Concert Review : Crosby, Stills And Nash Regal At The Castle

CSN were excellent at Edinburgh Castle and successfully kept the predicted heavy rain at bay during their performance. Stills was in excellent form throughout and made this a much more satisfying show from them than my previous gigs where he was largely along for the ride.



Have to say that, despite the scenic advantages, that Edinburgh Castle is a terrible venue for a rock gig. Even for the slimmer amongst us the seats would be a challenge with no room to move, and which consequently make turning towards the stage (for those at the sides) somewhat difficult. Luckily, there were some spare seats last night and others in the row moved elsewhere which allowed more room for manoeuvre.

Stewarding was also poor with next to no assistance showing people to their seats and queuing for the toilets was somewhat haphazard and relying entirely on the good sense of those in the queue.

The toilets themselves were portakabins which appeared to be sizable but were taken up internally by the latrine itself leaving very little room to stand in.

Back to the music though - highlights were Southern Cross, Cathedral, Guinevere and the "new" songs from the forthcoming Covers album sounded super. Perhaps best of the night was Crosbys’ rendition of Long Time Gone.


Stills played with a winning combination of flash and economy and never outstayed his welcome when soloing, thus adding considerably to the impact of the songs.

Crosby sounded a little weak in places (perhaps related to his finding the weather somewhat un-Southern Californian!) but came through for his solo set pieces.

Nash was as solid and reliable as ever. That's not meant to sound in any way demeaning - Nash is the rock of stability that's kept these guys at it all the years and is a fine role model for any aspiring musician to follow. Perhaps regarded as the lightweight at the outset, it's amazing how many of his songs resonate down the years. More power to his elbow.