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Neil Young’s star-studded 80th birthday party concert at Massey Hall on Wednesday.Jag Gundu/Supplied
Well into the star-studded 80th birthday party for Neil Young at Massey Hall on Wednesday, Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy made an observation: What marked the Canadian rock troubadour’s brilliance was that his songs were perfect for their moment. He then remarked that it was sad the song he was about to sing was still appropriate.
The song was Ohio, a political song from 1970 written and recorded immediately after four unarmed, protesting students at Kent State University were shot to death by a volley of Ohio National Guard gunfire. Fifty-five years later and President Donald Trump has ordered National Guard troops into four left-leaning U.S. cities.
Young’s Ohio reflected raw outrage and shocked mourning in equal measure. The anger was amplified at Massey Hall, driven by Whitehorse guitarist Luke Doucet’s electric, sulfuric indignation.
The performance was a highlight on a night when not one but two capable house bands – under the leadership of music director Aaron Goldstein – supported an all-Canadian cast of star singers. Why two? Because Young’s dual abilities in rugged sounds and softer melodic expressions call for it.
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Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy sang Ohio, a political song from 1970.Jag Gundu/Supplied
Here’s what else is called for: a better emcee. Unlike Cuddy, who put Ohio in context, the too-glib host Tom Power of CBC Radio showed no interest in placing the performances in perspective. His research seemed to consist of Googling the walking distance from Massey Hall to Toronto General Hospital, where Young was born on Nov. 12, 1945. (It takes 17 minutes to cover the distance by foot, the sold-out audience was told.)
One of the concert’s top moment came early, in the form a harrowing version of Tonight’s the Night by July Talk’s Leah Fay Goldstein and Peter Dreimanis. The moody 1975 rocker inspired by a roadie’s heroin overdose was ominous enough in Young’s hands, but their version was a fright-night psychological thriller.
If that wasn’t enough, I’ll hazard a guess that Goldstein’s white suit was inspired by the blazer Young wore for the Tonight’s the Night album cover. Other Young-inspired wardrobe moments came from Doucet (with his excellently tasseled leather jacket) and singer-songwriter Julian Taylor (for his Winnipeg Jets T-shirt).
As Neil Young turns 80, his Canadian roots mean more than ever before
Young himself wore a University of Omemee shirt for his taped video message sent from his home in California. “My heart is with you all,” he said. “I love Massey Hall.” And did my eyes deceive me, or did he close his clip with a flicker of kiss? Don’t tell me Young is going soft on us.
He is not. This year Young released the fiercely anti-Trump single Big Crime, with the line, “Got to get the fascists out, got to clean the White House out.” On the same album (Talkin to the Trees) are Family Life and Thankful. Throughout his career, Young has been motivated by both love and discontent, with songs sometimes achingly tender and other times sonically abrasive.
Those extremes were represented at Massey. Joel Plaskett and Sarah Harmer (who shares a birthday with Young) duetted on Look Out for My Love. William Prince’s bottomless baritone worked wonders with Out on the Weekend. Ruby Waters sang Harvest Moon sweetly.
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Neil Young in 1967 in Los Angeles, Calif. Throughout his career, Young has been motivated by both love and discontent, with songs sometimes achingly tender and other times sonically abrasive.Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images/Getty Images
One of the house drummers, Dani Nash, doubled on harmonica more than once − a rare multitask. Donovan Woods’s version of Unknown Legend was lovely. And speaking of unknown legends, Nick Rose and Carleigh Aikins were subtle heroes on backup vocals all night.
Guitar enthusiasts got their fill. The house band’s Ian Blurton blistered repeatedly, while Doucet, the Dirty Nil’s Luke Bentham and Big Sugar’s Gordie Johnson (on an effect-laden double-neck Gibson for When You Dance) stood out when called upon. All of them flexed their skills on the stage-crowded finales Cinnamon Girl and the curfew-threatening Down by the River. On the latter jam, the organ solo by Shamus Currie of the Sheepdogs rightly received the most applause.
Net proceeds of the concert go to music education charity MusiCounts.
The show began with a poignant version of Journey Through the Past by Rose Cousins on piano and Brian Kobayakawa on stand-up bass. Young sang it at Massey Hall on Jan. 19, 1971. The song, about being homesick for his California ranch, had yet to be released at that point.
“I’m going to sing mostly new songs tonight,” the 25-year-old Young told his audience, as heard on a live album recorded that night. “I’ve written so many new ones, I can’t think of anything else to do with them other than sing ’em.”
It made perfect sense then, and it still does.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct the release date of the song Tonight’s The Night.
