Neil Young & Crazy Horse- Centennial Concert Hall, Winnipeg Feb. 4, 2019

Since there was a policy of no photography during the show, this is the best I have.

Back in December, when pre-sale tickets for a pair of Neil Young & Crazy Horse shows in early February went on sale I had no idea he was even coming to town. My brother asked if I was a member of the Neil Young Archives because being a member meant first dibs for tickets. I wasn't, so he joined and snagged tickets in the sixth row for the first show on February 3rd at the Burton Cummings Theatre. I used his password for the second show at the Centennial Concert Hall the following night. Before I bought the tickets I agonized whether I should "invest", I hadn't seen Young live before and he was on my imaginary list of bands I should see before I (or they) die, but tickets weren't cheap and the cheapskate that I am hasn't paid that much for concert tickets ever. What pushed my decision towards going was the fact his band Crazy Horse would be performing as well as Neil solo and I figured this might be one of the last opportunities to see the electric Neil. My theory is he can play the solo musician-thing for longer than the full-on band. I opted for the third most expensive price level which meant I was back to row 22 on the floor, but dead centre. This could be good!

I must admit I'm not a big fan of opening acts. I get the reason why they have them, it extends the actual performance time for your evening so you're not there for only an hour and a half to see the actual reason why you're there as opposed to two and a half hours with the opening act and the intermission before the headliner. No offensive to the opener (William Prince was fine), but I'm paying the big bucks to see Neil Young. In this case, a quick run to the bathroom during intermission turned into an overly long lineup and without warning (that I know of), the concert resumed as I was walking down the row to my seat. Without announcement, the lights go out, pitch black dark as Neil wanders onto the stage and launches into the first song. I scramble for my recording equipment, setup and hit record, trying the best I can to set the volume levels. Because it's so dark I use my small flashlight to see which shines "like headlights" according to the people beside me as I struggle to level on the fly. The woman beside me tells me, "could you please stop that" and I don't look at the levels again, this isn't a good thing!

Neil played seven songs for his solo mini set, meandering between guitar, piano and banjo which was mellow and cool, not overwhelmingly exciting, but probably satisfied the older folk festival going fans the most. Things got cooking more once Crazy Horse joined Young for the electric band set. Rockin' In The Free World was the perfect set opener, I think Neil is at his best when he plays with Crazy Horse. Songs like, The Losing End, Roll Another Number and Winterlong are great underrated songs from his extensive catalog and Cortez The Killer is truly a Neil Young & Crazy Horse classic! For me, the guitar interplay on that song was worth the price of admission and seeing Neil shred with the great Nils Lofgren was a thrill. The main set closed with Fuckin' Up, which of course led to a two song encore with another classic, Like A Hurricane and ended the evening with Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black), which also closed the show the prior evening. Overall, a solid show, but wish there was a longer set from Neil with Crazy Horse, but I'm glad I was there.

The sound on the live recording is really good, not much nearby crowd noise or talking, so the sound is clear thanks also to the supreme acoustics of the concert hall, which is made specifically for concerts. There are though some imperfections on this recording I should mention before you listen:

• The recording joins the first song (Out On The Weekend) a verse or so into the song. I missed the start before I got to my seat. There was no introduction before the song so you don't miss much. 
• After the first song when I was adjusting the sound levels, the sound is stabilized and the rest of the solo set is fine. Thanks again to the lady beside me for talking in my ear, I didn't take any photos because I was worried she would freak out with the light from my phone if I dared.
• During the beginning of Rockin' In The Free World the volume shoots up (Warning, you might want to turn it down a bit) for a moment, as I blindly turn the levels down almost too low for the rest of the song. By Danger Bird, the sound levels are up more evenly and stays that way to the end.

I originally was going to post this show to Dime (you have to be a member), but since I took my sweet time preparing the files and writing this, someone beat me to it. There is another recording from this show posted, I haven't listened to it, but it probably didn't have the issues I mentioned above. Also, on Dime there is a recording of the first night at the Burt. If you are not a member and you are interested, I might re-post the show here with the permission of the taper (please let me know). Since I don't want to post another version on Dime, this recording is exclusive to TDIT and is available for all to enjoy.
Enjoy!!

Please do NOT sell or convert to lossy format
Please share!

NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE
Centennial Concert Hall
Winnipeg, MB, Canada
February 4, 2019
AUD Master

Sony ECM-DS70P mic> Tascam DR-07> SD card > 16 bit Wav>
Direct Wave MP3 splitter> FLAC> rar file

Neil Solo
01. Out On The Weekend (in progress)
02. Distant Camera
03. War Of Man
04. Old King
05. Green Is Blue
06. Don't Let It Bring You Down
07. Journey Through The Past

with Crazy Horse
08. Rockin' In The Free World
09. Danger Bird
10. Wonderin'
11. The Losing End
12. Roll Another Number (For The Road)
13. Winterlong
14. Cortez The Killer
15. Fuckin' Up

Encore
16. Like A Hurricane
17. Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)

Crazy Horse
Neil Young- vocals, guitar
Nils Lofgren- guitar
Billy Talbot- bass
Ralph Molina- drums

NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE- 2019-02-04 Winnipeg, MB FLAC Master. rar