"CSN&Y
fails to live up to expectations"
By David Lindquist
The Indianapolis Star
INDIANAPOLIS (Sat. March 25, 2000) -- Neil Young is a wise man who never sounded
smarter than when singing the clinching line to new song Slowpoke on Friday night at
Conseco Fieldhouse: "When I was faster, I was always behind. "When
"faster" meant the same thing as "louder" -- often the case in rock
'n' roll -- the reunited Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young stumbled badly during the
concert's fully electric segments.
Yes, the new arena has a reputation for being an acoustic challenge. It's the same tag
that's been pinned on Los Angeles' new Staples Center, and it's no longer OK for touring
acts to be ill-prepared for such obstacles. If you're scheduled to play a show at Conseco
Fieldhouse, bring enough speakers and position them correctly.
Say what you will about the Backstreet Boys, but their crew transformed the arena into
pristine sonic wonderland. On New Year's Eve, John Mellencamp made the most of his
home-field advantage and hung hundreds of cabinets from the arena's ceiling.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, on tour for the first time since 1974, played through
thin strands of tiny French equipment.
In a Conseco Fieldhouse first, the band's electric songs sounded as muddy and diffuse
on the building's floor as they did in the no-win balcony. I can't think of many things
more shameful than the reduction of Young's primal guitar to tin can status. He physically
threw himself into warpath solos as always, but the tone was pitiful.
David "Big Daddy" Crosby and Stephen Stills fared even worse when their
strangulated vocals careened unattractively during noisy Carry On and 49 Bye-Byes.
For a production that asked $201 for the best seating, much of "CSNY2K" was a
careless mess. In welcome contrast, the evening's 11-song unplugged set was what listeners
should expect from the esteemed singer-songwriters: a no-pressure delight.
The segment opened with a stunning trio of Stills' Helplessly Hoping, Graham Nash's Our
House and Young's Old Man. The harmonies were clear and inspired.
A few songs later, the Young oldie After the Gold Rush matched Slowpoke as a moment of
true beauty. Even though Young was seated at a pedal organ with his back to the audience
during Gold Rush, a mournful intensity rose with his high lonesome voice.
Slowpoke's melody essentially is a rewrite of Heart of Gold, but it's a song miles
ahead of other tracks on the 1999 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album Looking Forward.
The big clunkers from that effort are the naive/out-of-touch double whammy of Stills'
Seen Enough and Nash's Someday Soon. We deserve better social criticism from the men who
devised For What It's Worth and Teach Your Children.
The crowd of 12,500 bustled about the arena with a social-event-of-the-season air, but
these fans are kidding themselves if they believe they heard the best CSNY had to offer.
