Neil Young & Crazy Horse, live at the RDS

The problem with social media is that everyone’s a critic, and a few haters can sway public consciousness one way or the other. Neil Young’s RDS sojourn wasn’t half as bad as the instant Twitter backlash made out. It wasn’t one of his better performances, and certainly not one for the casual fan, thousands of whom had come out and paid good money to be entertained by the gnarly old Canadian.
Earlier on, Mike Scott and The Waterboys (including Dublin’s own Paul ‘Binzer’ Brennan on drums and Joe Chester on guitar) did exactly what was expected. A barnstorming ‘Whole Of The Moon’ brought the first big beaming smiles of the day, despite the rainshowers.
Anyone expecting the 67-year-old Young to stick to the script or play to the gallery quickly had their expectations dashed. It started brightly, however, with delicious ‘Powderfinger’ early on showing that despite his advancing years, Young’s reedy voice can still carry a note and hold an entire stadium in thrall. By the time ‘Walk Like A Giant’, from his current Psychedelic Pill opus, squealed from the PA, however, it was clear that Young and his like-minded backing band, the similarly grizzled bassist Billy Talbot, tub-thumper Ralph Molina and, particularly, Frank ‘Poncho’ Sampedro on rhythm guitar, were happy as clams wigging out in their own company, turning each tune into a monumental jam. Indeed, you got the feeling that they really enjoyed themselves, despite, and not because of, the crowd.
At times, it was spellbinding, watching these putative pensioners rocking out with a passion and unity of purpose that would put many younger pretenders to shame. But there’s jamming and then there’s self-indulgence on a grand scale. Even the normally brief ‘Cinnamon Girl’ morphed into a mini-epic, and ‘Fuckin’ Up’ became a veritable symphony. The fact that the 13-song main set included two new, unreleased songs, was probably not the wisest move.
‘Hey Hey My My’ still sounded as vital as ever, at least for its first 10 minutes, but by that stage, the rain was hurtling down once more and many had already headed for the exits. A pity, because the encore of ‘Cortez The Killer’ was sublime, one of a few moments of real magic.