Yup – that’s right. I saw Crosby Stills and Nash at the Beacon this week. What a time. I had one of those “New York City” moments. You know that feeling, when everything just seems all right in the world; you’re happy, in the moment, and just thankful that you live in New York City…and walking to the venue is the best.
They started at 8:05pm, and didn’t stop until 10:58pm. I was expecting an acoustic performance, but they had a full band; bass, drums, keys, Hammond B3, and another guitar player. They played most of their hits, Cathedral, Southern Cross, Guinevere, Teach Your Children, Deja Vu, Our House, Love The One You’re With, Marrakesh Express, Long Time Gone, and my favorite – Just a Song Before I Go, to name a few. No Wooden Ships, no Ohio, no Suite Judy Blue Eyes….but a good bunch of new original tunes that I liked very much.
I have to say, I walked into the Beacon super siked for some Davey Crosby. I mean, he writes the really weird tunes, and is the personality of the band. Then there’s Graham Nash and those high harmonies that were enough to melt my heart (especially in Just a Song…), but man – I walked out of the theater ready to have a love child with Stephen Stills. HE. IS. THE. MAN.
Holy smokes, what a guitar player. The glue of the band. He has so much depth to his playing and to his songwriting and to his being! I was brought to tears on Tree Top Flying. It was just Stephen and an acoustic guitar, and him just doing his thing.
The best part of the show was the sincerity. Sometimes the singing was a little sharp, sometimes it was a little flat, and Stephen doesn’t have the voice that he used to have, and the playing by all wasn’t perfect. It was human. It was real. It brought an emotion.
I’ll leave you with this from the You Tube vault – Stephen Stills being all dreamy and stuff on a Gibson Firebird and….
SWOOOOoooooooN!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2e2kC-geMI
See you on the low end!
Love,
Mags