Pity the Republicans in this packed, peace-sign-waving crowd. The plain-spoken sentiments in Young's ``Let's Impeach the President" and ``Shock and Awe" left little room for debate or dissent. Sadly, the extraordinary idealism embodied in the older CSNY material felt still more provocative, and depressingly outdated. ``Love is coming to us all," they promised in ``Carry On." ``We can change the world/Rearrange the world" went the refrain on Nash's ``Chicago." It's been 35 years, and the dream seems more distant than ever.
Topicality aside, the foursome is a still-formidable musical front line, and the songs (with a few solo-repertoire exceptions) are simply stellar. And while their personal relationships have been famously combative, the four of them seemed to genuinely relish playing music together. Stills and Young, often face-to-face, goaded each other again and again to guitar-god greatness, most memorably on ``Deja Vu."
During the lower-key second half, members regrouped in smaller, unplugged configurations. Crosby and Nash gathered behind Young at the piano as he revisited his tender past in ``Only Love Can Break Your Heart," and pushed their signature sweet, close harmonies into fantastically complex shapes on ``Guinevere."
All four returned to lead a feel-good sing - along of ``Teach Your Children," a fiery take on ``Southern Cross," and an appropriately scorched read of ``Find the Cost of Freedom." And while such pedestrian concerns as pacing took a back seat to the moment's message, a late-show combo of ``Rockin' in the Free World" and ``Taps" hit just the right notes. What a rarity: a concert that sends you home thinking, feeling, and rocking.
Joan Anderman can be reached at anderman@globe.com.
