Seeing seven members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in one night in two concerts in the Twin Cities doesn't happen too often. It did Saturday night with Crosby, Stills & Nash at the Minneapolis Convention Center for the PACER Center benefit (each is a two-time Hall of Famer, with, respectively the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and the Hollies and, of course, CSN) and Prince with another late-night cameo performance at Paisley Park.Here are separate reports.
Crosby, Stills & Nash
Let's be honest: The audience at the annual PACER Center benefit is a little bit staid compared to your typical rock crowd; they're supporting the cause – helping children with disabilities – as much as they are watching musical heroes. Moreover, there was palpable sadness Saturday at the PACER event because the organization's longtime executive director and cofounder Paula Goldberg's son, David, 47, a California Internet executive, died unexpectedly Friday. She was not at Saturday's event.
But somehow the crowd was more into the music than usual, thanks to a stellar performance by CSN. Their harmonies were impressive. So were the solo voices, especially those of David Crosby and Graham Nash. Their duet on "Guinevere" was glorious, an intricate vocal workout.
Stephen Stills, who has sounded ragged in the recent past, held his own vocally, and he was smokin' on lead guitar, especially on Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" and "Wooden Ships." The five-man backup band was first-rate all night long.
CSN was generous with its time – they played 80 minutes compared to a mere 47 minutes by Diana Ross last year at the PACER affair – and spirit. Stills spotted a young man in a seersucker sport coat about 8 years old dancing with abandon in front of the stage and he pronounced the kid part of the act.
Knowing he was in Minnesota, Stills spoke about Walter Mondale and Bob Dylan. He did an impression of Dylan singing CSN's "Helplessly Hoping" and did his own version of Dylan's "Girl from the North Country."
Nash gave an encouraging shout-out to Joni Mitchell, who has been hospitalized recently but is improving, before singing "Our House." He joked about the costumed folks heading to ComicCon in another part of at the Convention Center. And he spoke eloquently about PACER and its championing of children with disabilities before closing with the apropos "Teach Your Children," which turned into a giant sing-along.
