| |
|
#211
12-20-2009, 05:50 PM
|
|||
|
|||
Fans Deflated by Fleetwood Mac's Arrival, 12-21-09, by Matt Rilkoff
http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-dail...d-Macs-arrival Only a handful of fans turned up to see Fleetwood Mac arrive in New Plymouth on Saturday and most went away slightly deflated. Drummer Mick Fleetwood managed a popular wave or two but Stevie Nicks, arguably the most loved of them all, left her devotees devastated. From the door of the plane to the door of her waiting car she was covered from all angles by umbrellas. "You're not the bloody Queen, Stevie," yelled someone in the crowd. The diva even shielded her face as she sped past the small group of fans, allegedly heading straight to the Bowl of Brooklands where the band performed that night and the next. In contrast to the antics of Nicks, skinny legged guitarist Lindsey Buckingham casually sauntered down the steps to his waiting car and most people seem to mistake bassist John McVie for someone's lost grandfather. New Plymouth woman and prize-winning gardener Denise Wood had been drinking a cup of coffee when she "realised" the band would be arriving at 4pm and made her way to the airport. Her guess was bang on the money and it had nothing to do with women's intuition. "I get messages from a higher power, dear," she said. Fleetwood Mac volunteer Maree Atkinson left a muffin reheating in the microwave to run out and see the band. Having been at the airport all day helping visitors with directions she had been through a few false alarms before they finally arrived in a white Whisper Jet marked ZK-ECO. The four stars and a hefty gang of support crew were whisked out of the airport in a motorcade of four silver Mercedes S-class sedans, three Toyota Estimas and one Previa. At the front was New Plymouth mayor Peter Tennent's new Porsche Cayenne, lent to the group for the big arrival. 
|
|
#212
12-20-2009, 06:09 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Taranaki Daily News, by FELICITY ROSS, 12-21-09
http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-dail...taking-the-air New Plymouth Buzzes with Concert-Goers Taking the Air The energy and excitement in the air at the weekend was so thick you could almost taste it. Fleetwood Mac's two New Plymouth concerts spun the city into a fever with 25,000 out of town fans hitting the streets to shop, eat and see the sights. On Saturday the rain held off for most of the day as the sidewalks of the CBD remained five people deep and left every cafe and bar without an empty seat. It was middle-aged mania with married duos taking over the streets complete with matching outfits to keep the elements away. On both Saturday and Sunday the Bach on Breakwater Wine Bar had people queuing half an hour before they opened. "I told my staff to sit down and have breakfast because they wouldn't get another shot at it," owner Barbara Olsen-Henderson said. "We had queues out the door all day both days but everyone was really good and patient and it has been a wonderful weekend." Local art gallery and gift shop Verge was packed with people all weekend. A spokesperson for the shop said it had been full to the brim all weekend with visitors to Taranaki buying for Christmas and personal treats. Crowded House Bar and Cafe co-owner Doc van Praagh said his inner-city eatery had been packed almost all weekend. "We just got slammed from 8am each morning," Mr van Praagh explained. "It was full before and after the concert, there is no rest for the wicked." There was only one hitch, a phase on Devon St East blew and knocked out half of Crowded House's power from 8pm on Saturday night until yesterday morning. "It was a pain but it didn't stop everybody from having a good time," said Mr van Praagh, who also co-owns Stumble Inn in Merrilands and Butlers Reef in Oakura. Although run off his feet, he did get to the concert himself on Saturday night. "It was awesome, well worth the ticket and the Bowl just looked great. Lindsey Buckingham on the guitar was just a machine. It was just an awesome weekend." He said both the Stumble Inn and Butlers Reef were packed full of people all weekend. Several other bars and pubs took advantage of the big visitor numbers by taking out special liquor licences for last night. And after the shows concert-goers filled the CBD but despite the influx police said people were pretty well behaved.
|
|
#213
12-20-2009, 06:11 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Taranaki Daily News Editorial: Let There Be Many More 12-21-09
http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-dail...e-be-many-more OPINION: Among the 36,000 people who attended the two Fleetwood Mac concerts in New Plymouth this weekend, a large number had never been to the Bowl of Brooklands before. In fact, there were many who had never been to New Plymouth before. It's obvious the visitors thoroughly enjoyed themselves in both respects. On Saturday night and again last night they jammed into the Bowl to enjoy the music provided by the legendary rock group, and during the daytime hours over the weekend they fully appreciated all the attractions that New Plymouth and Taranaki has to offer. And that's the importance of events such as really big acts at the Bowl of Brooklands – all those people might never have otherwise travelled to Taranaki. This region is stuck out there on the western side of the North Island, some distance away from State Highway 1 and even further away from the traditional holiday hot spots on the eastern side of the North Island, and that means Taranaki will always be a destination rather than a place travellers might call in to on their way from points A to B. It also means, therefore, that the only way Taranaki will attract additional visitors is to host events that the public want to go to, such as concerts at the Bowl, Womad, Americarna, the arts festival, the garden festivals and, of course, big sporting occasions. Most of these events cost the community money to attract, whether by way of up-front payments or by underwriting costs. But the payback can be immense – just ask the fans who thoroughly enjoyed this weekend's world-class concerts at the Bowl, or any of the New Plymouth retail, cafe and bar operators whose weekend trade went up big-time as the hordes of visitors hit town. And what about the Bowl itself? How did it handle the record crowds it had to accommodate two days in a row? It did it easily. The concert-goers didn't mind the jam-packed – almost standing room-only – situation at all. In fact, it helped make things cosy enough so most probably didn't even notice the rain. The most important point about the weekend's concerts is that New Plymouth's Bowl of Brooklands continues to offer the atmosphere and the acoustics that will attract big-name international acts, and that fans are quite prepared to travel to Taranaki from all over New Zealand to attend such concerts. And, as is highlighted in today's newspaper, when Fleetwood Mac veteran Lindsey Buckingham says he rates the Bowl as one of the five top venues he has ever played, then the future of the facility will remain bright.
|
|
#214
12-20-2009, 06:50 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
Secondly, we didn't sleep on the floor. We slept in a giant four poster Queen Anne bed that you bought with Christmas money from your parents. The mattress was only on the floor for as long as it took the delivery men to set up the canopy. Those weren't paper flowers. It was styrofoam that fell out of the crate the headboard came in. Michele
|
|
#215
12-20-2009, 07:02 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
 It wasn't Bob that called you - I did - I love making phone calls... Um, we totally knew we lived in the same "gated" community... We definitely did NOT play in front of 75,000 people with Fritz ... and I wasn't then, nor did I ever intend to be a 'gypsy'...
__________________
|
|
#216
12-20-2009, 07:52 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
__________________
Go Ahead, Lily. 
|
|
#218
12-21-2009, 12:56 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Fleetwood Mac: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
21/12/2009 We drove over to New Plymouth on Friday night, rented a house for two nights - we had tickets for the Saturday night Fleetwood Mac concert. Now I'm a huge fan of the Mac as I pretty much indicated here. And the band was excellent - amazing in fact - and as well as enjoying the show and the performances (particularly Lindsey Buckingham's blistering guitar work) I also thought back to the years of my life spent listening to this music; absorbing the tales of Fleetwood Mac: their songs and the soap-opera that informed so many of the tunes - and went on regardless of, as well as because of, the music. It's an amazing story, or set of stories. On the drive back - yesterday afternoon - we chatted about some of the stories connecting the band; about the Peter Green years and then on to the involvement of Bob Welch and then the "classic lineup". I even have time for the album they recorded called Time. But I do not have a lot of time for idiots in crowds. And I was reminded of why I hate open-air concerts in New Zealand. The venue, oversold from what I could tell, was stripped of its unique selling-point: the pond in front of the stage was crudely/cruelly boarded over with a platform to house some seats so that people can be packed in (can anyone say Concert Cave Creek?) There was also a couple of eyesore mini-grandstands jutting out like the back-ends of a bogan mullet, flanking the front of the stage, rendering large patches of the banks useless. You either queue up early - or you fight for your patch of land. If you do get there early you have people push in and end up on your turf anyway. All of this should be okay - not ideal but okay - but in among the picnic baskets and recyclable bags filled with cushions and blankets, people forget to pack any sense of humility. And to save on space most tend to not bother taking along any dignity. I will never, as a music fan, understand how people can choose to spend $120 on a ticket and stand there talking, hooting, laughing, being annoying until the three or four radio megahits are played. And I will also never understand why people pay so much money to go to these shows - including petrol or flights and accommodation as well as ridiculous booze prices - to get written off and not really remember anything but the obvious songs. I didn't want Fleetwood Mac to play Don't Stop. I don't need to hear that song ever again. But you know they will - and that's fine. You take it because you know you are going to get Silver Springs and Oh Well (a tribute to the old blues band); you know you are going to get Rhiannon and The Chain. I don't mind some of the big-big hits; I'm not being a snob. Go Your Own Way is probably as overplayed as Don't Stop. It's a far better song though. Stumbling and tumbling around the crowd of apparently 18,000 people (according to this) were, presumably, no fewer than 987 women between the ages of 35 and 17 named Rhiannon - just waiting for the moment to yell "this is MY song"; their mothers there too, hoping for Landslide for the chance to yell "this song is about MY life" and far too many females dressed in leather and lace - with only the lace being removable - unaware that Gypsy is anything other than a Fleetwood Mac song (one of the ones to singalong to) and that Cougar is a type of pre-mixed bourbon-drink. Before you write in calling me a killjoy, I am all for people having a good time. I think it's great to be part of a crowd that is having a good time - I enjoyed Don't Stop more than I thought I would on Saturday night because all around me people were partying, wrapped up in a song that everyone knew. It's the aggression and agitation I cannot stand. That - and the absolute idiocy. This was similar to any of the shows I have reviewed at Hawke's Bay's Mission vineyard. A place where they could put a guy on stage with a lawnmower and you would still have a paying audience pouring in with chilli-bins. "Mow another strip Trev; classic! Absolutely classic!" We cannot stop these people from buying Dai Henwood's new CD/DVD. We cannot stop them from cackling at Bro Town. We cannot stop these people from playing Fat Freddy's Drop at a BBQ or for calling the first Norah Jones album jazz. But we should not have to rub elbows with them on the way in and out of a poorly designed park in a mad rush. Outdoor concerts are gross. The venue takes a hammering with cans and bottles being biffed; food and rubbish everywhere. People are rewarded for hooligan behaviour because articles are written saying the show was well supported; the city will apparently benefit from the cash injection/s. It reduces good music to the base level of being background drinking sounds for The Brains Trust. It's insulting - to the real fans and to the band. It rained the whole way through the concert - that cannot be helped. It made me wonder, though, if the people behaved worse because of it, or should I have been relieved? Maybe if it was a sunny day there would have been more drunken goons with no idea, no taste and no real business being there. I vowed, as I spent 45 minutes in a near standstill trying to leave what had been an amazing musical performance, that I would never go to an outdoor show at a vineyard or natural amphitheatre ever again. Of course it's not true - it's an occupational hazard that I will have to (continue to) endure. But I'm getting close to picking the venue as being almost as important as the act. I will probably always make exceptions - I really wanted to see Fleetwood Mac and it was worth it to me to travel there, pay to stay, pay for tickets - but if I can help it I will be sticking to seated stadium shows and indoor events. People are idiots. And it's a shame. What do you reckon? Over the top? Or do you agree? Have you had gigs ruined for you by drunken jerks? Or do you think that if you pay the money you get to, within reason, do what you want? And were you at Fleetwood Mac this weekend? What did you think? Did the rain dampen your spirits? Or could nothing stop the Mac attack? Or were you disappointed by the music? Maybe they only played Rhiannon and Don't Stop once each and that bugged you? (I heard someone yell "play Rhiannon again!") What are your thoughts on this weekend's Mac show? And/or on outdoor shows in general? Do our crowds embarrass themselves? Or am I barking up the wrong tree? 59 comments Post a comment Expand All Newest First Oldest First Jonno #1 09:26 am Dec 21 2009 Same thing happened at Pearl Jam in Auckland. Goons pushing up through the standing crowd, with no respect for anyone. CoucH #2 09:27 am Dec 21 2009 If it is such a pain, why go? Stay at home and listen to your cds Aimz #3 09:32 am Dec 21 2009 I was there - Lindsay Buckingham was superb. Both his musicianship and voice were outstanding. An absolute pleasure to see a band at the end of their world tour - so tight. Yes it rained, but I hardly noticed. Not to be missed. Spartacus #4 09:57 am Dec 21 2009 I think you're stating the obvious as well as sweating the small stuff. Spartacus #5 09:58 am Dec 21 2009 I think you're stating the obvious as well as sweating the small stuff. Personally I HATE going to concerts and being near stuck up people who want the gig to play out like a school assembly. I reckon the worst thing about NZ crowds are that they're often too passive, it's embarrassing watching an international band play and no one even makes any effort to show their enjoyment. The only thing worse is people in the front rows filming the whole thing on their crappy mobiles instead of watching the show. T-Rex #6 10:38 am Dec 21 2009 Bad crowds and drunken idiots can so easily kill a show. I can't stand the Big Day Out - it's impossible to see a band you really like without it being ruined by dickheads. We were excited about seeing Serj Tankian last year and we had this bunch of shirtless caveboys screaming 'play System of a Down' every five seconds for the ENTIRE set. Years before when I'd seen System they'd left the stage because of idiots screaming at them to play certain songs and calling them 'faggots' and 'homos' if they didn't. When I saw Placebo at BDO they had a bunch of genetic mistakes up the front yelling 'You're gay!' and 'you look like a girl huh huh huh' and 'play Metallica!' (and yes I know Placebo are crap I don't know why I wanted to see them). I'm always disgusted at the behaviour of some men at BDO (well every concert really). When Garbage played there was a constant stream of 'show us your tits' etc. Even Bjork got SUYT which is crazy because I'm pretty sure nobody really wants to see her tits. Even at Gin Wigmore (a very small inside concert) a guy behind me yelled 'show us your tits' twice (he didn't a third time because I have him a nut-shrivelling look). At the same concert two girls stood at the front texting, talking and answering phone calls the whole way through the show. They danced for one song - the Godawful Under My Skin - then went back to texting. I can't understand why people bother going to a concert if they're just going to yell abuse at the artist the whole way through it. Or text and take calls etc. It's OK to yell out Freebird though. But only once. Steve #7 11:13 am Dec 21 2009 Man you're grumpy! The venue was fantastic and the seating platform over the lake looked awesome. It gets people closer to the band and helps the artists interact better with the crowd - surely that's got to be a good thing hasn't it? As for your comments about the people watching the show, my experience was completely different. I too am a long time fan who wanted to hear more than just the hits. Yes, there were plenty of people there who didn't know some of the songs and yes some of them dared to talk and laught among themselves. But we weren't at the library Simon - people were having a great time and soaking up the atmosphere of a great concert at what is undoubtedly the best outdoor venue in the country, and probably in the whole of Australsia. Hey, make sure you come back for Cliff Richard in February. As far as I know there won't be a seating platform or any grandstands, so that should put a smile on your face. Happy Christmas to all from Taranaki! Samuel #8 11:23 am Dec 21 2009 I've had a drunken jerk ruin quite a few shows for me. Sylvian #9 11:23 am Dec 21 2009 Babyboomers! Nuff said. tellurian #10 11:34 am Dec 21 2009 I used to love outdoor events, but the bogan element and absolutely faceless drunken dicks you have to deal with, or the slobs who think its great to piss in their empty plastic cups and throw it, or the 30min queue for a toilet only to be greeted by a site gauranted to haunt you when you do get to use the toilet have turned me off completely. Oh and the morons who insist on singing loudly and out of tune to the songs so you can't actually hear the song the bands playing, or morons who cant clap in time, oh and the idiots that are surgically attached to there phones and have to text or phone the whole time. Save myself the grief now, i just buy the dvd play it on the 50" screen at home with the volume cranked and the sub pumping, get in a few litres of spirits and party much much better. http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment...e-Bad-the-Ugly
|
|
#219
12-21-2009, 01:16 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
Oh, I'm not disoriented, although I did see Tweety Bird flying around for a few seconds. I originally thought I was going to get a by lump, but it was just a few scrapes. Of course I was not looking out for low hanging branches today when I tramped up mt taranaki. Oh... Stevie was giving her speach about joining Fritz- that "Bob" called her to ask her to join. Lindsey walked up to her mic and told her that it was actually Lindsey who called her. And for the next minute lindsey kept repeating that he called her. Stevie was speechless but became mortified when Linesey dug deeper and said, "I even kissed you," to which the crowd whooped in approval. It took a while for her to recover, especially after he kissed her right there. Meanwhile, I could see various kids, mothers and crew having a party offstage. They were dancing their asses off. After the show, when Mick gave his speech, I finally saw that they were his twins. And at one point they were both holding their "Faerie Godmother," and Mick said something like oh well, I've lost them both. Also now that I'm sittng here at Wellington Airport (at the only free hotspot in New Zealand), I think it would have extraordinarily easy to stalk them. It's a tiny airport! Just a single terminal and you can see everything coming and going from the window. Oh, one more tidbit- Landslide was dedicated to the Maori performers, namely the girl named "Lindsay.". She said it was something she would never forget, and that her two favorite places were Scotland and New Zealand. I guess I felt a little dissed as an American, but Ivan understand where she is coming from.
|
|
#220
12-21-2009, 07:39 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
 
__________________
she thought she was out there...but nobody saw...
|
|
#221
12-21-2009, 07:41 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
 Last edited by GypsyBlueEyes; 12-21-2009 at 08:40 AM..
|
|
#222
12-21-2009, 08:01 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
__________________
|
|
#223
12-21-2009, 09:05 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
__________________
|
|
#224
12-21-2009, 10:31 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Monday, December 21, 2009
The Case for a Mac Attack Mick brought a big set of drums and slim, attractive backup singers who dressed like Matrix refugees. Lindsey brought a large selection of guitars and an Art Garfunkle look. Stevie brought her portable wind generator, her tambourine and a few hundred outfits. New Plymouth brought the rain – especially for the concert. Yup, basically as soon as Fleetwood Mac hit the stage, the rains decided to join in the fun (ironically, the Sunday show, which was always meant to be wet, ended up quite dry - apparently). The rains played coy as we claimed our spot on the grassy hillside in New Plymouth’s Bowl of Brooklands, and they stayed away through the country and western warm up act (from Lyttleton!) though they may have been fighting queues to get food and t-shirts, but then they came back with a vengeance for the main act. But that didn’t really seem to bother anyone. Even me, and I detest getting wet. We were lucky to have claimed a spot that was somewhat shaded by a tree, though still on the gentle slope in front of the stage rather than on one of the more precipitous banks around the venue. Our view of the stage and the screens (once everyone stood up) was incredible, and then of course there was the music itself. I do not claim to have particularly distinguished music taste, as I know my preferences are fairly middle of the road. But everyone at the audience, from the nearby chain smokers to the nearby potheads, from the sensibly dressed women with wine in their hands to the rough and tumble buzzcutted lads with their ciggies and beer, and from those who remembered the 60s and 70s to those who barely remember the 90s, the entire crowd were thrilled to see this group, and revered the music they performed. And the devotion was not misplaced. If we were worshippers of the band, Stevie Nicks was the high priestess, and her every word was met with a hush that poor Lindsey Buckingham never got during his pronouncements. But then, his words were not his most impressive contribution: I was almost ready to call CYFS, with the way he abused his wee guitar. The whole crowd sang along to the major hits, but stayed respectfully quiet as Ms Nicks performed her slower songs. I did not think she would perform “Landslide”, which is one of my favourites, so I was pleasantly surprised then it began, and while the Dixie Chicks version is incredible, the performance by just Ms Nicks and Mr Buckingham doing a guitar solo totally blew my mind. Others got more worked up over the other “surprise” inclusion an 80s effort (the name of which escapes me), which gave Ms Nicks yet another chance to change her outfit and twirl around the stage. They never did get around to playing “Seven Wonders”, which is one of my favourites, but with songs like “Gypsy”, “Rhiannon”, “Go Your Own Way”, “Say You Love Me”, “Sarah”, and “Don’t Stop” all performed amazingly, I really didn’t end up caring. I seem destined to always enjoy major concerts in the rain (like Bowie), but New Plymouth’s rain was nowhere near as windswept and driving as the Wellington version (wimps). The band were very complementary about the audience’s staying power and even started 15 minutes early, though they still expected two encores rather than just having one big finale set. But when one of those songs contained an incredible drum solo by Mr Fleetwood, when he earned his genial giant reputation by getting the audience somewhat involved (though he was hard to understand through all the sweat and energy he was putting into his efforts), then its really hard to feel annoyed. And who am I to quibble or complain? The show was absolutely incredible. Leaving the event turned out to be a slip slide health hazard, and people were screaming animal calls rather than attempting to murder the songs we had just heard performed so expertly (a la “Roxanne” at the Police concert), but, sodden as I was, I left with a (potentially second hand pot fuelled) buzz that I still feel somewhat with the distance of time and space. It was a totally worthwhile experience, and one of the greatest pre-Christmas presents I could ever have wished for. Verdict: Legends came to life in the ‘Naki and Fleetwood Mac did not disappoint. Should they come back again (as they promised to do), or Stevie tour solo again (I still kick myself for missing her last tour), I will have to make a pilgrimage to wherever to experience their magic again. 7 Wonders out of 7, no matter the weather. http://judge-jury.blogspot.com/2009/...ac-attack.html
|
|
#225
12-21-2009, 10:33 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
21 December 2009
Taranaki Weekend - The Concert Fleetwood Mac at last. We stood there in the rain and drizzle singing our hearts out. By us I mean the whole audience, not just Peter and I, all 18000 of them. One of the songs sung by Stevie Nicks, Landslide, came over very poignantly. As I sang along quietly, I could hear thousands of women of my age, singing along quietly and wistfully too. Usually this kind of emotional claptrap leaves me cold, but just this one time it felt so right. It was a great concert, something I never ever thought I would see. I enjoyed it, Peter enjoyed it, my 19 year old eldest enjoyed it and even my 9 year old youngest loved it too, he sang all the way home, and he had no idea who Fleetwood Mac where before the concert. The setting looked amazing set among trees in the park. http://nicola-daisies.blogspot.com/2...d-concert.html
|
 |
|
|
Christine Mcvie Posing Headshot 8x10 PHOTO PRINT
$6.98
$9.66
Christine McVie Reel To Reel 1984 Rare like new 1R1 7648
$69.88
$8.55
$8.56
Linear Mode
