My main memories...
...driving to Milwaukee last-minute with two college friends. We had no tickets (and even had to borrow another friend’s jeep to get there). I got a decent seat from a scalper for only ten dollars just minutes before the show started – meant I had to sit away from my friends, who graciously let me get the better seat. It was some kind of a summer festival thing, with several stages and audiences set up throughout the grounds. I remember walking past one of them while The Fabulous Thunderbirds were performing. If I remember, Squeeze was FM’s opening act, correct?
...getting goosebumps when the wall/curtain with the masks on it finally went up during the opening number, “ITBOMM”. I’ve never been a fan of the song, but IMO it worked well because both of the women had solo spots. When the spotlight focused on Chris, and then on Stevie (for her big “Remembeeer” line lol), the crowd went nuts. Chris was spot-on throughout the night.
...trying to find a safe place to stash the rather large tourbook (not a lot of pages, but big pages) during the songs. I think I finally settled for under my seat, and somehow it never got stolen, even with strangers on all sides of me. (Sadly, I did the same thing during the Chicago "Street Angel" show, and somebody behind me spilled beer, which quickly crawled down and damaged that tourbook.)
...the sounds of a very, very obese and intoxicated man, seated about ten people over in my row, heckling Stevie about her weight all through “Landslide”: “Boy, those big girls sure can sing!” I wouldn’t be surprised if she could hear him. Jerk.
...I loved “Tear It Up”, which brought even the Klonopinicks to life, but I think this tour had the worst version of “Stand Back” ever. It wasn’t just her voice – the whole arrangement was bad, IMO. I find bootlegs of the song from other shows on the tour just as un-listenable. Also, I did not really enjoy Billy’s version of “Oh Well” or “Go Your Own Way”. The guy can sing, but I thought he overdid it a little – I was more impressed by his playing. Rick’s vocals were more restrained and better suited my tastes throughout most of the show. (“Tear It Up” worked well with Billy’s vocal precisely because it calls for something over-the-top - not to mention, that song must be in his blood.) “Gold Dust Woman” was okay – fortunately it’s one song that can bring its drama from the arrangement, even when the lead singer is asleep at the wheel. (Or the tambourine.)
...Stevie telling the crowd that John McVie is a man of few words, so we should listen to him when he says to support Greenpeace
- Jake
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