The voices of Greendale

When’s the last time ushers handed out playbills at a rock concert?

After scratching his head for a bit, one fan at the Greek Theatre on Tuesday said that he thought he got a pamphlet with show information and credits at Elvis Costello’s “The Juliet Letters” show with the Brodsky Quartet 10 years ago at Royce Hall. Another vaguely recalled a playbill at the Who’s “Tommy” concerts decades ago.

Suffice it to say it’s pretty rare, so the 12-page “show bill” distributed Tuesday tipped you off right away that Neil Young’s “Greendale” concert wasn’t going to be business as usual.

Young has described “Greendale,” a collection of 10 songs that will be released in album form in August and in a film version in September, as a “musical novel.” Part Thornton Wilder and part John Lennon, it’s the fictional tale of a small-town family whose story allows Young to address various issues that have long interested him.

The characters range from the sometimes cranky but mostly idealistic Grandpa to the troubled young Cousin Jed, and the issues touch on corporate greed, Orwellian inroads on personal freedom, tabloid media, assaults on the environment and social apathy.

To demonstrate his deep belief in the material and to make “Greendale” more accessible live, Young surrounded the music Tuesday with a theatrical production, complete with nearly three dozen actors and dancers, as well as props. It’s all designed to illustrate the themes of the songs, and it’s done in such broad strokes that the show has a picture-book quality.

On the surface, that approach could have ended up either horribly pretentious or unbearably cheesy. But Young has never been one to work on the surface, and “Greendale,” against all odds, proved to be a fabulous evening of rock ‘n’ roll.

The story isn’t all that unique, and the production itself seemed as modest as a community theater project in a city such as Greendale. But the whole affair was filled with so much conviction and heart that it had the audience on its feet cheering at the end.

While Young and his band Crazy Horse played the songs in the soulful, seductive, bluesy rock style they have mastered over the years, the actors moved about, even pretending to sing the words when their character’s point of view was presented in the songs.

At the opening of the 90-minute production, for instance, Grandpa Green, sitting on his front porch, moved his lips while Young sang, “I won’t retire, but I might retread.”

It’s a funny line because it could well be the credo of Young himself -- a singer-songwriter who keeps himself vital after all these years by constantly reinventing himself.

At 57, Young is old enough to be a grandfather and he seems to identify a lot with Grandpa Green, which at times gives the album the feel of someone looking back over his life for lessons, in the tradition of Bob Dylan’s “Time Out of Mind.”

Even without the story, the music is filled with such character and dimension that it feels sensual enough for a dance hall and inspiring enough for a cathedral. Young’s voice conveys the innocence of youth and the authority that comes with age.

“Greendale” isn’t a happy tale. Grandpa dies of a heart attack as the media swarm around his house hoping for a sound bite after Cousin Jed is arrested for killing a policeman.

In one of the evening’s angriest moments, Grandpa lashes out at the media’s feeding frenzy in moments of human suffering. “It ain’t an honor to be on TV,” Young sings for his character, “and it ain’t a duty either.”

Young uses the stage (and video screens) for other biting commentary. There are images of Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft and the Patriot Bill, and a “Support Our War” billboard sponsored by Clear Channel Communications (which is interesting, considering that Young’s tour is promoted by a division of the entertainment giant). There also are fleeting scenes of oil spills and endangered species and those constant TV cameras.

Part of Grandpa’s disillusionment is that he has watched generations pass through without addressing pressing issues.

Even in “Greendale,” most people simply carry on. Some are indifferent, some -- such as a Vietnam veteran who finds comfort only in creating psychedelic paintings that no one wants to buy -- seem incapable of stepping forward.

But Young is too much the idealist not to see hope. A young granddaughter is inspired by Grandpa’s hippie-ish idealism (he and his wife met during the Summer of Love) -- and she becomes an activist the day he dies, taking on the big energy corporation (Powerco), then heading to Alaska to save the wilderness.

At the end, the whole cast returns for a closing number, “Be the Rain,” that has such a ‘60s feel-good spirit that it could stand alongside something from “Hair.”

The sense of community reminded you of the warmth of the Bridge School benefit concerts that Young and his wife, Pegi, sponsor each year in Northern California. Pegi and Young’s three children are part of the “Greendale” cast.

After the “Greendale” performance, Young, still wearing a Greendale High T-shirt, led Crazy Horse (bassist Billy Talbot, guitarist Frank “Poncho” Sampedro and drummer Ralph Molina) through a foot-stomping hour of familiar tunes, including “Rockin’ in the Free World.”

To add even more class to a memorable evening, Lucinda Williams opened the program with her own brilliantly absorbing tales of romantic obsession and searching. They are portraits so universal and penetrating that they, too, could be set in Greendale -- or any other city of your choice.

*

Neil Young & Crazy Horse

Where: Greek Theatre, 2700 N. Vermont Ave., L.A.

When: Wednesday, 7 p.m.; Friday, 7 p.m.

Price: $33.50-$129

Info: (323) 665-1927

Opening Act: Lucinda Williams

Also

Where: Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, 8808 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine

When: Sept. 20, 7 p.m.

Price: $35-$130

Contact: (949) 855-8096

Opening Act: Elvis Costello

Robert Hilburn, The Times’ pop music critic, can be reached at robert.hilburn@latimes.com.