​Lookin for a Heart of Gold at Sidestreet

Rock n’ roll, as the original music of rebellion, comes with a long history of social criticism. Arguably one of those most fiery voices in the genre is Neil Young. With his haunting tenor vocals, virtuosic skill with the guitar, and oftentimes personal lyrics decrying what he sees as the excesses and shortcomings of American society, Young has touched the minds and hearts of millions of listeners over a decades-spanning career. On top of this, the man has also made quite the name for himself in the realm of activism, garnering attention for environmental causes as well as America’s small farmers.

It only makes sense then that a man who has fired up the passions of so many hearts would have his fair share of tributes, right? That is certainly the mindset of a group of local musicians who will be putting on a Neil Young tribute concert at the Sidestreet Grille & Pub on Saturday, January 28th titled “Rock n Roll Will Never Die: An Evening of Neil Young”.

The group putting on the concert is composed of a who’s who of local musical talent: Brant Niemi of WBPN, LivingInTentCity, and Kapeesh on bass; Rob Ashe of Boots doing vocals, guitar, and harmonica, Matt Johnson of O’fosho and The Human Element on guitar, Mike Jenkins of Pat Lenertz Band and Deb Jenkins band on vocals and keyboard, and Seth Holden of D Millz and the Thrillz, LivingInTentCity, Sovereign Sect, and The Human Element on drums.

All of them have been friends for years, playing in various bands around Fargo, and share a mutual love of the music of Neil Young. Ashe said, “We are all pretty big Neil fans so this show is really exciting to put together. Neil is such a legendary songwriter and icon so the opportunity to play classic songs with your friends at a great venue is about as good as it gets.” Niemi picked the musicians to perform the tribute, and according to Ashe, “We all got together and just jammed on the songs and worked out the arrangements.”

Though all these band members are capable of (and do) write and perform their own original music on a regular basis, they are no strangers to performing covers. The musicians present have covered all sorts of musical ground from folk, rock, hip-hop, jam, bluegrass, and blues. As well as performing together as an ensemble, the evening will begin with Niemi and Ashe performing a few of Young’s songs as an acoustic duo.

Also, Ashe said, “We are bringing a bunch of amps for the fuzzed out grungy electric riffs as well as acoustic guitars and harmonicas.” Long-time fans of Neil Young will not be disappointed by the concert, which will put together a huge selection of songs from Young’s 50+ year musical career. There will be two full sets of Neil Young songs from his entire Buffalo Springfield-era catalog. There will also be songs from his famous albums, “Harvest”, “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere”, and “Rust Never Sleeps”.

This concert is a dream come true for Rob Ashe, who reminisced about discovering Young’s seminal “Harvest” album at the young age of 15. “[The album] floored me,” he said, “I started learning the songs and trying to impress girls with ‘Needle and the Damage Done’ immediately. He has been a lifelong influence and one of my absolute favorite artists of all time. I got to see him at Red Rocks a couple summers ago and I cried when he played ‘Out On the Weekend’. No shame.”

On top of the concert this coming Saturday, the band would like to remind everyone to keep an eye out for the open mic at Sidestreet. Their good friend Pat Lenertz has run this longstanding tradition, where a lot of local musicians hang out, jam and perform new songs with each other when they’re not on gigs. So if you still can’t get enough of the music at Sidestreet after the upcoming Neil Young tribute, you can always hop in for a drink and some live music.

IF YOU GO:

Rock and roll will never die: An evening with Neil Young

Saturday, January 28, 10pm-howling

Sidestreet, 404 4th Ave. N, Fargo