"CSN&Y
tour's mix of old, new draws good reviews"
By Dave Tianen, of the Journal Sentinel staff
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
April 14, 2000.
Although the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young reunion album "Looking
Forward," was greeted with lukewarm reviews, response to the band's CSNY2K tour has
been more upbeat.
The Boston Globe called the March 26 show "a concert for the ages." Critic
Steve Morse said, "the quartet looked like the walking embodiment of Mount Rushmore -
proud, chiseled faces, and still singing as well as, or better than, ever."
Rolling Stone said of the group's Portland gig, "these rocking seniors have found
a groove more energetic and enlightening than what they displayed more than half a
lifetime ago."
Even David Crosby is in agreement. "The shows are much better than the
record," he said recently. "Next time, we'll get the record right."
The tour is surprisingly spare in production. Only Booker T. and the MGs alum Duck Dunn
and veteran session drummer Jim Keltner provide support. Crosby promises there is an
excellent projection TV system for those in the cheap seats.
The set lists have varied slightly from night to night, with a mix of CSN&Y
perennials and a generous swath of new songs from "Looking Forward." Perhaps the
oddest surprise has been a "seventh inning stretch" in the second set to the
tune of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."
Golden oldies that have shown up regularly include: "Southern Man,"
"Marrakesh Express," "Cinnamon Girl," "Almost Cut My Hair,"
"Helpless," "After the Goldrush," "Guinevere," "Suite:
Judy Blue Eyes," "Teach Your Children," "Woodstock,"
"Ohio," "Love the One You're With," and "For What It's
Worth." They've been closing shows with either of two Young favorites: "Rockin'
In the Free World" or "Long May You Run."
CSN&Y energized and still passionate about
music
By Dave Tianen
Journal Sentinel pop music critic
April 18, 2000
The older a band gets, the more likely it is to come out throwing roundhouses from the
floor.
So it is with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young 2000. Arguably the most storied band in
folk-rock history, CSN&Y opened its show Monday night at the Bradley Center plugged in
and pounding. It wasn't until the evening's second set that the guys settled in for some
of their softer passages like "Guinnevere" and "Old Man."
Probably the best comparison in recent history would be the reunion of the Eagles. Like
the Eagles, these guys have a lot of history with one another, and there's an aura of
triumph in being able to get back together at all after so many years.
And like the Eagles, these veterans are clearly energized and excited to be making
music together again. What makes the occasion truly special for everybody, of course, is
the return of Neil Young. Fittingly, he is first among equals, gets the most solos and
plays with the most abandon.
In the beginning of Monday night's show, Young started out playing with that odd little
lurching dance he does, swaying from foot to foot. By the end, he appeared to be teetering
on the brink of spontaneous combustion.
"Rockin' In the Free World" was the last tune before the encores, and Young
went absolutely berserk, leaving a shredded guitar dangling multiple busted strings
propped in the middle of the stage.
This was not, however, exactly a one-man show. Everybody got their moments in the
spotlight, and perhaps the most surprising thing about this band is the degree to which
they all have kept their chops. Stephen Stills and Young seemed to feed off one another on
guitar, and Stills remained more than equal to the challenge.
The passion that Crosby still brings to the stage is perhaps most surprising. Near the
end of the second set, he sang "Almost Cut My Hair," without a hint of irony.
Thirty years ago, that was an anthem of hippie defiance; now, Crosby's mere survival is an
act of profound defiance.
It's strange how time has altered some of CSN&Y's best songs. "Long May You
Run," which closed the show, was once a remembrance of a favorite car. Now it's a
kind of affectionate salute to the audience and perhaps one another.
If there was a downside to Monday's show, it was probably the wide swath the band cut
through its uneven recent album, "Looking Forward." At one point, Crosby said,
"It's not that we don't love the old songs, but it's the new ones that keep us
alive."
Fair enough, but I'd still gladly have traded "Stand and Be Counted" or
"Looking Forward" for "Like a Hurricane" or "Rust Never
Sleeps." Among the newer pieces, the calypso-flavored "Faith In Me" was
probably the crowd favorite.
One odd and inexplicable element: Near the end of the second set, the band takes a
break for a "seventh-inning stretch," while the late Harry Caray leads a video
sing-a-long on "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." If this is a band that's ever
been associated with the national pastime in any sense, I guess I've missed it.
That, however, is small potatoes. The bigger picture is that four still vital musicians
pushed themselves to the limit for more than three-and-a-half hours and delivered a better
show than perhaps even they had reason to expect.
Review by writer of "Crosby, Stills and Nash : The Authorized
Biography"
Dave Zimmer
In a message dated 4/18/00 11:59:36 PM Central Daylight Time, Zimmer
writes:
Well, I just arrived back from my Milwaukee road trip still pinching myself that I
actually got to see these guys playing together this year! Another great show with the
additions of the Suite and 8 Miles High...
Jan "prepped" the stage as others have described about a half hour before the
show started and they came out roaring to go with Stills jumping all around the stage and
smiles all around. Since I had fairly close seats on the floor this time, I was fully
expecting (and kind of looking forward ) to being on my feet dancing for most of the
concert- not the case in Milwaukee..The crowd sat down right away and for most of the
concert. I liked the Minneapolis crowd (at least the ones I sat near) who stood up for the
danceable songs and sat down for the quiet music.
I thought things started off a little slow (maybe the crowd effect) but the momentum
just built and built. Stephen pointed to his throat on Carry On and really seemed to work
hard on his vocals all night (Graham blended with him perfectly when needed). He also
seemed to be playing with some pain in his back/neck/shoulder all night (maybe that was
what he was pointing to vs his throat?). He tried hanging his guitar strap on his right
arm,putting a towel under the strap and stretching it but it didn't seem to help. The
reason I mention it is it didn't seem to slow him down one bit! Forty nine bye-byes was
magic (even better than Minneapolis) and Stephen seemed to be more prominent in this show.
His latin-style guitar work made Someday Soon shine way beyond the CD version. Graham
dedicated the song to (I believe) Tom and Janie (Jamie?) saying he hoped they would get
married- does anybody know what he was referring to?
David was clear and strong and brought the house down again with Almost Cut My Hair
(huge crowd response here). And Guinnevire was breathtaking with Graham. I noticed that
David changes the words on the second verse (I believe) to "anchored for ...such a
very short day" I wonder if that verse refers to Christine and he sings it that way
in reference to her very short life -perspective anyone?
One of the best moments with David was when Neil mentioned that Django was back stage
running around dressed in a bug costume and that all with backstage passes should beware-
David had that goofy look of intense pride/embarrassment we all get when people point out
the funny things our kids do...It just reinforces to me what I see in David in his
music..he is very HUMAN.
Neil was intense and fabulous -I personally love the drawn out feedback endings! I have
never really liked the organ throughout his solo tours but he seems to be playing it with
a softer hand on ATG-to the point that it was one of the night's favorites. I think
Stephen and Neil's best "duel" of the night was Woodstock. Eight Miles High
pleasantly surprised me with Neil's prominent guitar- I have seen this performed by Roger
McGuinn and CPR but Neil almost made it a different song for me with CSN singing the
chorus like angels flying through the clouds alternating with Neil's thunder and
lightening guitar work. I loved it.
I haven't counted but I think we got an extra song . They finished the encore with Long
Time Gone and left the stage but came back again and did LMYR. The reason I think it was
extra is that they had already started rolling the credits on the video. There were also a
few new "artistic" video shots-like Neil's guitar with the busted strings
leaning against the speaker with Stephen's guitar placed next to it with the necks
crossed....At about the same time I noticed the word "exterminator" on the
screen. Does anybody know what that was in reference to?
I had a great time at the Rock Bottom meeting some of you from the Shore-Eric-who
organized the meeting,Jeff and his wife from Iowa, Kathy (hippiegirl), Jeff -I'M
WIRED-Hart from Buffalo and his Dad from Michigan, Buzz and Graham from England. Also met
some Rusties-Pauline and her daughter and Steve.
I apologize for the incredibly long post- I have really enjoyed hearing about
everybody's experiences at the shows and I wanted to give some back. I will now return to
my permanent lurking and wait to hear about St Louis ! Julie Also..link to a favorable
review by the Milwaukee paper www.jsonline.com- go to entertainment then
music..
