¶ … Crosby, Stills, and Nash (CS&N) concert I attended. Both my parents were big fans of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and when Neil Young went his own way the trio that was left continued making music in concert, touring, and writing songs. So since I had been hearing CS&N's music for much of my life as an adolescent and young adult in college, I was interested in hearing the classic rock group live.
What was the makeup of the ensemble (singers)?
Crosby, Stills & Nash had a high-quality group of session musicians on the stage helping them bring a full, classic rock sound to the audience. Todd Caldwell played the organ; Shane Fontayne played lead guitar; Steve DiStanislao was on drums; Kevin McCormick played bass guitar; and James Raymond, who is David Crosby's son, played the keyboards for the group.
What was the style of music they played? What were the dynamics?
For those in the audience who wanted to hear the rock songs they were so familiar with over all these years, they got what they wished for. The group's music was always thoughtful music with lyrics that young people (who are now older) can relate to; their music relates to peace, youthful relationships, family, and love issues...
The CS&N style is tight guitar riffs between lyrics that are made into harmonies, and that style brings smiles and you can tell the music is appreciated and that the applause that is sincere by looking at the pleased, enthusiastic facial expressions in the audience.
The band began with a CS&N classic, "Carry On," which was a perfect beginning as far as the
theme of the evening because this rock trio has been carrying on for over 40 years. It was rock but it was wonderfully harmonic because although the three voices aren't as perfectly in pitch or as strong as they were forty years ago, they still harmonize very well. The vocals were very strong in most cases, although it seems Stephen Stills' maybe doesn't have the range he once had.
In the first set they sang "Southern Cross," one my mom's favorites, and "Marrakesh Express," "Bluebird," "Long Time Gone," "Devja Vu" and "Love the One You're With" that Stills had as a hit record back in the day. In their second set they played more favorites that I had heard while growing up: "Helplessly Hoping," "Guinevere," "Cathedral," "Immigration Man," "Our House," and Bob Dylan's song, "Girl From the North Country." They also sang "Teach Your Children" as their first encore and "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" was their second encore.
Flow of events
The concert started right on time, the intermission was exactly 20 minutes and the last set went for over an hour. The banter between David, Stephen and Graham was probably scripted but it elicited chuckles and cheers from the audience. Everything flowed very smoothly, and there was only one song I missed hearing and that was "
Woodstock," which my mother played a lot on our CD player. She hadn't made it to Woodstock, but she loved their version of the song written by Joni Mitchell.
What was the venue like and what was the audience like?
The concert…
