"Reunited CSNY Shed Years
Onstage - 1970s supergroup plays more than three hours in Oakland, Calif., stop on first
tour in 26 years. "
Oakland, California, February 7, 2000
Picture: Jay Blakesberg
Contributing Editor Richard B. Simon reports:
OAKLAND, Calif. — Reunited '70s supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
demonstrated their instrumental and vocal prowess for three and a half hours
Monday,
bringing an entire arena to silence during a stripped-down acoustic set.
The folk-rock veterans, on the seventh stop of their first tour in 26 years, didn't
take their elder-statesman status too seriously.
"This song was written before the Civil War," Graham Nash said, jokingly,
introducing a rocking version of Stephen Stills' "49 Bye Byes."
"It's not that we don't love the old songs," David Crosby told the audience
while introducing "Looking Forward" (RealAudio excerpt of album version), the
title cut of the album the foursome released last year. "It's the new ones that keep
us alive."
Standing on Oriental rugs across the front of an Oakland Arena stage that resembled a
basement home studio,CSNY showed off their still-intact harmonies and an arsenal of
vintage guitars — which included Stills' Flying-V and a rare white archtop that
Stills and Neil Young both played.
Candles flickered atop amps. An old-fashioned lamp stood center-stage. Nash and Young
played keyboards placed toward the back.
Happy Reunion Each member took turns in the lead position, singing the main vocal on
his own song while the others joined in on the choruses. All four wore big grins and
saluted each other throughout the show.
Stills and Young, who also played together in the '60s group Buffalo Springfield,
swapped guitar leads all night. Crosby and Nash took turns without guitars to keep the
sound unmuddled.
The band opened with "Carry On," an anthem injected with new meaning for a
group of rock veterans keeping its flame lit for a younger generation. As the group belted
out the "Rejoice! Rejoice!" chorus, Nash, who broke both of his legs in a
boating accident last year, stood alongside his old friends, rocking back and forth.
Still Timely
The lyrics to Young's anti-racist indictment "Southern Man," which appeared
on CSNY's 1971 live set, 4 Way Street, sounded contemporary in an election year fraught
with controversy over the Confederate flag flying over the South Carolina state capitol.
"Southern change gonna come at last/ Now your crosses are burning fast,"
Young and friends belted in strong four-part harmony. Crosby, Stills & Young converged
at center-stage to rock out together on guitars, while Nash danced among them.
Nash moved over to the organ for Crosby's rocker "Stand and Be Counted," from
Looking Forward, the supergroup's first studio album since 1988's American Dream.
Ace sidemen bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn and drummer Jim Keltner began the
mellow lope of Nash's "Heartland," also from Looking Forward. Dunn and Keltner
laid down a solid rhythm foundation behind the principal players all night.
"Let's talk about trains," Young said, introducing Nash's "Marrakesh
Express" (RealAudio excerpt). "I got on a train here [in Oakland] and went all
the way to New York City."
The arena had its first moment of near-silence during Young's harmonica solo on his
quiet ode "Slowpoke" (RealAudio excerpt of album version). Crosby scatted
bluesily on his freak-flag anthem "Almost Cut My Hair." Stills jumped up and
down with his flying V, joining again with Crosby and Young to jam in the onstage living
room.
After "Cinnamon Girl," CSNY took a break. They returned without the rhythm
section for an acoustic set that started with Young on piano for "Only Love Can Break
Your Heart."
Crosby's drawn out, trippy "Dream for Him" spawned dream-state psychedelia
with only voices and acoustic guitars. Stills played Hawaiian-style chord flutters on
Nash's sweet lullaby "Someday Soon."
Shedding The Years
"They seemed to get younger as the night progressed," Shoshanna Tenn, 26, of
San Francisco, said. "In the acoustic part, they were singing about being old, but by
the end, they just shed their years."
Crosby, Stills & Nash formed in 1968. Young joined the lineup for a 1969 tour that
included a set at Woodstock, and the foursome released Déjà Vu in 1970.
Crosby and Nash converged on one mic at the back of the stage to accompany Young, who
was on pipe organ, for the environmentalist lament "After the Gold Rush."
"Look at Mother Nature on the run/ In the 21st century," Young sang, bringing
the tune up to date.
"Guinnevere" featured only Nash and Crosby, their hypnotic harmonies
inspiring such silence in the huge arena they could actually whisper the lyrics.
Young rang out the harmonic notes on the Buffalo Springfield classic "For What
It's Worth." The audience clapped along with the gospel-tinged groove, then Stills
twisted tight riffs high on his guitar neck.
Nash took to the organ for Young's "Down by the River," while Stills and
Young harmonized on the long jam. Keltner blasted out gunshot drum fills during the
chorus, "Down by the river/ I shot my baby."
Rockin' Finish
The band returned for a long encore of Young's 1989 anthem "Rockin' in the Free
World." All four grouped center-stage, facing inward to rock back and forth in wide
arcs, drawing out the closing jam.
The guitars scrambled, ringing out big chords that disintegrated into hairy feedback.
Crosby held the last note until Stills walked him offstage.
The tour continues through April 19, where it closes in St. Louis.
