Then and Now

[teedeerocks]

I just watched FM Live in Boston-haven't seen it in years.The difference in Stevie and Lindsey's stage presence and communication compared to this past years tour is unbelievable.Stevie hardly looked at Lind's and hardly spoke or smiled.She looked like she would've loved to be anywhere but THERE.If she couldn't fake it for a show that she knew was going to be taped she must've been REALLY pissed off.I think some of the stunts they did during the recent tour were staged but the happiness couldn't have been.I hope they keep it up for this next tour

[nicole21290]

Originally Posted by teedeerocks

I just watched FM Live in Boston-haven't seen it in years.The difference in Stevie and Lindsey's stage presence and communication compared to this past years tour is unbelievable.Stevie hardly looked at Lind's and hardly spoke or smiled.She looked like she would've loved to be anywhere but THERE.If she couldn't fake it for a show that she knew was going to be taped she must've been REALLY pissed off.I think some of the stunts they did during the recent tour were staged but the happiness couldn't have been.I hope they keep it up for this next tour

One must also take into consideration that that's ONE show. Under different circumstances. Certainly, there seemed be a lack of consistency in their interaction and mood during SYW which was there this time around, whether we attribute that to a true reconciliation for once, a lack of certain others hanging around quite so much, less health issues, the embracing of the 'power couple' image, etc. I wouldn't say she barely looked at Lindsey and barely smiled, however, even in just that one example. But yes, it was a more up and down affair. I'll let their favourite artist Ms Perry explain, lol:

'Cause you're hot then you're cold
You're yes then you're no
You're in then you're out
You're up then you're down
You're wrong when it's right
It's black and it's white
We fight, we break up
We kiss, we make up

I find this emphasis on putting things down as 'stunts' quite amusing, really. Planning to hug or kiss Stevie's hand neither precludes it containing emotional meaning for them nor does it mean that every evolution of said hug, for example, is also planned to a tee, just to appease poor shippers. The MOST amusing thing, however, is how Stevie, last year, decided to call a lot of the past interactions 'fake' and she refused to do that anymore for this tour. And yet, I would say the level of open emotional intimacy and overall amusing interaction across the board increased. I would also say that this tour, last tour, the SYW tour - it's nearly always been the improvised moments, the off the cuff interactions, or the evolution of moments etc (not the most basic level of Tusk embrace or Sara hug that they began with) that have been the most 'shippy' or 'intimate'. Which doesn't quite fit with the idea some people fixate on of 'playing things up', to be honest.











If we're comparing now and then, I also wouldn't have complained last year if we'd gotten some of the stuff we got back then. Fits in quite well with the lovefest theme...









But yes, agreed on the last point. I'm optimistic.

[nicole21290]

And because there is a limit on pictures per post - apologies for the double post but this was too good an opportunity to let slip by...

[louielouie2000]

Originally Posted by nicole21290

One must also take into consideration that that's ONE show.

I agree. Plus, the Say You Will tour was LONG. A year & a half. I saw them several times that tour... they came out swinging in the earlier shows, but got progressively more bedraggled as the tour drug on. You could tell by the end they were quite over it, which is probably why Fleetwood Mac took it's longest touring & recording break ever following Say You Will. Live In Boston wasn't one of the earlier shows... so you can see that these folks are a bit tired & cranky with one another when you watch it.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by nicole21290

I find this emphasis on putting things down as 'stunts' quite amusing, really.

True. Anyone who has known each other as long as they have will share real emotions. On the other hand, I think the opposing argument that any apparent or expressed friction that they have is just "pretend" to garner attention is quite irrational.

There are very few people paying attention to whether they get along or not. Manufacturing controversy and old wounds does not increase sales. A handful of focused fans are not enough to move the meter on any sales chart. They are not worth putting on a show of animus for. So, if they're bickering when this next tour starts, I don't think it will be because they want to generate attention. But people are going to tell themselves that.

For the SYW tour, I was actually touched by the way the way their interaction evolved from when I first saw them in June, until I saw them again in Reno. They seemed to have grown much closer and were more in synch than they had been less than 2 months earlier. I remember being thrilled in particular by the way she threw her head and hair back at the end of Don't Stop and he placed his face against her mane. They had not been doing that in June. Of course, it had less of an impact with me the next 10 times I saw it, but the first time I was giddy.

Also, I had hated him swinging his amplifier cord so much when I saw them in Moline and I'm glad that stopped. The Tusk fight/dance was horrible, but it got less so the longer the tour continued. It became more natural. And Say Goodbye ... by the time the tour ended, the dedications seemed so real to me, much more than Lindsey's speech had at the beginning of the tour. The dedication made the song worthwhile. Lindsey seemed to be getting more emotional as the tour ended, in general, when he mentioned his brother, his father and Cory too during the last shows, so in the end when he got to Say Goodbye, there were tears there and tears from Stevie and it was actually a lot deeper, in my eyes.

Now, Reno was the longest break I had had in seeing the tour and I was really struck by the change the most that time. I was disappointed when the audience fight interrupted the SnL dynamic so abruptly, because I wanted to see things play out between them right down to the final bows. I think you get to the point where you know the songs so well, that you don't have to think about those anymore. You aren't focused on the performance so much and things start to happen. They aren't spontaneous things necessarily, but they're more personal. There's more of a comfort zone.

As for Live in Boston, it was stilted overall compared to the rest of the tour, but that was true of The Dance as well. When I saw the Dance video, I loved it immensely, but I had not seen that line up in 15 years and that's who I thought they were in their fifties. I was delighted to see them live and find out how much more exciting they were than they had been on the DVD. Lindsey was still so manic. Everyone lauded Silver Springs, but it was much more scintillating on the road than it was on that tape.

Even though they do more than one take, I think they still are focused on getting everything right for the video that they close up and constrain a little. And that might have had as much to do with how Live in Boston looked as anything else.

I don't really see the SYW tour as going downhill over the course of time. And I certainly don't see it as static. I think it was more like a roller coaster, with ups and downs, all the way through, both legs.

Michele