One of the first conversations I ever had with the man who is now my husband was about Canadian music. He was (and still is) a self-professed connoisseur of the "genre", and after naming a few of his own favourites: The Hip, Leonard Cohen, and, (god help us all) Gordon Lightfoot he inquired about mine. For me, the choice was clear: Neil Young OF COURSE. To my surprise, Steve was not all that familiar with Neil's music. But I played him some Harvest and some After The Gold Rush and some CSNY, and was soon successful in converting him. (To be fair, I in turn have developed an appreciation for Gordon Lightfoot - all except for Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald... that song is just pure torture...ugggh).
Anyway, for a long time one of my foremost goals in life was to see Neil Young in concert. It's true. The vast majority of my life goals (the specific ones at least) revolve around experiencing various kinds of art. Call me sad, but that's what makes me happy. So there. About two years ago, I joined a Facebook group called "Kingston Needs Neil Young At The K-Rock Centre". For two years I pined away hoping, praying, that Neil would come play for the good people of K-town in our beautiful new hockey arena/concert venue. And whaddya know? He came!
The show was all I hoped it would be: Fan-freakin-tastic!!! He played some rockin songs and some mellow songs. Normally I feel Neil is more in his element with his mellow-to-in between songs ("Harvest Moon", "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere", "Old Man", "Heart of Gold", "Helpless", etc). But boy, when he ended the final encore with "Keep On Rocking in the Free World" the energy in the room was unparalleled. Everyone was literally on their feet dancing in the stands!
The only thing I found remotely disappointing was the lack of "Helpless". Ironically, I got to hear it the following night at another concert, sung by a Canadian songstress of whom I find myself becoming increasingly appreciative...
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