… and at 63, Neil Young ain’t old.

This was one of those concerts where you hardly knew where to direct your awe.

Was it the fact that this 63-year old was bent over an electric guitar, face pinched in concentration, ripping out chords and tunes that went straight into your bones?

Or was it that Youngesque cat-whine pitch he can still achieve after all these years? And those Young Rrrrrrs. Ya gotta love the Young Rrrrrs.

Was it the fact that here was a rock icon in flesh?

Or that this rock icon was still relevant, in-the-now (as we say in yoga) and performing at the top of his game?

I don’t know, but Neil Young sent shock waves through my body and shivers up and down my spine last night in a two-and-a-half hour set that went by way too fast.

He is a guitar player’s guitar player, ripping off those slightly off-the-beat and sometimes discordant riffs that hook you and take you along with him.

He played much of the Young canon, giving us a raunchier-than-ever rendition of my fave Young tune Hey Hey My My. This evoked the rogue thought that Johnny Rotten = Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. (Go here for explanation.)

We had excellent versions of Rockin’ in the Free World, Cinnamon Girl, Powderfinger, Heart of Gold and Old Man, (with the thrilling banjo riffs – and yes, the banjo can be thrilling.) My other personal fave of the evening (OK, it was hard deciding) was Needle and the Damage Done. Something about that cat-whine pitch…

And only Neil Young could come back with a Beatles tune for an encore. A Day in the Life. Here it is on YouTube, though not as good as last night.

He made it his own and at the end of the encore he put his guitar down and with with a touching nod to those crazy dayz of rock n roll, he tore the strings off as if to say, “That’s all folks.” Only Neil Young could do that. I laughed out loud.

I missed the first opening act, Everest but caught indie rockers Wilco, which would have been worth the price of admission on its own. I joined the Wilco bandwagon two summers ago at an outdoor concert. I defy anyone to listen to these guys live and not become a fan.

The show ended at 11:30. I couldn’t even think of heading to bed until 2:30. And when I woke up this morning, I was still buzzing, head to toe.

That’s some kinda grandad rocker.

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