There's always 1 or 2 concerts during the season that leave me completely awe-inspired by music and the arts. I had it with Paul Simon 2 years ago and Yo Yo Ma in 2014, for example. Yesterday was another one of those shows and I'd put it up there with one of the best I've seen at Wolf Trap. David Crosby has been a rock icon for over 50 years and first got his start with the Byrds back in 1964. The band had a number of hit singles and Crosby wrote their hit "Eight Miles High". After leaving them in 1968, he joined with Graham Nash and Stephen Stills to form Crosby Stills and Nash. Crosby wrote "Guinevere", "Almost Cut My Hair" and "Deja Vu" for the band and was part of the unique three part harmonies that graced their albums. They played at Woodstock in 1969 and were the quintessential countercultural group of the late 60's. After a temporary collaboration and album with Neil Young, the band broke up in 1970 and Crosby has been on his own since. During this time and with CSN, he became an outspoken cultural figure and political activist. While he has had problems with drugs and the excesses of the 1970's, he is a rock survivor and continues to perform in support of his new album. Alison Krauss has been recording and performing since 1987 when she was only 16. She was first backed by her band the Union Station and together they have released a number of albums while Krauss also releases her solo material. Instrumental to the resurgence of bluegrass music to mainstream culture, Krauss has done a number of successful collaborations, soundtracks and performances that have made her the central figure in bluegrass and folk. Some of her most famous works include the soundtracks for the films
Cold Mountain and
O Brother, Where Art Thou, as well as her duet album with Robert Plant in 2007. She has the 2nd most Grammy wins of any artist in history and while her roots reside in bluegrass, her palate has expanded to include most forms of contemporary pop and folk.
This was one of the most beautiful shows I've ever heard. Alison Krauss is an incredible artist and I was so drawn into her show that I forgot about the other 7050 people in the audience at one point. Her songs ranged from ballads to mid-paced numbers but she didn't amps to electrify the crowd. One of my favorite parts was towards the end of the show when she sang some hymns with just her and two guitarists. This really touched me because that's how folk and bluegrass started, people singing spirituals and her beautiful interpretations encapsulated what the genre is all about. David Crosby, for his part, also had a great performance and ran through new and old songs like the well versed veteran he is. I've seen him live twice before but he seems less fiery than he used to be and and his band isn't quite as loud. Still, songs like "Ohio" and "Long Time" have the same spark they did 48 years ago and Crosby made no ambiguities about his feelings concerning the current administration. At the end of the show, Krauss and Crosby came out together and, holding the lyrics in hand, sang a rough version of "Teach Your Children". The imperfection was completely masked however by the presence of these two larger than life artists and this will certainly be a concert I'll never forget.
My favorite part of the show was when Krauss did an acapella version of "Down in the River to Pray". There wasn't a sound throughout the theater and it was one of those "wow" moments I get here every once in a while. Makes the job worth it every time.
Looking forward to more shows in the future!
DC
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| Alison Krauss |
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| David Crosby |
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