An evening with Graham Nash
This is our last night of our Cape Cod vacation. I knew Graham Nash was playing a concert right here in Truro,Massachusetts tonight, and usually I NEVER book an event on our last night, but GRAHAM NASH!!! So I booked it. Front row seats, even. We have some mutual acquaintances, so I was hoping for a chat. I passed my card to one of the guys putting on the concert, and he said Nash would get it for sure.
Well, the concert was FABULOUS. He played guitar and piano. He had a lead guitarist with him who has toured with Sting and Bruce Springsteen. Yes, he WAS that good. If you have seen the Kennedy Center concert for Led Zepplin, with Heart (and a lot of etc.) performing "Stairway To Heaven," that's him, Shane Fontayne, doing the Jimmy Page lead guitar solos. Nash also had a keyboardist (from Texas, no less!) who could do bass on a bass keyboard, like Ray Manzarek of the Doors (or, like me, back in the day). Their vocals sounded like C,S&N--and I had seen C,S&N back in the day. Nash couldn't QUITE hit all the high notes, but he hit most of them--not bad for a guy who turned 80 this year!
I never did get to say hi in person, but he emailed me immediately after the concert to apologize, saying that on tour, they wouldn't see ANYBODY, not even close friends or acquaintances. They were being THAT Covid-careful. I understood. In an audience of what must have been close to 1000 people--mostly New England and New York "Libbrul academics"--there were exactly TWO people wearing a mask. I was 50% of them.
We may be in the same city in the early part of the year, so maybe I'll get to meet up with him then. He has a place there, and so does our mutual acquaintance. I'd make the trip just for the Beatles stories!! He did two songs that weren't at least partially his. One was Steven Stills' "Love The One You're With," and the other (to my astonishment) was "A Day In The Life," that last number on the Sgt. Pepper's album. They pulled it off, absolutely blew the crowd away.
My wife wasn't feeling well, so she canceled at the last minute. Too bad! If I had know in advance, I would have pleaded for ANYONE on DU within driving distance to come up here and grab the extra ticket. There would have been an upside and a downside to that. The upside would have been one HELL of a memorable concert. The downside is that you would have to sit next to me, but nothing works out perfectly all the time.
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Please forgive my ignorance, but is this the Nash of Crosby, Stills and ...? I love their sound. Never got to hear them live though.
And I'm so sorry your lovely wife was under the weather tonight. I hope it's nothing.
And please stop running yourself down! I've sat next to you any number of times, and it has always been lovely.
Thanks for the great story.
Your last night on your vacation to my birth state has concluded with such a memorable event. I am envious. I, too, am a big fan a Graham Nash. Shows like that were a staple for me back in the day, there were so many cozy venues then.
I'm glad it went so well and that you will have opportunities in the future.
Have a safe and pleasant journey home!
