Graham Nash has had an extraordinary life and career, as anyone who has read his autobiography Wild Tales will know. He’s also an engaging and colourful raconteur, so what better way to spend an evening than listening to his songs and stories? But first, we were treated to songs and stories from Peter Asher, a man with just as interesting a life story as Nash. He was one half of the British Invasion duo Peter & Gordon, a successful manager and record producer for artists such as James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt, and an executive for The Beatles’ Apple Records.
Asher, accompanied by Aubrey Richmond and Robert Berry, opened his set with a version of Carole King’s ‘Crying in the Rain’ as a tribute to the legendary songwriter. He proceeded to tell a story about Paul McCartney dating his sister, actress Jane Asher, moving into his parents’ house, and writing ‘A World Without Love’ for Peter & Gordon. Asher played a tape of a demo of the song that McCartney had recorded. He later used a tape again to accompany his late partner Gordon Waller on one of their biggest hits, ‘True Love Ways’.
Further stories involving Linda Ronstadt, Del Shannon, and James Taylor followed as he sang ‘It Doesn’t Matter Anymore’, ‘I Go to Pieces’, and ‘You’ve Got a Friend’, before Graham Nash joined him on stage for ‘A World Without Love’. It had been a thoroughly entertaining start to the evening, one that the audience clearly enjoyed.
Graham Nash opened his set with ‘Wasted on the Way’ from Crosby, Stills & Nash’s (CS&N1982) album Daylight Again. He regaled the audience with a tale of a train journey between Casablanca and Marrakesh that he took while with The Hollies before playing ‘Marrakesh Express’, one of CS&N’s most enduring songs. He dipped into his solo career for ‘Military Madness’ and ‘I Used to Be a King’, the latter written about his relationship with Joni Mitchell.
The aforementioned Hollies were Nash’s first band and the source of a plethora of hits. He told of meeting burgeoning songwriter Graham Gouldman for the first time and walking away with a couple of songs, including ‘Bus Stop’, which he played next.
He introduced his band members, Todd Caldwell (keyboards, vocals), Adam Minkoff (bass, drums, guitars, vocals), and Zach Djanikian (guitars, mandolin, drums, vocals), all of whom provided a sound that was as close to CS&N as you could get. ‘Immigration Man’ followed, a song written after he was refused entry into Canada for a CSN&Y tour, and ‘Better Days', on which he played keyboards as a tribute to former lover Rita Coolidge.
He asked the audience to join in with Stephen Stills’ ‘Love the One You’re With’ and sang ‘Simple Man’, written after his break-up with Joni Mitchell. Nash paid tribute to his longtime friend and collaborator David Crosby with ‘To the Last Whale… A. Critical Mass B. Wind on the Water’, the closing track from their 1975 album Wind on the Water.
The final three songs of the set were stonewall classics, ‘Just a Song Before I Go’, ‘Our House’, and ‘Teach Your Children’, each preceded by an anecdote about the song’s inspiration. Most famously, he recalled the cold morning when Joni Mitchell bought a vase on their way back to their Laurel Canyon home. Upon entering, Nash said, “I’ll light the fire; you place the flowers in the vase that you bought today.” So beautifully mundane yet utterly timeless.
The encore featured ‘Find the Cost of Freedom’, Mitchell’s ‘Woodstock’, and a remarkable version of ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes’ that truly transported the audience back in time to CS&N’s heyday.
It was a night steeped in nostalgia, storytelling, and impeccable musicianship. Both Peter Asher and Graham Nash reminded the audience not only of their remarkable contributions to music history but also of the enduring power of song to connect generations.
Reviewer – Adrian Cork
On – 07.10.2025
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