Neil Young revisited one of the most personal songs in his extensive catalog during a special benefit concert on Friday night (May 23), delivering the first live performance of “My Boy” in more than four decades.
The show, a solo acoustic set held on the grounds of Ontario’s Lakefield College School, marked Young’s first full performance of 2025 and supported restoration efforts for a historic 116-year-old cottage nearby. Despite the cold and rainy conditions, attendees paid up to $1,500 for tickets to witness the intimate 18-song performance.
While the set featured classics like “Heart of Gold,” “Comes a Time” and “Sugar Mountain,” it was the mid-show performance of “My Boy” that drew audible emotion from the crowd. Originally released on 1985’s Old Ways, the banjo-led ballad is a tribute to Young’s eldest son, Zeke. The song had not been performed live since the 1983 Solo Trans tour.
“Why are you growin’ up so fast, my boy?” Young sang. Hours earlier, he had posted a vintage photo on social media of himself with Zeke and his late father, renowned Canadian journalist Scott Young. “Practicing for Lakefield, I was playing ‘My Boy,’ thinking about my own dad. I knew he must have heard this song,” Young wrote.
“My dad was a great guy and Zeke is a wonderful son. I think ‘My Boy’ is my favorite recording of all the ones I have done.”
Young also surprised fans with rarely played tracks like “Love/Art Blues” (last performed in 2008) and the CSNY deep cut “Name of Love,” which hadn’t been seen on a setlist since 2014. He closed the show with “Old Man,” although a printed setlist hinted at two intended encore tracks — “Throw Your Hatred Down” and “Rockin’ in the Free World” — that were likely scrapped due to inclement weather.
The show comes ahead of Young’s Love Earth Tour, which launches June 18 in Sweden. The U.S. leg kicks off Aug. 8 in Charlotte, North Carolina. While the setlist remains under wraps, the tour is expected to spotlight tracks from his upcoming album Talkin’ to the Trees, which arrives on June 13 via Reprise Records.
