Crosby Stills & Nash @LutherBurbandCentre 7 September 2005


Opening with Carry On, Crosby Stills & Nash delighted us with an
evening filled with unexpected pleasures, surprises and dreams
come true.

A little rough on the opener, they fell completely into form with
the Buffalo Springfield gem, "Questions" which really made my night
for only the first time. Stephen's voice has changed....no longer
as sweet as it once was.....though he really belted out a "new" one
later on that was written by Booker T. Jones for the late Otis Redding.
Entitled "Old Man Trouble," R&B now seems to fit Stephen's vocal
stylings very well as he performed this on keyboard and belted it out
very strongly.  A new Stephen.....different......but great as always!

"Feed The People," another new Stephen song, went over very well with
the crowd, and Croz & Nash put their all into supporting Stephen, but man
"Helplessly Hoping" was stellar....perfectly wonderful in it's execution.

We were treated to a lot of wonderful old tunes...."Marrakesh Express,"
"Chicago" and the great Nash classic "Cathedral" which Graham performed
wonderfully on keyboard much to the delight of my dear Sharon who
was hoping for this tune.

Great versions of "Deja Vu," a totally POWERFUL Croz performance  of
"Long Time Gone" later followed with an even more powerful "Cut My Hair!"

"Wooden Ships" and "Southern Cross" were very pleasing though Stephen
played a lower key role in "Ships" than on previous tours...a little less
guitar
with long solos handed over to the INCREDIBLE Michael Finnegan on B-3.
Stephen's role in "Ships" was further reduced to few vocals toward the last
3rd of the song, with no lead vocal part at all. Stephen seems, for lack
of a better way to describe it..."delicate" in his physical condition.
Missing
was the Gibson Firebird, so Stephen relied mainly on Strats & Teles.

The show stealing moment, however, was Crosby's performance of
"Delta" in which he gave a stunning vocal, and told a story of how Jackson
Browne forced him, at the peak of his addiction, to go to Warren Zevon's
house, sit at the piano and finish the composition that, to me, remains
his masterpiece. The audience embraced it with loving warmth.

Missing only was "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" which, I wonder, if they skipped
due to Stephen's voice no longer being suitable for it. The show did not
suffer for it's absence, however.

Encore performances of "For What It's Worth" and "Teach Your Children"
rounded out a two plus hour show that was one for the ages. You've
got to love it anytime you get a Buffalo Springfield song performed by
on of the original members.

All in all, this was the best show of all the times I have seen CSN through
the
years.

Lew~