Crosby, Stills Nash & Young rock the house at Bethel Woods

Concert carries anti-war theme

By FRITZ MAYER

BETHEL, NY — Crosby Stills Nash and Young (CSNY) brought their “Freedom of Speech ’06” tour to Bethel Woods on Sunday night, and churned out a number of new Neil Young songs that are as politically charged as the classic anti-war tunes the band performed at the height of their popularity in the ’70s.

Neil Young’s new album, “Living with War,” provided songs for up to 25 percent of the material performed. The single “Let’s Impeach the President” has received a great deal of media attention. The sold-out audience greeted it enthusiastically, but according to the Washington Post, at other concerts the song has “sent some patrons heading toward the exits.”

This summer’s tour has also featured other politically charged songs, including “Families,” which has been performed as images from Iraq played on the screens beside the band, as well as “Flags of Freedom” and “Shock and Awe.”

The band’s classic songs that also carry anti-war messages include “Ohio,” “Military Madness,” “For What It’s Worth” and “Find the Cost of Freedom.” CSNY has played all of these songs in concert this summer.

The band specifically set out to bring their anti-war songs out of the trunk this year. As David Crosby told the Boston Herald, “We’ve never thought war was a good idea, and we still don’t. Those young people we sent to Iraq, God bless them… let’s not waste them earning a profit for Haliburton and Bechtel and whoever makes the tanks.”

But the anti-war sentiment did not take up the entire evening. There were performances of many of the band’s non-activist past hits, such as “Helplessly Hoping,” and “Teach Your Children.”

Appropriately, 27 years after the original Woodstock festival, CSNY was back at the site of the legendary music event, and closed the show with the song written by Joni Mitchell, simply called “Woodstock.”