Neil Young: Always rocking the free world
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Sunday, 28, Jun 2009 09:30
By Matthew Champion.
In a music world dominated by image, Neil Young's headline set on Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage was a reassuring reminder that sound is everything.
63 years of age he might be, but the Canadian is arguably the most accomplished rock star in the world in his own right, proven by Friday night's epic set, which raised the benchmark for the two headliners that would follow him.
Hunched over his axe, which came with sign offs that spoke of the apocalypse, Young blared out Rust Never Sleeps while an artist painted to his riffs in the wings.
Firmly rooted in the old school - would we want him anywhere else - Are You Ready for the Country and Cinnamon Girl followed, with the beguiling Canuck's interaction with the crowd encapsulated by his signatory "How ya doin'?".
Prior to the set this reviewer had wondered whether a largely young crowd would have been struggling to empathise with Young's screaming guitar, but, looking like he had just stepped off the tour bus, he wrung said guitar's neck so much the question was blown away; superfluous.
Mother Earth and Heart of Gold came tumbling from the stage, before a staggeringly-epic 12-minute version of Rockin' in the Free World, for this reviewer the standout moment of the entire festival.
The equipment on stage may have been and creaky and old as the star, but both have never sounded so good.