Ottawa 2012 fan review
A couple of weeks ago, I broke a vow I made nearly a quarter-century ago, when I walked out on a Rolling Stones concert, bored out of my skull watching a bunch of ageing rockers fake it for the big bucks.
Never again!, I swore, no more stadiums, no more arenas! Rock and roll is meant for bars or – maybe – an outdoor amphitheatre. (And Dylan was great at one such venue by Lake Ontario.)
But when I learned Neil Young and Crazy Horse were coming to Ottawa, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to make right a similar, but far more misguided, walk-out. When I was a naive 15 year-old (or was I 16?), and knew Neil Young as only a folk-singer with an acoustic guitar and a harmonica, Rust Never Sleeps nearly broke my brain.
I not only walked out of the theatre in outrage at the shrieking feedback and howling, tortured strings — I demanded my money back!
More fool I. But I’ve grown up a little since 1981.
I’ve written about that memory in some detail here:
http://ed-rex.com/about/rust_never_sleeps.
And about the powerful, moving and frankly mind-blowing, full-sensory theatrical experience that was Neil and the Horse’s 2012 Ottawa concert here: http://ed-rex.com/reviews/live/neil_young_crazy_horse_2012.
Thanks for the opportunity to post here, and for the site in general. As someone who has gone from liking Neil (quite a bit) to being a fan, it looks to be a marvellous resource.
By Geoffrey Dow.