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Tom Daniel's Review
(more reviews coming)
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The show details.
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An Orange Country Register review.
A lame Variety review.
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First Set
1. Carry On
2. Southern Man
3. Stand And Be Counted
4. Pre-Road Downs
5. Heartland
6. 49 Bye-Byes
7. Slowpoke
8. Marrakesh Express
9. Faith In Me
10. Almost Cut My Hair
11. Cinnamon Girl
    Second Set
12. Helplessly Hoping
13. Our House
14. Old Man
15. Dream For Him
16. Someday Soon
17. Looking Forward
18. After The Goldrush
19. Guinnevere
20. Out Of Control
21. Seen Enough
22. Teach Your Children
    [7th Inning Stretch]
23. Woodstock
24. Long Time Gone
25. Ohio
26. For What It's Worth
27. No Tears Left
28. Down By The River
29. Love The One You're With
30. Rockin' In The Free World
    Encore
31. Long May You Run

CSNY is on stage playing David Crosby's Dream for Him. Crosby and Nash are singing like angels. The band is deep in a Crosby-jazz groove. Neil Young, of all people, is playing a crisp, jazzy guitar solo while Stills is pumping away on bass. Reunions are usually empty, nostalgic affairs. Yet here is CSNY playing a new song, every member engaged and contributing. Everything working. The audience is drawn in.

On the second break Neil plays a more idiosyncratic solo -- fewer notes, more loose, yet with the same feel. Something he would never do on his own. CSNY stretching Neil, just as he has pushed them.

CSNY's return to their LA roots was triumphant. A sold out crowd at Staples Center was on their feet for most of the night. The passion, energy and just sheer quality of the show electrified the arena.

The set list was composed of bookends from the CSNY songbook -- classics from the very early stage of their career together mixed with new numbers from 1999's Looking Forward. The 28 or so years in between were only very lightly touched on, with the closing Rockin' in the Free World and the encore Long May You Run (though even this was a staple in the 1974 reunion tour). Let's look at it song by song...

• Carry On -- This sounded great. The first shock was how great Stills sounded. His voice was much better than on Looking Forward, coming out of the harmonies on lines like "with which we carry on ahahaon". He came in a black jacket, which he tossed aside before playing a note. Harmonies spot on. Sound great on the floor of Staples. Great opener.

• Southern Man -- Keeps the crowd on their feet. Young's voice sounds so sweet and clear. If anything, he sounds younger than on After the Goldrush. The CSNY harmonies add to the power of the song. And Stills and Young get into it on guitar. The energy they display is surprising, and there is no doubt that Neil is the force behind it.

• Stand And Be Counted -- Neil: "This is a Crosby song... But we're gonna do it anyway." The verses seemed awkward and unfinished on the CD. They seem more so here. Crosby enunciates instead of singing, and can't seem to find the pocket to sing in. The chorus is strong and catchy, and the energy of the performance holds it together. The crowd sits, as they will on all new songs.

• Pre-Road Downs -- A great performance of a decent song. When they get this much out of Pre-Road Downs, it is clear that this will be a great evening. Nash sounds great, as always. For the first time, I notice how interesting Neil sounds as an extra voice. I listen for it all night. Great.

• Heartland -- Sit down for a new one. The sheer beauty of this performance catches the crowd. When Crosby/Nash sing a verse together, a whole different part of CSNY comes to the fore. They sing together on one mic, with the telepathic understanding of how they will phrase each line perfectly intact.

• 49 Bye-Byes -- A highlight. Stills plays his big white Gretch a lot in this show. This is new arrangement, but with the feel of early Stills. Stills sang it better than I thought he could, singing alone in the verse. The harmonies are great. More than anything else, this song took me back to the birth of CSN(Y).

• Slowpoke -- Neil gets his new stuff across better than anyone. The crowd reacts audibly to the line "when I was faster I was always behind." Crosby/Nash add a lot with their harmonies, and are clearly enjoying it.

• Marrakesh Express -- Rearranged, a fresh take on this one. Graham does a great job, and the harmonies on "garden in your hair" are breathtaking. Like 49 Bye-Byes, it really works. Neil is enjoying his role on this tour, moving, smiling, talking to CSN and playing guitar parts that he would never play on his own stuff.

• Faith In Me -- Stills is reborn, it seems. Confident, active, singing well. From a distance, in profile, it looks like Manassas era Stills. Of course, up close it is a reminder that we are all older. Great beat. Sounds better live, though not as much better as I had hoped. Stills begging for trust he may not have earned - "Have some faith in me."

• Almost Cut My Hair -- This is always like walking out on a ledge. If they don't get it right, they're like pitiful old hippies. I thought CPR nailed it last year. CSNY takes it up a few notches. Neil's trademark guitar. Crosby pouring himself into it. A highlight of the set.

• Cinnamon Girl -- A nice treat. A great sounding version. CSNY is such a great band for Neil. Crosby plays nice chunky rhythm parts. Stills adds another dimension on guitar. And the backing vocals take it up a notch. CSN have a rep as a whimpy act, but when they are committed they can really rock. Tonight they back up Neil better than Crazy Horse -- as heavy, but more musical. I'd love an album by Neil backed by these guys, but the politics might be tough.

• Helplessly Hoping -- Remember the No Nukes movie, when Stills sings "Helplessly Hoping is a concert bitch"? I've heard some ragged versions over the years. Nothing prepared me for this GREAT four-part version. Like a dream. It is starting to seem like they can do no wrong.

• Our House -- Even this old horse sounded fresh. I would have loved some more interesting choices from Graham - maybe Carried Away or Cold Rain or Taken at All. But how can I complain when Our House sounds so delightful. Graham's playing sounds great on Neil's battered old digital upright.

• Old Man -- "24 and there's so much more." A taste of irony here as the old men sing this one. The CSNY vocals make this one new.

• Dream For Him -- A big step forward from the album. Great feel. Great vocal, especially the Crosby/Nash stuff. Neil steps up on guitar. Nice. This is a band!

• Someday Soon -- Another great group effort. Someone nearby comments on how great it is that these old guys are writing such positive stuff. More Crosby/Nash vocals, plus that great bridge with Steven and Graham. When Stills comes in on his part, his mike is turned down and has to be adjusted. Is he being turned down for harmony parts?

• Looking Forward -- The best of the new songs. Inspirational. "I'm not waiting for time to change. I wanna live like a free roaming soul on the highway of our love." The three consecutive new songs demonstrate the strength of CSNY and the fact that they are really working together. Significantly, there are no solo sets in this show.

• After The Goldrush -- Off to the back of the stage and the Ghost and Mr. Chicken pipe organ. A good version, with nice Crosby/Nash backing. Now if only people would cheer as much for love as they do for getting high.

• Guinnevere -- We've seen hints all night of the power of Crosby and Nash. Now comes a full force demonstration. If 49 Bye-Byes takes me back to the debut album, and Helplessly Hoping and Southern Man to the 1970 tour, this is a little piece of the Crosby/Nash acoustic tour (Another Stoney Evening). What is remarkable is how these two voices and Crosby's guitar work in a huge arena. I thought this piece would be lost in the Staples Center. It was not. Nash's limbs were flailing wildly as he put all of himself into his harmony vocal, and Crosby led the way with great acoustic guitar and an assured vocal, ranging from a whisper to full voice with a perfect sense of where he was going. Another high point.

• Out Of Control -- The best of Neil's solo performance blended with the best of the CSN additions from Looking Forward. Again new material holds the crowd's attention. Again Crosby/Nash add to Neil's great songs.

• Seen Enough -- This was a bit of a mixed bag. Stills' voice held up. He performed it with passion. But the paranoid, finger-pointing rant seemed out of place with the rest of the show. The energy was good. The performance was good. But the mood seemed all out of place. It's a little like the old America's Children rant - you admire the passion, but the overall effect is almost cartoonish.

• Teach Your Children -- I dreaded this, having tired of the lazy sing-a-long it had become. No need to fear. Steven & Neil on electrics, a real arrangement, no sing-a-long. I remembered why I used to like this song.

• Woodstock -- Stills simply could not sing this song. Good arrangement. After the acoustic set it was a great, recognizable burst of energy. But I think they should replace it with a Nash tune (none in last set), or Wooden Ships or something that Stills can actually sing. He had trouble with this live in 1970. But the harmonies again sounded great.

• Long Time Gone -- A fairly standard reading of this classic. Another solid, energetic performance. Why doesn't Stills sing his old parts anymore?

• Ohio -- This is great live because of the great opening riff. They did a great job, though I thought this could have been heavier. Croz was on acoustic. It also seems a bit dated. The "heat" isn't killing the kids anymore (well, not the school kids), the kids are. Young's great Drive By would be more appropriate. But it wouldn't get the old folks off their asses.

• For What It's Worth -- Praise the Lord. The painful CSN version is retired, and we have a return to the Buffalo Springfield approach. Neil seemed to be playing his parts note for note, while Stephen embellished. Crosby/Nash did the Furay/Stills backing parts. I had hoped for some bonus BS in LA, but this will do nicely. "If you're still listening I hope you'll remember the kid with the big white guitar, and all the sad stories to tell." A brief detour back to the Whiskey in 1967.

• No Tears Left -- Stills is having a career night. After For What It's Worth, the crew brings out the guitars for Down By the River. Young seems to come over to Stills and suggest a set change. There is discussion all around. They change guitars. Stills is having trouble with his guitar - seemingly both tuning and the wah pedal. He is working on the problem. Neil: "One Buffalo Springfield song and we're already tuning for an hour." Stills does not look amused.

  What follows is a ragged version of No Tears Left. Stills continues to have guitar problems. Crosby/Nash's vocals are buried in the mix. I can't hear Neil's guitar. Stills is missing lines in the song, looks like a deer in the headlights, and his voice seems to have gone on him. I flash to every Stills show I have ever seen - his voice gets better through the night. Maybe it is nerves - he relaxes as the show goes on. Here he looks stressed, and sounds bad. It seems Neil threw him a curve, and he whiffed. After a night of paradise, a hint of the old days.

• Down By The River -- Stills regains his composure for a great CSNY run though of this old chestnut. A highlight of early CSNY shows, it is a stretched out masterpiece tonight. Stills and Young duel on guitar as Crosby kneels before his amp creating feedback. Stills plays a verse in Neil's style. Neil is a ball of energy. Stills and Young roam the stage, Stills frequently moving over to be with Neil. This has been going on all night, but this is the peak.

• Love The One You're With -- Stills sings this well, proving that No Tears Left was an exception.

• Rockin' In The Free World -- Crazy who? Crosby's energy on this, after three hours and change, is testimony to his new liver. He looks a little trimmer and fully engaged. Can they really keep going like this through the rest of the tour? CSNY have completely triumphed, showing almost all of their many facets. This is the hardest rocker of the night, and a worthy closer. It had to be to live up to Almost Cut My Hair, Down By The River, etc.

• Long May You Run -- In the spirit of Looking Forward and Someday Soon, an optimistic forward looking closer. Two big white Gretches. Reminds of the Springfield, CSNY 74, the doomed Stills/Young project. So much history, and tonight all of it was on display. A great, many faceted band.

(more reviews coming soon... --RE*AC*TOR)