Crosby, Stills & Nash Gateshead Sage October 15th 2013
The past 10 years has seen several visits to the UK by Crosby and Nash, and CS&N, after many years of not visiting this country. This is the fourth time that I’ve seen C&N or CS&N in the last ten years, as well as solo shows by Stephen Stills and Neil Young. This year’s tour features Crosby, Stills and Nash who played to a packed Sage concert hall in Gateshead last night. Laura decided to join me this time. She’s not a fan, but is familiar with some of their songs, largely as a result of hearing me play them. The show was almost three hours, with an interval and featured all of the classic CS&N tracks, with some solo material and some new songs. The harmonies were, as always, still beautiful.
From the programme: “Welcome to our world of music. All our lives we’ve been focussed on touching your hearts and hopefully having you think abut the crazy world we still live in….whether it’s a love song or a subject of vital importance, it’s essential for us to communicate with you and make you a part of our lives. Hopefully our music will help you feel less lonely, less crazy and perhaps, inspire you to do something positive about your life and the lives of others. Time, family and friends are our only true currency and we have to recognise that all of us together, can make a difference and help make the world a better place for ourselves and our children. Rock on!” Still old hippies at heart, and still out there playing for us, and doing a pretty damn good job of it too.
The set list included (from memory; I have definitely missed some): Carry On/Questions; Marrakesh Express; Long Time Gone; Southern Cross; Lay Me Down; Bluebird; Love the One You’re With. Interval. Helplessly Hoping; Golden Days; Treetop Flyer; What Are Their Names; Guinnevere; Just a Song Before I Go; Burning for the Buddha; Our House; Teach Your Children; Almost Cut My Hair; Wooden Ships. Encore: Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.
Archive for the ‘Crosby Stills and Nash’ Category
16 Oct
Crosby, Stills & Nash Gateshead Sage October 15th 2013
17 Aug
Crosby & Nash in Gateshead; and Crosby, Stills & Nash in Manchester 2005
Crosby & Nash in Gateshead; and Crosby, Stills & Nash in Manchester 2005
If you had asked me 10 years ago, I would have said that we wouldn’t see Crosby, Stills and Nash back in the UK. It seemed so long since they toured over here. I had my memories of the great CSNY gig at Wembley Stadium in 1974, and figured that would be the one and only time I saw that great band, or CSN, live in concert. However, I would have been wrong. The past 7 years has seen a few visits to the UK by Crosby and Nash, and CSN. The first news of this was that Crosby and Nash were to tour Europe in early 2005. The first concert to be announced was set for the Royal Festival Hall London in February 2005. I bought tickets straight away for Marie and I to go to that show; however within a week or so, a gig was added at The Sage Gateshead, a venue which is local to us. So I bought tickets for the Sage gig and sold our tickets for London (ebay comes in handy a lot these days). We had good seats for the Sage concert, and ran into lots of old friends there. The show started with Military Madness, and took us through all of those great songs, with those exquisite harmonies; as beautiful as ever. A month or so later, further UK dates were announced, this time with Stephen Stills as part of the line up. I couldn’t resist a chance to see CSN so bought tickets for the Manchester Arena concert. David came along with me and we both enjoyed it. These were two great gigs; these guys are responsible for some of the best music of the last 40 years. I’ve loved them since I heard Marrakesh Express on the radio in the late 60s. 
The set list for Crosby and Nash gig was something like this: Military Madness; Marrakesh Express; Long Time Gone; Lay Me Down; In My Dreams; Broken Bird; Pre-Road Downs; Page 43; Jesus of Rio; They Want It All; Orleans / Cathedral; Déjà Vu; Live On (The Wall); Guinnevere; Milky Way Tonight; Puppeteer; Just a Song Before I Go; Delta; Don’t Dig Here; Wasted on the Way; To the Last Whale…A. Critical Mass B. Wind on the Water; Wooden Ships; Our House; Almost Cut My Hair. Encore: Teach Your Children.
The setlist for the CSNY gig was something like this: Part 1: Carry On; Marrakesh Express; Acadienne; Long Time Gone; Jesus of Rio; They Want It All; Guinnevere; Ole Man Trouble; Military Madness; In My Dreams; Feed the People; Déjà Vu. Part 2: Southern Cross; Helplessly Hoping; Lay Me Down; Milky Way Tonight; Spanish Suite; Don’t Dig Here; Love the One You’re With; Almost Cut My Hair; Chicago; Wooden Ships; Woodstock; Teach Your Children
13 Aug
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young Wembley Stadium 1974
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young Wembley Stadium 1974
Special guests: Joni Mitchell, The Band, Jesse Colin Young
Looking back this was a very strong line-up and a truly historic gig, although I’m not sure I realised it at the time. A group of us went down to London by train, primarily to see CSN&Y. To be honest ( and to my shame) I had little interest in seeing the other acts on the bill. This gig was very much a coming together of the long hairs; everyone there to see a cluster of west coast superstars who rarely appeared in the UK. The weather was good, a hot late summer day, and the vibe friendly and laid back. I remember running into loads of people from the North East. We had tickets for the stands, and couldn’t get down on the pitch which was frustrating. My mates and I spent some time next to the back stage area, star spotting. We saw (I think; from a bad….memory) members of the Moody Blues, The Faces, Led Zeppelin and Marc Bolan. My mate Don and I ran into Robert Plant in the gents, and we chatted to him; Don offered Plant a drink from his bottle of beer, Plant took a swig to Don’s delight (he swore he would keep the bottle for ever!). We arrived early and saw all the bands; I wish I’d taken more notice of their sets than I did. Jesse Colin Young’s “Darkness, Darkness” is now one of my favourite songs, but I remember nothing of what he played that day. I remember that the Band played a solid set including “The Weight”, “Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and “Cripple Creek”. Joni Mitchell’s set was part solo on acoustic guitar or piano, and part accompanied by Tom Scott’s L.A. Express. Her album at the time was Court and Spark, and she played tracks from that lp plus favourites such as “Woodstock”, “Big Yellow Taxi” and “This Flight Tonight”. She is another artist who I really appreciate now; much more so than I did back then in the day. 
CSN&Y played a long set of around four (!) hours. They were just amazing; incredible harmonies, great musicianship. There were times when it dragged a little for me, as the set included a lot of songs which were unfamiliar to me. However, before too long another classic would come along, the harmonies would be spot on, and the guitar duels would spark off again. My enduring memories are of the start and end of their set. They started with an extended version of “Love the one you’re with” and the place went crazy. My last memory is of standing on a wooden bench, such as the seats were in the Wembley stands in those days, singing the chorus of “Ohio”, with 72,000 other people. Days don’t come any better. Where did the years go?
CSNY setlist: Love the One You’re With; Wooden Ships; Immigration Man; Helpless; Military Madness; Johnny’s Garden; Traces; Almost Cut My Hair; Teach Your Children; Only Love Can Break Your Heart; The Lee Shore; Time After Time; It’s All Right; Another Sleep Song; Our House; Hawaiian Sunrise; Star of Bethlehem; Love Art Blues; Old Man; Change Partners; Blackbird; Myth of Sisyphus; Word Game; Suite: Judy Blue Eyes; Déjà Vu; First Things First; Don’t Be Denied; Black Queen; Pushed It Over the End; Pre-Road Downs; Carry On; Ohio
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