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NEW: Streaming
video of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young in Concert at the Fillmore
East! New
Video Release: and
film of Woodstock Festival and more... Order
this Video |
To the audience, in 1969, Crosby, Stills and Nash represented the reunion of members from Buffalo Springfield and the Byrds. It was a packed house, the first concert of the weekend, the streets had loads of life, The crowd was a block long, Ratner's Restaurant next door was busy, the fur store was still open up the street, along with other stores selling hippie gear. The car traffic was flowing normally and there were no barricades, no police presence. The smell of Italian sausage sandwiches and incense filled the air. The crowd was orderly and laid back. We went in as
normal, no extra traffic at the stage door. At this point my friend
Clyde and I were writing rock reviews for Pleasure Magazine, and I
was also doing photography. So security at the theatre had gotten
used to seeing us. Kip Cohen, the manager of the Fillmore East, allowed
us access and we were able to move back and forth between the theatre
and backstage.
As a result of this I could photograph from any angle, sit in any vacant seat, and I was able to shoot motion picture film of any venue -- everyone was very friendly, relaxed and helpful. No food was sold there, but the smell of popcorn still lingered in the air from it's prior days. I remember Crosby, Stills, and Nash opened with an
acoustic set, and there was an arc of applause, but somewhat restrained
in comparison to later that evening, when they introduced an old friend
of theirs who had come to be part of the set and was now a new member.
Who turned out to be Neil Young!
Graham Nash brought something extra to the voices, soothing long tones, and it just brought together a wonderful harmony of voices. Supported by the acoustic guitars, it was truly a magical evening! Neil Young sang solos of his own songs as well as singing with the group. As you can see in the motion picture, after Neil finishes his set, they bring out the electric equipment and Dave Crosby bows down to the mountain of drums and electric guitars that is wheeled out on stage. The electric set was spectacular! The audience went wild and there were numerous curtain calls. The ushers would bang their flashlights 3 times on the stage to have the band come back out before the audience tore the seats off the chairs. [I know this, because I was backstage several months earlier after Santana's debut, and before Carlos Santana when back on stage for his 3rd curtain call, he hesitated, and they banged 3 more times] I hope this gives you a feeling of some of the energy
that was going on that night.
I wish they would have recorded an album of their performance that night! The images on this page represent a few frames from
the motion picture that I filmed that evening. -
Greg T. Jones
visit our pages of Vanguard Musicians e-mail us at jnyvideo@aol.com
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