Why is Stevie afraid to try out new songs live?

[trackaghost]

On this tour, songs from Say You Will;

Lindsey:
What's The World Coming To
Peacekeeper
Come
Say Goodbye
(And at the Soundstage gig, just to show he can and probably would too - Red Rover, Steal Your Heart Away, Murrow Turning Over In His Grave)

Stevie:
Say You Will
Goodbye Baby

Dropped faster than a hot potato: Running Through The Garden, Destiny Rules.

I mean it was even Lindsey who suggested that Stevie resurrect Beautiful Child!


I mean what's going on? Just who is controlling the set list?
And c'mon, spontaneity anyone?

[gldstwmn]

Lindsey, IMO has no problem stepping outside his comfort zone for the sake of his art. hearing him sing "Murrow had a child in his grave" in Chicago was a complete rush. I hope that makes it to the final cut.
My guess is with Stevie, since she doesn't have the "false confidence" of the past it is much harder for her to push the envelope. I don't know why she clings to the same old setlist night after night. In essence though, Stevie never really has deviated that much from her beginings in the music business. I don't think she likes change.

[strandinthewind]

I think Stevie does not vary because of the vocal prep. She just won't do it. I mean I kind of get the "we have to play mostly hits" mentality. But, she has other hits she could play like Seven Wonders. I wish she would. But, given that Waddy told her the same thing and although she changed the order of the staple set list, she really did not change it that much. Then again, look at the Enchanted tour, which was full of very obscure gems (Sleeping Angel, Garbo, Rose Garden, After the Glitter Fades, Twisted, and so on). So, she can do it!!!!!!

[Nikolaj]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by gldstwmn
[B]Lindsey, IMO has no problem stepping outside his comfort zone

Wow! rock on, gldstwmn When i saw this thread, before opening it up and wanting to reply; my first thought was Stevie's ''comfort zone'' and then to see that was YOUR thought... nice to be in-synch with someones thoughts, even if its a stranger on the Internet
and i think its true. Stevie's an amazing live performer, but has had this 'comfort zone' issue for a long time. I know she HAS to do 'Dreams' but its early placing in the set in every tour since the 70s makes it just something you have to sit through to get to the interesting stuff. It seems to me Stevie feels (perhaps rightfully) she has earned the right not to take risks on stage. On this tour, it would have been awesome to hear her wrip into EFO or Thrown Down or Running Thru The Garden.
Goin back many years, to TOSOTM tour, it was madness not to include 'Long Way To Go' in the set, and i think the great song was just out of her comfort zone, it had 'showstopper' and 'hit' written all over it. So we got 'Two Kinds of Love'- which i think WAS in her comfort zone to perform. Before that, "Nothing Ever Changes' could have been an awesome live song during The Wild Heart tour. And 'Imperial Hotel' on the RAL tour would have been great- she dropped 'I Can't Wait' before very long- i think a lot of the great non-ballad songs she has written just arent in the old comfort zone for her to do on stage. (Thank God for 'Stand Back)--The 'Street Angel' tour-- 'Listen to the Rain' rocked sufficiently enough to be an awesome concert moment, but 'Destiny' was in the comfort zone for her to perform.
To her credit, she DID see the merit of 'Fall From Grace' and it stopped the show during the TISL tour. Awesome. On this tour, which i loved and have spent close to $1000 seeing 4 times, she eventually comes alive in a big way with 'Beautiful Child' and 'Stand Back' but i think she is ALL about being in her comfort zone on stage and the shows would be better if she were less predictable and came alive earlier in the set- and obviously 'Goodbye Baby' is much less challenging to perform than EFO or Thrown Down, or Destiny Rules or Garden or Smile At You. And yet, its on fast, rock songs that she excels at the most, vocally.
And i also agree with those of you who liked the 'Enchanted' tour a lot, it WAS awesome to hear her do a wider variety of her incredible songs.

[cliffdweller]

Originally posted by strandinthewind
I think Stevie does not vary because of the vocal prep. She just won't do it. I mean I kind of get the "we have to play mostly hits" mentality. But, she has other hits she could play like Seven Wonders. I wish she would. But, given that Waddy told her the same thing and although she changed the order of the staple set list, she really did not change it that much. Then again, look at the Enchanted tour, which was full of very obscure gems (Sleeping Angel, Garbo, Rose Garden, After the Glitter Fades, Twisted, and so on). So, she can do it!!!!!!

Wish I could've seen that tour, would've been in heaven...~sigh~weep...

[gldstwmn]

Nikolaj I would have died to see her do Nothing Ever Changes live. She would have ripped that song to shreds. Two Kinds Of Love, what can i say? Never one of my favorites. Even though I like Destiny, she could easily have done LILAR. She had three backup singers on that tour, didn't she? I think it would have been great. She picks the songs though and I guess she has her reasons for picking them. In a 1997 review of The Dance tour, one reviewer wrote "Nicks clearly knows what her audience wants to hear" and while I agreed with that then, I don't necessarily agree with it now.

[gldstwmn]

Originally posted by cliffdweller
Wish I could've seen that tour, would've been in heaven...~sigh~weep...

I think the set was the most elaborate Stevie set I've ever seen. There were yards and yards of (white?) fabric and this cool window that reminds me a lot of the windows in those suites at The Crescent Court in Dallas. I also liked the set where she had the chandeliers.

[dontlookdown]

Who knows - but it is a tired subject. In 79 I really thought Stevie was starting to stretch out and venture into new territory. I think she accomplished a lot on her records. But I kind of hoped that she would take more of a Patti Smith direction. I felt that a little after first hearing Angel and seeing her play it on the Tusk tour.

I think the whole comfort zone thing is probably dead on. She feels like she can't let fans down and not to Dreams or Rhiannon. Apparently Stand Back seems to have fallen into that category. Why, I can't tell you because stacked up against those two tracks, it is pretty mediocre.
I know a lot of us would be happy if we never heard Dreams or Rhiannon on stage again. I definitely understand that and agree with it however, I still think Dreams is one of the greatest songs ever written. We all know it by heart - it's a part of our childhood, our highschool years, are "better days", etc. I love it live and always will. I'm sure others feel the same about Rhiannon. I could do without Don't Stop. I've never liked that song and think it makes Fleetwood Mac sound two dimensional and cheap.
So - everyone has their own opinions and I think Stevie is so bent on not letting anyone down who pays good money to see her sing.


Personally I wish she would let go of that and sing whatever she feels like singing on any particular night. Then Fleetwood Mac shows would become exciting again and people would come out in masses because every night would be unique. I would take the vocal missteps and the missed cues, etc.
That's what live rock and roll is all about.

[face of glass]

Whatever causes the ever-static setlist, it is obvious that the band is not interested in developing themselves as a live act anymore. I don’t think any particular member should be blamed for this. Mick has toned down his drumming and is mainly functioning as a timekeeper nowadays. The vest-drum solo has nothing to do with demonstrating his musical skills, it’s a typical stadium rock effects excess. John, I’m quite sure, doesn’t really seem to care that much whether the setlist changes or not,

My hunch is: Stevie herself wouldn’t have anything against doing different songs, but something’s telling her to play only the popular ones. I’m sure she likes everything very pre-rehearsed; that’s how it’s been since the Shaking The Cage tour. Lindsey might be the same way, when they’re playing with the bigger band. With Soundstage it was different; he was supposedly reacting to people’s suggestions, after all he played “Bleed To Love Her” and “Save Me A Place” when he was asked to.

I don’t understand why the band thinks that “giant stadium shows”=”a bigger band”. It wasn’t like that in the past, Fleetwood Mac needed very little of the typical ‘70s excesses while on stage. I don’t mind the repetitive speeches, they’ve all had those since the beginning (especially LB). So, in the end, I do not wish to view the band as a nostalgia act, after all SYW is still a record worthy of their legacy. But when they’re on stage these days they might as well be considered one.

[chiliD]

Originally posted by face of glass
I don’t mind the repetitive speeches, they’ve all had those since the beginning (especially LB).

Not really...those started very late in the Rumours tour...and actually, not so much with the speeches as the stagnant set list. The repetitive speeches really kicked into gear during the Mirage tour and grew to annoyance during The Dance tour. They were pretty much non-existant during the non-Buckingham tours.

Originally posted by face of glass
So, in the end, I do not wish to view the band as a nostalgia act, after all SYW is still a record worthy of their legacy. But when they’re on stage these days they might as well be considered one.

Amen.

[Smokin Joe]

I don't think it is totally Stevie on this subject and the term 'comfort zone' deffinetly plays a major role in what they are playing now. IMO the comfort zone extends to the whole band (including the back-ups), even though Lindsey is playing like a wild man and Stevie could do other songs. I thought after 18 months of prep they would have had other songs they could have injected into the mix, but, alas, I was wrong again.

[RavenOfRhiannon]

I have another theory:

TISL: Stevie performed many new songs, just like she performed rare gems on Enchanted. I think she was adventurous in both tours.

Remember, Lindsey's songs for SYW were pretty much a complete album that he had been working on for years. This is his baby. That's why he has also been doing the lion's share of the press on this tour. I do think that Stevie was brave to try out RTTG and DR, and gave up. But I also think she made a decision to let Lindsey really shine with his new stuff. Therefore, she has backed away from replacing those with other new tracks.

I don't want this to sound like Stevie doesn't want to be there, but realize that she has put out like 3 albums since Lindsey's last solo record. If you look at the press and the interaction during the shows, Stevie is being very supportive of Lindsey...

Randy

[gldstwmn]

I think you're right, Randy. Stevie does want it to be his show. But I think she may be being just a bit too careful to let it be his show.

[PenguinHead]

What baffles me most is how shameless they are in their redundancy! They tour various cities throughout the country, then come back around, playing to a majority of people who saw the show the first time out, and give them the same carbon copy show...again!

[The Tower]

Originally posted by strandinthewind
Then again, look at the Enchanted tour, which was full of very obscure gems (Sleeping Angel, Garbo, Rose Garden, After the Glitter Fades, Twisted, and so on). So, she can do it!!!!!!

I was SHOCKED (pleasantly, of course) when Stevie did all those great, never-before-played-live songs on that tour. It was such a breath of fresh air! Sleeping Angel was killer!!!

Originally posted by dontlookdown
Personally I wish she would let go of that and sing whatever she feels like singing on any particular night. Then Fleetwood Mac shows would become exciting again and people would come out in masses because every night would be unique. I would take the vocal missteps and the missed cues, etc.
That's what live rock and roll is all about.

BINGO!!! If I wanted to see a Cher show, I would go see Cher- fully aware that it's a scripted, Las Vegas, schmaltzfest. But FM is a ROCK band, with soooo much great material. You would have thought that the whole Dance thing would have purged them of "Dreams", "Rhiannon", et. al.

Originally posted by chiliD
The repetitive speeches really kicked into gear during the Mirage tour and grew to annoyance during The Dance tour.

Nails on a chalkboard annoyance....

Originally posted by RavenOfRhiannon
TISL: Stevie performed many new songs, just like she performed rare gems on Enchanted. I think she was adventurous in both tours.

Unfortunately, Stevie has this irritating habit of dropping new material from her setlists. For instance, on the TISL tour, by the time she got to the West coast both "Planets of the Universe" and "Bombay Sapphires" were ditched. Which sucked, cuz I was really looking forward to POTU live....

Originally posted by PenguinHead
What baffles me most is how shameless they are in their redunancy! They tour various cities throughout the country, then come back around, playing to a majority of people who saw the show the first time out, and give them the same carbon copy show...again!

That's why I didn't go see them in LA or Bakersfield on the second leg. I don't like putting money in jukeboxes.