Love it. Really amazing to watch Chris play that piano. That style of piano was a last for the 1982 tour. They had a real piano on the 1987 tour but it was a grand piano. It was an end to an era.

I miss her playing the upright piano..

No one noticed Stevie botched the first verse and sang the 3rd verse first? Actually this was quite common. When I saw her during the Wild Heart tour she also dropped the first verse. It really confused me :eek:

and her face when she realizes it is priceless:lol:

Coke is one hell of a drug!
Seriously though, I don't think this performance is as bad as some are saying.
I do agree it was recorded/mixed very poorly.

I'm wondering with the mixing and recording so botched, if we will truly get this official release, we've been promised. And if we DO, I wonder how much better it will sound when professionally remixed and remastered.

After the "right" and "me" were dropped lower, the entire song suffered and never translated well live since, even so, they played it too fast on the Rumours tour. Stevie has never really put much passion into it either, which has always boggled my mind given its stature. But this is awful and tortuous to this great song, a combination of coke and sloppiness lead to this. I've always thought if they were to continue playing their only #1 single and honouring it instead of rushing through it, it needed a new arrangement. These bad performances of Dreams were really a slap in the face to fans both committed and casual- "one" of the biggest missteps the band has made by allowing her to ruin Dreams. Sorry, had to say it.:(

I actually like their crude Mirage Tour performances, especially Dreams that is exactly half between the sound of the Bella Donna and Wild Heart Tour performances; the only Dreams performances I like the least are some from the Tusk Tour.

This particular venue is sloppier than others because of the technical problems that in fact were present also the subsequent year, and because the band was performing in a pretty tight schedule.
I remember an interesting interview with Steve Wozniac saying that Fleetwood Mac did just like David Bowie in the 1983 edition, they initially were hesitant to attend because they would have had to sandwich their performance between two close dates of their tour and it would have been difficult to transport them and all the necessary staff and equipment to San Bernardino and then back onto another state in time; ultimately Wozniac offered 2 Millions to convince them and they ended up rescheduling their dates, if I remember well they supposedly arrived with special aircraft, performed and then left again all just in the nick of time and without sleeping anytime in between; apparently it was a pretty nice anecdote but it wasn't so well known because it's been overshadowed by that of Bowie's 3 millions performance of the year after.

However the soundboard audio of these performances is not unreleased, it's actually been circulating for some time and I had posted it here, with the exception of the last two songs that are from an audience recording: http://ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/showth...89#post1173189

Finally, I'm sure the official release will happen because from what I know everything's ready and the director that handles everything is pretty known and serious, from the last communication I've read basically some artists' representants are playing bidding games.

Her singing on the first half sounded warm and very effective. But by the second verse and chorus she's oversinging in the same pitch. The harmonies are a brief, welcome change of color.

That said, she looks fantastic and I'll bet in-person this went down beautifully.

I also admit I love these sloppier performances. There are so many quirks that you would not see/hear today. Its rare for Lindsey to mess up but during Gypsy he misses his back up cue and Christine is backing only for a bit. The Mac closed the US Festival which was a long day. I can only imagine the partying that went on back stage before this concert. Its actually fun to find the quirks in each song.

Yep. This whole "we don't have warts" mentality we have now, sucks.

It was a whole lot more interesting hearing the occasional mistake, and what 4 musicians could actually play, without karaoke tracks.:mad:

What I'd like to know is what got them to the point where everything is so meticulously rehearsed. I know there's been discussion about filling in the sound with the backup musicians/singers but I remember reading here once about Lindsey having to start Tusk over on the last tour and he had to start in the exact same spot on the stage! These are talented people-they can work around a glitch or two. I'm ok with a few mistakes or ad libs and I think most fans are too.

Cool! I wonder where they got the energy and stamina to travel without sleeping and perform another date NON STOP with very little rest? I love the Mac, they are real troopers for their fans!

I would use the word programmed instead of rehearsed. Bands have always rehearsed. Today there are computer monitors with lyrics, back up singers, pre-programmed keyboards, and Lord knows what else.
I have said this before but the Mirage tour was the last Mac tour of just pure and raw arena rock. In 1987 came back up singers, added percussionists, etc. The Dance created a studio sound at their live concerts. Its technology in the modern age of music. But I miss the arena rock and the unpredictability that comes with it. There are so many flubs on this US Festival concert. The opener Chain has almost a complete break down after the bass solo until the band catches its groove back to finish the song. Its almost like being at a rehearsal. This is how rock n roll is supposed to be.

she clearly is having some difficulty hearing herself as she keeps fiddling with her ear.... they didn't have in-ear monitors then, just the speaker monitors on the floor in front of you, and those often drowned out by all the amplifiers behind you from all the instruments... or you can't hear the other singers.... and you end up straining your voice.