Rosemont Horizon Concert Review

It was a dark night and the Rosemont Horizon was soldout and luckily it was an inside venue. What more can I say about this show: probably nothing. Because there are not words. First, Lindsey, what can I say, he's a god. He played to the crowd the whole night and just was marvelous. He was flirting to these two blond girls in the front, a lot of the time, and at the end of the show, he gave one girl a piece of paper, so u can image what that note might have said. Stevie looked beautiful and her shawls were just gorgeous. She was singing to Lindsey a lot and he was turned to the audience a lot of the time. It almost seemed like she was getting a little pissed at him, because he was avoiding her, until a little later in the show. Then when she was singing "Stand Back", she was really getting into it and he came out of no where and kissed her on the shoulder and then kissed her after the song. (u know, a kiss on the arm anywhere means "I Adore U", I read that today!!!!! ) Stevie looked very surprised that he came outa no where and smiled. I know before Stevie used to be the center of attention, but now its like she just wants to be one of the band, and gives everyone their time. She on four different shawls, those glittery bracelets, the head diamond, and those great boots to match her shawls. WOW. During Landslide, when Lindsey is playing his solo part, she came up behind him and looked over his shoulder, she put her leg between his, and he started to lose his balance, she smiled, then she had to help him up off her body, so she could get to the mike. What a come on, come on!!!!!! Silver Springs, Stevie really got into it, she reminded me of when she had her solo tour and gets down with the mike, it was soooo cool. they did give each other a big hug at the end, but she looked kinda hesitant, like, well we gotta hug, its expected. Lindsey seemed a lot more aggressive toward her than him the whole show. It looks like she doesn't know what to expect from him. When Stevie would leave the stage it was with the assistant or with Mick. That is a good friendship, but that's about it. It's more a father figure relationship. think of it ladies, when u really like someone, u can sometimes be a little shy and and unsure, but with a friend, u can be yourself, theres nothing to lose. (just my opinion).

During Silver Springs: At the end of the song, Stevie sang with her back to the audience, Lindsey came face to face, nose to nose, with her and kissed her, the crowd went nuts. The crowd also sang back this song to her, its gotta be cool to have people sing this song back to u.

Dreams: When Stevie is singing "Woman will come and they will go" She looked at Lindsey and he shook his head "NO".

Go Your Own Way: Lindsey put his head down on the piano, then Stevie's shoulder, (she laughed, like what a nut, genuine) then on Johns Arm, I guess he was tired!!!!

Christine is beautiful and a very CLASSY LADY. She and Stevie look like very good friends, not enemies, as being reported. Christine would and put her hands behind her back and just kinda smile and wave, she is so cute and has great hair. John McVie wore an hawaiian shirt and Mick wore his cool red shoes, muy bonita.

Mick's solo was real cool and then when he and Lindsey babe got together, it was great. I know a lot of people didn't like this, but it was funny and hyper. They did about 2 or three encores. The Last song was 'FARMERS DAUGHTER" which is a wonderful song, its as if they were thanking us for coming and allowing them to come into our lives for three hours. No, the pleasure was OURS.

Other Chicago Tidbits: "Egads" not only did Fleetwood Mac spent nearly $24,000 on their staff (90) at Carmines last week (mucho bottles of Opus One wine and Lobster) thats a lotta liquor, but the Mac pack left a $4000 tip!!!! Now thats CLASS!!! Fleetwood Mac keyboardist Chris McVie was also spotted playing Beatles tunes Wednesday Night (11/19/97) in the Lobby Piano at the Ritz Carlton. Demon dogs (Expensive Hot Dogs) for the flight to the next stop were contributed by Pete Schivarelli.

Loved It!

The show was wonderful, the band was wonderful, the whole night was wonderful. I don't think that anything will be as great as that night. But oh well, it's over. At least I've got pictures. One thing I learned from the concert was that Lindsey Buckingham is possibly the most brilliant guitar player alive. The sounds coming from the piece of wood are amazing, it sounds as if he is playing 6 guitars.

We left my house at about 7:20 and everything was going fine until we reached the point of the expressway where the Rosemont entrance ramp merges into the exit ramp of First Avenue. There were just cars and cars and more cars. It seemed like every car was playing some song from An FM album. Three times people with out of state plates asked us if we were going to the Rosemont Horizon and if we were going in the right way. I screamed at them, follow these cars! We all have a date with Fleetwood Mac! And what a wonderful date it was to be.

First thing that we did was buy tee shirts. There were so many people looking for a little piece of reunion nostalgia. I bought a black tee-shirt with the hazy blue image of Lindsey and Stevie hugging off "The Dance" CD and video. I love it so much.

They started about 8:30, only a half hour after they were supposed to and from the moment those few first seconds of THE CHAIN began, the audience was on their feet. Wonderful! We didn't sit down until I"M SO AFRAID but I think that was only because Lindsey's song was like 10 minutes long or something. And he was cooking! I can understand why Rolling Stone said that going to one of his concerts are like going to an exorcism. I guess he was getting all those little demons out.

My only problem with the concert was the major audio problems that were not the Mac's fault. There was feedback on Everywhere and during GYOW, the best guitar solo in rock history, the audio tech's didn't even turn it up a little. They kind of showed that they were faltering a bit after all these cities but I didn't expect that they should sound like the did on THE DANCE. In my eyes, though, they were pretty close. Stevie looked just beautiful and I loved her long flowing red velvet leafy coat she wore during Landslide because I have one just like it and I was like- oh wow, how cute. We match.

The best part of the night for me was GYPSY because that is my totally favorite song and it was such a surprise despite the fact that I knew it was coming. It took my breath away and tears started in my eyes because I was there and because Stevie was getting to be the gypsy again.

The best Stevie/Lindsey part of the night was during STAND BACK when Lindsey, who was all the way by Chris, walked to Stevie and kissed her on the shoulder. WE have a picture. I'm loving it. During Silver Springs at the end, they sung really close to one another. They were giving off wonderful energy. I loved it so much.

Songbird was one of the three finales and I could understand why John used to say it always made him cry. It was just so beautiful. They were all so beautiful.

* Oh and NOT THAT FUNNY was great. Mick's guitar solo got everyone going for like ten minutes or however long it was and it was a wonderful, dancy type of thing that got everyone really going. Mick was so pumped up at the end of it that when the band started playing NTF again, they had to fight to keep up with him. You could see that poor Lindsey was doing his best but he couldn't and still it was all so cute, as if they were 20 instead of 50. It was wonderful. I loved it.

Fleetwood Mac

Venue: Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, Illinois

Capacity: Maybe 18-20,000?

Crowd: Mature. Lots of gray hair, gray beards. But a surprising number of young (high school / college age) people. Two girls across the aisles from us, looked about eighteen. Each had two new t-shirts (wonder whose charge card those were on), and they were really into the show. And that amusing woman, maybe mid-forties, who delayed the line at the t-shirt stand by checking out at least eight different shirts, in a couple sizes each ("that's how women shop", covivant said to me).

Moron Factor: Moderate. There were two guys who looked like stockbrokers (no offense to any stockbrokers out there), about four rows behind us, and we could hear their conversations loud and clear during the quiet songs. There were also a disturbingly large number of those people who have to whistle loudly to show their appreciation of the quietest songs. And what's with the people who make two or three trips to the concessions stands -- you paid seventy-five bucks for your ticket, just so you can eat three dollar bags of popcorn rather than watch the show?

Sound: Not bad for a basketball arena like the Horizon. Some booming in the bass. The vocals were mixed upfront.

Our Seats: First row up from the main floor, all the way across from the stage. A ways away. Luckily the security people were not allowing the main floor people to stand on their chairs, so we had a clear view of the stage.

Setlist: (standard) The Chain, Dreams, Everywhere, Gold Dust Woman, I'm So Afraid, Temporary One, Bleed To Love Her, Gypsy, Big Love, Go Insane, Landslide, Say You Love Me, Sweet Girl, You Make Loving Fun, My Little Demon, Stand Back, Oh Daddy, Not That Funny, Rhiannon, Second Hand News, Silver Springs, Tusk, Go Your Own Way, Don't Stop, Songbird, Farmer's Daughter

Highlights: Mick's drum solo during "Not That Funny". The looks between Lindsey and Stevie during "Silver Spring". A beautiful "Landslide". A rollicking "Temporary One". A fierce "I'm So Afraid". Stevie twirling during "Gypsy". Christine's solid singing all night -- she seems to have kept more of her range than the other two singers. Lindsey's intense solo set. Those wild smiles that Mick beamed out all night. Lindsey sweating as he got a workout running around the stage. And after twenty years, I finally got to hear one of my personal favorites, "Silver Spring", played live. A great version of a great song.

Lowlights: Well, Stevie did miss a few notes. I think she is still trying to adjust to the loss of the upper range of her voice. "Stand Back" did not work too well. And a few songs seemed rushed, such as "Second Hand News".

Songs I Wished They Played: "Spare Me a Little", "Oh Well", "Sara".

The Band: Aging gracefully, for the most part. As mentioned above, Stevie has lost a lot of her range. Lindsey has lost some. Christine had a little trouble with the melody of "Songbird".

But they seemed to be genuinely enjoying each other's company up there. Kind of hard to tell from a hundred feet away, I know. Lindsey seemed a little awkward trying to express his feelings of what it was like being back with the band. Mick, on the other hand, made it pretty clear that he was having a damn good time.

And I suppose I should mention John McVie. His playing was solid, as always. And the backup musicians were good, unobtrusive. The percussionist had a great time playing along with Mick's drum solo (uh, I guess that would make it a drum duo -- whatever).

Summary: You know how some long concerts seem to drag at points? This one did not. Twenty-six songs, two-and-a-half hours. When the band went off after "Go Your Own Way", I checked my watch, and was a bit surprised to see that we were over two hours into the show.

Final Question and Answer: Sometimes you see a good show, but you have to admit to yourself that you would not pay to see it again next week. Would I pay to see Fleetwood Mac again next week? Absolutely.