Usually when I go to Bath, I like to have a look around the
charity shops or listen to the buskers but after my horrendous bus experience I
wasn’t in the mood. I made my way to the Lamb & Lion pub which is
quite near the venue for the gig. This is the pub where Patti Smith accidentally
ate somebody else’s lasagne a few years ago. I ordered a pint of cider and some
vegetable curry. They didn’t have the curry, so I opted for halloumi &
salad. It was like chewing rubber and the salad wasn’t very nice either. Never mind, I
read my book for an hour and had two large chardonnays. Then it was time to go
to the Forum.
On the merchandise stall they were selling signed and
numbered framed limited edition prints of photos by Graham Nash. There was one
photograph of Joni Mitchell that I liked but it was £70, so I decided
not to be tempted to buy it. I felt a bit sorry for him because there were lots
of empty seats in the auditorium. I was surprised about that because he was a
member of one of the greatest bands of all time. Last week his former band mate
Neil Young sold out Hyde Park in London and Graham Nash couldn’t sell out this relatively
small venue in Bath. He was accompanied on keyboards by Todd Caldwell from
Lubbock in Texas and on guitar by Shane Fontayne who is English. I was
very impressed with the guitar playing in particular. The show began with Pre-Road
Downs from CSN’s first album and Marrakesh Express which was
also a hit song from that great album. Then it was a hit from 1966 when he was
in The Hollies which was Bus Stop. This was followed by I Used
To Be A King from his first solo album Songs For Beginners in 1971
which was a great album in my opinion and better than anything Stills or Crosby
ever produced as a solo project. Then it was Right Between The Eyes from
the live Four Way Street album. Then he paid a tribute to Steve Stills by
singing 4+20 from Déjà Vu which is one of my favourite ever albums. Immigration
Man was next and Graham told the story of how it came to be written and how
the lyrics are very relative in modern times. One of my favourite Graham Nash
songs was next which was Military Madness, another song which still has
a lot of meaning in today’s world. Wind On The Water is an anti-whaling song
and followed a humorous tale of an adventure aboard Dave Crosby’s boat. The
first half of the show ended with a fabulous version of The Beatles A Day In
The Life in which guitarist Shane excelled himself.
Wasted On The Way from
1982 opened the second half and was followed by King Midas In Reverse which
was the song that made Graham Nash decide to leave The Hollies because he had outgrown
them as a songwriter. Carried Away was next from the CSN album
and Graham played keyboards and harmonica on this song. Love The One You’re
With was next and that was followed by a song I don’t think I had heard before
called Golden Days. It is quite a sad reflective wistful song from a
recent album that I haven’t heard. Taken It All is another song
that seems to have passed me by. I don’t think I had heard that one before
either, but I enjoyed it. One of my favourite songs was next, the short and
sweet Just A Song Before I Go. I also like Cathedral which
is a song about an acid trip Nash had in Winchester Cathedral which must have
been quite an experience.
I knew he would sing Our House at some point and he
told the story of how the song came to be written. It is possibly his most
successful song of all. That was the end, but we knew there would be an encore.
The house lights came on and all three of them sang Buddy Holly’s Everyday.
As you know Buddy Holly also came from Lubbock, Texas. The final song of the
whole evening was the classic Teach Your Children. That brought an end
to a most enjoyable evening.
I downed a quick pint in the pub opposite the railway
station before catching the 10.22 train home and got back to Westbury before
closing time in my local pub and that was the end of that.
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