Re: Crosby, Stills & Nash tour
Well, I’m at home and (almost) recovered after the weekend. It was hectic, but fun. I went to my cousin’s wedding reception down in Somerset on Saturday, and drove up to London to see CSN yesterday. I didn’t get to bed till about 4am, but I’m awake, armed with coffee, and ready to write a review. Hopefully it will do the show justice.
My mum came to the concert with me. Despite what you might believe, I do have friends!But this was a belated birthday present from her. She was pretty excited about seeing CSN too, although she’s not as big a fan as I am. We arrived in London at about 5pm, so we had time to eat and have a drink before the show started at 8. We had decent seats, on the slightly raised level of the stalls, to the left of the auditorium. We could see everything perfectly. For anyone who has never been to the Royal Albert Hall before, it is a stunning venue. David Crosby even commented at one point: “It’s the best venue in Europe, for sure.”
It looked almost sold out, apart from some of the upper tiers and boxes. The audience was pretty good. They took a while to get warmed up, but from the interval onwards, there was a standing ovation from many after each song.
The stage had a beautiful CSN logo as the backdrop, which I admired as we waited the ten minutes or so for the show to start. At 8pm, the lights dimmed and the guys walked out from the right wing of the stage. It was funny because, based on a few concerts and clips we’ve watched, we presumed Stephen Stills was going to be on the right hand side during the show, with Graham Nash in the middle, and Crosby on the left. My mum even said to me before the concert, knowing that my favourite is Stephen Stills: “I’m surprised you didn’t ask to be on the right – seeing as Stephen Stills will be over there.” So it was a nice surprise when Stephen led the line of musicians out of the wings and took his place at the left side of the stage, nearest to me! They had a carpet laid out on the stage, and Graham Nash was barefoot (something that I was envious of, due to the fact that my shoes, although pretty, had been KILLING ME all day!)
They opened with Woodstock, which was incredible. After the song ended, as the applause was dying, a woman with an American accent yelled out: “Happy 4th of July!” Everyone cheered and clapped, and Graham Nash said “But what does the 4th of July mean to you guys?” Crosby responded: “That was an American.” Then he told the Brits that we were missing out - that the fireworks were great. Then he added “Oh, but you do fireworks too, don’t you? Guy Fawkes and all that?” Graham replied “You’re a few months early, David.” Everyone laughed. There was a bit of banter, some that I missed, and Stephen Stills said “It’s our fault for going on about all the teabag stuff. If we hadn’t brought it up, they wouldn’t have felt compelled to retaliate with oil.” This comment was met with lots of ‘ooohs’ (and some boos.) David Crosby made an ‘ouch’ gesture, shaking his hand. Stephen grinned and winced. Before they went into the next song, David said: “Anyway. Happy 4th of July.”
They then played Graham Nash’s Military Madness, followed by Long Time Gone. LTG was AWESOME. David Crosby’s voice is so powerful – it sounded almost other-worldly, at times. Lots of shiver-up-the-spine moments. Buffalo Springfield’s Bluebird was next, then Marrakesh Express. Graham Nash was fantastic. He looked and sounded in great form – very energetic and passionate. Last night made me realise just how crucial he is to the CSN sound. He featured vocally on most of the songs and it almost seemed, without sounding clichéd, that he was the glue. Next came Southern Cross, which is one of my favourites. This was when the audience started to get fired up, too. Stephen did a great job, and he added the high bits on the “we cheated and we lied/it was the easiest thing to do” parts. It’s not on the record, but I’ve heard him do it live sometimes, and I love it! My mum mentioned in the interval that she thought Stephen was struggling with his throat. I hadn’t really noticed, but he was drinking a lot – and when I thought about it after the show, he barely sang lead. Apart from Southern Cross and a couple of songs I’ll come to later, he mainly played guitar. He was limping a bit, too. Still... I thought he was great. He seemed in good spirits and his guitar playing was SMOKING! My respect for him as a guitar player has shot up after hearing him live. At one point, he walked from one corner of the stage to the other, and back again, during this incredible guitar solo... it was screaming! It must have lasted about five, ten minutes. Just awesome. He threw some picks into the audience but sadly I wasn’t close enough to catch one! He also shook the hand of a guy in the front row at the end, which was pretty cool.
After Southern Cross, came In Your Name, which Graham Nash introduced as “A sad song. A little prayer.” It was beautiful and moving. Then David Crosby said: “Now. Every year when we go out on tour, we have the same debate. About which of the tall, skinny Canadian’s songs we’ll sing this time.” Everyone laughed, knowing of course that he was referring to Neil Young. Crosby continued: “There are so many of them. I think he writes about three songs a week. I write three a year. There’s something not fair there...” It was a jovial introduction, and he said: “Anyway. This is the one we decided on.” They launched into Long May You Run. Stephen Stills sang it, and he did it beautifully.
Next was Deja Vu. Crosby’s voice really shone in this one.
Then came Wooden Ships, which I’m pretty sure was the last song before the interval. Again, the audience cheered and whooped when they realised what song it was. Crosby and Nash shared the vocals, instead of Stills, which I was a tad disappointed about because I love the way SS sings the opening line: “If you smile at me, I will understand...” Still, it was superb, and left the audience nice and high, anticipating the second set.
They returned with Helplessly Hoping, which was fantastic. Their vocals really were spot on. I knew they were going to be incredible, but it didn’t prepare me for the awe I felt hearing them for the very first time. As I have said before, it was truly a dream come true for me. After Helplessly Hoping, they sang the Beatles’ Norwegian Wood, which got a round of applause when the audience realised what it was. After that song, Crosby said: “Now, let me just explain what all this is about...” (meaning the cover versions.) Stephen Stills had started playing guitar though, and didn’t seem to want to stop. Crosby said “Never mind.” and the audience laughed. Stills carried on playing, and the song was Midnight Rider. I feel redundant now, because every song was fantastic! When Midnight Rider ended, Crosby said “As I was saying...” in a pointed tone, which got another laugh. He explained that the record company had approached them and asked them to record an album of “songs we wish we had written”. He continued “So we’re trying them out on you. You’re our guinea pigs. If you like them, we’ll record them.” That got a lot of whistles and applause, and Graham Nash said “This is a Bob Dylan song.” To my infinite delight, they played Girl From The North Country. I adore that song, and Stephen Stills sang the bulk of it. The way they played it sounded very romantic, and almost old-fashioned... it really worked. Stephen sang the same line each time in a rich, deep voice. It sounded wonderful.
Another surprise came after the Dylan song. Graham said “We’re taking a real risk here...” and they launched into The Who’s Behind Blue Eyes. I couldn’t believe it! That’s yet another of my favourite songs, and they of course did an awesome, powerful, gritty version. Afterwards, a guy yelled out: “Record it!”
The last of their covers was Ruby Tuesday. They got the audience to sing the chorus alone, and it was a lot of fun. Everyone loved it.
I can’t quite remember when this happened, but at one point David Crosby said “It might be because I used to be REALLY HIGH... but we’re not in the middle, are we?” He looked around him, as if he felt out of place, and people laughed. Stephen said “So you wanna do a few butterfly steps to the left?” David continued: “See, this is what happens. Every night they move us a little more to one side... I think the crew’s f**king us.” After the next song, a whole bunch of crew guys came out and moved Crosby’s stool way over to the right. Everyone laughed and clapped and Crosby held his hands up and said “I can’t win, can I?”
There was quite a bit of banter, which the audience loved. At one point, Graham said something I didn’t catch, which made people laugh, and David said: “The puns are the worst part. He thinks, because he’s an Englishman and you guys invented the language, that he can do whatever he wants with it.”
They also introduced the band, and paid each other various compliments. Graham said Stephen is “one of the best lead guitar players around.” David said something to the effect of: “It’s Stephen’s job to write incredible rock and roll songs. It’s Graham’s job to write anthems that everybody knows. And it’s my job to write the weird sh*t. A job I feel I’m well suited to...” After one of Crosby’s incredible, soaring vocals, Graham said “That’s GOOD weird sh*t.”
At one point, the audience was calling out for certain songs. David was sitting on his stool and Graham was standing in the middle of the stage, near him, drinking. Stephen Stills disappeared for a couple of tracks around this bit. Crosby seemed to be deciding on something, then he said: “Actually, I’m gonna completely change what I was going to do.” Graham Nash looked a little worried! Crosby said “I’m going to do this... because I have to.” He sang What Are Their Names, which was stunning and very moving. As the song ended on the line “peace is not an awful lot to ask”, there were various “yeahs” and whistles from the audience. I’ve said it before, but Crosby’s voice is just OUT THERE. My mum came away saying that David Crosby is absolutely her favourite, because of his voice!
They followed What Are Their Names with another moving Crosby song, Guinevere, which David dedicated, as always, to his wife. Afterwards he pointed to his wedding band. He then began to introduce the next song, by telling a sweet story about Jackson Browne. He said that, when he wrote this song, he was “really lost”, and that he had the first part, but he didn’t know where he was going with it. Jackson heard David play it, and said: “Man, that is a great song. You have to finish it.” Jackson dragged David over to Warren Zevon’s house, sat him down at the piano, and wouldn’t let David get up until he finished that song. And so Delta was completed. David said: “He was being a really good friend.” Delta was one of the first songs I loved when I got into CSN, so it was a real treat to hear it live, especially after listening to the story of how Jackson made Crosby finish it. Thank you, JB!
The band was introduced, including Joe Vitale and James Raymond, David’s son. Graham introduced Joe as “the guy who has been kicking me in the ass for the past thirty-five years.”
Graham sat down at the keys and they played Cathedral, which was fabulous – particularly as I live in Winchester, and know Winchester Cathedral very well! Not that I’ve ever taken a 6am ‘trip’ there though... Graham stayed at the keys after this song, and David started to speak. He said “Do you want to hear a scientific fact?” Graham interjected: “I’m sure they’re dying to hear it.” Crosby proceeded to tell the audience that a study has been done, and they found that 30% of young British women between the years of 1969-1973 lost their virginity to the next song. Everyone laughed and Graham Nash was shaking his head. He said “We weren’t responsible for all of them.” Then he sang Our House. They asked the audience to sing alone towards the end, which they did, quite loudly. It was great.
Next came Rock ‘n’ Roll Woman, followed by the final song in the set, Almost Cut My Hair. I love this song, and yet again, Crosby sounded awesome. It went on and on, and completely rocked. I can’t really do it justice here! They seemed very appreciative of the audience. Both Crosby and Nash commented on what a great audience we’d been, and at the end, Graham said “You make me real proud to be English.”
They left the stage to rapturous applause, only to return a minute or so later to play Love The One You’re With. Stephen sounded great on this, and Graham got the audience up dancing (not that we needed much encouragement.) After this, they took their bows and wandered towards the wings – but the audience was demanding more. They looked at each other and Crosby held up a finger, as if to say “One more?” The audience cheered and they came back on to take their places at the mics. David Crosby said “Sing Along. You know this one.” It was Teach Your Children. Once again, they got us to sing the chorus alone, which we did. It was an uplifting, moving end to a truly spectacular show. It kind of felt surreal all the way through for me... I just loved every minute. I feel very privileged to have seen these guys – a BIG dream realised.
We walked out of the Hall discussing how fantastic the show was, and although my shoes were a frickin’ nightmare, we wandered around to the Stage Door to see if there was any activity. There was about fifteen people waiting, so we hung around for a while. Pretty soon after we arrived, suddenly my mum elbowed me, and I looked to see Stephen Stills, still in the blue polo shirt he wore on stage, a few feet away from me, scurrying past the crowd. He went in through the stage door. Someone called something out, and he turned around when he was on the steps and threw them a grin. It was so quick though, we didn’t even get a picture. We saw the band members come out, including Crosby’s son, James Raymond, who stopped and signed some autographs and chatted. He was really sweet and said that Crosby had already got in the bus, but that Stills and Nash should be coming out soon. Joe Vitale also came out, and signed a couple of things. He also seemed like a great guy, and it was cool to see him! Anyway, a while later, a guy came over and told us that we were waiting in the wrong place... that the buses were round the other side, and that’s where we’d have more chance. A few people went over, taking his advice, and a few stayed... We weren’t really sure what to do. A little while later, we heard some activity, so we trotted around the corner to see Graham Nash signing some autographs by a big tour bus. My mum had the camera so I went and tried to get an autograph or a picture with him. I got THIS CLOSE, but he was ushered away before I could get anything. There were a few big blokes around him, shoving albums in his face and talking to him – I was getting bundled. They were more determined than a bunch of teenage girls, I swear! Anyway, I was gutted I didn’t get anything, but it was still more than I’d expected to be within a few inches of him. I’m pretty sure I brushed his arm at one point, while I was holding out my pen. My mum did a good job in getting a couple of pictures of him. He was sporting a soul patch, which looked pretty good! He seemed great, and told a guy who complimented him on a Hollies track/album that “there’s a new one coming out soon.” A few people stood in front of the parked buses, because you could see them through the windscreen, but I would have felt a bit intrusive doing that, so we decided to make our way home, knowing that they wouldn’t come out of the buses once they were on them. As we walked back though, we past another tour bus, behind the one Graham got on. I saw Stephen Stills standing in the aisle of the bus, through the windscreen. As we walked past the blacked out windows, my mum said “He could be watching you right now.” Way to make me feel nervous! I put all my effort into not tripping over. Not easy in shoes that were eating my feet...
Anyway. That is my CSN story. Here are the few pictures I got. It was an incredible night, and it’s safe to say my love and appreciation for them has increased after seeing them live. They are amazing musicians, and I was privileged to see them, let alone to get that close afterwards. Truly a magical evening.
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