OTTAWA - At one point last night, it seemed all that was missing was the bonfire and the beach.

The friends were there, although there were 13,500 of them, and they may not have all been holding hands, sitting cross-legged.

The beer was there, although you had to shell out $8.50 for a can of Canadian instead of just grabbing one from the Coleman cooler.

And the long-haired hippie singing Neil Young songs with his acoustic guitar and harmonica, he was so there.

"How ya doin out there?" Young asked the sellout crowd at Scotiabank Place.

They roared, then they all sang along to those campfire favourites: Heart of Gold, Needle and the Damage Done, Oh Lonesome Me, Old Man, Oh Mother Earth, Unknown Legend.

Nobody would've blamed Young if he just sat on a padded stool all night with that guitar and harmonica. He did just turn 63 last month and three years ago suffered a brain aneurysm.

Besides, he's a good Canadian boy and a rock and roll Hall of Famer. And you have to respect the fact that he refuses to shave those bushy grey sidebars.

So yes, this crowd would have cut him some slack.

No need.

From the moment he walked onstage, wearing blue jeans, a white T-shirt and a jacket that looked like he painted his house in, he made it clear this would be first and foremost a rock concert.

There would be no padded stool, thank you.

He played the opener, Love and Only Love, like a 20-year-old trying to impress his first audience. Next, on Hey Hey, My My, he pounded the strings on his Les Paul guitar so hard it made the floor vibrate.

With general admission on the floor level -- people jammed against one another -- it had the atmosphere of a true rock concert. Those who show up first get closest to the stage.

The rewards were high last night as Young -- with his five-piece band that included his wife Pegi on piano and backup vocals -- ripped through a two-hour set of classics that included Cinnamon Girl, Cortez the Killer and Rockin' in the Free World. And what a bonus when he threw in a Beatles tune, A Day in the Life, as an encore.

It was the third concert in four nights at Scotiabank Place. Where James Blunt drew a younger crowd Saturday and Neil Diamond attracted an older crowd Sunday, Neil Young brought them all together.

And there was something for everyone.