Crosby and Nash deliver doubly in outstanding SPAC show
by Martin Moynihan, The Knickerbocker News, September 2, 1976
Patrons at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center Wednesday were treated to two shows in one. Or perhaps it was two shows by two.
The two were David Crosby and Graham Nash, a pair of musicians who have been performing together for some seven years and whose roots in rock music go back well beyond that.
There were two shows, not surprisingly, in the sense that the artists performed plenty of good rock ‘n’ roll with their distinctive touches as well as a good serving of their popular, softer music backed by acoustic instruments.
They performed for more than 2½ hours, with one brief intermission, and seemed to have an enthusiastic audience completely enthralled well before midpoint. The concert, scheduled for 7 p.m., started half an hour late, but there was no warm-up group.
The music also seemed to get off to something of a slow start—at least compared to the excitement generated later in the evening. But by the time the two performers took up their acoustic instruments and then began rolling into rock, the pace never let up. It was an outstanding, exciting, and fine-sounding concert.
Rain started just before the start of the show and continued quite steadily through the performance. Only a few law-abiding diehards remained on the SPAC lawn, huddled under the elevated walkways. Attendance figures were not available from center officials, but even with refugees from the rain, the amphitheater was not quite filled to capacity.
Crosby and Nash did quite a bit of the material they had recorded several years ago along with Stephen Stills and Neil Young.
Among the songs were Crosby singing “Almost Cut My Hair” with a voice that seemed aroused by anger and Nash doing a lengthy version of “Deja Vu” preceded by an instrumental buildup that can only be described as wild.
From the same album was one of the group’s concluding songs, “Won’t You Please Come to Chicago.”
The first portion of the show was somewhat brief, featured mostly rock music and was solidly played, although the musicians had not hit their stride. Titles included “Take the Money and Run,” “Spotlight” and “Keep on Trying.” Crosby assured his audience, “We’re going to be here a long time tonight.”
That promise was kept. After intermission, the group went into a long non-stop performance. The two headliners would step back occasionally and let their accompanists take the spotlight, but no one should say he didn’t get his money’s worth of Crosby and Nash.
The second half opened with the pair’s softer music, with Crosby and Nash both playing acoustic guitar and Nash doubling up on piano and harmonica.
“Out of the Darkness” was well arranged, and one of the highlights of this portion of the show was Nash’s haunting vocal “Guenivere.” Nash thanked the audience for sitting quietly during the acoustic portion. A firecracker exploded during one break, and Crosby asked that that sort of stuff stop. It did.
The unquestionable highlight of the set was “Wind on the Water,” a song written by Nash to protest the commercial killing of whales. Crosby and Nash performed beautifully on the vocals, with Crosby playing guitar and Nash the piano, while a film showing the beauty and the killing of whales was projected on a screen behind the band.
Their voices, it might be noted, seem well suited for each other, but in concert lack some of the “sweet” qualities that can be heard on their recorded material.
Getting back to rock, the singers performed the previously mentioned songs plus a Nash vocal of “Immigration Man” and others. They concluded with an excellent version of “Wooden Ships” quite different from the arrangement made popular by the Jefferson Airplane.
The foot-stomping, hand-clapping audience, of course, rose to demand more, and the performers responded with an encore of Teach Your Children Well” and “Won’t You Please Come to Chicago.”
They chose their accompanists well. Danny Kootch, lead guitarist who seemed to play more instruments than you could shake a pick at, played beautifully and seemed on the verge at times of stealing the show. The same applied to David Lindley, who performed on slide guitar and electric violin.
Craig Durgin performed well on keyboards and synthesizer, and did Russ Kunkel on drums.
The group will be appearing Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass.
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