The Dance 13 years ago this week

[skuncles]

So it was 13 years ago this week that The Dance premiered on MTV and the album was released. I remember watching the premiere of the show and was blown away at finally hearing "Silver Springs" live. The song had long been a favorite of mine and to finally hear being sung again was awesome. Also seeing Stevie looking so great (the last I saw her was for her promotion of "Street Angel" and she wasn't looking too good). But she looked awesome at the show and the band sounded incredible. I couldn't wait to go see them the following month.

From the back of the promo CD:

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of Fleetwood Mac's landmark Rumours album, the classic Fleetwood Mac line-up, Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie and Stevie Nicks, have reunited for an MTV special, a national tour and a new album.

The home video, DVD and laser disc versions of The Dance were compiled from a series of three performances. These evening performances on a Warner Bros. Studios soundstage in Burbank provide an intimate visual counterpoint to the album. All of these releases will contain songs that were unable to make the single CD due to time restrictions.

STREET DATES:
Album CD: August 19
Home Video (VHS): August 26
DVD & Laser Disc: September 23

MTV AIR DATES:
Silver Springs and Tusk music clips begin airing July 28
A 90 minute version of The Dance premieres at 10pm (EST) August 12

Subsequent airings:
August 16 at 1pm, 7pm and 9pm (Eastern/Pacific)
August 17 11am and 3:30pm (Eastern/Pacific)

[ButterCookie]

I was almost 4 Wow that's depressing.

[AncientQueen]

Later that year, Alex send me a copy on tape, I put in into my car-cassette-player (sounds like iceage nowadays) and was totally underwhelmed. Well, I liked "Big Love" much better than the original, but then, I'e always disliked TITN for overall sound and production, so that was not a suprise.

Over the next weeks, The Dance would be my companion on my way and back from work and it totally grew on me. When I finally saw the concert, they had me. Seing Lindsey playing Big love made a whole lot of a difference.

I've always felt that The Dance is my reward for sticking to the band and especially Stevie for so long, they fully delivered, I deserved it.

[bluefox4000]

The Dance hooked me on the Mac. I was 12 at the time. Saw on vh-1 or MTV. One of those. Funny thing is I really didin't get hooked until they started I'm So Afraid. When Lindsey launched into that ending solo......It was a done deal for me. As time went on I grew to love everybody....But Lindsey hooked my 12 year old self Not to mention he was hot

Mick

[holidayroad]

I definitely remember The Dance on MTV! I was almost 23. I actually saw the 'video' for 'Silver Springs' before I saw The Dance. I was SO shocked to see that Lindsey was back with Fleetwood Mac!!!!!!!! I was overjoyed!
I also remember the first time I tried to record The Dance from MTV. A thunderstorm came up right in the middle and my satellite dish lost its signal!

[Sahara]

It must have been a very exciting time to be a Fleetwood Mac fan!

[aleuzzi]

Originally Posted by Sahara

It must have been a very exciting time to be a Fleetwood Mac fan!

Honestly, I was nervous as hell for the band. I didn't know, for example, if Christine's and Stevie's vocals would shine, and I was worried Stevie might be too self-conscious about her appearance. Remember, back in the late nineties, we FM fans didn't have much to go on: the last we'd heard of Christine, she'd "hung up her touring boots," and Stevie refused to go on stage because of her weight. I was, however, confident that Lindsey would rock the house, and was excited at least to see the old five back together again. Needless to say, as I watched the initial VH1 airing I was stunned at how good they were! I heard Christine belt the verses to "Temporary One" and was thrilled to hear her voice in fine form. I remember watching "Silver Springs" (the opening bars led me to think the band were performing "Wish You Were Here") and laughing out loud at how f---ng intense it was! When Stevie turned to Lindsey and started ripping him a new hole, I was floored! The old magic was there. I stood up when she finished and yelled, as if I were in the audience. My roommate thought I was a freak.

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by Sahara

It must have been a very exciting time to be a Fleetwood Mac fan!

Not so much. The reuniting of the Rumours 5 was a giant leap backwards into "retro-oldies" land, instead of moving forward as a viable creative entity.

And, really, what did The Dance accomplish besides the "oddity" spectacle of these five getting back together? Lindsey was working on a solo album...did he capitalize on the industry "buzz" and release it on the heels of the end of the subsequent tour? No, his album got shelved and it took Fleetwood Mac FIVE YEARS to follow-up The Dance (with Lindsey's long delayed solo album making up half the album), once again a lost opportunity.

The only UP side was that Stevie released a multi-disc solo compilation and a successful solo tour with a year of The Dance, so she got 100% of the carryover from The Dance "buzz".

[AncientQueen]

Originally Posted by chiliD

Not so much. The reuniting of the Rumours 5 was a giant leap backwards into "retro-oldies" land, instead of moving forward as a viable creative entity.

And, really, what did The Dance accomplish besides the "oddity" spectacle of these five getting back together? Lindsey was working on a solo album...did he capitalize on the industry "buzz" and release it on the heels of the end of the subsequent tour? No, his album got shelved and it took Fleetwood Mac FIVE YEARS to follow-up The Dance (with Lindsey's long delayed solo album making up half the album), once again a lost opportunity.

I have to agree on that and I remember, how much that angered me, Lindsey just couldn't bring himself to finish his freakin' album and wasted his opportunity to shine as a solo artist. And when SYW came out, I was all "WTF? That is what comes out after 5 years of guitar playing and studio meddling?" Of course it was an overproduced mess - when you produce something for more than 5 years it cannot be pure and simple.

What The Dance did for me was a reassuring that my band could still play and that Stevie was recovering from the terrible 15 years before.

Musically, I appreciate Lindseys craftmanship on guitar, but he, old egomaniac he is, put his playing far in front of the mix that you cannot get to hear Christine's playing and that bugs me to no end, especially at "Don't stop" where she usually played a pretty mean piano, it was her song and he hijacked it. So I would have loved to have a more laid back version, with Lindsey cooling it and leaving some room to play for everyone...

(In the ideal world, he would have left the stage for 10 minutes and Bob Welch would have played "Hypnotized" or "Bermuda Triangle" with the gals.

Sigh.)

[vivfox]

Originally Posted by chiliD

Not so much. The reuniting of the Rumours 5 was a giant leap backwards into "retro-oldies" land, instead of moving forward as a viable creative entity.

I agree with this statement. When I found out that they'd be re-doing Silver Springs I was a bit worried it might not be good.I came to this conclusion based on the fact that many of Stevie's original demos were brilliant and then massacred on albums. I was actually suprised at how good SS came out. I was not thrilled with the new songs by Chris or Lindsey & Sweet Girl took a long time for me to like.

The concert ended up being the same 'ole same 'ole that we usually get from them. To this day I did not buy The Dance, nor would I ever desire to own it. I'm glad this album gathered in new fans though, because you have made this site more enjoyable with your enthusiasim. But it was the Fleetwood Mac from 1975-1987 that meant the most to me. The only live recordings I am interested in hearing are the White Album, Rumours, Tusk and Bella Donna Tours. Some of the Mirage live songs were good too. The Dance was for me, a major yawn.

[skuncles]

What I liked about The Dance was seeing that Stevie had pulled it all together and was back in charge of herself again. After "Street Angel" I thought for sure she was done. "Silver Springs" was incredible (still prefer the original recording, but was glad to see it get revived). I also learned to love Lindsey's "I'm So Afraid" which I had up til then never liked.
What I didn't like about it (and still don't) is the overall sound, I don't like the dampened sound of the drums. I also didn't like that once you saw the full video you saw the tour. I was the opening night of the tour in Hartford and even though they threw in three additional songs to what was performed on the album, I knew the set list and the between song banter. It bugged me that they didn't waver much from the album. The people standing next to me kept asking me how I knew what they were doing next. I just smiled.
The thing about The Dance that always amazed me was that even though Stevie had sung "Dreams" thousands of times, she flubbed the song at the recording in May. I also liked how when she sang "Landslide" she did this kind of look during the "I'm getting older too..." line, the show was recorded on May 22, 23 or 24th somewhere around there so it was almost her birthday.

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by chiliD

Not so much. The reuniting of the Rumours 5 was a giant leap backwards into "retro-oldies" land, instead of moving forward as a viable creative entity.

You were so lucky to see them during their best times, so no surprise in 1997 The Dance was for you much ado about nothing.

But for me, who never had the opportunity to see them live, me who lives in a country where no rock star included in their tours (70s and 80s were dark years for Peru, completetly different from today),, The Dance album and the Reunion tour were like dreams came true. I had the opportunity to see them at NYC, on Thanksgiving day 1997. (I was student and too young in 1982 to go to the States for the Mirage tour) and it was great. I saw them again in 2009 and I enjoyed it, but I missed Christine.

1997 was a great and also controversial year for me. Silver Springs was so meaningful to me. Why? Just read the lyrics and say no more.

Villavic

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by vivfox

. I was actually suprised at how good SS came out. I was not thrilled with the new songs by Chris or Lindsey & Sweet Girl took a long time for me to like.

.... The Dance was for me, a major yawn.

Never liked Temporary One, neither Little Demon.
I liked Bleed and Sweet Girl, but the strongness of the album was the oldies, and just to see them again together. It was a usual reunion, The 90s were full of reunions, but I enjoyed this.

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by chiliD

Not so much. The reuniting of the Rumours 5 was a giant leap backwards into "retro-oldies" land, instead of moving forward as a viable creative entity.

Although I agree that a new studio album would have been ideal, in hindsight I think they made the right decision to come back with a live album of oldies. As Lindsey had stated during the press junket, this was a way to re-introduce the band to the world after the "Fleetwood Mac" brand name had been almost irreparably sullied by the preceding decade. The world at large needed to know that The Five were back and back in a big way. It wasn't Fleetwood Mac comprised of a bunch of B-list replacements. It wasn't Fleetwood Mac with one of its cornerstones missing. It was the real deal and it seems that an all-new album would not have necessarily garnered that kind of attention in terms of the MTV tie-in, PBS television broadcasts, DVD sales, etc. And it's one thing to hear them and another thing to see them. The chemistry was back and the drama (which propelled Rumours) was evidently still intact as well. You can't honestly and sincerely say that they would have garnered so many new fans if they had just recorded a new studio album; look at all of the Dance-era converts on this thread alone!

[GypsySorcerer]

I was thrilled about The Dance. I became a fan in the late 80s, and after the Clinton inauguration, I feared the Rumours line-up would never reunite. So I was absolutely ecstatic when the concert aired on MTV.

I was relieved and thrilled that Stevie was "back." I just remember hearing the opening bars of "The Chain" and seeing Stevie standing with her back turned to the audience, shaking her tambourine. I thought, "Whew! She's got it again." And I wasn't disappointed. "Gold Dust Woman" and "Silver Springs" remain among my favorite Stevie performances. I practically became unglued during "Silver Springs." I seriously thought her head was going to pop off. Although it later became canned, I loved the "Landslide" interaction with Lindsey. Even "Rhiannon" was a slow simmer that I have learned to appreciate.

I liked all the new songs. In particular, I was impressed with "Bleed to Love Her." I enjoy that version infinitely more than the one that was on SYW.

Plus, it was the last project involving Christine, so that just adds to the appeal for me.