NEW YORK (CDnow) -
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young sparked a surprising reunion in 1999, taking to the road after 26 years. Having spent the 1970s as a harmonious group of social consciousness, CSN&Y defined passion among the post-baby boomers, and two years after a brilliant return,
David Crosby,
Graham Nash,
Stephen Stills, and
Neil Young yearned to do it again. They had a cause. The terror of Sept. 11 is forever ingrained in American minds, and CSN&Y wanted solace. It was time.
CSN&Y came back to the Motor City to kick off a 30-date U.S. tour on Wednesday (Feb. 6) at the Palace of Auburn Hills, and the veteran rock band couldn't have been more elated. The Tour of America is their peace offering of sorts, and nearly 15,000 fans couldn't have been more welcoming.
The group graced the stage, which was touched with the simple accents of two Indian statues, ferns, candles, and four digital screens, with classic humility. It was time for reflection -- three-and-a-half hours spent mixing old favorites with material from their solo repertoires. Classics such as "Southern Cross," "Almost Cut My Hair," "49 Bye Byes," and "D�j� Vu" were near perfect, while new songs like Stephen Stills' heart rendering "Feed the People" proved magical; a barefoot Graham Nash, who was decked in all black, pranced around on the never-before-performed "Military Madness"; and Neil Young's "Goin' Home" and "You're My Girl," from his forthcoming album Are You Passionate, were highlighted by rock and roll rawness.
Keyboardist Booker T. Jones, bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn, and drummer Steve "Smokey" Potts accentuated the fervor, especially on Jones' "Old Man Trouble." Stills' bluesy vocalic scratch was brash and soulful, and Crosby and Nash came in at the bridge for extra harmonic finesse.
The night was about CSN&Y and how the four form a matchless, charmed circle. Stills and Young are magnetic players, tangoing inside one another's riffs, pursuing something angular. It wasn't entirely strict, but it was sweetly comfortable on the vibrant "Woodstock" and Buffalo Springfield's "For What it's Worth."
"Teach Your Children" and Crosby's "Guinevere" were soothing -- however, CSN&Y truly shined when they let the rhythm and blues of their caressing harmonies fully ignite. "Wooden Ships" proved it, and Young's "Let's Roll" went above and beyond. Written in honor of victims of United Airlines Flight 93, "Let's Roll" exuded a swanky fever. Young's heart was aching, but it's a solution song, as the lyrics suggested: "Let's roll for freedom/Let's roll for love/Goin' after Satan/On the wings of a dove."
"Rockin' in the Free World," accented with a large backdrop decorated by pictures of victims of Sept. 11, letters of rememberance, and luminous colors of the American flag, provided a radiant close to the show. The band itself was also luminous. "Long May You Run" was the final encore to a rollicking evening.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young aren't chic; they're weathered. But beauty withstands the test of time. CSN&Y wanted to remind us of that.
