Quote:
Originally Posted by jwd
I guess I'm in the minority here but I always loved NTF in concert, sans the Lindsey maniacal vocals.
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In my estimation, the best, wildest, most unhinged jamming that configuration of the band ever did was during the last month of the 1980 tour doing "Not That Funny." I got to see a bunch of shows at that point. It lasted an unbelievably long time, but it had spectacular dynamic range — crashingly loud to whispery soft — and storytelling strength, with suspenseful rising action, climax, and post-orgasm denouement. Those performances were very witty, too, with Lindsey and John mocking each other's riffs in different octaves. If you get the chance to listen to a "Not That Funny" from August 1980, take it.
It's that extreme dynamic variation that separates that era of Fleetwood Mac live from later eras. Listen to the way the band hunkers down in the first few minutes of "World Turning" on the Tusk Deluxe (from 1980 performances), and then lets out with a screaming lead. Compare the momentum and buildup of "The Chain" on Tusk Deluxe with "The Chain" in recent years (from Vito-Burnette to the present). The former slinks across the dynamic spectrum ("powder keg detonation," as Steve Pond put it in a review) in tantalizing sonic stride, whereas later performances became all uniformly
forte to
fortissimo. It's boring. It's the same problem that dogs Stevie's solo shows. Her band just blasts through on everything, forcing her wizened vocal into a nasally bleat, even on songs you want her to pull back on to create dynamic tension.