Neil Young voiced support for immigrant children who have been separated from their parents at the U.S. southern border during his livestreamed concert Wednesday night at Detroit’s Fox Theatre.
Adding Buffalo Springfield’s “I Am A Child” to the set, Young pointed out that the children “are in the United States of America,” adding that “a lot of people are looking at that.” The introduction received a huge ovation from the crowd, some of whom shouted “So are we!”
It was the most overt of Young’s political statements during the hour-and-45-minute show, one of six solo acoustic dates he’s playing this summer. Young let the music do the talking for the others, lacing commentary tracks such as “Ohio,” “After The Gold Rush,” “Angry World,” “Love And War,” “Peaceful Valley Boulevard” and another Buffalo Springfield song, “Broken Arrow” into the set list. And during “Are You Ready For The Country?” he followed the line “Are you ready for the country, because it’s time to go” with a meaningful nod to the crowd.
Young, of course, has never shied away from issues or being outspoken. And during March he told Billboard that he’s, not surprisingly, unhappy with the current state of affairs in the U.S.: “It’s a f***ing mess. (Donald Trump) is bent on destroying the environment. He has absolutely no knowledge of what’s real. He’s decided because he doesn’t believe in science he can lead the country with no regards for science and recklessness. All the stuff he’s changed…the other tasteless s*** he does, it’s not important compared to those other things. I don’t know how America is sleeping through this.”
Young next performs July 6 with Promise of the Real at the Festival d’ete de Québec, then finishes the solo acoustic dates with shows on July 11-12 at the Wang Theatre in Boston.