Neil Young News: Concert Review of the Moment: Riverside Theater, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, January 23

Friday, February 08, 2019

Concert Review of the Moment: Riverside Theater, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, January 23

Neil Young Solo
Photo by thrashette via NYA Livestream

The Concert Review of the Moment is from Neil Young's Solo "Big 3M Theater Tour" Begins Tonight: Riverside Theater, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, January 23 by LivingBeing:

I find myself back in Milwaukee where I grew up as my Mom has had two major strokes over the last year, not sure what her future holds. Not sure if getting back to Vegas is in my future either. And now winter has set in.

So the announcement of Neil coming to town was most welcome news.

First show of a quick run, coming just months after his marriage and losing his house in the wildfires and just weeks after Pegi died- it would be especially interesting to see how was doing, what he had to share this time around.

From the first few chords of Mansion on the hill I could feel we were in for a very special night. As Neil said this night, " they really did a blue ribbon job" with the Riverside theatre. I've seen many shows here including Neil in 92 and the sound and view has always been everything you could hope for. Even from where I was all the way in the back row. He was pulling out the more familiar stuff from his incredible catalog and something just felt right about it even though I've always tended to pull for some of the deeper cuts. The two debut tracks he played this evening were very moving for me , I'm especially looking forward to his next release if this is where his head and heart are at, very touching stuff.

The crowd was not the most disrespectful I've come across at a Neil show. In fact from where I was at people were pretty respectful. Later on I would hear an increase in shouts for "old man", people proclaiming their love for him and so on. But their rapture didn't impose on my own experience for the most part. Whether the crowd bothered Neil as some reviews suggested, well his remarks the next day seemed to be what a nice crowd and as for the sudden stop during Don't be denied, where he raised his hand (basically the same angle he holds it on the back cover of csny American Dream album) it seemed as if it was just an indication to the audience that that's all and he was just kinda still exploring things somewhat on this first night, sorta how he went from piano over to guitar in the middle of One of these days. Seemed as if he wasn't quite locked in at some points.

But when and where he was locked in, wow, it was really magic at times. I think vocally he was really in the zone and even on guitar. And again, the setlist was a real joy.

As I left I ran into an old friend and bandmate, we had a misunderstanding years ago, lost touch and there in the theatre we made peace. More magic.

In one of the songs he debuted this night he sang of life going so fast and wanting a day that will last. That is exactly the kinda of day I had thanks Neil and this show. May he get his wish too.

Peace