Sydney Concerts Thread

[StreetAngel86]

Originally Posted by EnchantedKiwi

I'm gonna try post it somehow, cause i recorded it on my iPhone voice memo thing, but defiantly sounds like lindsey's work, it was ammmazzing.

It's almost as if they know we want Sisters of the moon and are just teasing us grrr haha

that is EXACTLY what i thought
theyre TEASING US!
i dont remember them playing it pre SYW shows

it really is beautiful
i can imagine lindsey backstage just playing it

i would buy a CD with just lindsey instrumentals....

the gypsy story that never ends
yah seriously...it's gonna make the 4 minute mark by the time they get to NZ
i wanna go SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BAAAAAAAAAAAAAD

[vivfox]

Beautiful Child AND SOTM!! Unfrickin' believable!! This is played on the soundsystem EnchantedKiwi or did you say Linds was actually playing it behind the stage???

[EnchantedKiwi]

Originally Posted by vivfox

Beautiful Child AND SOTM!! Unfrickin' believable!! This is played on the soundsystem EnchantedKiwi or did you say Linds was actually playing it behind the stage???

Yep and Bleed to love her! I'm pretty sure it was just a previous recording Lindsey must of did, but it came on randomly inbetween ordinary songs

[CADreaming]

Originally Posted by EnchantedKiwi

OOO before the show they played some acoustic tracks, of just lindsey on his guitar, he played bleed to love her, beautiful child! annnnnd.. sisters of the moon!! I tried to record it on my phone cause it sounded so good!

They played a new version of Stephanie, DOR, and BTLH over the P.A. prior to our shows here in the US.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by EnchantedKiwi

Aw thanks guys It was aweeeeeesssommee, and i'm real excited for New Plymouth now!

Fantastic review. Thanks. Just because of the way the city is building up for this event, I think the New Plymouth show will be of stratospheric. I mean, the crowd is going to be so responsive.

I just know if I walked up to Lindsey and said something about SOTM he'd pretend that he didn't know what I was talking about. The idea that he actually did new guitar work on the song is thrilling. It's on their minds, for whatever that is worth.

Michele

[grace_face]

Hey, was there a support act/band at the Syd concert? (I'm asking this about the Melb concert too)

I still don't know whether what I heard about it being Ella Hooper's new band is true.

[DavidMn]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

I am Sydney-bound (from Los Angeles) this Saturday evening! But I don't get there until Monday morning (surely NOT "looking fine"). Then I'm off to Auckland on Friday and driving down to New Plymouth first thing Sunday morning. Never drove on the wrong side of the road before, so this will be interesting... I would advise all Kiwis to stay off the SH 1, 39 and 3 motorways if they value their lives!

That's so F**KIN awesome man! You know I wish I could be there with you. Wow seeing the Mac in New Zealand. My hats off to you my friend!

[EnchantedKiwi]

Originally Posted by grace_face

Hey, was there a support act/band at the Syd concert? (I'm asking this about the Melb concert too)

I still don't know whether what I heard about it being Ella Hooper's new band is true.

Yep! The Verses played for half an hour before Fm

[Chris_Sydney]

Hello all. I’ve been a lurker here at The Ledge for many years now, but this is a fitting topic to come out of the shadows for.

I’m still feeling a little awestruck over my first Fleetwood Mac experience. I grew up listening solely to my father’s LP collection for a good five years before I started to branch out and discover music for myself. Fleetwood Mac, and Stevie’s solo albums, featured prominently in my early musical education. Seeing the band play at Acer Arena in Sydney on Monday night was the first time I had seen any of them perform live. I took my Dad with me and it was his first time seeing them too. I’m lucky to have only had to wait about fifteen years; he had been waiting since 1975. It was a lovely tribute to both the transcendent power of music and the longevity of Fleetwood Mac, effectively bridging two generations of fans, each equally passionate about this group of musicians.

The first moments of quiet excitement began when I realised the acoustic music coming out of the speakers between the support act and Fleetwood Mac was, as EnchantedKiwi said, instrumental guitar versions of a few obscure Mac tracks. Nobody else around me seemed to recognise them, so it felt like a secret tip of the hat to the diehard fans in the audience. Very, very cool. Did the American and European concerts start with an audio track of cricket noises before the lights went down too? It was a bizarre way to start the show. The volume was so loud that it almost sounded like a cacophony of cicadas (for the Aussies out there who know what I’m talking about) which felt like a nicely localised nod.

We had fourth row seats and thanks to a crowd who were largely comfortable in their seats, I was able to stand at the stage a little to the left of Stevie. I was initially two or three people back but by the end of the show was practically leaning up against the stage. It is obvious that the ‘Unleashed’ tour has settled into a smooth routine - made even more obvious after I went to the Tuesday night show and noted the near identical patter - but that hasn’t lessened its potency. The arrangements are spot on (loved the slowly-revving-up intro for ‘Stand Back’, the slowed down ‘Never Going Back Again’, and the full band ‘Go Insane’!) and the band’s collective energy is unrivalled by anyone I’ve seen.

There appears to be far less tension on this tour than the ‘Say You Will’ tour. We all know the ‘Sara’ hug is choreographed and Mick says more or less the same poignant platitudes every night, but the whole show exudes a warmth and if not a connectedness then a mutual respect for what the four members achieved together. That warmth seemed to be missing from the ‘Say You Will’ DVD. I’m sure that is in part due to a far stronger setlist on this tour and some brilliant moments of choreography. Lindsey’s collapse at the end of ‘Go Insane’, Stevie’s spotlight dance in ‘Never Going Back Again’, the silhouetted conclusion of ‘Gold Dust Woman’; all delightful touches that make this show the slick and highly affecting performance that it is.

Lindsey’s voice is sounding better than it has in some time. The final note of ‘Go Insane’ had such a rich vibrato in it and ‘Never Going Back Again’ was perfect from start to finish. He came and stood directly in front of me for the ‘I’m So Afraid’ solo and I could see the drops of sweat rolling off his forehead and hitting the stage floor. It was an incredible moment and I can still recall the surge of emotion as I watched him play literally a metre away. Towards the end of the show while Stevie was singing, I turned to watch Lindsey and continued mouthing Stevie’s lyrics. He scanned the crowd and caught my eye, and acknowledged me with a smile. Possibly the best moment of my night.

Stevie was everything I had imagined she would be and more. After reading some of the early press reviews that had described her performance on this tour as lacklustre and sluggish, I was surprised by the level of audience interaction (lots during ‘Gypsy’ - waving to fans on the ‘hey baby’ line, and copying some gestures fans were creating in the crowd) and Stevie’s energy levels throughout. Clearly she expends her energy in a different way to Lindsey, but she was positively delightful. By the end of the show, she had really loosened up and seemed to be genuinely enjoying herself during the encores. At the end of one of the encores, she looked in my direction and said ‘thank you’. I was too shocked by it to do much else other than gape and stare back with my mouth half hanging open, and it still feels entirely surreal.

The second night was a little less visceral for me as I had seats further back on the arena floor and I knew nothing could top the experience I had on Monday. I was shocked by how different the performance of ‘Storms’ was. I don’t know what happened to Stevie on the Tuesday night but something in those lyrics must have resonated with her because she performed the song in such a different way. Instead of singing in her usual concert voice, it flipped into a scratchy tone not unlike ‘Rock A Little (Go Ahead Lily)’ and the pathos of the song seemed so much more tangible. Compared to the (still excellent) performance the night before, it felt like a completely different song. Stevie wore a different costume for ‘Silver Springs’, a black jacket with a white fur collar, and her delivery of the final section of that song was decidedly more impassioned too.

Fleetwood Mac received an incredible reception from the Sydney audiences on both nights. It was a wonderful atmosphere to be a part of; to hear the collective sigh at the opening strains of ‘Sara’ and the shrieks of excitement when ‘Stand Back’ kicks into gear, and to see the entire arena on their feet for ‘Go Your Own Way’ was fairly spectacular. After having made such a strong connection with the band’s music over my lifetime, I felt blessed to have finally had a shared experience with them in concert. We are all so lucky to have this amazing band still performing and helping us to create new memories to familiar songs. There are a lot of fanbases out there who cannot boast that.


x

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by michelej1

Fantastic review. Thanks. Just because of the way the city is building up for this event, I think the New Plymouth show will be of stratospheric. I mean, the crowd is going to be so responsive.

I just know if I walked up to Lindsey and said something about SOTM he'd pretend that he didn't know what I was talking about. The idea that he actually did new guitar work on the song is thrilling. It's on their minds, for whatever that is worth.

Michele

I'm not entirely convinced that is Lindsey playing on the pre-show music. It's just too spare and straightforward. I think IF Lindsey ever revisits old songs, he would either produce them heavily or completely redo the song structure, e.g. "Go Insane" and "Big Love." I can't help but suspect that some talented unknown put out a cd full of these acoustic FM covers.

[Chris_Sydney]

Oh, I also took my camera on Monday night and am glad I did as I ended up with some great shots. I tried to only take a handful of photos for each song as I wanted to engage with the live experience as much as possible. (I’m a Drama teacher, so I’m conditioned to consider a live event as an exchange between performer and audience, and I’ve always thought it must be strange for a singer to be singing their guts out and see people in the audience more concerned with clicking their digital cameras! I’ve also been to gigs where I’ve been guilty of being more concerned with my photography than watching the performance and it’s difficult to come away with a real sense of having experienced something magical). Anyway, these are just a selection of the best ones. Hope you guys enjoy them.


Rhiannon








Tusk




Sara


Landslide


Gold Dust Woman




x

[Chris_Sydney]

I’m So Afraid




Stand Back




Go Your Own Way












x

[DoubtfulMiracle]

^ Chris (I do hope that's your name!) -- thank you so much for those fantastic photos, but especially for your wonderful review. I never tire of hearing how much FM means to people (and such a diverse group of people too), and I think your review captured all of that and then some. It was especially great to hear your descriptions of the audience response, which certainly sounds amazing. I hope my Brisbane experiences are as great as yours were.

And you should come out of lurkdom more often -- you write far too well to hide in the shadows!

[Amlyn]

Originally Posted by Chris_Sydney

The second night was a little less visceral for me as I had seats further back on the arena floor and I knew nothing could top the experience I had on Monday. I was shocked by how different the performance of ‘Storms’ was. I don’t know what happened to Stevie on the Tuesday night but something in those lyrics must have resonated with her because she performed the song in such a different way. Instead of singing in her usual concert voice, it flipped into a scratchy tone not unlike ‘Rock A Little (Go Ahead Lily)’ and the pathos of the song seemed so much more tangible. Compared to the (still excellent) performance the night before, it felt like a completely different song. Stevie wore a different costume for ‘Silver Springs’, a black jacket with a white fur collar, and her delivery of the final section of that song was decidedly more impassioned too.




x

Great review. So glad you had a wonderful time and got to go 2 nights.

Does anyone have photos or video of Silver Springs? This sounds like the first wardrobe change for Stevie all tour! (Other than the boots.)

[jannieC]

Chris Sydney, what a wonderful review and beautiful photos.