Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
28 July 2006
Clark County Amphitheatre, Vancouver, WA
Whether as a result of misquotation or not, many credit Clausewitz with the famous, "War is a continuation of policy by other means." Many also interpret this quote to mean, "It's all politics." CSNY's 2006 "Freedom Of Speech" tour is, in my opinion, the most political of all tours in their 37-year off-and-on history, and that's saying a lot, given their image in Rock & Roll history.
Because of his preponderance of popularity and power, Neil Young pretty much gets to call the shots when it comes to all CSNY activity. And, as such, this CSNY tour serves primarily to promote Neil Young's latest solo album, Living With War, a scathing criticism of the current Administration.
Starting off the theme of this tour was Neil's "Flags Of Freedom", one of eight (8) tracks picked from his current CD. As with many songs from the setlist, the stage's backdrop featured video and changing flags.
Next came "Carry On" without "Questions", "Wooden Ships", and "Military Madness", with a blistering Neil Young guitar solo bridge in the key of E.
Graham Nash brought "Immigration Man" into the setlist amidst recent National border control controversy.
Then, Neil performed four consecutive tunes from his CD, namely, "After The Garden", "Living With War" (with a backgrop video of a mock news show with a "LWW" moniker substantially resembling that of CNN, "Restless Consumer", and "Shock & Awe".
Stephen Stills' "Wounded World", to my disappointment, did NOT feature Neil Young on harmonica, as it had on earlier dates of this tour.
"Almost Cut My Hair" showed how David Crosby's voice has only gotten better with time--he sounded incredible. In all, the Clark County Amphitheatre, new since my last Clark County concert, seemed to have sterling sharp sound equipment. And, CSNY seemed to place more effort to optimize their vocals than they did for their 2002 tour. Interestingly though, CSNY is performing more unison, as opposed to harmony, singing than any previous tour.
The harmonies in CSNY's acoustic set sounded even better. Stills seemed to show exceptional vocal focus with a CSNY version of "Helplessly Hoping" and "TreeTop Flyer", with just Stills & Young on vocals and acoustic guitars.
On piano, Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" harmonized well with Crosby & Nash, but without Stills--ironic, given Stills recorded a solo version of this song on his 1984 Right By You album.
"Our House", which garnished a predictably great audience response, also featured Crosby, Nash, and Young, but no Stills, on vocals. On several other songs during this concert, strangely, Neil Young handled a number of vocal parts that Stills had handled on past tours and recorded versions. Not really sure why.
Neil Young introduced "Crosby & Nash" prior to "Guinnevere".
"Teach Your Children" featured Ben Keith on pedal steel guitar.
"Southern Cross" sounded slightly better than recent CSN versions.
Crosby's "Carry Me" was a very pleasant surprise--one of his best songs ever.
"Ole Man Trouble", "Roger & Out", and "Southbound Train" rounded out the second set.
While on break, the venue's sound system played Jimi Hendrix's Woodstock recording of our National Anthem, as guitar technician Larry Cragg brought out and hoisted a super-sized mock microphone stand (from Neil's Rust Never Sleeps days), arm-in-arm with Jan and Django Crosby.
Afterwards, a barrage of political sentiments, namely, "Long Time Gone", "Let's Impeach The President", "For What It's Worth", "Chicago", "Ohio", and "Looking For A Leader".
"Rockin' In The Free World", with the same rhythm section used on the original 1989 Neil Young recording, and "Find The Cost Of Freedom", with images of over 2500 U.S. soldiers lost during the last three years in Iraq, put a period on CSNY's intense Freedom Of Speech statement for 2006.
As with the two previous CSNY tours, Neil selected his backing musicians, this time choosing Rick "The Bass Player" Rosas, drummer Chad Cromwell, trumpeteer Tom Bray, keyboardist Spooner Oldham, and occasionally Ben Keith on pedal steel. Interesting to note is that the first three were original members of "Neil Young & The Bluenotes", but the guitar/bass/drums/trumpet sound combination was very strange, almost etherial, and quite possibly intentional, given the stark message conveyed by this evening's songs.
I got to enjoy this concert with four of my Portland area friends. I can't say enough about their love, caring, kindness, and consideration. They are the best of people.
All in all, I can't stop enjoying seeing these four incredibly talented singers/songwriters.
[****] - Steven T.
Click Here for the CSNY Website and other Groovy Musical Links!