Concert Review: Crosby, Stills and Nash, Trusts Stadium

Folk trio Crosby, Stills and Nash. Photo / Supplied

Since they were last here in December 2007, nothing has happened in the Crosby, Stills and Nash world by way of a new album (their previous was 12 years ago) or solo releases.

But who goes to hear new songs by CS&N?

Yet among the many unexpected delights of this concert - their first on a world tour - were an excellent new piece by David Crosby (Radio, using the metaphor of a rescue at sea for more universal meaning) and a brittle Almost Gone by Graham Nash and keyboard player James Raymond (Crosby's son) about the imprisonment of whistle-blower Bradley Manning for allegedly passing secret memos to Wikileaks.

Even more surprising was a here-goes-nothin' airing of their famous Suite: Judy Blue Eyes which Crosby noted they hadn't played for about 20 years.

Yes, it was a bit ragged but the pleasure they took in it (Stills on guitar especially as the beatific Crosby beamed away) was a sheer delight.

And in the encore after Love the One You're With and before Teach Your Children Well came another gem - Stills in fine voice on For What It's Worth by his pre-CS&N band Buffalo Springfield.

Earlier, Nash's old Military Madness had its contemporary counterpart in a fine new country-flavoured In Your Name about killing in the name of a faith.

So while ticking off obligatory crowd-pleasers (Southern Cross, Wooden Ships, Marrakech Express, Deja-Vu, Our House etc) backed by a cracking five-piece band, CS&N also delivered an unexpectedly invigorated performance.

And in a stripped-back acoustic set opening the second half included an endearingly wobbly treatment by Stills of Dylan's Girl from the North Country and Crosby's trippy Guinnevere [sic].

If the harmonies are a little less lustrous and Stills' voice sometimes wavering, there were ample compensations in this diverse and sometimes even daring set list.

Crosby's vocal power on Almost Cut My Hair was extraordinary and Stills strangled out electrifying tremolo/crescendo guitar solos.

Anthems of their generation, politics, classic songs, humour (70-year old Crosby said: "I'm supposed to write the weird shit, and I'm particularly well suited to the task") and credible new songs.

More than four decades on from their debut and certainly not coasting.