REVIEW
What a great concert. I have listened to the CD a million times and watched so many videos on youtube of the live performance but was still blown away from the live sound.
They really love being an artist, creating new music, and performing new music. Christine sounded really good. The sound on youtube makes her voice sound weak. She's still got it and was so strong. She struggled on some high notes but she still went for them and did them. Its so rare to see Chris at such a concert. Her keyboards are front center stage and she looks directly at the audience. I have never seen her so playful, dancing, and having a good time on stage. I was in the 7th row center and you could see both of them looking out engaging the audience. This is something that really cant be done with the Mac on such a large venue. No set list changes and I wont post anything other than Hold Me sounded really good. The sound on youtube is so off so it gives you a false perception. They played like a well oiled machine. Christine's baseball bat is gone but she still eggs Lindsey on and was playing her microphone stand like a flute which was cute. I just love to watch Christine smile and she did lots of it last night.
Ok now let me get out my flame thrower. The crowd was lame and horrible. There was great attendance and the arena was nearly full. However they were DEAD. The venue is a casino which probably comps many of their big spenders with rooms and concert tickets. Maybe this explains it? It was embarrassing. I was in the 7th row and there were so many empty seats from rows 3 to 6. The people who had these seats never bothered to show up or give them away. During the concert some of these seats filled up with people moving up. Security was seated in row 3 to prevent anyone from going to the stage (like it was going to happen with this crowd?). Just how bad was the crowd? The crowd never stood up on the floor until Go Your Own Way. Some of these geezers probably would not get up for a fire drill. I kept hoping things would change. When it did not happen for Too Far Gone, my next hope was Tusk. Nope. I sensed Lindsey was looking for his crowd participation. During Hold Me the couple next to me stood up, embraced and sang along. Some geezer on a rampage was screaming SIT DOWN, SIT DOWN, SIT DOWN. He was so full of rage that I actually was afraid to turn and look at him. Things got worse. The couple stood again for Little Lies and the guy standing turned around and gave a death stare to the old geezer like "I dare you to say something." The front rows must set the standard. They must stand so its a domino effect. NO ONE in the front row would ever stand. EVER! Now for the 2 most depressing parts of the crowd. During "I'm So Afraid" I could not take it anymore and towards the end I stood up to applaud and turned around and told everyone to stand up and used hand gestures. NOPE. That did not work either. After the song, most of the front floor did a standing ovation but there were so many in the front rows seated. Now for the saddest part. You know its a lame crowd that during the end of Go Your Own Way Lindsey could not find anyone to strum his guitar. This is a staple of every show with him doing it twice on each side of the stage. I felt so bad and was wondering what he was thinking. Even between songs, the crowd was not that appreciative and things got pretty quiet. I hate to spend so much time of the review on the crowd but they were pathetic. Even Christine at times would come over to the side of the stage hoping to engage someone but there were no takers. The size of the crowd was very good but many of them acted as if they were at a funeral. During Go Your Own way and Everywhere the front floor did get up and dance and sing. When I turned to the sides of the arena who had great seats, they were sill seated.
The music was just so incredible. I really would not have changed too much except maybe dropping one or two acoustic songs. How cool would it have been for the show to open up with WRONG. That song is so autobiographical about Lindsey not wanting to play the hits in a big machine band. It really could have made a statement on this tour. Its also a great rocker. I also wish Lindsey would have forced Christine to do one or two solo songs. But as they say....You cant always get what you want
Edit: I must say one thing about concert goers today. Put down the phone and enjoy the concert experience. You are not even watching anything live but through your phone and its a distraction for yourself and others. In addition what's with all this food. I was a teenager in the 80s. I don't even remember having a coke during a concert. The concession stands were extremely limited. If it was a metal concert they did not sell beer. But most other concerts you could get beer. Are all venues like this today? You should have seen the giant buckets of popcorn, trays of food, hot dogs, nachos, etc that everyone is carrying into the arena. Are they going camping or going to a concert? The smell of people eating hot dogs around me made me nauseous. 6 months ago at the Blondie/Garbage concert there were some taking video or selfies and their flashlight came on their phone. They were blinding everyone and they don't know how to turn off the light. Last night there was some woman texting in front of me about her kids. Its just a shame what we have all become. I read that last week in Australia Stevie Nicks told a guy in the front row to stop filming her. Kudos to her! I wish they banned phones from concerts.