Neil Young live at the Marquee Cork

Having had the privilege of seeing Neil Young rock Malahide Castle the previous night in Dublin (pictured), I can vouch that the change of location made for a very different gig. The Cork venue gave a perplexing sense of intimacy, (or as much intimacy as you can possibly experience in tent with another 7000 fans) without compromising the power of Young’s musicianship.

The 62-year-old performed a comprehensive set spanning his 40-year career, pleasing even the most devout fan with songs from the early days of Harvest and Live Rust.

Moving in steady progression from electric to acoustic to back again, it was the unplugged portion of the set, when it’s just Young and his guitar or the piano or even the Hammond organ, that it started to feel like a near-religious experience. And if the audience was the congregation, the simply beautiful ‘Needle And The Damage Done’ was our hymn. Another crowd-pleaser - the moving ‘Heart Of Gold’ was something very special indeed.

Moments like these contrasted with flashes of reckless energy before Young’s years that flourished in the likes of ‘Hey, Hey, My, My’ and ‘Words’.

And in an almost unprecedented move for the ageing rocker, he knocked out two covers, ‘A Day In The Life’ and ‘All Along The Watchtower’, both delivered with confident zeal.

And what was left in between was a skillful and arresting performance, minus the yarns. In fact, apart from a rousing “What’s going down?” and an almost bashful “I don’t think I’m doing too bad out here”, the Canadian maestro didn’t speak a word during the performance, offering just a simple wave as he left the stage.

No words needed, Shakey.