Live Review: CSNY in Ottawa - Icons are forever Young
By DENIS ARMSTRONG
Ottawa Sun
July 09, 2006

OTTAWA - Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young have been singing songs that tell American presidents to stop the war for close to 40 years. Back in the late 1960s, it was about getting out of Vietnam. Four decades later, the U.S. is once again in a controversial war, this time in Iraq, and support for the peaceniks is swelling. 

With all this renewed hippie-friendly sentiment fomenting, and pop music looking backwards anyways, it was a largely fascinating exercise in wishful thinking as the veteran supergroup stirred up outrage and affection in the 12,000 fans attending their Freedom of Speech '06 tour at Scotiabank Place last night. 

Proof that if you stick with something long enough, eventually it will come back into fashion. 

On the first tour since 2002, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young first joined forces in 1969 when a memorable performance at Woodstock gave the giant music festival and the youth movement of the 1960s an articulate and optimistic voice. In four-part harmonies, no less. 

Incredibly, beginning with 1970's Deja Vu, the on-again, off-again band has only recorded four albums together over the past four decades. But with Neil Young's recent Living With War album, the time seemed ripe for a CSNY reunion, with Young right at the centre of most of the action. 

Backed by Chad Cromwell, Rick Rosa, and Spooner Oldham on keyboards, the first half of the concert focused on Young's latest rants against the U.S. government, Bush and the war, kicking things off with Flags of Freedom.

In case you didn't get the message in the song, a large Canadian flag was displayed behind the band, which was in turn covered by an American, then a Mexican flag, then a Union Jack until finally a peace flag became caught, leaving it only half- exposed. 

It seemed to symbolize the message in CSNY's music, particularly in Young's case.

It was as if they had something annoying they had to get out of their system, no one more so than the Tilly-topped Young, whose playing coursed with manic intensity. Meantime, David Crosby and Graham Nash were almost karmic in a freeflowing layer of harmonizing that lasted nearly three hours. 

Focusing on their protest music, particularly Young's latest, CSNY played nearly 30 songs over their three-hour set, covering Wooden Ships, Long Time Gone, Military Madness, Wounded World, After The Garden, Immigration Man and Feed The People among their outstanding set before taking a break. 

While each member had a chance to solo, it was Young who steered the whole tone of the evening, with his hint of unresolved anger and snarling stage presence, cranking out crash-and-burn, reverb-generating guitar licks. 

After a short break, CSNY traded the anti-war repertoire for their gentler, sweet-natured favourites beginning with Helplessly Hoping, Guinnevere, Carry Me, Southbound Train, Teach Your Children and Chicago leaving the fans feeling warm and fuzzy. 

The best part of the night was when a barefooted Graham Nash confided that he first met Joni Mitchell at the Chateau Laurier in 1967 before singing Our House. 

Then Young took Nash's place at the piano to sketch out a simple but sweet and slightly out-of-tune rendition of Only Love Can Break Your Heart. 

But it wouldn't take Young long to shatter the nostalgia with the hard bite of Ohio, Impeach The President, Keep On Rocking In The Free World and finally Woodstock driving the point home that CSNY's music and message is as compelling today as it was nearly 40 years ago.