Crosby, Stills & Nash-Charter One Pavilion, Chicago 6/4/09

It is always great to see Crosby, Stills & Nash. Their performances are always very special, intimate, and usually very memorable. Charter One Pavilion is a new outdoor venue located right next to Lake Michigan. The visibility was great, and so was the sound. Only drawback was the colder than usual weather.

Opening with Helplessly Hoping and following it with You Don’t Have To Cry the band was quickly able to get the crowd going. Then came the early surprises of the show. CSN played several covers from the artists they admire. Some of the covers included Close Your Eyes, Reason to Believe, Ruby Tuesday, Lives In Balance, and even The Rocky Mountain Way. Something tells me that a covers album might be at work, and they were just trying these songs out. Either way, the songs were original, and CSN’s renditions very solid.

The shows consisted of two parts. The first part mostly acoustic and the second a fiery electric set. Since it was only the second show of the tour, the band was in fine vocal disposition. But then, I’ve never seen them below their usual form. There was a good interaction among the band members. They were often joking, and really having fun on stage.

The electric part of the show really highlighted great guitar skills from Stephen Stills. He was literally on fire just burning the songs with the solos. What a great guitar player. The show itself had a great selection of songs. Songs like Southern Cross, Guinevere, Our House and Chicago were instant crowd pleasers in the first part of the show. The electric set was equally as impressive with Military Madness setting the pace. Long Time Gone always excellent, and then Graham Nash ordered everyone to go to Marrakech and smoke a big one. The band continued to ride high through Winchester Cathedral, and memorable version of Déjà vu. Crosby’s Almost Cut My Hair still as relevant as in the days he wrote it. What a perfect cry for help, and what great way to sing about forming and maintaining an identity. Buffalo Springfield’s For What It’s Worth will never go out of style and its lyrical content as heartfelt as ever. The band sang with a lot of passion and integrity throughout the evening. Seeing CSN/CSNY is always a major treat, and an experience. I hope the band will grace us with records and shows for years to come.

Mark Kadzielawa