I saw David Crosby and the Sky Trails Band on August 11th
at Lincoln Center Outdoors. It was the
last concert of their free summer Americana series. It was too soon to call it quits on the
summer. Here it is a couple of weeks
later, I am writing this on September 2, Labor Day. Summer is still lingering in the warm
afternoons, although the days are growing shorter.
There was
an opener, Anais Mitchell and her partner.
She won a Tony for the adaptation for her album Hadestown. Interesting voice and yet she had some
technical difficulties which were distracting.
It was a
beautiful night in the city. I bought my
Icon discount parking voucher earlier and left work a couple of hours early to
see the event. I assumed if I got there early, I mean how many older folkies
would tread into the city to see Cros?
There were more than 700 in front of me, and I was there an hour and a
half before the gates opened. Gates
opened at 6:30, general seating. Slowly,
we made our way up the block, through the entrance and I was in. The place was already filling up, there were
3,000 seats, so I needed to move fast. I
saw an open spot in the center and asked a woman who was there with her
friends, after a little banter she finally understood, I was speaking English
and I wanted to take a seat. I got up
and came back with a beer and noticed the large head in front of me. It was strange since the back of this
stranger’s head, looked like the back of my head. I was blocked. Being six foot four or around this height; I
am sure I have blocked many unsuspecting people who may have paid a good price
to attend any concert which I also happened to attend. I am aware of my height. At the shows where I must stand, I try to
make my way – most of the time to the back.
When I was younger, I was hands on the stage and wanting to get as close
as possible. I guess it depends on the
artist. By the grace of God a woman left
her seat and a friend’s and I watched her tell another person, she had to
leave. I bolted and took a seat just as
another guy was making his way. Great
view, saw the whole stage and enjoyed Cros for all of his worth.
The band
was incredible; many CSN&Y songs were played. A huge surprise was 8 Miles High, from the
Byrds. One of my favorite songs, and yet
the crowd was calm, passive almost, unfortunately when the song Ohio was
played, David tried to rally troops to the song, four dead in Ohio and yet the
heart palpitations and gastritis was a little too much to weigh in on the
chorus, disappointed, I saw Crosby look back at his band. The bass player just shrugged as if to say,
they don’t got it. They are old.
Thank you for reading this.
