"Rejoice!,
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young opened its first tour since 1974"
By Gary Graff
Reuters Detroit Review
January 24, 2000
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (Reuters) - Urging its fans to ''Rejoice! Rejoice!,'' Crosby,
Stills, Nash & Young opened its first tour since 1974 here on Monday night with a
triumphant 31-song, three-hour show that journeyed through the superstar rock quartet's
past, present and even future.
Kicking off its ``CSNY2K'' tour before a crowd of about 17,000 at the Palace of Auburn
Hills in suburban Detroit, the group -- a loose association of singer-songwriters that
formed in the glow of the original Woodstock Nation of 1969 and has worked together
sporadically since -- showed that like its baby boomer audience, it's become a bit more
grizzled, lined, gray and, in some cases, paunchy.
But age in no way diminished the musicians' enthusiasm for the music they were making.
The lengthy concert surveyed the quartet's work together, as well as the individual
members' solo outings and a few songs from Buffalo Springfield, Stephen Stills' and Neil
Young's acclaimed '60s group.
Selections from CSNY's latest album, ``Looking Forward,'' which was released last fall,
largely sounded better than they did in their studio counterparts -- particularly the
Caribbean-flavored ``Faith in Me,'' after which a greatly pleased Stills declared, ``I
just won the biggest bet!''
The quartet's once soaring harmonies didn't quite hit the majestic heights of the late
'60s and early '70s, but on songs such as ``Our House,'' ``Helplessly Hoping'' and
``Heartland'' they displayed a pleasantly gruff, husky, back-porch quality that seemed
appropriate for a group of friends getting together -- after far too long -- to sing
together.
The evening's biggest ovations, however, came for electric standards such as Young's
``Southern Man'' and ``Rockin' in the Free World'' and Crosby's protest anthem ``Almost
Cut My Hair,'' many of which featured searing guitar duels between Stills and Young.
``This band can sing like the Byrds and jam like the (Grateful) Dead,'' Young said in a
pre-tour interview. ''Hopefully, we can get the audience turned on to what we're doing and
have it just be a music thing.''
Judging from the crowd's response on Monday, that's just what seemed to be happening. The
tour continues on Wednesday night in Kansas City and is slated to run through late April.
Crosby,
Stills, Nash
& Young Kick Off 'Love Fest' In Michigan
cd now
Christina Fuoco
Jan 25, 2000, 11:40 am PT
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young have been a "long
time gone," but for the 17,000 who attended the opening night of the group's tour
Monday (Jan. 24) at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Mich. the 26-year absence definitely made
the heart grow fonder.
From the second the lights went out, it was clear that
everyone was a part of something historic. Graham Nash was the first to stroll onto the
sparsely lit stage and toasted the audience as he came into full view. David Crosby
followed suit, preceding Neil Young and Stephen Stills who arrived arm in arm.
The three-hour concert opened with "Carry On,"
during which the usually demure Young, well, furiously carried on-bobbing his head and
stomping around the stage. But "Carry On" was much more symbolic than the
"first song." It predicted the light-hearted mood for the show, which was split
between electric and acoustic sets. "Here's an old, old song; pre-Civil War. Well,
the '60s," Stills said jokingly before launching into "49 Bye-Byes."
Crosby ended a handful of songs by raising his arms
victoriously and giving each bandmate a high five. Young winked at Crosby during
"Looking Forward," the title track from CSNY's recent release. After wrapping up
"Seen Enough," Stills warned the crowd, "There'll be a pop quiz
later." At one point, Young bowed to Crosby, and started the chant, "Cros-by,
Cros-by."
One hour into the set, after "Teach Your
Children," the band retired for a "7th Inning Stretch,"during which
"Take Me Out to the Ballgame" blared overhead.
Although it was an arena show, it had all the intimacy of
a small club. With lyrics perched atop a pump organ, Young quietly sang "After the
Gold Rush" as candles and a single spotlight brightened the stage. It resembled a
church service more than a concert.
The crowd -- many of whom reflected their heroes onstage,
with graying or balding hair, and rotund mid-sections -- fell silent when Crosby slowly
lifted his fingers to his lips in an attempt to quiet the audience for
"Guinevere."
"Is this what you came for? Songs? You like songs? We
got songs. Here comes one now," Crosby said, introducing "Out of Control."
But like any tour opener, there were down moments. Stills'
vocals sounded gruff during Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth," and
"49 Bye-Byes" lacked the luster of the original recording.
The energy of the room faded somewhat during the acoustic
portion of the show, but revved up for the bluesy rock take on "Love the One You're
With." The enthusiasm continued through "Down by the River" and
"Rockin' In the Free World."
The mutual love fest closed with "Long May You
Run," a sentiment that many in the audience hoped would carry on.
Rock review, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's -
opening reunion-tour concert in Detroit.
By Gary Graff
SPECIAL TO THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Wednesday, January 26, 2000
It has been a long time since "tin soldiers and Nixon coming," and Judy Blue
Eyes is a suite 31 years old. But none of that kept Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young from
journeying triumphantly through the past and into the present as the veteran quartet of
Rock and Roll Hall of Famers kicked off its first tour since 1974 Monday night at the
Palace in suburban Detroit.
During a generous three-hour (plus intermission), 31-song show, CSNY -- formed in the
glow of the Woodstock nation of 1969 -- showed that, like its Baby Boomer audience, it's a
bit more grizzled, lined and gray but that age has in no way diminished its enthusiasm.
"Rejoice, rejoice!" was the group's clarion call as it began the evening with
"Carry On," and the first-night crowd (not a sell-out) was thrilled to heed it.
Throughout the concert, CSNY -- who performs April 14 at the United Center -- seemed as
genuinely excited to be there as its audience, with the musicians grinning and giving each
other a non-stop series of high fives, pats on the back and thumbs-ups. "I just won
the biggest bet!" Stephen Stills exulted after a performance of the
Caribbean-flavored "Faith in Me," which incorporated a tricky electronic drum
machine rhythm, came off without a hitch.
Monday's show gave ample berth to both sides of CSNY: the gentle balladeers known for
their soaring harmonies; and the rugged electric outlet driven by the guitar virtuosity of
Stephen Stills and Neil Young.
Sandwiching a selection of acoustic songs between two electric sets, the group plowed
through its lengthy canon, weaving nine songs from its latest album, "Looking
Forward," amid well-worn favorites such as "Our House" and "Teach Your
Children," passionately delivered protest anthems and material from the individual
musicians' careers.
And while CSNY's harmonies don't quite reach the majestic heights of yore, they had a
pleasingly gruff, husky, back-porch quality that seemed appropriate for a group of friends
getting together after far too long to sing together -- particularly on quieter fare such
as "Helplessly Hoping," "Only Love Can Break Your Heart,"
"Heartland" and "Slowpoke."
Much of the show, however, was designed to remind the crowd that CSNY could indeed
rock. With VH1 cameras rolling for the first three songs, the group started the show with
a whomp, charging into "Carry On" before a searing version of Young's
"Southern Man," the Crosby-led "Stand and Be Counted" and the rolling
"Pre-Road Downs," in which the group's harmonious warning to "hide the
roaches" went rather obviously unheeded by many in the audience.
Crosby's protest anthem "Almost Cut My Hair" had something of a credibility
problem given the 58-year-old singer-songwriter's own high forehead, but it was a crowd
favorite thanks to his passionate, growling delivery and Stills and Young's slicing guitar
duel.
Conversely, a bit of restraint turned "Marrakesh Express" into one of the
evening's understated delights, though slowed tempos made three of Young's songs --
"Cinnamon Girl," "Ohio" and "Rockin' in the Free World" --
chug rather than drive.
But by the end of the night -- following a clever "7th inning stretch" that
acknowledged the show's challenging length -- CSNY was ready to go over the top as Stills
and Young blended their guitars on a stinging version of Buffalo Springfield's "For
What It's Worth" as well as crunchy takes on "Down By the River,"
"Dark Star" and "Woodstock."
The closing number, "Long May YouRun," closed the show on a sweetand
optimistic note, observing that"we've been through a lot together"and promising
"memories still tocome." Whether that means more ofCSNY remains to be seen, but
onMonday the three months of newmemories they've committed to withthe CSNY2K tour
certainly got off to a good start.
CSNY reunion a triumph - Quartet proves its
vitality with spectacular show
By PAUL CANTIN -- Senior Reporter, JAM!
Showbiz
CROSBY, STILLS, NASH and YOUNG
The Palace, Michigan
Monday, January 24, 2000
AUBURN HILLS, MICHIGAN -- Common sense tells us that something can't be greater than
the sum of its parts, that the value of anything can easily be reduced to nothing more
than its constituent elements.
But the absolutes of science don't apply to music, and last night at the kick-off show
of their reunion tour, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young defied logic, cynicism, history and
time. Even if one is well-acquainted with the band's past and the qualities of the four
principals, that still wouldn't begin to equate with the spectacle they put on before
17,000 at The Palace At Auburn Hills (and also for a stay-at-home audience that got to see
the first three numbers live via the U.S. music video channel VH-1).
If there's a bellwether for how things are going in the CSNY camp, it would be Neil
Young. Even a neophyte Neilophile knows that his patience with the group is limited, and
if he was anything less than delighted to be in their company, it would be patently
obvious. And so, there was Young, betoqued and with his flannel shirt tails flapping
behind him, bouncing around the stage like a rookie, cranking out a fuzzed-up variation of
the riff from the set-opener "Carry On," and carrying on like a kid all night.
For anyone accustomed to Young's terrific live shows of recent years, there has been a
severity and almost a sullenness to his demeanor that complimented the harsh electric
treatment of his backing band Crazy Horse. So it is a shock to see Young here as one of
the guys, smiling from ear to ear and good-naturedly pitching cups of water into the
crowd, charging across-stage to goad Stills into taking another solo on "49
Bye-Byes," leading the crowd in chanting a tribute to Falstaffian David Crosby after
an anthemic reading of "Long Time Gone" or high-fiving Graham Nash after a
spirited "Marrakesh Express."
It's plain that Young's enthusiasm has raised CSN's game to a higher level, but it's
also true that their presence makes him better. A gorgeous pump-organ reinvention of
"After The Gold Rush" (a late substitution in the set list for the planned
"Silver And Gold," the title cut from Young's upcoming solo disc) was further
enlivened by unearthly harmonies from Nash and Crosby. On "Ohio" and "Down
By The River," Young leaned into it, singing at the very top of his range with
foaming-at-the-mouth passion, and his guitar showdown with Stills on "Rockin' In The
Free World" was epic. Thankfully they're recording the entire tour with an eye to
releasing a live album.
There were some off moments -- Stephen Stills' new song "Faith In Me" is a
hamfisted calypso number that might better serve a Club Med TV commercial. Bob Dylan's
lawyers could probably be convinced that Stills' "Seen Enough" is a tribute to
(and not a rip-off of) "Subterranean Homesick
Blues" and Nash's recent composition "Heartland" is the kind of
over-earnest paean to the common folk of middle-America that could only be written by a
wealthy Brit living in California. But there was plenty of delights this night:
Crosby's lividly-delivered "Almost Cut My Hair," which was sparked by Young's
grunged-out guitar; Stills' Buffalo Springfield classic "For What It's Worth,"
which maintained the break-beat rhythm from Public Enemy's rendition of the song; drummer
Jim Keltner's appropriately martial introduction to the militant "Ohio;" Young's
surprisingly jazzy, understated guitar work on Crosby's new song, "Dream For
Him," and everywhere the master groove-setting of Booker T And The M.G.'s bassist
Donald "Duck" Dunn.
If there was a telling moment, it came during Young's new song, "Slowpoke."
Although on the surface it's a love song, delivered this night in Young's strained,
strangely affecting way, with his old pals pitching in on harmony, the final verse took on
new meaning.
Something's pulling back the curtain again The stage is darker and the crowd is
in The song is gentle and the song is long Something's missing, but something
is found Slowpoke, I'm going to run with you Even at his erratic pace, Young has
outdistanced his band-mates and remained a force in modern music, and it's as if he's
conceding that reuniting with Crosby, Stills and Nash is potentially a career diversion he
really doesn't need. But there's also an acknowledgement that when he does get it together
with this bunch, there's a certain magic that can't be accounted for: "Something's
missing, but something is found."
In the final analysis, what astounds about this night of music isn't the number of
great songs they played, but the number of classics they still managed to leave out: What,
no "Cowgirl In The Sand?" No "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes?" No
"Chicago?" No "Triad?" No "Find The Cost Of Freedom?"
It's a long tour. They'll get around to it.
SET LIST
1.Carry On
2.Southern Man
3.Stand And Be Counted
4.Pre-Road Downs
5.Heartland
6.49 Bye-Byes
7.Slowpoke
8.Marrakesh Express
9.Faith In Me
10.Almost Cut My Hair
11.Cinnamon Girl
(intermission)
12.Helplessly Hoping
13.Our House
14.Only Love Can Break Your Heart
15.Dream For Him
16. Someday Soon
17.Looking Forward
18.After The Gold Rush
19. Guinevere
20.Seen Enough
21. Out Of Control
22. Teach Your Children
(seventh inning stretch)
23. Love The One You're With
24.Long Time Gone
25.Ohio
26.For What It's Worth
27.Down By The River
28.Dark Star
29. Rockin' In The Free World
ENCORE
30. Woodstock
31. Long May You Run
CSNY 'Carry On' At North American Tour Opener
Supergroup's nearly four-hour show spans 30-year
career;
includes one acoustic, two rock sets.
Staff Writer Teri vanHorn reports:
Opening their first tour in more than 25 years with an almost aggressive rendition of
the aptly chosen "Carry On," the reunited Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
delivered a career-spanning show lasting nearly four hours Monday night in Auburn Hills,
Mich.
The 31-song concert, held at the Palace of Auburn Hills, saw the band performing for
more than 17,000 fans, as they delivered such old hits as "Teach Your Children"
and drew generously from their new album, Looking Forward.
The group's performance appeared to be fueled by a "nervous enthusiasm,"
according to Gary Briggs, vice president of artist development at Reprise Records.
"It was like teenage angst almost, it was that type of nervous, butterfly
enthusiasm," he said. "When you see four rock superstars feeling nervous like
that, you really know how fragile each one of these guys are individually. That was
special for me to witness, and it really opened my eyes to how much these guys truly love
playing with each other."
Part of the show was broadcast on cable channel VH1 and webcast live on the VH1.com Web
site, which Briggs said was "a bit intimidating for the band."
Click here to link to VH1.com's archived webcast of the first three songs of the show.
(SonicNet and VH1.com are part of MTV Interactive.)
The show, which clocked in at three hours and 40 minutes, was divided into three parts:
an opening rock set; an acoustic set, starting with "Helplessly Hoping"; and a
final rock set that concluded with "Long May You Run."
During "Carry On," the first song from their 1970 debut, D&eaute;ją Vu,
a goateed Stephen Stills took extended guitar solos, as Neil Young wandered behind his
harmonizing bandmates.
That led into Young's anti-racism attack "Southern Man," from his 1970 album,
After the Gold Rush. Clad in familiar flannel, Young bounced fast at his mic on the
choruses, then he bent over and ground his guitar into his gut during squealing solos.
The group then stepped into the present for "Stand and Be Counted," from
Looking Forward. A call to activism, the song featured David Crosby taking center stage on
the verses and Graham Nash taking a turn on keyboards.
Other songs from Looking Forward included the title track (RealAudio excerpt) as well
as "Seen Enough" and "Out of Control."
Briggs said Crosby's protest anthem "Almost Cut My Hair" marked a pivotal
moment at the end of the first rock set.
"With all of the distractions they had going into this, that's when I felt that
they really came together as a band," Briggs said. "They were firing on all
cylinders, at that point."
The group's songs from its members' solo careers included "Silver &
Gold," the title track from Young's upcoming album, plus a few tunes by Buffalo
Springfield, Young and Stills' '60s group.
Briggs said CSNY's backing musicians, drummer Jim Keltner and bassist Donald
"Duck" Dunn, added to the chemistry onstage.
"I think this has been a dream come true for all of them to finally have an
audience to play in front of again and tour on top of it," Briggs said.
The "CSNY2K" tour, which is now making its way to the West, is scheduled to
wind down on April 19 in St. Louis.
(Senior Writer Chris Nelson contributed to this report.)
