My first concert ever was over 16 years ago when I saw Crosby, Stills & Nash in Gilford, New Hampshire. I still have a shirt from that concert that displays the lyrics from their classic song "Wooden Ships" where it reads:
"If you smile at me I will understand 'Cause that is something Everybody everywhere does in the same language."
Flash forward to the present, where last night I saw David Crosby again with my Mom (who I blame for my classic rock obsession) only this time with a new band. And sure enough, that shirt was still for sale. After all, those lyrics stand the test of time. As does David Crosby's heavenly voice. With new band members Becca Stevens, Michelle Willis and Michael League, the foursome put together an intimate and soulful show that got me hooked from the first song. Think of VH1 Storytellers with David Crosby. That's what we got for the immersive 2+ hour show.
For those that came for the hits, they were probably disappointed. David and company spent most of the show performing newer songs and it was all the better for it. For every song, a story came with it. Three stories stood out to me:
The first was about the origins of their song "1974" (off their new album Here If You Listen) which came to be when Becca Stevens discovered an old recording on David's computer at his house that was from 1974. David didn't even know he recorded it (makes sense given his rock and roll track record). The band was so moved by the beauty of David's old recording that they polished it up and made it their own. They described it as a song 44 years in the making. Just wild.
The second story was about the song "Vagrants of Venice" (also off the new album) and in this story, David describes a dystopian vision of Venice, Italy. In the next 100-200 years, where climate change has taken over and the city is under water, there are only small glimpses left of the city with the top of the buildings and structures barely peaking out of the water. There lies some people who still inhabit the top of Venice, singing about what lived underneath it. The performance was haunting and beautiful.
The third was about how back in the day, when Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young were in one of their first tours, they played all these awful dive bars in England. It got to the point where they felt like giving up. At the time, the band was absolutely obsessed with The Beatles (who wasn't) and it was on their bucket list to meet them. During a set in the diviest of dive bars, they were ready to pack it in and basically call it a night until they see John Lennon in the crowd talking to Mick Jagger. David Crosby always wanted to meet The Beatles, "but not like this" he said hilariously and reluctantly. Note: I did not do this story justice. The band even left David alone on stage to tell this story that set up the song that went with it. It was that intimate of a show.
With no drummer, these four musicians swapped around a keyboard and acoustic, electric and bass guitars, harmonizing vocals that had a glimpse of euphoria. I can understand why David Crosby wanted to start a new band given the natural chemistry between the four of them, even if it required some broken hearts to get there.
In 2016, Crosby, Stills & Nash split apart. It was not pretty. There were a lot of personal issues between the three through the strains of being together for so long. Sometimes life just gets in the way.
Two years before that, in 2014, I was working for CBS and was able to shoot and edit an interview with David Crosby who at the time was still doing press for Crosby, Stills & Nash. In that interview, he talks about everything from his relationship with his son to the moral tragedies of Tibet. Afterwards, we talked for a minute and I told him that he was my first concert ever and I thanked him for getting me to fall in love with his music. In all honesty, I could probably come up with what I think he said to me after that but I don't really remember. All I know is that I had a moment with an iconic figure, one whose voice is very close to my soul. Seeing him last night in concert, it felt like I knew him. Everybody else in the audience probably felt the same thing. At 77 years old, David Crosby feels like he's just getting warmed up.
Rock on,
Casey
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