June 15, 2013 Chicago Now
http://www.chicagonow.com/when-you-p...-see-them-123/
Fleetwood Mac in Chicago: why it was so important I see them
Back in January I wrote about how I was scammed buying tickets to see Fleetwood Mac. I was sad. I was mad. I was everything you can imagine. All over a band you say? Sure, there are more important things in the world than seeing a concert. But this one meant a lot to me.
I never did get tickets to the concert at The United Center in April. However, the demand for them was so high that they added a second concert at the Allstate Arena last night. I was fortunate - I got tickets. And I did it through Ticketmaster. Not some low life scam artist on Craigslist.
And if I may say the concert was worth twice what I paid and then some I'm not exaggerating. It was that good. For so many reasons on so many levels.
Music is as important to me as breathing. Well, maybe not that important but you get the picture. It defines my life, stages of it and where I may have been at any given time. It transcends words. This particular band has spent thirty five years with me, singing to me, creating moments that are unforgettable.
When I saw the band for the first time in 1977 I was with my best friend at the United Center which was still at that time, The Chicago Stadium. Last night as I enjoyed the concert with my grown daughters and husband, that friend was at home waiting for her daughter to go into labor. She is becoming a grandmother. There was a certain irony to this as Stevie Nicks sang "Landslide". She sang of getting older. We also had a friend years ago that claimed she wrote the song and I chuckled to myself as it was performed.
I had written in my previous blog about how seeing them in 2003 was the last normal thing I did before I was diagnosed with cancer. So, to be there last night ten years later alive and well was overwhelming. Particularly to be with my girls who I could share the evening with and enjoy it so much together.
Whenever an evening can take me back to my youth I embrace it. I marveled at the band who despite all being in their sixties performed like they did in 1977. Even better than that. Seasoned, perfected performances.
One of the main things that really struck me last night was the overall feeling in the Arena. It was electric. It was emotional. Maybe I'm being dramatic, I don't know. But tell me that watching this wouldn't get you shaking your head asking "wow, how does he do that?"
(Can't figure out how to upload my own video but this is what I witnessed last night, even better)
It was also something to see the relationship between Stevie Nicks and Buckingham. Knowing the back story of their tumultuous time together and them putting that all behind them was a testament to what time can do for all of us, it can heal. They closed the concert with this song, "Say Goodbye". Buckingham explained he wrote it as a way to come to terms with things that happened in the past and make way for the future. Again, I did not video this last night but the performance was just as good.
When the concert ended, each member said a few words. It was Nicks who put it into the words I couldn't think of. That here we were 35 years after their album "Rumours" came out and embracing each song as if it were the first time we'd heard it.
For me, being alive ten years after cancer made hearing those songs all that much more special. And seeing the happiness in that room, in the midst of a crazy messed up world, priceless.
Thanks Ticketmaster, for not scamming me.