Neil Young played his first full show of the year Friday night at a special benefit for Ontario’s Lakefield College School on the campus grounds. It was a frigid, rainy night, and tickets cost upwards of $1,500, with all the money going towards the restoration of a 116-year-old cottage near the school.
Unlike his upcoming Love Earth Tour with the Chromes Hearts, this was a solo, acoustic show. The 18-song set was heavy on standards like “Comes a Time,” “Sugar Mountain,” “Heart of Gold,” “Helpless,” “I Am a Child” and “After the Gold Rush.” But there were a few surprises, like “Love/Art Blues,” which he hadn’t played in public since 2008. He also broke out the 1988 CSNY super deep cut “Name of Love” for the first time since 2014.
The most notable moment took place midway through the night when he strapped on a banjo and played the Old Ways obscurity “My Boy” for the first time since the 1983 Solo Trans tour. It’s a sweet, loving ode to Zeke Young, his eldest song. “Why are you growin’ up so fast/My boy?,” he sings. “Oh, you’d better take your time/Why are you growin’ up so fast/My son?”
Hours before the concert, Young posted a vintage photo of himself with Zeke as a toddler alongside his late father, sportswriter Scott Young. “Practicing for Lakefield, I was playing ‘My Boy,’ thinking about my own dad,” he wrote. “I knew he must have heard this song. My dad was a great guy and Zeke is a wonderful son. I think ‘My Boy’ is my favorite recording of all the ones I have done. I love Ben Keith and Spooner Oldham’s playing, as well as the others on it. They are soulful musicians. I have been so lucky!”
Trending Stories
The show ended with “Old Man,” but a printed set list on the stage revealed that he originally planned on coming back out for solo electric renditions of “Throw Your Hatred Down” and “Rockin’ in the Free World.” It’s unclear why he cut the last two numbers, but the miserable weather likely played a role. (Young largely refuses to play indoor gigs due to Covid concerns. The sole indoor date of his upcoming Love Earth Tour is July 13 at the Adidas Arena in Paris.)
The Love Earth Tour kicks off June 18 in Rättvik, Sweden. The American leg begins Aug. 8 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Young hasn’t revealed exactly what he’ll be playing on the tour, but expect several selections from his upcoming album, Talkin’ to the Trees.
