In Toronto, Neil Young and Crazy Horse rejected nostalgia by showing a sold-out crowd that rock ‘n’ roll will never die“Hey hey, my my,” Neil Young sang late in his sold-out show at Toronto’s Budweiser Stage on Monday, “rock ‘n’ roll can never die.”in 1979, the idea of rock music dying would have been a ridiculous consideration. Even if the song was meant as an elegy for classic rock, the towering, potent delivery contradicted that notion.
Before the show, the gates had been closed as a precaution. With lightning forecast, concertgoers were instructed to take shelter. The electric storm never came. Actually it did, in the form of a potent, gloriously ragged two hours of classics and deep cuts. That the evening did not feel nostalgic is a tribute to Young’s integrity.
He then mentioned the “beautiful sky” beyond the venue: “You can’t see it. You’re looking at me.” One natural phenomenon is as a good as another., an organ outfitted with angel wings descended from the rafters but never fully landed on the stage. As Nelson hits its keys, the instrument swayed like a summer-afternoon hammock., Young’s shaky tenor was intact, cutting through the fuzzed-out sonic waves – a voice above the storm, for you metaphor freaks..
He did not perform that song in Toronto, but he apparently stipulated that the venue’s signature beers not be sold during his concert. Local Mill Street Brewery products were available. Is Young aware that Mill Street is owned by Labatt, which is itself the property of the Bud-brewing Anheuser-Busch InBev?