The unmistakable distorted intro of ‘Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)’ reverberates around The O2 ushering in Shakey’s debut visit to the venue.
There is an powerful energy flowing from the stage tonight. The slick, hit-heavy performance makes last year’s mediocre Malahide visit pale in comparison.
The band chemistry is flawless, each eye-waterlingly talented musician contributing superlatively to the transcendental rite to which we bear witness.
A bewitching ‘Are You Ready For The Country?’ finds Neil at the keyboard and gives him the first opportunity of the night to unleash the harmonica, a performance perfectly complemented by Ben Keith’s intoxicating pedal-steel playing.
“Howya feeling? It’s great to be back in this great green country here,” he says by way of introducing a magical ‘Cinnamon Girl’, during the solo of which he walks to the side of the stage and raises his fist triumphantly.
Moving to an elevated harmonium, nature paean ‘Mother Earth’ is a moment of sheer divinity that segues beautifully into a spine-chilling ‘Don’t Let It Get You Down’.
He rocks out for ‘Burned’, and brings it down a notch for a resplendent ‘Harvest Moon’ before ramping it up again for a jaw-dropping ‘Down By The River’, perhaps the zenith of the performance.
‘Rockin In The Free World’ sees much air-punching and dancing and is resuscitated for three glorious finales – a spectacular finish by any measure.
An encore of ‘A Day In The Life’ is closed by a Hendrix-like guitar destruction scene, with Young beating the instrument until it’s a mangled wreck. In a haze of feedback he ambles to the xylophone to join wife Pegi, plays several solitary notes and then disappears. Wonderful.