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" Neil Young looked old when he took the stage. "
" Balding and chubby with long, gray hair, Young lumbered onto the stage Wednesday night in a purple flannel sweater, jeans and boots, with an ever-present grimace on his face.
But despite a curmudgeonly air, Young’s music sounded every bit as youthful as when he started his music career in the 1960s.
Fans at Qwest Center Omaha heard everything from that decade on, showing their approval by singing every word to "Cinnamon Girl" and "The Needle and the Damage Done."
In addition to those songs, Young played his hits during the two-hour set (with the notable exception of "Keep on Rockin’ In the Free World"). Fans got a taste of "Mother Earth," "Old Man," "Unknown Legend," "Heart of Gold" and "Are You Ready For the Country?"
Long guitar jams in between verses stretched songs like "Change Your Mind" and "Tonight’s the Night" past the 10-minute mark. The crowd reacted favorably, cheering after especially impressive guitar solos from Young and guitarist Ben Keith.
Keith, Young’s wife, Pegi, and three additional band members joined Young on stage. In addition the band, a man stood at the back of the stage and painted on canvas, starting and finishing paintings of a dragon, skulls and a pig during Young’s set.
The band played several songs from Young’s recently released album "Fork In The Road." The crowd didn’t know the words as well, but the songs sounded at home with his other material.
It was unfortunate only 6,000-plus people saw the legendary rocker.
The arena’s upper bowl was mostly curtained off and patches of empty seats dotted the lower bowl.
Among those in attendance: quite a few folks in their twenties and thirties that hadn’t been born when Young started making music. But others were lifelong fans, wearing T-shirts from long-past tours and sporting lengthy gray hair, beards and leather jackets. A few men in the crowd looked like Young, with sideburns and ponytails.
Also bearing some signs of age - but still sounding out with youthful vibrancy - was the band’s equipment. The stage was littered with beat up pianos, guitars and amplifiers that looked like Young’s band had used them his whole career, but the music didn’t suffer at all.
Wearing a scowl on his face most of the night, Young finally broke into a smile about a minute into "Heart of Gold," when he stopped the song, saying he "didn’t sing it right."
"I’m fired. I’m fired. I need a bailout," he said to laughter from the crowd. "Let’s do it right. We’re in Omaha, right?"
The concert originally had been scheduled for November 2008, but was postponed. Young, a political activist throughout his career, apologized for having to reschedule.
"How ya’ doin? Nice to see ya," Young said. "Sorry we couldn’t make it last time. I hope we didn’t put you through too much trouble. Some rocket scientists booked us on election night."
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