Crosby, Stills and Nash revel in nostalgia during concert

Last fall, Neil Young told an audience that Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young “will never tour again, ever,” with David Crosby later confirming on Twitter that he and Young had a falling out.

But three out of four ain’t bad, especially since Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash were the core trio to begin with. So when tickets for Crosby, Stills and Nash’s concert at the Riverside Theater Sunday first went on sale, they were gone within the weekend.

That’s despite the fact that CSN hasn’t had an original studio album in 21 years (there was one with Young, but that was still back in 1999). Not that that seemed to matter. From a Stillsled, blues-colored rendition of Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth,” to Nash, the most festive of the three, regaling the audience with a story about tripping on acid at Stonehenge in the ’70s (which inspired the opus “Cathedral”), the show frequently served up nostalgia, and was celebrated for doing so.

But there were newbies along with the oldies Sunday — four unreleased songs, to be exact, two from Crosby, one from Stills and one from Nash. And surprisingly, they didn’t inspire either widespread audience chatter or a mass

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jsonline.com/newsletters. Piet talks about concerts, local music and more on “TAP’D In” with Jordan Lee, 8 a.m. Thursdays on WYMS-FM (88.9). exodus for the bar — even during Stills’ untitled song, which slightly suffered from his raw vocals, as did other songs when he took lead.

But Crosby’s “What Makes It So” and “Somebody Home” — and in particular Nash’s pensive “Myself at Last,” with lines like, “I screamed at the universe enough to make her laugh” — were sweetly sung, simple but stirring. (Crosby went solo for his songs, while Nash had help from Shane Fontayne on acoustic guitar.)

And even during the old songs, Crosby, Stills and Nash, and its impressive five-piece backing band, played for the moment. During “Déjà Vu,” members took turns with rich, crisp solos, then came together for some Chicago roadhouse boogie before dropping out, as Crosby and Nash’s ethereal harmonies, as lovely as they’ve ever been, floated above a gentle hum.

Stills, impressive on guitar all night, let it rip at the end for “Almost Cut My Hair” and “Wooden Ships.” Crosby’s voice was sublimely smooth Sunday, but during “Hair,” he belted out the vocals with all of his breath. And Nash frequently strolled up to different musicians during their moments in the spotlight, clearly relishing his vantage point, and displayed his own musical range, playing guitar, piano and harmonica throughout the two-hour-and-10minute show (excluding a 20minute intermission).

It’d be great to see Crosby, Stills and Nash get back into the studio together, but it’s clear they don’t need a new joint album to stay engaged. And frankly, they don’t really need Neil Young, either.