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The Paul Looking Forward Tomita Review
(more reviews coming)
Also See:
The show details.
The Oregon Live review.
SSShhhhhh!!!
Can you hear that?
It's the sound of the silly face-splitting grin still on my face,
hours after Down by the River and Rockin' In The Free World.
It was a great concert all around up to that point. But then...
...words cannot begin to describe it! Well, maybe I'll try.
Tacoma was great, but Portland was even
better! Better acoustics, better mix, better seats (but not until after
Ticketmaster scared the shit out of me by cancelling the ticket I had
ordered that morning.) The boys seemed both more relaxed and more intense.
Nostalgia Act? No way. Playing your hits once every 26 years is not how
nostalgia acts operate. CSNY has refined and interpreted the songs
they are doing. Is it better or worse? Only you can be the judge of that.
They certainly cannot match the youthful spontenaity, boundless energy, naive
idealism or stoned hippyness they once embodied. What they do bring to 2000
is a very obvious love of the songs, fresh enthusisim for what great music
they make with each other and a relaxed friendship and love for each other.
Seeing the joy on their faces watching each other play is worth it alone.
From the sixth row, I saw them pouring their souls into their craft. I
thought the results were magical.
The new songs are getting better each show (after two shows I'm an expert :-)
and already surpass the studio versions. By the end of the tour they're
going to be great. Slowpoke, Dream for Him and Out of Control
were highlights of the new crop for me.
Almost cut my Hair was the highlight of the first set both nights. Croz's
voice sounded great. Incendiary dueling guitar solos put it over the top.
Guinnevere highlighted how heavenly Crosby and Nash still sound together.
Maybe better than ever. Any physical degradation in vocal cords is more than
made up for by the soul and sensitivity displayed. How something so fragile
can sound so damn good in two big arenas amazes me.
Okay, I'm drooling on myself now. A few downers to bring myself around...
Stills voice seems to have these *holes* in it. Certain notes don't come
out. Carry On was better live than VH1 but still made me nervous
in Tacoma. However at Portland I just waited for the guitar solos and I knew
everything would be all right. Cinnamon Girl kinda plodded along for me.
Woodstock was again betrayed by Stephen's voice and it seems more stuck
in the mud of time than the other old chestnuts.
But the end of the Portland show was unbelievable. Neil's solos on Down
By The River blew me away. Crosby and Nash had hands on knees, leaning
forward, huge grins on their faces, watching Neil carry us all away. Keltners
drumming was right with every twist Neil took. I am so happy Neil decided to
stretch this one out a bit.
Caught my breath a bit during Love The One You're With, and then,
Rockin' In The Free World! Others have posted how hot CSNY is
on this. They're right! Seeing Neil up close (and with good binoculars to
boot), I was struck how transported he is. When he finally touched down, he
seemed totally dazed and disoriented, like "how did I end back here on stage?"
Then the rest of the boys are waving goodby and Neil is kinda taking a few
steps back and forth until it dawns on him that its time to go.
Long May You Run brings me gently back to reality and bouncing towards
my car for the 3 hour drive home...
Looking Forward...
PS: To the left of the stage, beyond the curtained area where Larry was tuning
Neil's guitars, there was a platform set up with a woman signing for hearing
impaired folks who were in that section of seats. At first she was just using
the typical hand gestures during the singing and the between-song banter. But
later in the show, during the electric jams she was boogying around like a
dancing fool, doing the "International Sign Language Neil bob and weave" !!!
(more reviews coming soon... --RE*AC*TOR)
I'm sure you can!
It's screaming out.
Paul Tomita