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Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young |
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United Center
Chicago, Illinois
02.17.02 |
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review
Cost is all relative: U2 was lauded for the abundance of "cheap" $45 tickets on its recent tour, but a choice ticket to see Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young cost upwards of $250. For many, the chance to take part in this second "reunion" tour was worth any price, and CSNY did all they could to give the near sell-out crowd its money's worth, offering up an epic, 28-song romp through material old and new. The set dipped into each of members' solo catalogs and other projects (including Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth"), as well as some covers. The concert lasted long enough to warrant an intermission and a "seventh inning stretch," during which the four stars ran a video of longtime Chicago Cubs' broadcaster Harry Caray singing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame," while David Crosby burned incense around the stage. And when Neil Young refused to leave the stage during the encore, Crosby pointed at his watch and gestured that Young had gone crazy, before eventually relenting and closing with the Byrds "Eight Miles High."
As great a show as it was, after 30 years, the voices aren't quite what they used to be. David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Neil Young have adapted over the course of their solo careers, each of them having made allowances for their aging pipes. Stills can't reach the high notes like he used to, but still managed to belt out a lush, deep cover of Otis Redding's "Ole Man Trouble." Crosby sounded best when leading songs like "Almost Cut My Hair" or adding subtle harmonies to Young's classics such as "Harvest Moon." Young, well, he will always sound like himself. Graham Nash alone was in fine and consistent vocal form and shone during "Our House."
When reunited and trying to recreate songs like the show opening "Carry On" and first encore "Teach Your Children," the age was evident. Individually, they were the legends we all know and love, but together, they often couldn't find a comfortable middle ground to keep their signature harmonies harmonious. At points during the performance, CSNY demonstrated that they have lost a lot of the dynamic range and delicacy of younger days, but given the implicit choice of a flawed performance or no performance at all, the audience warmed to their favorite tracks and were energized and drawn to their feet time and again. The instruments, however, never age, and the real action was mid-stage where Stills and Young huddled together to lay down some blistering guitar work; this interaction provided the sonic center of the show. Backed by Stax alumni Booker T. Jones on organ and Donald "Duck" Dunn on bass, Stills and Young seemed to draw energy from each other, taking turns with the lead on "Rockin' In The Free World" and "Down by the River," as Crosby filled out on rhythm and Nash often wandered bare-foot around the stage clapping and cheering them on.
The concert was not without its political moments, although the four men now lean toward patriotism and away from protest. Performing against a backdrop of fliers created by those with missing loved ones from the World Trade Center attack, CSNY debuted two 9/11-realted tracks—Nash's "Half Your Angles" and Young's "Let's Roll," which is arguably the strongest of the tribute songs to emerge in the months since the tragic events. In the end, the show had treats for everyone. When Young was finally ready to leave the stage, he left some 20,000 satisfied fans, happy in the knowledge that, despite the occasional blemishes, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young will indeed keep on rockin'.
By Matt Carmichael
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