TORONTO -- Toronto singer-songwriter Neil Young is calling his current solo jaunt -- which pulled into the Molson Amphitheatre last night -- the Music In Head tour.

 Not the Silver & Gold road trip, which would be the title of his latest solo album, released back in April.

 Now, given the noticeable lack of new material amongst his 20-song set that would seem to make sense.

 Still, it's a shame Young ignored so much of his latest release, given the strong reception to the new songs Buffalo Springfield Again, Razor Love and Daddy Went Walkin' -- the latter tune which caused the first real clap-along of the night.

 I suspect I wasn't alone in the sold-out crowd of 16,000 in wanting to hear more of the new stuff like Good To See You, The Great Divide, Horseshoe Man, Distant Camera, etc.

 But Young clearly had a mission.

 Judging from the high number of non-hits, too, with the exception of the rocker Walk On and the exquisite ballad Harvest Moon, the 54-year-old artist seemed bent on performing older, more obscure, if still beloved, tracks from his 30-plus-year career.

 Joining him in that unusual quest were both veteran musicians and family members, making for a folksy, downright countryfied evening of music.

 Young even dressed the part, decked out in long walking shorts, a T-shirt and straw hat.

 Wife, sister on backing vocals

 Bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn and drummer Jim Keltner, who also played on the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young reunion tour which came to the Air Canada Centre for two nights in March, were back, along with keyboardist Spooner Oldham, steel guitarist Ben Keith and Young's wife and sister, respectively, Pegi and Astrid Young, on backing vocals.

 Pegi Young could been seen grinning from ear to ear at those times when her husband seemed completely caught up in his truly mesmerizing guitar solos during Words (Between The Lines Of Age) .

 It was often a jarring juxtaposition as Young moved back and forth between his rock and folk worlds, but for the most part he stayed entrenched somewhere in the middle.

 As for the audience, opening act Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders put it best when she commented on "the sea of tie-dye and grey hair."

 Hynde didn't disappoint either, although her band's 50-minute set which began and ended with two Young songs -- The Loner and The Needle And The Damage Done -- was a far cry from the thrilling concert they delivered at Massey Hall this past March.

 Last night's audience, primarily there to see the hometown hero Young, was harder to win over as Hynde herself noted, and even seemed to understand.

 "We're delighted to be sharing the stage with Neil Young -- in fact I'm so thrilled that I'm going to kiss the stage," said Hynde before bending down and doing just that. "Don't you wish you could do that?"

 Uh, not really. But I totally appreciate the sentiment.

 In the end, the fans finally responded to the signature Pretenders song Brass In Pocket (Special), despite earlier classics Kid and My City Was Gone being equally deserving of their approval.

JAM! Rating: 4 out of 5