Review and photos: Neil Young and Death Cab for Cutie

Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie.

Photos:

For an artist with a career as long and broad as Neil Young, plugging in for a two-hour show has to be a selective process. He’s got his acoustic side, his rockin’ side, his country side and his experimental noisy side.

But seeing that he’s also the godfather of grunge, it’s fitting that he chose to stay plugged in for most of his show Saturday at the Reno Events Center. With his four-piece Electric Band, including wife Peggy on piano and vocals, Young played tightly through favorites that date from the beginning all the way up to three new, unreleased songs – and, of course, everything from the 40 years in between.

Wearing jeans and a paint-splattered sport coat, Young opened with “Love and Only Love,” from 1990’s “Ragged Glory.” Thunderous applause roared through the near-capacity events center when the band took the stage, and the seats were literally rocking (for those who weren’t standing shoulder to shoulder on the general-admission floor) for “Hey Hey, My My.”

The band kept up the pace with “Powderfinger,” “Cinammon Girl” and a few more before toning things down for a six-song run of acoustic songs starting with “Oh, Lonesome Me,” on which Young played a big, old pump organ.

Young didn’t take the upcoming election as an opportunity to get on a soapbox. He had already done that in 2006 when he toured with Crosby, Stills & Nash on the Freedom of Speech tour. On Saturday, he mentioned politics only subtly, by having an unobtrusive “vote” sign painted live during the show, and by playing the new “Just Singing a Song (Won’t Change the World).”

But even if Young chose not to make any controversial noise, he sure did with his guitar. 1989’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” had the biggest rock finale possible. He stopped short of smashing a guitar or kicking over an amp, but the ending had all the noise, feedback and fanfare you’d expect.

The encore of the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life” turned the song upside down and had Young’s old Gibson stripped of all its strings by the end of the noisy, crashing end. At age 62, Young proved his place in the index of rock, and that he can still rock as hard (and probably better) than a lot of bands half his age. If he feels like it, that is.

Openers Death Cab for Cutie played a 50-minute set for its final night with Neil Young, and showed that it’s possible for a band to have great sound in the Reno Events Center. With near-perfect balance and volume, the Seattle band played through an efficient, no-nonsense set that hit on the band’s biggest hits and fan favorites, including “405,” “Crooked Teeth,” “Long Division,” “Soul Meets Body,” “I Will Follow You Into the Dark” and “I Will Possess Your Heart.”

Neil Young set list

• Love And Only Love
• Hey Hey, My My
• Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
• Powderfinger
• Spirit Road
• Cortez The Killer
• Cinnamon Girl
• Oh, Lonesome Me
• Mother Earth
• The Needle And The Damage Done
• Unknown Legend
• Heart Of Gold
• Old Man
• Get Back To The Country
• Just Singing A Song
• Sea Change
• When Worlds Collide
• Cowgirl In The Sand
• Rockin' In The Free World
• A Day In The Life