Saturday, September 04, 2010
CROSBY, STILLS AND NASH
31 August 2010
Bethel Woods, NY USA
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CSN LIVE
31 August 2010
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CROSBY STILLS & NASH LIVE AT BETHEL WOODS NEW YORK, USA 31 August 2010
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Scroll down for the concert story and review!
CROSBY, STILLS & NASHLIVE IN CONCERT
BETHEL WOODS, NEW YORK USA
31 August 2010 click on any image to enlarge!
I wonder if this will be my last time to see my musical heroes together in the flesh, and I hope not. But if it was indeed my last go-round after decades of enjoying all permutations of CSN and sometimes Y in concert, it was a great way to go out, at the site of the original 1969 ("our second gig," and you know the rest) Woodstock performance, with a lovely crowd, and the band and trio in front in wondrously and grand shape!
Opening so appropriately with Joni Mitchell's classic Woodstock, Stills has never (and yes that includes the Deja Vu album) sang nor played it better, and the background and harmony vocals (the best of the evening) were stellar and angelic. Nash quipped, "yes it's great to be back," and then launched into Military Madness. And I was quite surprised (and pleased at the equal opportunity) when during the song Graham sang, "And I hope OBAMA discovers what's driving the people wild," indeed military madness. In case you've lived under a bridge for the last decade or so, Nash has been singing "George Bush," during the song, until now of course.
So then it was Crosby's turn, to crank out Long Time Gone, then Stills' (Buffalo-Springfield classic) Bluebird, and back to Nash's Just a Song Before I Go. Stills lead guitar work shone again and again during these tunes, from metal-ish to smooth jazzie to delight the fans. More delight followed with a somewhat raspy but joyous Southern Cross. Thereafter Nash strode to the mike with acoustic guitar to sing In Your Name, another highly political and provoking song, from his boxed set Reflections, which although not a hit, was warmly received. Be sure to download that one if you don't have the boxed set.
Crosby then lead a discussion of what "Neil" song they should do on this tour. Nash pointed out they were talking about "Neil DIAMOND" of course, and Stills and Crosby cracked up on cue! Nash then played the best harmonica of his life (and I have heard him live at least a dozen times) to the intro of Neil YOUNG's Long May You Run, with Stills on lead vocal and strumming acoustic guitar with Crosby on the same and harmony vocals. Of course those of us around then, recall Run as a STILLS-Young BAND song, and I can say I really enjoyed the new take on the great old tune. Stills and Young did it on their short and eventually aborted tour in the 70s with a more electric edge; I caught the show twice way back when. Off track, but I must mention Stills And Young did Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, with two electric guitars as their encore that tour; whew! Sadly the Suite didn't make it into the set list in 2010, but you can't do everything when you are CSN.
We then were treated to fine versions of Deja Vu, with Crosby very competently playing the guitar intro on acoustic, with Stills on a smoking lead electric axe, and the war horse Wooden Ships. Ships by the way has got to be the one song I have heard most live by brand-name performers over the decades. Most recently of course by Jefferson Starship (check the archives of this blog, friends!).
Cover Time! After a lively and band laden Helplessly Hoping (reminded me of the recent Stills solo tour version), the boys covered Norwegian Wood, Midnight Rider, Girl From The North Country and Ruby Tuesday. Presumably we will hear these on the long awaited covers CD the trio are currently working (not so) hard on. I'm already writing my letter to Father Christmas (Santa to all you Yanks!). For us oldsters it was nice to hear CSN do new and very different material, if not "new" songs. The highlight of the cover tunes for me was Behind Blue Eyes, that had yet to come. First, we enjoyed Guinnevere and Delta from Crosby.
Crosby, getting ready to play solo acoustic guitar on Guinnevere, said he'd like to see "Congress backed up to a dumpster, and hauled away!" Again, quite a shock when you consider his previous rantings; nice to see the equal opportunity blame going around, and there is plenty of that! Oh, and David just sang Delta standing at the microphone, with his son, James Raymond playing the piano in a deeply moving manner, with Nash on harmonies. In past Crosby played the song himself on piano; employing Mr. Raymond was an excellent move. Then, Crosby nominated Nash, "the best harmony singer on earth!" Nobody voiced an opposing view, while Graham Nash sat calmly at the keyboard for a group sing of Our House, featuring Stills on some very pretty acoustic guitar fills. To hear a similar version download the song from iTunes, from the Bridge School Benefit Concert series. It's worth the 99 cents.
And as Crosby announced a surprise, it was not clear we were about to CSNize the Who, but when Nash sang lead on Behind Blue Eyes, and the harmonies clicked so perfectly and the brashness of Stills on lead and the band notching up the pace a quantum, it just rocked. This should be a huge cover hit for CSN if we ever see the album hit stores. Listen for it!
All good things do end, but before we took the long, enjoyable stroll to the parking area, we jammed with the guys on Almost Cut My Hair with Stills lead work on fire, and Love the One You're With (another sing along, even the "dit dit dit dit" parts), with a double encore of For What It's Worth sang unusually soulfully by Stills, and the expected final song, Teach Your Children.
If you can catch this tour, just do it!
Bottom Line: 5/5 Stars, for honesty, integrity, ingenuity, and longevity. Long May They Run!
Zeph, out.
