Crosby, Stills & Nash at Wolf Trap

Thanks to an ad I posted on Craigslist, I was able to get a ticket for face value to the Crosby, Stills & Nash show last night at Wolf Trap. I was seated in the Front Orchestra, thirteen rows back and directly looking at the middle of the stage. Perfect seat!

David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash are in their sixties now. Last night was a terrific chance to see three immensely talented musicians - and their excellent four piece band - put on a enjoyable show in a venue that was a perfect setting for their music. The last time I saw them live was 1982 at Greensboro Coliseum, so it had been awhile.

The setlist, in no particular order included Marrakesh Express, Long Time Gone, Cathedral, Déjà Vu, Delta, Southern Cross, Helplessly Hoping, Love The One You’re With, Guinnevere, Our House, Wasted On The Way, Almost Cut My Hair, You Don't Have to Cry, Wooden Ships (my personal favorite). The encores were For What It's Worth and Teach Your Children.

Some notes:
I like the line from Wasted On The Way, "I am older now, I have more than what I wanted but I wish that I had started long before I did". I guess that can sum up to where I am in my life today.

Cathedral: Graham Nash played keyboard with David Crosby singing harmony. The song started slowly but increased to a dramatic crescendo. Just beautiful.

Almost Cut My Hair: All three on electric guitars and cheers for David Crosby, who still has the long hair although not much on top anymore.

Wooden Ships-I used to listen to this all the time growing up and it still gets heavy air time on my iPod as I have several versions of it. If I ever list my top ten favorite songs ever, this would make the list. The trio and the band nailed it last night.

Wounded World: A Southern bluesy rocker dedicated to Stephen Stills’ 20 year old daughter.

There were a couple songs protesting the Iraq war. "Military Madness" which Graham Nash said in articles he's tired of singing and another song whose name I can’t remember had mentions of Homeland Security. An anti-war message is fine, no one loves war and this is what CSN have been about their whole careers.

In closing, I thought one of the most interesting things about last night's concert was the way Graham Nash played four instruments (guitar, tambourine, harmonica and keyboard) in addition to singing. The three musicians took turns singing lead vocals and switched off guitar duties as well. Overall, it was a fantastic show and the trio were enthusiastic the entire evening.

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