Crosby, Stills and Nash still ranks as one of my all time favorite acts. I’ve seen the band in numerous combinations and incarnations through the years, with and without Neil Young, and they never disappoint. Not many bands can bring the acoustic and electric music with equal beauty, precision and intensity. Stephen Stills is hardly ever mentioned when the great rock guitarists are discussed but he ranks right up there with some of the best and he is under appreciated in that regard. The harmonies of David Crosby and Graham Nash, the unparalleled songwriting, the passion for music and civil activism all make the band members a fascinating ever evolving dynamic. To this day, songs like “Almost Cut My Hair” still provide chills.

While age and wear and tear have taken a bit of a toll on the elder statesman of rock, David Crosby’s voice remains as powerful as ever- a force of nature and a true gift as he proved once again that he still has chops with his latest solo album and a tour which landed at City Winery NYC.

Back in 1977, we left ourselves plenty of time to head in to Manhattan by subway to hang out before the CSN show as part of the MSG concert experience was bound to be all of the activity outside the building and we wanted to get in early. We jumped on the #7 train in Flushing, Queens to travel to Madison Square Garden for the highly anticipated concert expecting that a big night was in store.

Unfortunately our plans got somewhat derailed as the train stopped for an extended period mid trip and we found out that someone had decided to jump in front of a subway car on the train ahead of us. A crime scene was not something we could have anticipated and as the time passed we started to wonder if an apparently troubled soul was going to keep us from ever getting to the Garden that night. Troubled, maybe, but we had to admit that the thought crossed our minds that whoever it was could have been more considerate to the traveling public when choosing THIS night to take a tragic final leap. Fortunately we had enough beer to make the delay tolerable then at some point the train lurched forward and we began to move again. It was going to be close but we were going to make it! Our catastrophe was averted and our snapshot Woodstock moment with CSN would not be lost.

No one could have known then that any band could have the staying power so that I would eventually get to see the band IN Woodstock 37 years after the Madison Square Garden show. My wife and I drove to upstate NewYork this past July 5th to see the band at Bethel Woods- a beautiful outdoor venue with covered seating and a huge general admission lawn area . An added bonus to the trip was that Bethel Woods is home to the Woodstock Museum containing interesting artifacts, a movie about the event and historical perspective of the original Woodstock music festival that is different than any other- pretty cool stuff.

My wife’s Woodstock moment has always been being stuck in the legendary New York State Thruway traffic jam with her parents and sister on the way to an upstate family vacation.

Yes, she finally got to Woodstock.

Let Your Freak a Flag Fly
And Rock On

GQ