[luminol]

Originally Posted by David

My hunch is that live performance, with Fleetwood or on her own, is going to be the linchpin of her public life, as it's been for a long time now. She does lots of other little fritty projects, like cameos on dumb TV shows and recording songs with a train of adulatory musicians, but none of those things is long term. Notice that? Stevie has never liked long-term inward-focused work—work that takes intense concentration—like making albums in the studio or writing books. She's very solitary—but she's really not very solitary. She's the eternal work-as-party girl. I think I know why her Rhiannon script idea never came to fruition: it's long-lasting, solitary work (even if Karen is in the room with her), and she doesn't have the drive for it, whether she writes the screenplay or just "oversees" it. Even her cameos on TV, from Up All Night to American Horror Story, obviously take her no more than a single day, maybe two, to film, and all they require of her is to be . . . her.

The other Macsters have always said Stevie gets bored in the studio. She'd prefer to sing live, where she can emote and sing one song once for the night and get high on the overwhelming immediacy of the audience's response. (Remember how her voice and face seemed to fall when she had to redo parts of her Melbourne concert with the orchestra because someone failed to record it?)

This use of touring as some sort of psychological bulwark against sitting at home, turning inward, has been Stevie's life since she hit 50 and it's going to continue being her life. It's what we'll see from her next year and the year after, and so on. No mystery, really. She even said in that most recent magazine interview that she has no intention of quitting—touring.

This, 100%, all day, every day. NAILED IT.

Originally Posted by bombaysaffires

these folks get sooo addicted to the role they play to the point that they can't separate themselves from it anymore. We may think, oh, they go onstage and play the star and then come offstage and back to being "normal" people. They don't. I always recall Stevie's comment about being in rehab and them asking her to write or talk (I forget how the therapy exercise went) about Stevie the person vs Stevie the onstage performer, and her saying how hard that was, like the hardest thing she'd ever done ( bit of Stevie dramatic overstatement maybe) but nevertheless that she really came to see herself as the onstage character. She still does. "I'm a legend and I deserve it". And as long as people are making money off her they will continue to coddle her and go along with her attitude.

She won't be able to give it up. The manager of Kiss made a comment about Gene Simmons and how addicted to fame/performing he is saying "When he's 95 he'll be standing at the end of his driveway, holding onto with his walker, flicking his tongue at passing cars". I put Stevie in the same category. She'll be Elizabeth Taylor in her wheelchair, but draped in shawls and beads and wearing a top hat. Karen will have to strain to see over the hat when pushing her around.

This. This 100%.

Originally Posted by michelej1

But how long can she tour physically? .... Stevie is very conscious of her physical appearance and diminishing mobility. For many people, ditching the heels would not have been a struggle, but for Stevie (and Prince) it was, because she has an image she wants to maintain on stage.

I always want to laugh when I see Stevie's ridiculous hunched over twirling "dances" and arm/hand motions on this tour, all clomping around in those platform heels draped in the same shawls and outfits she's been wearing for decades. In my personal opinion, she looks ridiculous. IT IS ALL SO FORCED AND STAGED! There is nothing organic about her. It's the same formula for decades, which she even admits. And WHY wear the platforms?? Her ankles look like they're about to collapse inwards on those things. Just wear different shoes!