Graham Nash has in my world always been part of the CSNY story and I never really paid any attention to his career past the mid 70’s.  However, given his eminent status from the 60/70s and the fact that he is referenced my many musicians I thought it was about time I went and saw him live (before one of us dies 😊).  So checking out the setlist.com web site and seeing the songs he was playing on this tour I must admit I was very much looking forward to it (especially the bit about stories), and he didn’t disappoint.   We got to learn a bit about his history and how some songs were inspired.

The stage was simple (a roadies dream), adorned in candles and carpets, the lighting was calm and soothing.  All were seated and it was nicely setup to be easy on the eye and let the audience concentrate on the harmonious melodies and songwriting of undoubted quality.  This was a musical event and a celebration of songs  and stories that have endured for good reason – they are timeless.

The sound was well mixed – crystal clear which let Graham’s crisp voice and the melodic harmonies excel.  It was also loud enough, when the band went at it full pelt, to ensure a few deaf ears the next day 😊.

The band were Todd Caldwell (keyboards), Adam Minkoff (bass, drums, guitars), and Zach Djanikian (guitars, mandolin, drums).  Adam and Zach are both clearly adept musicians and they constantly switched instruments between songs which allowed them to showcase their skills especially when it came to extended guitar solos – impeccable musicianship and singing harmonies.

Graham introduced most of the songs with a brief anecdote on how the songs emerged e.g. ‘Immigration Man’ was written after he was refused entry back into the USA in 1970 after a CSNY tour.  In fact the introductions were a pretty good summary of his extraordinary career and the famous musicians he has hung around with along the way.

He told a great story of being begged by his then Hollies manager to go and see a kid whose mum was constantly pestering him about her songwriting son.  So Alan Clarke and he went over to the kids house.   It turns out that this 17 year old kid was burgeoning songwriter Graham Gouldman and he played them a few tunes of which they took a couple, and Alan kept asking if he had any better tunes and they finally got their hands on ‘Bus Stop’, which was a massive hit for the Hollies.

We also had lots of stories from Peter Asher, the support act, a man with an equally interesting life story, from which I learnt a lot.  He was entertaining to listen to but the music was simply not for me, old, dull and dreary.  I’d have preferred him just talking TBH.  This is a classic example of someone that should not be on the road at his age, plus the sound mix was as awful as the songs!

For Graham’s set the songs were split roughly two thirds CSN/CSNY and the other third to his solo output.  A wonderful mix of stonewall 1969-1975 classics and excellent solo material. 

Set List (click on the link to see the YouTube video)

1. Wasted on the Way (Daylight Again, 1982 – CSN song)
2. Marrakesh Express (Crosby, Stills & Nash, 1969 – CSN song)
3. Military Madness (Songs for Beginners, 1971)
4. I Used to Be a King (Songs for Beginners, 1971)
5. Bus Stop (Bus Stop, 1966 – The Hollies song)
6. Immigration Man (Graham Nash David Crosby, 1972)
7. Better Days (Songs for Beginners, 1971)
8. Love the One You’re With (Stephen Stills, 1970)
9. Love of Mine (Now, 2013)
10. To the Last whale… Wind on the Water (Wind on the Water, 1975 – Crosby & Nash)
11. Just a Song Before I Go (CSN, 1977)
12. Our House (Déjà Vu, 1970, – CSNY song)
13. Teach Your Children (Déjà Vu, 1970, – CSNY song)

encore

1. Find the Cost of Freedom (So Far, 1974 – CSNY song – B-side of Ohio)
2. Woodstock (Déjà Vu, 1970, – Joni Mitchell song)
3. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes (Crosby, Stills & Nash, 1969)

‘Marrakesh Express’ he revealed was written about a train journey between Casablanca and Marrakesh that he took in 1966 while with The Hollies and to this day it’s one of his most famous songs.  The lyrics made reference to ‘animal carpet wall-to-wall’, ‘coloured cottons’ in the air, referring to the people and sights on the train.

‘Military Madness’ about his father’s experience during WW2 and ‘I Used to Be a King’, the latter written about his relationship with Joni Mitchell.

There was a lot of audience participation with the chorus of Stephen Stills’ ‘Love the One You’re With’ and ‘Our house’ based on a cold morning when Joni Mitchell bought a vase on their way back to their Laurel Canyon home. Upon entering the house, Nash said, “I’ll light the fire; you place the flowers in the vase that you bought today”.

The encore featured ‘Find the Cost of Freedom’, Joni Mitchell’s ‘Woodstock’, and a thundering version of ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes’ that took the well-aged audience back in time to CS&N’s heyday.  Some of the song lyrics resonate as much today as when they were first written 50 odd years ago.  That said Nash didn’t need to go political with regard to comments made around current wars and free speech, the former based around the middle east split the audience and there was audible dissent and booing to which he said “we are all entitled to our opinions” – quite right he should have kept his opinions to himself and just sang the bloody songs!!

I’m old but the audience were truly old and this was perhaps their last chance to engage in a nostalgic victory lap from an 83 year old legend in his twilight years.  I’m glad I experienced it, thanks for an entertaining evening – end of the story.

Marko [21 Oct 2025]

PS – Neil Young didn’t even get a mention 🤔