Quote:
Originally Posted by sywlindseyfan
I have never experienced Chris live, so, what would anyone who has seen Fleetwood Mac with Chris say the atmosphere is like with her presence. Does she bring the bluesy vibe? Sultriness? Funky band vibe?
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Well, <g> she's not sultry or funky. She can be bluesy, but not really with this line up. Now, for me Christine's songs, and her presence, always makes it seem more like a band. More like a group of 5, giving us a concerted effort. Now, they all sing back up for each other, but there's something about the way Stevie and Lindsey come in and sing back up on Christine's songs that makes me feel like they're all one. But she makes me feel like that when she plays accordion on Tusk too, as Viv mentioned.
When she left, Lindsey said that they were careful not to change the arrangements too much. Even though there were just 2 of them, he didn't want them to duet and start doing just two part songs with Christine gone. He said he still wanted it to sound orchestral, still wanted it to sound like FM rather than a duo. Now, he said this 10 years ago and I think since then he has gotten to the point where he WAS about to try to get it more to what BN was like, but that wasn't his initial goal in 2003, when they first went out without Chris.
Still, even though they were striving for that full, orchestral vibe, even with Sharon and Lori (and Jana) there, I didn't feel it. Christine makes me feel more like they're five performers combining, rather than just Stevie and Lindsey doing heaven knows what. Christine's songs, OMH, SYLM and YMLF bring the quintet out of them, as does her being on the floor for Tusk or World Turning or even NTF or ISA (although she's not there for the entirety of those songs). I feel like they're more a part of each other than when she's not there.
These people are famous for their harmonies, but when you hear Rhiannon live today, you don't really think of harmony at all. When Chris was there, you did. If you look at (listen to) Lindsey singing the Chain with Little Big Town and you look at the current FM (quartet without Christine) singing The Chain together, to me that kind of illustrates the difference between a group/band and whatever it is that the foursome are.
I love the foursome, but not as much as I love the five.
Michele