Neil Young and Stephen Stills Honor David Crosby, Revive Buffalo Springfield at Light Up The Blues
Nobody knew quite what to expect when Neil Young walked onstage Saturday night at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles to wrap up Light Up The Blues, a fundraising event organized by Stephen Stills and his wife Kristen Stills to benefit Autism Speaks. Discounting a surprise, two-song acoustic set at a Canadian environmental rally in February, Young hadn’t faced a live audience in nearly four years. The other performers at the show (Joe Walsh, Willie Nelson, Sharon Van Etten, Chris Stills, and Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real) stuck to about two songs each, but Young had top billing and it felt like he might give a little more.
What nobody saw coming was a stunning 11-song set, backed by members of Promise of the Real, Stills, and three background singers, that focused heavily on the catalog of Buffalo Springfield, including one 1966 extreme rarity that only the true trainspotters in the audience even recognized. It was a joyous reunion of the longtime bandmates, whose history dates back nearly 60 years, and a great moment for fans who were beginning to feel like Young might never return to live work again due to lingering Covid fears, and rage over service fees and other Ticketmaster shenanigans.
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The Stills family organized the first Light Up The Blues a decade ago, and it’s slowly built up over the years from the Club Nokia to the Pantages and Dolby theaters to now the 5,900-seat Greek Theater. Performers with autism are booked every year, and this time around the bill included opera singer Amanda Anderson, rapper Rio “Soulshocka” Wyles, and former Voice contestant Will Breman. All three played impressive mini sets that proved autism is no barrier to artistic greatness.
Jeff Garlin and Camryn Manheim were the hosts for the evening, and Promise of the Real served as the house band. They helped Sharon Van Etten transform her 2019 song “Seventeen” into a rootsy number. “I normally play this song kind of rockin’,” she said. “I have a version of the song that’s more country-leaning, and I’ve never done this live before. What a perfect time to do it.”
Lukas Nelson came out next to lead his longtime band through “Set Me Down on a Cloud” and “Find Yourself,” showing off his amazing guitar and vocal chops. Chris Stills admitted that it was a “tough act to follow,” but he did his best by playing “100 Year Thing” and the tender piano ballad “Where Love Is Found.” “I wrote this song for a Hollywood movie,” he said. “They didn’t take it. So it’s for us tonight. I worked real hard on it.” Hopefully, there was a producer in the audience that’ll find a place for the song in another movie.
The emotion only ratcheted up when Graham Nash – who had to miss the show to play a gig in Munhall, Pennsylvania – appeared on the video screens. “Hello everybody,” he said. “David was my best friend for almost 50 years. I’m going to miss him terribly in my life. I think about him every day. I’d like to revisit a beautiful piece of music, David and I doing ‘Guinnevere’ at Jazz at Lincoln Center with the famous trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. Enjoy the music, and please rejoice. I’m going to miss him every day of my life.”
A crowd quieted to a hush while the 2013 performance of “Guinnevere” played on the screen, but they roared when Stephen Stills took the stage alongside his son Chris Stills and James Raymond, Croz’s son and longtime musical collaborator, to play “Wooden Ships.” Stills may not have the same singing voice he had back in 1969, but his guitar skills are practically undiminished. Chris Stills helped out with some of the vocals, and it was a bittersweet peak at a tour that Crosby was plotting with Chris Stills in the final days of his life. It’s a shame we’ll never get to see that tour, and a shame Nash was unable to make this gig, but such is life.
Joe Walsh livened things up with a typically goofy rendition of his 1978 solo hit “Life’s Been Good.” “If I knew I was going to have to play this next song for the rest of my life I would have wrote something else,” he said before breaking out “Rocky Mountain Way.” “But we’re stuck with this one.” He may be slightly bored by “Rocky Mountain Way” at this point, but he seemed thrilled when Stephen Stills came out to trade licks on it.
After a brief intermission, Willie Nelson – just one week shy of his 90th birthday – walked out alongside his sons, Lukas and Micah, plus harmonica player Mickey Raphael, and Promise of the Real. It was a quick medley that touched on “Funny How Time Slips Away,” “Crazy” and “My Life,” and just a tiny preview of his upcoming all star birthday bash at the Hollywood Bowl next weekend.
Cries of “Neil!” filled the Greek when Young came out next, acoustic guitar in hand and harmonica rack around his neck, to open his set with the Harvest Moon gem “From Hank To Hendrix,” followed by “Comes a Time.” Bassist Corey McCormick, drummer Anthony Logerfo, and percussionist Tato Melgar joined in on “Heart of Gold,” though the Nelson brothers surprisingly remained offstage for Young’s entire set. Stephen Stills played piano on “Helpless,” just like he did at the Déjà Vu sessions well over 50 years ago.
In a surprising move, that was the only CSN/CSNY song in their set. More surprising was the decision to revive five Buffalo Springfield songs: “On The Way Home,” “Everybody’s Wrong,” “For What It’s Worth,” “Bluebird,” and “Mr. Soul.” They hadn’t done anything like that since the painfully brief Buffalo Springfield reunion tour in 2011, and it was a tremendous lost opportunity to not fly in Richie Furay and make it a proper Buffalo Springfield reunion.
Some of the Springfield numbers felt a smidge underrehearsed, especially “Everybody’s Wrong,” which featured Stills on banjo, but it was still extremely moving to see 2/3rds of the living band revive the music like this. Considering how infrequently Stills and Young play together, it’s very possible this is the last time anything like this happens.
Young briefly left the stage so Joe Walsh could help out Stills on “Love The One You’re With” and “Helplessly Hoping,” and the night wrapped up with Stills and Young locking vocals on “Long May You Run” like they did at so many CSNY concerts in the past. But CSNY will never play again. Buffalo Springfield is now just a distant memory. But fans got to see glimpses of both groups at this truly fantastic, emotional concert. Let’s hope it inspires Young to finally get back on the road. We don’t want to wait another four years to experience a night of music like this again.
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