Culture Vulture

Waitakere Stadium, Saturday March 24 2012

Reviewed by Graham Reid

One thing you can say for Crosby, Stills and Nash, they might not come here often – but when they do turn up on the stage with alarming punctuality. The previous time they played the Trusts Stadium I arrived at the very early unrock’n'roll time of 8.20 to find them three songs in.

This time I took no chances and by my watch they took to this stage eight minutes short of 8pm.

I guess they know their audience doesn’t want to hang around and get impatient.

And, they also know what that audience wants to hear. But although they included all the right crowd-pleasers (Southern Cross, Wooden Ships, Marrakech Express, Deja-Vu, Our House etc) CS&N also delivered a performance full of pleasant surprises.

Among the many unexpected delights was an amusingly ragged and heart-in-mouth inclusion of Suite: Judy Blue Eyes which Crosby said they hadn’t played for about 20 years (True.)

It was certainly rough around the edges and here — as in many of their old classics – the harmonies are a little less bright and seamless than they once were. (Stills’ voice weak and often wavering). But the enjoyment they took in it (Stills on guitar especially as Crosby beamed away) was infectious and pulled a standing ovation.

Even more surprising came in the encore between Love the One Your With and Teach Your Children Well. Stills found his voice on For What It’s Worth by his pre-CS&N band Buffalo Springfield and the room rocked once more.

And backed by a cracking five-piece band (which included Crosby’s son James Raymond on keyboards, and that’s a story in itself) they certainly didn’t stint on the firepower when required, especially Stills who pulled out fierce sharp solos all night. You’d love him to come back with a bar band and really let loose.

And throughout the set – Crosby noting they could just play all their old hits – they included new material including longtime sailor Crosby’s Radio about rescue at sea but with a more universal meaning. There was also a tetchy Almost Gone written by Graham Nash and Raymond about the imprisonment of Bradley Manning for allegedly passing secret memos to Wikileaks.

And Nash’s country-flavoured In Your Name (about killing in the name of your God) sounded like a weary update of his old and angry Military Madness.

But of course it was the old songs which people responded instantly too – and Crosby (who often looked like he was pacing himself) unleashed exceptional vocal power on Almost Cut My Hair.

His “weird shit” on Guinnevere was much appreciated in the acoustic set which opened the second half. And there was a charmingly off-kilter version of Dylan’s Girl from the North Country with Stills taking wobbly lead vocals.

Crosby, Stills and Nash made a point of saying that this was the opening night of a world tour, but it never sounded like we were getting an open rehearsal. They were (mostly) on top of their game and you’d have to think that a few shows in this will become even more powerful.

You’d also observe that all these years on and against the odds – drugs, internal conflict, obesity and so on – that they could have coasted through this night just pulling out reasonable facsimiles of great days long gone.

But with the new songs, the humour, the flinty politics from Nash and Crosby, and Stills’ guitar playing this was clearly an outfit that isn’t going to go gently into that goodnight.

Whirimako Black & Nigel Gavin’s concert at Coromandel town on 25 Nov 2010 was a real treat. Both exceptionally talented musicians, they captivated the audience throughout with everything from jazz standards to originals in both English and Maori. Whirimako’s originals, some written by family members, were so heartfelt that they were still strongly meaningful to those of us who do not understand the Maori language.

Nigel’s sensational guitar skills complemented Whirimako’s great vocals wonderfully. The small Church venue and Whirimako’s wonderful ability to engage and connect with an audience made for a great intimate performance.

To quote Motueka Online’s recent review of the same concert held there:

“Such was the high quality of Whirimako’s rich, honeyed voice and emotional presentation and of Nigel’s at times almost unbelievable guitar playing, that it would be presumptuous of any minor-talented music reviewer to criticise anything.

Nigel’s guitar work flowed with a consummate ease which belied the complexity of what he can achieve with just 10 fingers, six strings, a few bits of wood, and an electronic system which allowed him to record live his own background chord patterns over which he could play instrumental breaks. “

We agree entirely, except that in Coromandel, Nigel was actually playing a seven string guitar – with an extra bass string added for more depth and versatility – further showcasing his extraordinary skills!

Well done to the Coromandel Music society for organising this great night.