“NY80: A Celebration of Neil Young and His Music,” hosted by CBC’s Tom Power, will take place Nov. 12.
Nov. 9, 2025
By Nick Krewen
Special to the Star
On the cusp of 80, few performers have remained as relevant as Toronto’s own Neil Young.
He’s been steadily rockin’ in the free world since forming The Squires in Winnipeg in 1965 — and in a career that has seen him thrive as both a solo artist and member of such torch-bearing groups as the Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, he has released more than 130 studio, live and compilation albums, featuring such classic songs as “Harvest Moon,” “Old Man,” “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” and “Ohio.”
He continues to fill arenas as he sings about love, social injustice, environmental concerns, corporate greed and anything else that comes to his creative mind, without compromise.
“He’s a singularity in the world of rock ’n’ roll,” according to the Dirty Nil’s singer and guitarist Luke Bentham, one of more than 25 prominent musicians who will be honouring Young at Massey Hall on Nov. 12 at NY80: A Celebration of Neil Young and His Music, hosted by CBC’s Tom Power.
“He’s an artist of the highest order.”
Marketing pro Dale Gago loves Young’s music so much that he’s personally financing the concert.
“Neil’s my favourite musician,” Gago told the Star. “He’s an inspiration: the songs, the lyrics, the guitar playing. It’s also his integrity, what he stands for. He’s like the ultimate musician, and it’s just cool that he happens to be from Toronto, too.”
Although Gago has worked on the “Classic Albums Live” tribute concerts, he’s never promoted his own event before.
“I’ve always wanted to do this,” he said. “Back when Neil was 70, I thought, ‘Somebody should do this, or maybe I should stage this event.’ But I didn’t really know how to approach it and there are so many moving pieces. I’m not in the music industry, so there are a lot of bridges to cross.”
He attempted to do something similar five years ago — before COVID intervened.
“Some big players wanted to help, but it would have been a webcast. That didn’t pan out and I was pretty disappointed.”
So earlier this year, he decided to try again.
His first move was to cold-call Aaron Goldstein, local producer, session musician and guitarist for Ian Blurton’s Future Now. Together, they assembled a dream roster of performers.
“I was kind of shooting for the stars,” Gago said. “Neil has so many amazing artist friends. I was thinking pretty big and maybe some (names) were unrealistic, like Willie Nelson.
“But the amazing thing is that we got responses from a lot of American artists who wanted to do it but happen to be in Europe or had other commitments. The other amazing thing is that nobody said no. Everybody we reached out to was excited about participating.” Those musicians include Jim Cuddy, Serena Ryder, Joel Plaskett, Dallas Green (of City and Colour) and Kathleen Edwards.
For his part, Goldstein, who also tours with Edwards, has assembled two house bands that will support the performers — one that embodies the blistering rock of Young’s Crazy Horse, and another that leans toward the quieter Stray Gators, who buoyed Young on his Harvest album.
“I’m calling that first band Horse,” Goldstein said of the group that will include him as well as other members of Ian Blurton’s Future Now, Blue Rodeo drummer Glenn Milchem, bassist Anna Ruddick and Shamus Currie of the Sheepdogs on Hammond organ.
The other band will feature drummer Dani Nash, bassist Brian Kobayawaka (Serena Ryder’s musical director), pianist Thomas Hammerton and Doug McBrien on guitar, banjo and pedal steel. “I have Nick Rose from Dwayne Gretzky and Carleigh Aikins singing backup,” said Goldstein. “I wanted to mirror the James Taylor/Linda Ronstadt combo from Harvest.”
Gago, who became hooked on Young’s music after watching the Toronto native team up with Pearl Jam during the 1993 MTV Awards,” quickly realized he needed further assistance, and hired Spencer Shewen, artistic director of the Mariposa Folk Festival and Riverfest Elora, in late August to produce the event.
Even with those two key hires, Gago admitted “there were lots of concerns” with organizing the show, whose net proceeds will benefit MusiCounts, the music education charity associated with the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) and the Juno Awards that donates instruments to Canadian high schools.
He tried getting sponsors, to no avail. And while most of the musicians have waived their performance fees, he’s been covering the costs of travel, accommodation, gear, catering and promotion, as well as venue rental.
Which is why he was so relieved when tickets sold out in an hour when they went on sale Sept. 19.
“I was pretty stunned, actually,” Gago said. “I couldn’t let the dream go, so I made a big bet.”
Lacking industry contacts, Gago had no official way of inviting the man of the hour, so he posted a message on the Neil Young Archives site and believes Young personally posted a noncommittal response reading, “Thanks Dale, Love, Be well, neil.”
Gago has set aside some tickets for the guest of honour, but he’s not expecting him to appear.
“It’s a long shot, but it would be amazing to celebrate with him,” he said, adding that come showtime a few tickets may be available at the door.
As for some of the other musicians who will be performing their favourite Young compositions — including Charlotte Cornfield, Big Sugar’s Gordie Johnson, the OBGMs, SATE, Skye Wallace, Ruby Waters, Donovan Woods, William Prince, Rose Cousins, Bry Webb, Julian Taylor and Sarah Harmer — they’re just thrilled to be invited to the party.
“It happens to be my birthday, too, so I’m stoked,” said Harmer, who added that the very first song she learned on guitar was Young’s “After the Gold Rush.”
“I’m a bit of an introvert. I like people but I’m generally not drawn to big occasions,” Harmer said. “But Neil Young has given me so much in my life and I’m very honoured to be able to sing a song or two of his, and I’ll probably be singing every song I know on the side stage.”
For Taylor, who is also singing two songs, it’s honouring a lifelong influence.
“I was around 11 or 12 when I started playing Neil Young songs,” he said. “The simplicity and complexity of his guitar playing always fascinated me … I never thought he was the strongest of singers, yet once a true artist finds their unique voice, that’s when they connect with people and truly stand out.”
Kathleen Edwards said she admires the unpresumptuous nature of a Young performance.
“As a woman who doesn’t have a glam squad, I appreciate that Neil has gone on stage for 50 years wearing flannel and a pair of jeans and there’s no bulls—t,” she said. “The show is the music. I really appreciate that and that he is himself — his authenticity.
“There are times he’s put out records I don’t connect with, but there’s something incredibly admirable about a body of work that endures. If you ask someone what their favourite Neil Young song is, everyone has a different answer, which is the best possible outcome for a songwriter. That’s what you hope for.”
The Dirty Nil’s Bentham also embraces Young’s exceptional ability to convey emotion.
“No one has mastered the extremes of quiet and loud the way that Neil has,” said Bentham, who will be making his Massey Hall debut. “On ‘Mother Earth (Natural Hymn)’ on the album Ragged Glory, Neil performs one of my favourite solo guitar performances.
“The howling, ragged, beautiful sound of the electric guitar, kind of teetering on the edge of destruction, gets me every time.”