Concert Review: Come Together- Neil Young’s Live Rust – Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, Aotea Centre January 16, 2021

They say Rust Never Sleeps…it was awake and loud last night in Auckland as an all-star Kiwi band set Neil Young’s music on fire and let it burn.

This is the third in a series of “classic rock” tributes…the two previous being Dire Straits’ Brothers In Arms and The Beatles Abbey Road. Neil’s Live Rust was performed in 2019 by pretty much the same group of musicians, but that seems a world away now and the crowd at Aotea Centre were more than ready to revel in more than 30 Neil tunes that were on offer.

My main reason for wanting to see this show was to hear guitarist Brett Adams dig into songs like Powderfinger and Like A Hurricane and he did not disappoint. In fact, it looks like he was playing his own version of “Old Black”, Neil’s 1952 Gibson Les Paul. It certainly sounded like it.

But Brett was not alone when it came to guitar virtuoso on the night.

Delaney Davidson came out with string blazing for Mr. Soul, Samuel Flynn Scott ripped Down By The River a new one and Liam Finn pretty much destroyed his guitar during Tonight’s The Night.

Also on hand were musical director Jol Mulholland, vocalist/guitarist Dianne Swann, SJD, Mel Parsons, Jon Toogood, Michael Barker and Matthias Jordan. (I hope that’s everyone)

The first set was basically a best-of Neil list of tune that didn’t appear on Live Rust, beginning with a trio of Buffalo Springfield tunes (Expecting To Fly, Broken Arrow, Mr Soul). These gave the 4-piece string section (featuring Dave Khan) a chance to shine.

Then the guitars came out for a blistering Ohio, sounding as relevant as it did in 1970.

Other highlights in a 75 minute set of highlights included Dianne Swann’s Helpless with Delaney on pedal steel, followed by Liam Finn’s take on A Man Needs A Maid, featuring piano and strings.

“We’ll unpack it later”, commented Liam, no doubt referring to Young’s somewhat un-PC lyrics.

Shifting over to drums, Liam pummelled his way through Down By The River as Samuel Flynn Scott gave us a lesson in Neil Young-style guitar slinging.

If that wasn’t enough, Mel Parsons followed with a menacing version of Revolution Blues.

Harvest Moon brought in some romance as Jol Mulholland swept the stage…Brett and Dianne tore through Cowgirl In The Sand and the set closed with Jon Toogood and Delaney Davidson duelling it out on Southern Man.

Whew! That was only the opening set.

After a drink, a race to the loo and a scramble back to our seats Live Rust (the album) was presented in its entirety.

Delaney Davidson’s harmonica was a highlight on I Am A Child and Comes A Time.

Mel’s After The Goldrush was stunning (nice piano work Mel)

Then we really got rocking as My My, Hey Hey led to When You Dance and The Loner.

The audience spontaneously burst into a “No Rain” Woodstock chant as the group changed gears for The Needle And The Damage Done, sung by Liam.

Sedan Delivery took the pitch up a notch wit what I like to call, “Rust/Punk” (actually I just made that up).

Then a brief pause and the glorious Powderfinger took shape in the form of Brett Adams’ mighty guitar playing.

This is what I came for.

At this point Brett was unstoppable ripping through Cortez The Killer.

Sam Scott then took Like A Hurricane and made it his own before Liam Finn, obviously inspired by what he just heard from Brett and Sam shredded both Tonight’s The Night and his guitar. This dark celebration exploded into unbridled distortion as Liam trashed his instrument.

Neil would have been proud.

Interestingly, I never once missed Neil’s presence during the over 2 ½ hours of music. He was there in spirit and these musicians knew how to connect with that spirit.

Heart Of Gold closed the night and we all, audience and band, couldn’t help feeling extremely lucky to be, as Dianne Swann pointed out, “the only place in the world putting on a responsible rock show”.

This was more than responsible, it was magnificent.

Here’s to Neil and here’s to these wonderful musicians.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Chris Zwaagdyk:

 

Set 1

1. Expecting To Fly
2. Broken Arrow
3. Soul
4. Ohio
5. Don’t Let It Bring You Down
6. Helpless
7. A Man Needs A Maid
8. Down By The River
9. Revolution Blues
10. Old Man
11. Harvest Moon
12. Pocahontas
13. Cowgirl In The Sand
14. Southern Man

Set 2:

1. Sugar Mountain
2. I Am A Child
3. Comes A Time
4. After The Goldrush
5. My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)
6. When You Dance I Can Really Love
7. The Loner
8. The Needle And The Damage Done
9. Lotta Love
10. Sedan Delivery
11. Powderfinger
12. Cortez The Killer
13. Cinnamon Girl
14. Like A Hurricane
15. Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)
16. Like A Hurricane
17. Tonight’s The Night
18. Heart Of Gold