were nursery rhymes.
Todd Man Out 