Concert Review by Shawn Perry
They say as you get older, you gain a greater and more appreciative perspective on certain things. Actually, I don’t know who “they” are — does anyone know who “they” are? — and I’m not 100 percent sure about the whole greater, more appreciative perspective bit either. But it’s safe to say this trite and mendacious recipe for life, fabricated or not, applies to witnessing Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young undertake their third tour of the new millennium.
CSNY performed sporadically in the previous century, but the shows were never as lucrative or well received as those of the last six years. In 2000, the four headstrong legends reunited for the first time since 1988’s American Dream with a positive outlook at the dawn of a new century. In 2002, they returned to the concert stage with a patriotic call to the arms driven largely by “Let’s Roll,” Neil Young’s paean to the heroic passengers of Flight 93, which crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001.
The current swing around the country may be the most intriguing yet. With its tagline of “Freedom Of Speech 2006,” the tour is politically charged, with a clear-cut message to end the war in the Middle East and impeach President George W. Bush. Every song, old and new, is screaming for change, some protesting the administration, its foreign policies, and its war on terror; others recall the horrors of Vietnam and the ensuing fallout. Whether you agree with it or not — and there are bound to be a few neo-conservative battle-hungry naysayers who simply came to hear “Cinnamon Girl” or “4 +20” — the shows have been powerful, moving, a borderline religious experience.
I resisted paying the $100 or more to see CSNY at the Hollywood “A Big Hassle” Bowl or the Irvine Meadows Verizon amphi-whatever-it’s-called-this-week in Orange County. I thought, for a second, about flying to New York City and driving over to the Bethel Woods Center For The Arts, site of the historic Woodstock Festival. CSNY played there on August 13, coinciding with the 37th Anniversary of the festival. Hardcore fans know, of course, that Woodstock provided the stage for one of CSNY’s first appearances. But I forsook the historical ramifications and flew into Albany, New York instead, joining the passionate and determined SRO crowd in the sweet summer rain at the ever-accommodating Saratoga Performing Arts Center. By the end of the show, I wanted Neil Young for President (and wouldn’t his lovely wife Pegi make a great first lady?) with David Crosby as Secretary Of State (can you imagine?). I could see Graham Nash taking over for Tony Blair. And Stephen Stills? Maybe we could make him Secretary of Defense. After all, he’s got that Rumsfeld snarl and cocksuredeness.
So we took our places alongside the wet, impervious masses that regularly fill SPAC on a weekend night and braced ourselves for a three-and-half-hour marathon. Contained within were 34 magical songs, sprinkled in with care amongst every track save one from Neil Young’s latest dash of creativity, the truculent Living With War record. “Flags Of Freedom,” one of Young’s new ones from the so-called heavy metal protest album, set the tone as flags of the United States, Mexico and Canada were amply displayed on a big screen behind the four, along with bassist Rick Rosas, drummer Chad Cromwell, trumpeter Tommy Bray, keyboardist Spooner Oldham and Ben Keith on pedal steel guitar.
As could be expected, the players took to the new material like sharks to surfboards, devouring each and every verse and chorus with hard-bitten conviction. David Crosby works as the catalyst of the ensemble, belting out his invisibly soothing vocal lines, and strumming his acoustic like a shipwrecked sailor without a care in the world. After knocking out heavy servings of “Carry On” and “Wooden Ships,” Nash endeared himself to the waterlogged crowd outside on the grass by intoning: “Thanks for coming to see us in the pouring rain…” There was no escape after that.
Young strapped on his old Gretsch “Chet Atkins” and pounced his way through Crosby’s emotional ‘Long Time Gone.” The thunder gets heavier during the break in Nash’s “Military Madness,” including the first of many vindictive at the president — “I hope George Bush discovers/ what’s driving the people wild,” with a pleading for “no more war…” To maintain the momentum, four in row from Living With War — “After The Garden Is Gone,” the title track, “The Restless Consumer,” and “Shock And Awe” — were unleashed and played as if CSNY was tailor-made for these songs from the day they recorded. The anti-Bush sentiment is clearly articulated through lyrics of Still’s “Wounded World,” Nash’s “Immigration Man,” and even Crosby’s “Almost Cut My Hair.” The dramatic film footage on the Living With War (LWW) Network underscores the message behind “Families” before the first set ends with “Déjà Vu,” which never seemed more appropriate.
After a swift 15-minute intermission, the musicians took their gloves off and settle in with some warm and fuzzy acoustical treats. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young each have a treasure chest of sweet and lovely morsels from which to choose from, which they valiantly did — “Helplessly Hoping” with beatific harmonies burrowing in for the winter; “Our House,” Nash’s potpourri-scented elegy to domesticality and Joni Mitchell; Young’s “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” with backing vocals from Crosby and Nash and Keith’s masterful, heart-wrenching lines that seemingly ooze from his pedal steel. Before graciously falling into “Guinevere,” Crosby told the crowd the song was about three different women when he wrote it.
The protest resumed for a moment as Young and company tripped down that old hippy highway for a pseudo bluesy proffering of “Roger And Out.” Things shifted back into low gear with “Southbound Train,” a virtual tour de force from the Graham Nash/David Crosby album, followed by Still’s “Old Man Trouble,” from his 2005 album, Man Alive. Then, as if on cue, the tag-you’re-it sing-along “Teach Your Children,” “Southern Cross” and a capella reading of the always poignant “Find The Cost Of Freedom” brought this beast of show to a short calm before the storm.
An emblematic and humongous microphone stand entwined with a yellow ribbon was rolled onto stage amidst the rumbling recording of Jimi Hendrix playing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Woodstock, a mere 100 miles or so to the south. The dumping on Dubya was about to begin as the band plunged headfirst into Young’s barefaced “Let’s Impeach The President,” peppered with Bushian sound bytes and blunders. By the last measures, the cry for impeachment is so intense, I half expected the National Guard to show up with battalions and tear gas. Of course, Young addressed that very issue later on “Ohio,” but not before Stills and Nash got in their licks on show-stopping versions of “For What It’s Worth” and “Chicago.” Finally, with nowhere else to go but up, the fuse was ignited and a galvanizing 14-minute “Rockin In The Free World” exploded, bringing the spectacle to a sensational, thunderous close. Despite scattered grumblings from a disoriented minority expecting another encore and the comforting chords of “Woodstock,” CSNY’s appearance at SPAC was a resounding success.
They once called Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young the “American Beatles,” even though only one of the four was actually born in America. The “they” in this case were probably promoters, managers, and members of the press looking for a way to label the ambidextrous, multi-talented unit of singer/songwriters that came together from the austere embers of the Byrds, the Hollies and the Buffalo Springfield. It’s become a more than accurate description with each passing year, exceeding in many ways the clipped ambitions of the Fab Four. Certainly, for a band that’s been together, off and on, for almost 40 years, the weight of their music and its message assumes a more pragmatic and sensible posture without the pretense and hype.
