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Chuck A Fireman Naughton's Review
(more reviews coming)
Also See:
The show details.
A Plain Dealer pre-show article.
The Plain Dealer review of the show.

First Set
1. Carry On
2. Southern Man
3. Stand And Be Counted
4. Pre-Road Downs
5. Heartland
6. 49 Bye-Byes
7. Slowpoke
8. Marrakesh Express
9. Faith In Me
10. Almost Cut My Hair
11. Cinnamon Girl
    Second Set
12. Helplessly Hoping
13. Our House
14. Old Man
15. Dream For Him
16. Looking Forward
17. Someday Soon
18. After The Goldrush
19. Guinnevere
20. Out Of Control
21. Seen Enough
22. Teach Your Children
    [7th Inning Stretch]
23. Woodstock
24. Eight Miles High
25. Ohio
26. Love The One You're With
27. Down By The River
28. For What It's Worth
29. Rockin' In The Free World
    Encore
30. Long May You Run

Greetings folks....How Ya Doin'?
I'm just now recovering from the 3rd night of A Fireman's 4-city tour with CSNY. The following are some random thoughts from the Celveland 3-23-2000 show...

It's difficult not to compare the shows while you experience them... Each is an experience unto itself -- but you find yourself nit-picking on things... For instance: last night Croz's voice was a bit strained... I first picked up on it on the third song, Stand and Be Counted, and then -- to me -- it was confirmed during Almost Cut My Hair. And Guenivere has been performed better -- Croz just didn't have the same edge as he did in Detroit or Pittsburgh. BUT, he pulled it off anyway. If you hadn't experienced an earlier show you'd never know there was a problem. A great pro knows how to play hurt, and Croz is a great pro...

In Detroit the crowd had been buzzing in anticipation of the tour opener, and rode along on the wave from start to finish. In Pittsburgh the crowd seemed a bit subdued until it was pulled into the whirlwind by the band. But in -- well let's just say Cleveland rocks! -- this was one hyped up crowd. That energy worked great during the rockers and the sing-alongs, but was a tad counterproductive during the acoustic set. There's a dozen or so "seagulls" in every crowd...

From my seats in the 11th row center the sound was a bit muddy. But it improved as the show progressed. The setlist was pretty "standard" -- no new tunes. Surprisingly, this fact has not been a disappointment to me, because the band puts it all on line every night.

Highlights for me....

• Eight Miles High... As Joy Ray said after the show.....it was the most psychedelic version either of us ever heard. More intense than in Pittsburgh. How can I describe the ear-searing/brain-buzzing guitars??? For those of you who remember this kind of thing: think windowpane, purple microdot, orange barrel, strawberry blotter or sugercubes. Think groovy... Think peace, love and trails. You get the picture...

  Croz said it was the fourth time they "ever" played that tune together. He seemed quite pleased with it as well. When is mushroom season, anyway...?

• Down By the River... Again, an awesome guitar duel between Young and Stills. Stephen seemed to assert his lead a bit more than in Pittsburgh, highlighted by a wicked series of arpeggiated riffs up and down the neck. He broke a string on his burst Strat about a third of the way into the song -- and the axe was replaced by the Flying Vee mid-stride.

  Neil was as awesome as ever, working the crowd into a lather at will. But the crowd didn't take the "Be on my side" cue as well as the Pittsburgh audience. Neil tried a fourth time but the response just wasn't there. Pretty hard to top that Pittsburgh performance and vibe.

• Ohio... The Detroit tour-opener version, with the intensity of Neil's lead intro setting the stage, has been the best so far. But Keltner's military madness march intro in this version -- coupled with the proximity of Kent State, and the crowd's appreciation -- made this song one for the highlight reel. I'd pair this performance with the solo Akron performance to keep the memory alive....

• "Neil Fucked Up..." Graham must have been waiting for this moment to nail Neil the taskmaster. Neil missed the timing on the opening notes of Seen Enough -- so he made everyone stop and start over. Nash was obviously elated that he could finally lay a glove on Neil, and everyone laughed. :-)

• Rockin' In the Free World... Neil and Stephen again set the arena on fire with that hard driving anthem. Hot licks and tasty notes fill in, but RITFW is all about the rhythm and the beat. Again Neil and Stephen delivered the rock and the roll.

  Just before the song started, Stills said something to Neil. Although I'm no lip reader -- and could be way off base here -- I believe it was "don't do it, no don't do it." At the time I wondered if he was telling Neil not to rip his strings off again. This is really just conjecture on my part. But of course, Neil didn't listen. ("Larry... String up Old Black again, will ya pal? Thanks.") Neil again brought the house down...

During Guenivere, an elderly woman in a bright red outfit stumbled her way through my row to take the empty seat next to mine, and pulled out a notebook. At the time I thought, "how sweet, she must have been an old hippie in the days, and she's keeping track of the setlist, too..." But she only stayed for a couple of songs.

When she left, the woman in front of me (who had seen me taking notes) turned around and asked me if I was working with Jane Scott. Not being from Cleveland, I didn't know what she was talking about. She explained to me who the woman-in-red was (the dean of Cleveland entertainment reporters). Not too long after that, Croz said something like "take that Jane Scott" after they really nailed a tune (maybe Woodstock).

All in all, another most excellent experience... Once more for me in T.O. next week!

Chuck N
A Fireman

(more reviews coming soon... --RE*AC*TOR)