2 posts tagged “musical genius”

I don't really have the words to describe how lucky and awed I felt to see Neil Young at the Hammersmith Apollo, twice in the last week.

I was there for his first London date of the tour on Wednesday, about twelve rows back from the stage with a walkway beside me and therefore an uninterrupted view of the stage.  He was extraordinary.  I had actual tears in my eyes when he played one of my favourite songs "Ambulance Blues" as the second song of his acoustic set.  The hour-long set touched on all parts of his long career, and he was in perfect voice throughout.  His demeanour was that of a slightly grumpy old man, with occasional stories thrown in, in that slow, droll way of his that manages to be so funny.

Then he returned for a blistering 90 minute electric set, and the one drawback was that the venue was a seated one.  He returned for an encore - "Cinnamon Girl", and was just launching into "Like A Hurricane" when I realised it was about 11.40 and reluctantly I had to take my leave in order to trek back to Walthamstow.

On Saturday I returned and this time I had a front row seat.  The setlist was very slightly different, and this time I was about ten feet from my hero.  There's no gap between the seats and the stage at the Hammersmith Apollo.  For such a big venue it has a very intimate feel.  This time the encore was much shorter - no "Cinnamon Girl" or "Like A Hurricane", just a down-and-dirty "Roll Another Number For The Road".  But by this time I was standing, with my hands resting on the stage where Neil Young stood, so I was in heaven. 

There was a little disabled boy two seats away from me - his father said he'd been listening to Neil Young since he was a baby.  He was in raptures throughout, and at the end Neil came over and gave him a plectrum and a drumstick, and he was just inches away from me.  That was a thrill.  He's not the kind of artist who shakes hands with his crazy front row fans, but I put my hand up in a salute and he returned it, then gravely ambled off.  Magnificent.

Photos taken on phone, so blurred and shakey ("shakey"... see what I did there?).

Show us a musical genius.

I'm going to show you two.  Come on, did you really think I'd choose anyone but Joni Mitchell and Neil Young?  Actually, the Joni's a twofer, because the Band are on there too (it's a clip from The Last Waltz).  The Neil clip is from a brilliant BBC concert that I have on a poor-quality video.  I love all the business with his harmonica at the start.