On this day · 52 years ago · 1974

52 Years Ago Today: CSNY Launched Their Notorious 'Doom Tour'

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young hadn't shared a stage in four years. On July 9, 1974, they reunited in Seattle for a tour so excessive that David Crosby nicknamed it the Doom Tour.

By Tommi, Acoustic fingerstyle desk · Edited by Cadence · 2026-07-09

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young launched their first tour since 1970 on July 9, 1974, at Seattle Center Coliseum, playing 44 songs across more than four hours. The 31-date run, promoted by Bill Graham, was rock's first true stadium tour and became known as the Doom Tour for its scale and excess. David Crosby coined the nickname. Highlights were later released as the 2014 box set CSNY 1974.

Four years apart, then a stadium

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young hadn't toured together since splitting in 1970. That changed July 9, 1974, when the quartet reunited onstage at Seattle Center Coliseum, opening a run that Wikipedia's account of the CSNY 1974 box set describes as unprecedented in scope: no band besides the Beatles had ever attempted a tour on this scale. Opening night alone ran past 2 a.m., with 44 songs across more than four hours, a set later trimmed by roughly a third as the tour went on.

The reunion happened because concert promoter Bill Graham made an offer nobody expected to work. Fresh off directing Bob Dylan's celebrated 1974 comeback tour, Graham pitched CSNY on something bigger: a summer tour of baseball and football stadiums, a scale nobody in rock had tried outside the Beatles' brief 1966 stadium dates. Per Ultimate Classic Rock's account, which draws on Graham Nash's own recollection to the Wall Street Journal, "Bill said a lot of money could be made... something on this scale had never been tried before, which sounded pretty cool to us." Rehearsals ran through May and June 1974 at Neil Young's ranch in La Honda, California, with Tim Drummond on bass, Russ Kunkel on drums, and Joe Lala on percussion filling out the band behind the four principals.

Why Crosby called it the Doom Tour

The name came from David Crosby himself, coined for both the physical strain of playing stadiums built for baseball, not bands, and for what Wikipedia's account calls the tour's "collateral excesses." Cocaine use ran heavy throughout, by the band's own later admission, and Crosby has said the experience taught him "cocaine has a terrible effect on everything."

The scale created a real musical problem, not just a mythologized one. CSNY's whole reputation rested on vocal harmonies, and per Ultimate Classic Rock's account of Crosby's own recollection, Stills and Young were pushing more than 100 decibels through their amp stacks most nights, drowning out the monitors Crosby and Nash needed to hear themselves sing. "Graham and I simply couldn't do the harmonies when we couldn't hear ourselves," Crosby said. Financially, the tour grossed roughly 11 million dollars, yet Nash has said each of the four members still cleared less than 500,000 dollars once the tour's 86-person staff and its considerable excesses were paid for, a gap that led the band to part ways with Graham afterward.

Nine of the shows were recorded, mostly in August 1974 plus a December benefit date, and highlights eventually became the 2014 box set CSNY 1974, timed to the tour's 40th anniversary. Nash, who assembled it alongside photographer Joel Bernstein, insisted on no overdubs: any out-of-tune vocal line was swapped for a better take from a different night at a similar tempo, not fixed in the studio. It's as close as anyone will get to hearing that Seattle opening night the way it actually sounded, forty-some years later.

Ernie Ball

Earthwood 80/20 Bronze Light (.011–.052)

.011 – .052

Price tier: $

Why this one: A bright 80/20 bronze set suited to the layered acoustic guitar work Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young all leaned on together, not a documented claim about any one member's own strings.

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Another huge rock institution's final show, on this exact date 21 years laterThe Grateful Dead's final show with Jerry Garcia, 1995 The song whose writer's comeback tour helped inspire this one, recorded on this date tooBob Dylan records Blowin' in the Wind, 1962 A bright acoustic set built for layered, harmony-driven guitar workErnie Ball Earthwood 80/20 Bronze review

Frequently asked questions

When and where did the tour start?

July 9, 1974, at Seattle Center Coliseum, with Jesse Colin Young opening. The show ran past 2 a.m., with the band playing 44 songs across more than four hours before later nights got trimmed by about a third.

Why was it called the Doom Tour?

David Crosby coined the nickname, pointing to both the strain of playing such large venues and what he called the tour's "collateral excesses." The name stuck for decades afterward.

Who else played in the touring band?

Tim Drummond on electric bass, Russ Kunkel on drums, and Joe Lala on percussion, backing the four principals, Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, and Neil Young, who all played guitars and keyboards themselves.

Why was this tour historically significant?

It's considered rock's first true stadium tour. Per Wikipedia's account, no band besides the Beatles, on their brief 1966 stadium run, had ever attempted a tour on this scale before. Promoter Bill Graham, who had just directed Bob Dylan's celebrated 1974 arena tour, brought that same experience to CSNY. CSNY's run visited arenas, race tracks, and college stadiums across 31 dates, setting a template that acts like the Rolling Stones would follow later in the decade.

Did the size of the venues cause problems?

Yes. Per Ultimate Classic Rock's account of David Crosby's own recollection, Stills and Young were pushing well over 100 decibels through their amplifier stacks, which made it hard for Crosby and Nash to hear themselves well enough to nail their signature vocal harmonies.

How much money did the tour make?

About 11 million dollars in gross receipts, a huge sum for 1974. Per Graham Nash's own account, relayed by Ultimate Classic Rock, each of the four members still walked away with less than 500,000 dollars once the tour's staff and expenses were covered.

Were the shows ever released?

Yes, decades later. Highlights from nine recorded shows, captured mostly in August 1974 plus a December benefit show, became the 2014 box set CSNY 1974, released on the tour's 40th anniversary.