CROSBY, STILLS NASH and YOUNG ....

SUPER CONCERT!

Author: Richard Green
Publication: New Musical Express
Date: January 10 1970

CROSBY, Stills, Nash and Young stole their own show at the Royal Albert Hall on Tuesday night. They could not have been followed without a superhuman effort and were even better than the most fanatical fans thought they would be!

The stage looked like a junior Cape Kennedy with all sorts of projections, booms and 1,250 watts worth of equipment! The packed hall was crowded with many celebrities present, and backstage everyone was playing it easy.

Then just Crosby Stills and Nash went on, with Crosby and Stills sitting on stools and playing acoustic guitars, while Nash stood slapping his right thigh with the music, All very simple but not at all contrived and really good. "Sweet Judy Blue Eyes" received an ovation, then Nash announced: "This is a number that the Beatles wrote. They're the finest group in the world and don't anybody forget it "

That led into "Blackbird." The way the voices interchanged and harmonised was something I'd personally never heard before. They took it so casually and made such maximum impact it was truly unusual. Young joined on acoustic guitar and for the first time I began to notice Stills' very high voice, way above Nash's.

For an acoustic sound this was far and away better than you'd hear in a long day's march. It went like this until the electric side took over with the whole ensemble on stage - Dallas Taylor on drums and young Greg Reeves on bass. It was loud and at times fuzzy, but as interesting and entertaining as the acoustic set.

The group seemed to be enjoying themselves and the audience certainly were.

The vocal standard persisted and the musicianship came into its own, Reeves being specially good. A great big rock and roll set broke out with four guitarists grouped round the drummer. It reached a climax that was as exciting as any achieved by a group.

At the end, almost half the audience was on its feet yelling for more and they got an acoustic encore - Stills' "Find The Cost Of Freedom " - which went down a storm. An outstanding concert by an extremely talented group.