Every seat in the Tabernacle was filled, and the park lawn was strewn with towels and beach chairs for a Graham Nash concert on Monday night — with Islanders moved to tears, standing ovations, and sing-alongs for the many recognizable tunes he played with his band.
“Even though I’ve sung some of these songs a million times, I’m gonna sing ’em with the same passion,” Nash, now 83, told the crowd in Oak Bluffs — his speaking voice as familiar to many audience members as his vocals.
Nash is known for his stage presence and for weaving stories into sets. He began each song with a memory of his own, an inspiration, and an honoring of his past.
His two-year relationship and eventual breakup with the legendary folk musician Joni Mitchell had inspired a few of his songs — including “I Used to Be a King,” which he performed after talking about Mitchell and complimenting her continued legacy. He said he was glad to see her still performing, and the audience applauded in agreement.
His telling of a casual meet-up with a low-level drug dealer named “Spider,” who bet him $500 he couldn’t write a song quickly before he left for a vacation, prompted laughs from the audience.
“I do love free money,” he said to the crowd.
According to Nash, he wrote “Just a Song Before I Go,” the band’s top-charted single, and his payout came in the form of a check from Spider’s family decades later.
And a clear favorite of the adoring audience was Nash’s story about the Crosby, Stills, and Nash song “To the Last Whale: Critical Mass/Wind on the Water,” which featured whale sounds made on an electric guitar, haunting vocals, and a standing ovation from the audience.
Nash said he wrote the song after a sailing trip with David Crosby — Nash had thought they’d go out on the water, “smoke a big one,” come back to land, smoke again, eat dinner, and smoke a third time — but they ended up sailing for nine weeks straight.
“Imagine spending nine weeks with David Crosby,” he joked.
Nash and his current band — a young, vibrant group of three with hard-hitting vocal and instrumental talent — effortlessly weaved older hits from Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, with solo songs that Nash released in recent years. With Adam Minkoff on drums, vocals, guitar, and bass, Zach Djanikian on vocals, mandolin, guitar, drums, saxophone, and bass, and Todd Caldwell on keys (sometimes featuring an extra bass line through his keyboard set), his band was well-matched for Nash’s clear and resonant tone and the elegant simplicity of his lyrics.
“I like to write simple songs,” Nash said to the audience. “I don’t like to wait until the 15th verse until you know what the f___ is going on; I want your heart immediately.”
A crowd member yelled “You got it!” in response.
Nash said he, Crosby, and Stephen Stills — of Crosby, Stills, and Nash — used to talk to each other more through their songwriting than through conversation at times. Nash wrote the song “Wounded Bird” for Stills after a tough breakup, to let him know he “still had his back.”
“[We] talked to each other musically,” Nash said.
With his new band of Minkoff, Djanikian, and Caldwell, the unspoken conversation through music was evident, too. Each player switched between instruments during the sets, swapping a bass for an electric guitar, a saxophone for drums, or a mandolin for an acoustic guitar. Their care for each other and love for the music was almost tangible.
But while Nash was in his element moving people through music, he was also very vocal about issues that affect individuals and families across the world. He spoke up against the Trump administration, and brought up the war in Gaza, where Israeli forces have killed more than 55,000 Palestinian civilians, according to recent reports from the Gaza Health Ministry, and Hamas forces have killed an estimated 2,000 Israeli citizens and soldiers. He also spoke about the war raging across Sudan, where an estimated 150,000 civilians have died, according to reports, and advocated for peace and justice for people across the world.
“The world’s in a pretty sad state right now,” Nash said. “We haven’t learned much from history, so I guess we’re forced to repeat it.”
Every song rang through the Tabernacle, echoing through the wooden rafters and into the Campground. Nash didn’t let the audience sit idly, asking them to join in singing with him to his well-known songs, like “Our House” and “Teach Your Children.” And when he sang “Find the Cost of Freedom,” he asked the crowd to sing the refrain “No more war,” which rang out in unison.
“With a love of your family and a love of your friends, and a love of what you do, we’re gonna make it through the next three and a half years,” Nash said.