Arts & Entertainment
Great Escape: Neil Young at the Hippodrome
The legendary artist will perform a two-night stand in Baltimore.
My husband and I saw Neil Young perform at an outdoor concert in my hometown 14 years ago. It was one of those experiences where you could sense that something great was happening, but we were miles from the action in the cheap seats. Actually, we didn’t even have seats—we had an old blanket on the hill, where it got kind of cold (it was summer in western New York, after all) and dewy after the sun had set.
You’ll have a good seat, regardless of the weather, if you buy a ticket for one of Young’s performances next week when he plays two nights—Wednesday, April 27 and Thursday, April 28—at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, also known as the Hippodrome Theatre.
As the Hippodrome’s Web site reminds us, Young is a “Rock and Roll Hall of famer and singer-songwriter [who] is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation, with a career that has spanned over 40 years and 34 studio albums.”
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Every fan has a favorite among that extensive catalog and mine is one that many might not claim: “Broken Arrow.” It’s no “After the Goldrush” or “Harvest,” but it holds a special place in my heart because it reminds me of my college days.
The song was released in summer 1996, and I remember listening to it—on cassette—the following fall while riding around Rochester, NY, in my then college boyfriend’s (now husband) Toyota Tercel. The cassette and car are long gone (replaced by a CD and a Prius, respectively), but the memories are as clear as if they were made just yesterday. So even though Young’s music really belongs to my parents’ generation, it’s evocative of my youth as well. Such a legend can’t be claimed by just one era. He clearly belongs to us all.
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Young’s special guest is Bert Jansch, a British folk singer and founding member of the Pentangle who is said to have influenced Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page.
Tickets for the shows, which begin at 8 p.m. both nights, start at $65 and cost as much as $225, plus fees, and are available through Ticketmaster, by calling 410-547-SEAT, or at the Hippodrome Theatre box office. The theater is at 12 N. Eutaw St. on the University of Maryland Baltimore campus, three blocks west of the Mechanic Theatre and four blocks north of Camden Yards.
