Neil Young’s ‘CSNY Déjà Vu’ a Concert Film That Mixes Message With Music

CHICAGO – David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young (collectively CSNY) have long established their credibility as a rock/folk group of the highest order.

From their debut in 1970 with the album “Déjà Vu” (which is still one of the top-selling albums of all time) to their journey through the 2006 tour that’s chronicled in the new concert film “CSNY Déjà Vu,” CSNY is of a time and place in rock history that represents activism and social change.

Rating: 2.5/5.0

Band member Neil Young is the director of this film. The band travels America from city to city in a “Freedom of Speech Tour” with a basic, anti-Iraq War message. His band mates Crosby, Stills and Nash are along for the ride to help their old friend through the songs defining them and that message.

Read Patrick McDonald’s full review of “CSNY Déjà Vu” in our reviews section. View our full, high-resolution “CSNY Déjà Vu” image gallery.

Interspersed between the concert footage are stories from the road concerning Iraqi war veterans and activists.

Stephen Stills even volunteers to play small fundraisers for any anti-war Congressional candidates who have races in the districts along the route of the tour.

Famous for writing the 1967 song “For What It’s Worth” (“Stop, children. What’s that sound? Everybody look what’s going down.”), he trots it out again in context of another war.

Some places along the concert road provide challenges. Counter protests by talk-show hosts and neo-conservatives greet the quartet in several cities. Undeterred, the band defiantly plays Young’s new song “Let’s Impeach the President” as a climax to every show.

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full “CSNY Déjà Vu” review.

The concert film “CSNY Déjà Vu”.
Photo credit: Roadside Attractions

The concert film “CSNY Déjà Vu”.
Photo credit: Roadside Attractions

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full “CSNY Déjà Vu” review.