More Amazing Than I Thought

This was more amazing than I ever thought possible! I had 5th row seats on Christine's side & didn't even need the binoculars I brought. The show was scheduled for 7:30pm but started around 8:10ish. It wasn't as painful a wait as I thought it would be. The crickets sing for quite a long time though! I will confess to my soul purpose for being there - Stevie! She is such a Goddess! The set list was the same as the previous shows - no surprises there. I felt I had my $60 worth when "Rhiannon" was over but "Silver Springs" was totally orgasmic! Stevie screamed the end out at Lindsey while he stood directly behind her staring her down (Stevie's back was to the audience). They faked an intense romantic kiss but that was good enough for me. At this point I was screaming & my blood temperature was up about an extra 20 degrees! Christine won me over by making me shed a few tears during "Songbird". She looks great! John seemed to be the forgotten band member of the evening though. He never left the stage holding Stevie or Christine's hands. I was surprised at the additional musicians that joined them. The crowd was VERY lame & did not stand until the encore. My cousin & I didn't care who we annoyed - we were not to be sitting during "Stand Back" & "Second Hand News" was so much fun to dance to also - it was faster than the CD version. I felt it was a strong & genuine performance even if they looked a little tired. I would be putting all that energy into a show of that caliber. It was truly a concert experience that will never be repeated!

Worth It

Well, FM fans really got their moneys worth with this concert. I did not pay much attention to the group until the early +90s when they played at the Clinton Inaugural party and the Disney Channel aired the +Coming Home+ rockumentary. From there I read Mick+s book and started collecting albums and videos. This was my first experience seeing the +Rumors+ lineup in person, and I hope it is not the last.

This concert really ROCKED. I saw the VH1 concert and I thought it was somewhat laid back and restrained compared to their old concert videos. Not so for the live show. On TV they did 16 songs, on video 22, the live FM played 26 songs straight through at max over 2 1/2 hours with no break! They may be 20 years older, but it does not show in the least.

Stevie was especially into it on Rhiannon and Silver Springs. She was definitely not in the +I gotta save my voice mode. She pulled back on the microphone and let loose. Landslide was very moving. Even though there was the imitation affection between her and Lindsey, they both acted very professional and both seemed delighted to be back on stage together. She gave a very warm thanks with a big smile to all that came to the concert

Lindsey is much better in person that on recordings. I never liked all the whooping, he-haaas, and screaming, but at full volume with the band really rocking, it fit in just great. The crowd was impressed by his acoustical guitar on Big Love and showed it with a standing ovation. He was so intense that he partially lost his voice and needed help from Stevie toward the end of the concert on GYOW. His guitar work is every bit as good in person as it is on the albums.

The real surprise for me was Christine McVie. She looked much younger that on the VH1 concert (makeup?) and has a lot of stage presence because she is so tall (and thin) and because of the location of the keyboard.. Her voice was crystal clear and the keyboard work was great. To me, she seems to have a smooth, somewhat laid-back sound on recordings. In person, her sound was quite different. Much more intense and more of an harder +rock edge+. Love the accent. Her +1,2,3+ before each song seemed to make her the +glue+ that held everything together. Her new Temporary One carried on the traditional FM sound.

Mick did a very long almost boring solo on Not That Funny. I think it was supposed to be long to give the other members a break without actually stopping the show. His energy level is unbelievable. How can he do this for 2 1/2 hours? I think they directly piped his base drum into the 500,000(?) watt sound system. You could feel the seats shake at each beat.

Christi, Stevie, and Lindsey spoke to the audience a fair amount. Lindsey mentioned that when they started the FM reunion last May that they did not know what to expect as far as public reaction. They all seemed genuinely surprised and pleased at the outpouring of fans. Sort of like, +what have we gotten ourselves into this time?+

Tickets went on sale 4 weeks before the concert starting at 9am Saturday. I was 10th in line and the best seats available at 9:15am were 3/4 way back 7 rows up the side. The show was clearly sold out and probably in one day. Tickets were advertised at $60/40/25, but the $25 were not available.

The sound system was not the best. Mixing is a lost art. Where we sat it was clearly too loud and not mixed correctly. Many people nearby resorted to putting their fingers in their ears to hear better My wife said if she covered her ears she could hear the instruments and vocals better. It was not possible to hear the words on some songs. I think there were two problems. The bass was fantastic, but with Mick+s drums, McVie+s base, and the backup percussion going the beat was too dominate in places. The other problem was that there were two backup singers, two backup guitars, and the percussionist along with the FM members. When they were all at full tilt, the individual voices and instruments were drowned out. For instance, Lindsey+s guitar was barely audible above the +wall of sound+. His guitar should have stood out. I mean, that is what the fans want to hear. From a sound point of view, some of the best songs were the acoustical or solo songs.

Blown Away

The first thing I have to say is that Lindsey is one of the most amazing musicians I have ever seen!!! His guitar playing and on stage showmanship were unbelievable. I can't imagine seeing Fleetwood Mac without him.

This was my first Fleetwood Mac concert so I was filled with anticipation. The concert was supposed to start at 7:30 but the crickets didn't come on until 8:00. "The Chain" was an awesome opening song for the show. I won't go into great detail for each song because this late in the tour, there have been plenty of reviews that did that. I will just hit on a few major points.

I was pleasantly surprised with the performance of "Gold Dust Woman". This song is much better in concert that I thought it would be. Stevie looked great in her gold shawl.

I think it was "I'm So Afraid" where Lindsey and Mick dueled with each other. It appeared that Mick won. It was a very entertaining exchange between the two and it was nice to see that they were enjoying themselves.

"Big Love" was incredible. Lindsey didn't look like someone who was exhausted from a long tour. He was full of energy and really seemed to be putting his heart and soul into the song.

Stevie and Lindsey performed "Landslide" perfectly. They shared a long kiss at the end which of course drove the crowd nuts.

"Tusk" was one of the most heart pounding performances I have ever seen live. Mick really is fantastic on those drums.

I was a little disappointed with "Don't Stop". This is perhaps my favorite song of them all, but I could hardly hear Christine's voice because the other members were all singing along with her. The Dance version is much better.

I truly enjoyed "Songbird" because I was married two months ago and that was our song. Christine really does have a beautiful voice.

Finally, I was a little pessimistic about "Father's Daughter" as a closing number, but it really was fitting. All in all, I was blown away by a fantastic performance. Not once did the group look tired or worn down. They really looked like they enjoyed each other and the crowd. I am going to see them in Albany on Wed. They are going to use a center stage there so it will be interesting to see if there are any differences.