Concert Review by Shawn Perry
They say as you get older, you gain a greater and more appreciative perspective on certain things. Actually, I donât know who âtheyâ are â does anyone know who âtheyâ are? â and Iâm not 100 percent sure about the whole greater, more appreciative perspective bit either. But itâs 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 1988âs 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 âLetâs Roll,â Neil Youngâs 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 âFreedom Of Speech 2006,â 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 â and there are bound to be a few neo-conservative battle-hungry naysayers who simply came to hear âCinnamon Girlâ or â4 +20â â the shows have been powerful, moving, a borderline religious experience.
I resisted paying the $100 or more to see CSNY at the Hollywood âA Big Hassleâ Bowl or the Irvine Meadows Verizon amphi-whatever-itâs-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 CSNYâs 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 wouldnât 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, heâs 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 Youngâs latest dash of creativity, the truculent Living With War record. âFlags Of Freedom,â one of Youngâs 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 âCarry Onâ and âWooden Ships,â Nash endeared himself to the waterlogged crowd outside on the grass by intoning: âThanks for coming to see us in the pouring rainâŚâ There was no escape after that.
Young strapped on his old Gretsch “Chet Atkins” and pounced his way through Crosbyâs emotional âLong Time Gone.â The thunder gets heavier during the break in Nashâs âMilitary Madness,â including the first of many vindictive at the president â âI hope George Bush discovers/ whatâs driving the people wild,â with a pleading for âno more warâŚâ To maintain the momentum, four in row from Living With War â âAfter The Garden Is Gone,â the title track, âThe Restless Consumer,â and âShock And Aweâ â 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 Stillâs âWounded World,â Nashâs âImmigration Man,â and even Crosbyâs âAlmost Cut My Hair.â The dramatic film footage on the Living With War (LWW) Network underscores the message behind âFamiliesâ before the first set ends with âDĂŠjĂ Vu,â 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 â âHelplessly Hopingâ with beatific harmonies burrowing in for the winter; âOur House,â Nashâs potpourri-scented elegy to domesticality and Joni Mitchell; Youngâs âOnly Love Can Break Your Heartâ with backing vocals from Crosby and Nash and Keithâs masterful, heart-wrenching lines that seemingly ooze from his pedal steel. Before graciously falling into âGuinevere,â 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 âRoger And Out.â Things shifted back into low gear with âSouthbound Train,â a virtual tour de force from the Graham Nash/David Crosby album, followed by Stillâs âOld Man Trouble,â from his 2005 album, Man Alive. Then, as if on cue, the tag-youâre-it sing-along âTeach Your Children,â âSouthern Crossâ and a capella reading of the always poignant âFind The Cost Of Freedomâ 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 âThe Star-Spangled Bannerâ 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 Youngâs barefaced âLetâs Impeach The President,â 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 âOhio,â but not before Stills and Nash got in their licks on show-stopping versions of âFor What Itâs Worthâ and âChicago.â Finally, with nowhere else to go but up, the fuse was ignited and a galvanizing 14-minute âRockin In The Free Worldâ exploded, bringing the spectacle to a sensational, thunderous close. Despite scattered grumblings from a disoriented minority expecting another encore and the comforting chords of âWoodstock,â CSNYâs 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. Itâs 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.