CSN&Y in Concord

The tempo was set from the first song played by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young at this evening's outdoor amphitheatre concert in Concord, California: "Flags Of Freedom" from Neil Young's new album, "Living With War."

With 7 of this album's 10 songs on the set list, this was much like a Neil Young concert with a little help from CSN.

Neil Young's near-falsetto voice sounds as strong as ever, in fact, it may be improving with age. Crosby, Stills, and Nash still sound good, but those high notes are a bit tougher to hold. Despite that, the famous harmonies of all four, three, or sometimes just two of them still sound sweet.

What's just as good as always, perhaps even better, is the guitar mastery of all four. Every time I hear CSN&Y live, I'm reminded how well they simply rock and how good they are live -- truly their natural habitat.

This was an ideal summer evening concert, with warm weather and a gentle breeze, lounging with friends on a not-too-crowded lawn.

Many lyrics from songs old and new were relevant to the Iraq War, and the fervor was as sincere on the stage as it was in the audience. At one point, the stage went dark except for a spotlight on an oversize microphone stand dragged to the stage by a roadie, who then slowly tied a huge yellow ribbon on the stand. (I saw the same ambiguous act at a 1991 Neil Young concert in Seattle, when another Iraq War was raging.) Immediately following this, the whole stage lit up as the band kicked off "Let's Impeach The President." The song's lyrics were displayed on huge monitors, encouraging the audience to sing along, including the "Flip! Flop!" of the chorus (which included video sound bites of some of President Bush's embarrassing contradictory statements). "For What It's Worth" followed, appropriately. The show closed with an intense and extended "Rockin' In The Free World" and then an encore of "Woodstock." After 35 songs and 3 hours, one of the best concerts of the year was over ... but the awareness that we are Living With War carries on.