Graham Nash

Graham Nash - April 16, 2025 - Celebrity Theatre, Phoenix

With a vast repertoire of songs from his solo career, time with the Hollies and collaborations with David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Neil Young, Graham Nash has been charming rock fans for more than 50-years. Those in attendance at his More Evenings of Songs & Stories show at the historic Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix left the venue completely besotted by the legend with the instantly recognizable and velvety smooth voice. And why not? Nash had just treated them to two hours of music drawn from throughout his career, with many songs prefaced with a story about what inspired the tune, information that was often delivered with a good dose of humor.

Nash played mostly acoustic guitar as he sang but also on occasion he moved to piano and organ, also adding harmonica parts to some songs. Backed by a stellar three piece band consisting of Todd Caldwell on keys and vocals, Adam Minkoff on bass, drums, guitar and vocals and Zach Djanikian on guitar, mandolin, drums and vocals, Nash played two sets and began with the Crosby, Stills & Nash cut "Wasted on the Way." CSN hit "Marrakesh Express" came next with Graham explaining that he wrote the song in Morocco while he was still with the Hollies. The story behind "Just a Song Before I Go" was told before its performance and it was quite amusing. It seems Nash was about to leave a pot dealer's house in Hawaii when the dealer challenged him to write a song on the spot, even unknowingly giving Nash the song title; "I'll bet you $500 you can't write a song before you go!" Nash's co-write with Joni Mitchell, "I Used to Be a King," a cut from the Songs for Beginners album, sounded great all these decades later; Mitchell and Nash were a couple at one time but Nash explained that they co-authored the song after their breakup. The Hollies cut "Bus Stop" was performed in the first set as was a stunning take on the two-part "To the Last Whale," with one part having been written by David Crosby while Nash wrote the other part. For the Crosby part, a wordless vocalization called "Critical Mass," the stage went completely dark as Graham and the band sang in amazing harmony. The stage lighting came back on for the song's end, Nash's "Wind on the Water." The first set moved to a close with a fierce reading of "Immigration Man," "Better Days" (written for Rita Coolidge, another former Nash girlfriend) and a take on the Stephen Stills hit "Love the One You're With."

After a 20-minute intermission Nash and company returned and began the second set with a few quiet songs, "Love of Mine," "Sleep Song" and "Simple Man." The Crosby/Nash co-write about being on the road "Taken at All" led into "Pre Road Downs," another road song, and "Cathedral," about Nash's visit to Winchester Cathedral in England while high on acid was introduced with a candid and funny explanation of how the song came about. Nash said it was the first song he ever wrote while on LSD, so apparently there were others. "Military Madness" brought the show to "Our House," which of course the entire audience sang along to. Similarly the first song performed for an encore, "Teach Your Children," was a big audience participation moment. The show ended with the Joni Mitchell-penned "Woodstock" and then "Find the Cost of Freedom" and "Ohio." Crowds often start exiting during the encore but, as an indicator of how much Nash is beloved, the house was full until the very end.

Nash has U.S. shows scheduled into August and then in September the tour moves to Europe. Find all tour dates here.

The Graham Nash show at Celebrity Theatre was a Danny Zelisko Presents production. DZP has lots of other great shows on tap for metropolitan Phoenix including:

The Wailers - April 26, 2025 - Talking Stick Resort, Scottsdale
Diana Krall - May 11, 2025 - Mesa Arts Center, Mesa
The Marshall Tucker Band - May 11, 2025 - Talking Stick Resort, Scottsdale
Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Evening - May 23, 2025 - Celebrity Theatre, Phoenix
Foreigner - June 14, 2025 - Talking Stick Resort (pool), Scottsdale
Gong - June 26, 2025 - Walter Studios, Phoenix
Tesla - June 27, 2025 - Talking Stick Resort, Scottsdale

For a complete list of upcoming DZP shows in Arizona and throughout the country go here.

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