The sad loss of David Crosby earlier this year was a reminder that the number of stars from the first wave of classic rock still alive, or at least active, diminishes by the year. That in part was my motivation for seeing his one time bandmate Graham Nash on his latest tour.

In recent years he has been playing some quite modest venues but this date at the Theatre Royal on Drury Lane, interrupting a long run of ’Frozen’, was anything but. One of London’s largest theatres on four tiers, the staircases and balconies and even a regal-looking crest embossed on every set gave it an air of real grandeur.

He came on stage wearing double denim and sporting an enviably thick head of silver hair for an 81 year old. The ‘sixty years of songs and stories’ strapline for the tour had led me to expect a solo acoustic format with as many stories as songs, but in fact it was a music-heavy show and he was backed by two very talented accomplices in Shane Fontayne, part of the latter day CSN touring line up and a respected player with Bruce Springsteen among others, and keyboard player Todd Caldwell. The first impression was how they added some delicate harmonies to replicate the trademark Crosby, Stills and Nash sound on opener ‘Wasted on the Way’, while Shane in particular played with great delicacy and precision throughout.

Going even further back Graham dedicated ‘Bus Stop’ to old friend and Hollies bandmate, Allan Clarke and his recent return to music, then after pausing to pay respect to victims of the Moroccan earthquake, but having been persuaded to keep it in the set, ‘Marrakesh Express’ sounded just as lively as in the day.

He has always been famous for his outspoken views on the state of the world and a reference to the war in Ukraine heralded a medley of ‘Find The Cost of Freedom’ and the autobiographical ‘Military Madness’, complete with a lyric changed to excoriate Putin, while ‘Right Between The Eyes’ was enlivened by some fine organ playing from Tom.

I didn’t expect there to be so few songs from his current ‘Now’ album but one such, ‘Better Life’, had his trademark lyrical optimism. As evidenced on oldies like ‘Right Between The Eyes’, ‘Taken at All’, and ‘Carried Away’, which was a request from a fan who had travelled from Italy, his high tenor voice has aged well and the songs still sound instantly recognisable, though I did notice from time to time he would sing in an almost spoken word style.

I wondered how he would address David Crosby’s passing, given the chequered history between them, but he did so simply and movingly, paying tribute to his unique talent and saying there wasn’t and never would be a day when he didn’t think of him before playing, after the taped acapella, almost Gregorian chanting of ‘Critical Mass’, the anti-whaling song ‘Wind On The Water’.

Photo: Michele Kostiner

Switching back from the piano to acoustic guitar after a few songs, there was a surprise as he covered one of his former bandmates songs in ‘Love The One You’re With’, cocking an ear to the crowd and encouraging them to sing along.

After an interval to allow the man, in his own words, to ‘have a pee’, the opening few numbers of the second set saw him on harmonica and singing about his other specialist subject, the ups and downs of love, though not always his own songs as ‘A Case Of You’ from the pen of former muse Joni Mitchell was followed by ‘Love Of Mine’ dedicated to current wife Amy Grantham, and ‘Unequal Love’.

Indeed one feature of the gig was how much credit and exposure he gave to the songs of former collaborators. He perfectly reproduced Neil Young’s melancholy melodies on ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart’ then after a relatively recent solo song in ‘Golden Days’ paid tribute to Stephen Stills and how ‘4 +20’ had broken his heart when he first heard it.

But most of the rest of the set consisted of the CSN numbers most associated with him, beginning with ‘Cathedral’ which he began solo on piano before the shadows fell to reveal his bandmates. The dramatic arrangement was at odds with the generally stripped back nature of most of the set and proved an immersive experience – albeit without the need for the acid trip that inspired the song originally!

The simpler ‘Just A Song Before I Go’ was preceded by the well-worn anecdote about a friend and drug dealer making a bet that he couldn’t write a song before he flew to the airport that still raises a chuckle every time. Then, after paying tribute to the return to health of the woman he referred to as ‘Joan’, another anecdote revealed the mundane and real life inspiration behind ‘Our House’, at which point you could feel the warmth from an audience reliving their own past.

There was a slight difference for the first encore – referencing that Tom shared his birthplace of Lubbock, Texas a near acapella cover of Buddy Holly’s ‘Everyday’, with the three of them sharing the closest of harmony singing, before probably the trademark Nash song above all others, ‘Teach Your Children’ had people singing and even large parts of the audience taking to their feet for the first time.

It had been quite an emotional evening seeing a master songsmith deliver the sounds of the counter cultural generation in such an evergreen manner. It was a definitive set that will live long in the memory.

Review by Andy Nathan

Photos by Andy Nathan and Jennifer Noble (except where indicated)

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

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Power Plays w/c 29 April 2024

BRIGITTE PURDY Sugar Fried Candy (Dirtshack Records)
ATTIC THEORY The Legacy (indie)
THE HOWLERS I Need Your Love (indie)
VELVETEEN QUEEN Bad Reputation (indie)
WILLS AND THE WILLING Scuffed Knees (Smash & Grab Music Ltd)
READY THE PRINCE Still Believe (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 29 April 2024

09:00-12:00 PRAYING MANTIS Defiance (Frontiers)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023

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