At their concert last night at the MCI Centre, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young, reached back and recalled who they were before petty jealousies, drug abuse problems and their egos did them in. They remembered a time when they were just young kids in bands whose greatest sense of joy came from making music. At least, that's what it felt like.

Certainly Young's decision to rejoin his former band mates on tour is responsible for rejuvenating the enthusiasm of both the group and its fans. His presence on this tour, the first tour of all four members since 1974, has added a vitality and vigour to CSN that has been long absent and the difference was readily apparent at the MCI show. Maybe the harmonies weren't always quite as sweet–or as high–as they used to be, and the timing was occasionally off, but that wasn't really the point anyway. It was the spirit of the evening that mattered. With Young finally back on stage, Crosby, Stills and Nash looked like they were once again excited about what they were doing and not just on nostalgia cruise control.

Starting things off with "Carry On," the group launched into a marathon, three-hour plus performance in which it paraded its catalogue of hits, but also played a good chunk of the songs from "Looking Forward," the CD it released last year. "It's not that we don't love the old songs, we do," Crosby told the sold-out MCI crowd. "We love the old songs a lot, but it's the new songs that keep us alive."

The new songs–among them Young's "Slowpoke," Crosby's "Dream For Him," and Stills's "Seen Enough" went over surprisingly well with the crowd. They were rewarded for their patience with a slew of CSNY hits including "Marrakesh Express," "Guinnevere," "Teach Your Children," "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes," "Love the One Your With," and "Our House."

Onstage, CSNY seemed relaxed and at ease. They joked and laughed with each other, commented several times on the excellent sound system, and played with a youthful enthusiasm you might not expect from guys in their mid and late 50s. The music was kept on track throughout by the superb veteran rhythm section of Jim Keltner on drums and Donald "Duck" Dunn on bass.

Not surprisingly, it was Young's songs that gave the show its greatest bursts of energy. At a time when controversy still swirls about the Confederate flag, his "Southern Man," remains relevant 30 years after it was written. The group's performance of another Young song, "Ohio," showed why it was one of the most powerful and gut-wrenching protest songs of the Vietnam War era. And on "Cinnamon Girl," and a 15-minute version of "Down by the River," Young proved, with his almost maniacal solos, that he is still one of rock and roll's most inventive guitarists.

The band's final encore, a hard-rocking version of the Byrd's "Eight Miles High," was a suitably spirited ending to a concert that was livelier and more rewarding than probably even the most ardent fans expected.