'CSNY' curtain call with Crosby, Stills & Nash

Musicians David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young were in attendance as the 1,270-seat Eccles Theater hosted the world premiere of “CSNY Déjà Vu” on Friday night, the closing film of this year’s festival.

Not exactly a concert film, the movie is more meant to stand as a document of the 2006 tour by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, when they were supporting Young’s then-recent record “Living With War” -– which featured the song “Let’s Impeach the President” –- and delivering an urgent political message night after night to often unsuspecting audiences.

Directed by Bernard Shakey, Young’s filmmaking pseudonym, the film examines what was going on with the tour besides just the music. The group brought on journalist Mike Cerre, a Vietnam veteran who had been embedded with U.S. troops during the invasion of Iraq, to cover the tour.

Throughout the film Cerre interviews audience members before and after the shows, getting a wide range of responses to the political messages coming from the stage. During a riotous performance in Atlanta, audience members are seen leaving in droves as the band tears through “Impeach the President.” Cerre also talks to various activists and veterans the group encounters along the way.

There were no less than five standing ovations during the course of the evening, two during the introductions before the film and three times during the post-screening Q&A. (One was when a group of veterans featured in the film were brought up onstage.) In the second question during the session after the film, a man standing in the side aisle of the theater announced that his brother had been killed fighting in Iraq and, “He would respectfully want me to tell you: great entertainment, but you have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Neil Young quickly responded, “No, we don’t,” before someone from the audience said, “You do know what you’re talking about.” Young continued by saying, “I believe from the bottom of my heart you’re right when you say that, just as I believe I’m right when I say things to you… Under the Great Spirit I respect all those soldiers. I was torn up every day. But it has to be said, and sometimes you have to say things.”

When the question was raised if those onstage considered themselves anti-war, Young responded by saying “We mean no disrespect by saying we’re anti-war… It’s not unpatriotic just to talk.”

The evening was not entirely serious-minded. At one point during the Q&A, a voice from the back of the room yelled out “How old are you guys?’ Young asked, “Combined ages?” David Crosby stepped up to say “I’m 92 and very well-preserved.”

-- Mark Olsen