It's getting to the point where I'm not fun anymore. So sang Crosby Stills and Nash about 40 years ago. Yet, much has changed in forty years, and for at least one group it's not been for the better. CSN has gotten old as I saw at their July 30 concert at SPAC. David Crosby and Tyler Nash have put on a lot of weight and look like some big old hippies. Their songs have lost their magical charm.

In part, they're voices are not what they once where. Then again, most of us after so many years would lose part of what made us so special. CSN's greatest music came at the prime of their lives, something that is far beyond them now. They still sing and they still have passion, but their voices lack the quality and the true harmony of their old sound.

We all go to concerts expecting to hear what we heard on the vinyl. Yet that is often an unreasonable expectation. People change over time. CSN's improvements to their old songs where not for the better, but some of their songs including the one about Yucca Mountain showed that an old group could truly be innovative. Their humor and feelings on contemporary politics was well placed, but much different from the days of "Politics is bullshit, Richard Nixon is bullshit".

There first two songs where truly bad. They were singing out of harmony and out of key. I would have hoped they would have warmed up before they got on stage. Marrakech Express was simply disappointing, though towards the end I warmed up to their rendition. Their finally of Teach Your Children was excellent, though different from earlier versions. They got better, but they weren't the group they where 40 years ago.

One of the most interesting things about the concert was the audience. CSN with their folk-country-rock gentry attract some interesting people. Some wore black cowboy hats, some where young, and a lot where old and graying. Some people brought little kids, other ones where somewhat older. CSN was an old group, but their sound seemed to resonate across both old and young who rejected something about the mass-produced urban music of today.

There is something so nice about having lawn seats for the concert. You not only listen to the music live and are able to see both the stage and now a close up on large projector screens, and you can look up and see the beautiful sunset and stars. You feel like your out in nature listening to music, along with many other people who seem more down to earth then in some concerts. At SPAC youre out in nature listening to music. That part was probably the best part of the concert.

My hopes for CSN where unrealistically high after going to the Joan Baez concert last fall. Still, their sound was decent, if not totally solid. David Crosby, Steven Stills, and Tyler Nash aren't kids any more. It would have been nice to have also had Young there, but it's not surprising he was there. I had higher hopes for their concert, but I realize that the heyday for this group has come and gone.