Atlanta

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by WildHearted

He then went on to tell us about how he used to tour with Black Sabbath, about how Ozzy looked to him like a father figure, about how the drummer used to use an oxygen mask.

It's kind of frightening for Ozzy to look to Mick as a father figure. Makes Mick seem olllld.

I liked what he said about not being more present in his older daughters' lives. Well, he's a grandpa now. He can try to make it up with the grandkids.

I think the comment about not having been dating a long time in 1971 was hilarious.

I liked what you said about intense, but not silent.

I've seen people touching Lindsey's shoe and everything else they can reach! Wrapping their arms around his leg and what not. But a few weeks ago, I read that an audience member patted Beyonce's bottom. Luckily it hasn't gotten that bad with The Mac.

Great review. Thank you for posting all of the details. Michele

[WildHearted]

Originally Posted by TwistedGypsy

If I think it's the ones you are speaking of I know them and have known them for quite some time. Yes, it was just because they were blonde and had fake boobs. Another friend of mine that is friends with them told me about it after the show. They just randomly walked up to them and asked them if they would like to go up. They are not "true fans" and when they were being ushered up they walked right past me and I said, "Tiffany, Stephanie?! What's going on?" They are twins by the way and they said they were just being upgraded. Needless to say I was not too happy. I get it though....they wanted some PYT's that would have more energy than all the "grandmas" I saw going up. Pretty ridiculous!

Brittany

^Hi Brittany! It was nice meeting you last night.

Originally Posted by michelej1

It's kind of frightening for Ozzy to look to Mick as a father figure. Makes Mick seem olllld.

That's exactly what I thought!

I liked what he said about not being more present in his older daughters' lives. Well, he's a grandpa now. He can try to make it up with the grandkids.

Yes, I felt that was a very honest answer.

I think the comment about not having been dating a long time in 1971 was hilarious.

I have the Without You intro on film but I'm not sure if I was able to move the camera to Lindsey fast enough to catch that moment... hopefully I got it. It was hilarious.

I've seen people touching Lindsey's shoe and everything else they can reach! Wrapping their arms around his leg and what not. But a few weeks ago, I read that an audience member patted Beyonce's bottom. Luckily it hasn't gotten that bad with The Mac.

I'm not sure I'd want to touch any of their bottoms. Their hands, sure. But sometimes when Stevie walked close to me, even though she had dark tights on, I felt like I could see up her skirt/shirt thing and it made me uncomfortable.

Great review. Thank you for posting all of the details. Michele

You're welcome! I tried to remember as much as I could. Would have written it down for myself anyway to remember.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by WildHearted

I'm not sure I'd want to touch any of their bottoms. Their hands, sure.

I don't even want to touch their hands. They've been touching too many other people and sweating and who knows what.

I've seen Stevie coming down the stage during the Edge walk with those ebola gloves on and I just think, "oh, no way!

Michele

[michelej1]

Access Atlanta 12:46 a.m. Tuesday, June 11, 2013

http://www.accessatlanta.com/weblogs...-philips-aren/

Concert review: Fleetwood Mac enchants Philips Arena crowd

By Melissa Ruggieri



They’ve always been a crew of characters.

Mick Fleetwood, the wild-eyed co-founder and beat keeper.

Lindsey Buckingham, the perfectionist artiste with the gift for guitar.

Stevie Nicks, the mystical Glinda the good witch and poet.

John McVie, the stoic root of the rhythm section.

Even Christine McVie, before she departed Fleetwood Mac in 1998, played the part of the classy Brit whose keyboards added lushness and sweetness to the band’s sound.

Though Fleetwood Mac has toured sporadically during the past 15 years, it wasn’t always convincing that they were squeezing onto planes and tour buses and stages for anything other than a paycheck.

But now, after even more years of solo projects and time spent apart, it’s apparent that there is genuine affection tying the onetime soap opera-etic Mac together.

Buckingham and Nicks almost always entered the stage at Philips Arena together, holding hands like the king and the queen of the prom – the roles they’ve always filled within the band.

The songs from “Rumours” – seven of the 11 tracks from their landmark album made the live cut – at one time stung with hurt and betrayal, showcasing the most dysfunctional band in rock.

But as Nicks and Buckingham joined voices during the ominous creep of “The Chain,” with Fleetwood’s rattling snare drum bumping the song along, and Nicks unleashed her throaty warble on “Dreams,” the songs now sounded like beautifully constructed couplets from a musical era never to be duplicated. The music is as potent as ever, even if the impetus behind the lyrics has softened.

For 2 ½-hours on Monday, Fleetwood Mac enchanted a sold-out crowd at Philips – mostly happy middle-agers thrilled to see the gang one more time, or maybe for the first time – and unveiled a comprehensive, 23-song set list.

Since it’s the 35th anniversary of “Rumours,” favorites from the album – the opening “Second Hand News,” the grungy guitar shadowing “Gold Dust Woman,” the aggravated kiss-off “Go Your Own Way” among them – took center stage.

However, one thing Fleetwood Mac can brag about is recently releasing new songs (on the digital EP, “Extended Play”) that are well-suited for the band’s canon.

“It appears there are a few chapters left in the book of Fleetwood Mac,” Buckingham crowed from the stage.

“Sad Angel” is a driving pop rocker featuring those trademark Buckingham/Nicks vocals, while the “Peace Train”-like “Without You,” an unearthed demo from the pair, chugged along appealingly.

As for the rest of the hits, yes, some keys were modified to suit aging voices, but it was still a treat to hear “Rihannon,” perfectly complemented by images of a colorful moon on the high-def screen stretching the stage, and “Sisters of the Moon,” a song Fleetwood Mac hadn’t played live since 1981 prior to this tour.

The bond between Nicks and Buckingham was apparent throughout the show – she in her trademark uniform of black jagged-edge dresses and scarf-adorned tambourines and he in skinny jeans and black leather jacket – but most obviously during “Sara,” when Nicks laid her head on Buckingham’s shoulder and closed her eyes as he played, and the ever-poignant “Landslide,” which featured the two standing alone center stage.

While their dynamic is always a draw, it would be unfair not to underscore the awesomeness of Buckingham’s playing on every song, but particularly “Big Love” – he shook out his right hand before tackling the speedy chord changes in the song – and “I’m So Afraid,” which was raw and explosive. And Buckingham knew he nailed it.

By the time Fleetwood Mac – augmented by two musicians and Nicks’ two backup singers – started to wind down with the sunshine-and-rainbows anthem “Don’t Stop” (Nicks handled McVie’s verses), it became apparent that while the band can be dark, they’ve always found a flame of hope to guide them.

[rhiannon22]

Originally Posted by TwistedGypsy

If I think it's the ones you are speaking of I know them and have known them for quite some time. Yes, it was just because they were blonde and had fake boobs. Another friend of mine that is friends with them told me about it after the show. They just randomly walked up to them and asked them if they would like to go up. They are not "true fans" and when they were being ushered up they walked right past me and I said, "Tiffany, Stephanie?! What's going on?" They are twins by the way and they said they were just being upgraded. Needless to say I was not too happy. I get it though....they wanted some PYT's that would have more energy than all the "grandmas" I saw going up. Pretty ridiculous!

Brittany

Hey Brittany!! Did you end up with some good seats? I was seventh row, Lindsey's side.

[elle]

great reviews everybody, thanks so much for sharing.

i especially love reading about casually-FM-liking people newly becoming big Lindsey fans - he's good in converting people!

Originally Posted by michelej1

I liked what he said about not being more present in his older daughters' lives. Well, he's a grandpa now. He can try to make it up with the grandkids.

I think the comment about not having been dating a long time in 1971 was hilarious.

I liked what you said about intense, but not silent.

I've seen people touching Lindsey's shoe and everything else they can reach! Wrapping their arms around his leg and what not.

Mick has 2 really young daughters too (tween age maybe?), and there has been a lot of pics of them going around with him on this tour. so it certainly seems he's enjoying being a dad to them and making up for all the stuff/time he didn't have with his older daughters at the time when he was so out of it.

yup, either the audience was really tame or you haven't paid attention at a Lindsey solo show if you haven't seen women and girls groping Lindsey's legs (and stage is not nearly as high at those shows usually, so they can get a bit higher than just shoes ).

[elle]

Originally Posted by michelej1

I don't even want to touch their hands. They've been touching too many other people and sweating and who knows what.

I've seen Stevie coming down the stage during the Edge walk with those ebola gloves on and I just think, "oh, no way!

lmao.

i do like to shake hands with Lindsey and strum his guitar. there's tons of dirty stuff i also touch at these shows, when i'm out and about, including the stage, and i'm meeting other people, so don't see a problem with that. i'm not eating at the show, and if i go some place to eat after, i'll wash my hands. but i do understand what i'll call "OCD-ishness," and various levels of it. i am one of those people who washes hands at least 10x as much as others.

[sinwagon48]

The Atlanta show was awesome!! I really loved that somebody managed to bring a copy of TUSK because I think that must have made Lindsey's day. Sisters of the Moon was awesome. So was Silver Springs.

On a personal note, I was standing behind this family and I swear to you they talked the entire time, from how to build houses to how they like their mixed drinks. They were so loud I couldn't even hear Stevie singing Sara. Had to switch seats with someone. I didn't drive from Nashville to listen to all of that. Why do people like that come to these concerts?

I hope they go on tour again. I'd like to get tickets in the front. I'd probably pass out though in front of all of their GREATNESS.

Also love how Stevie said something like "I've really got to shorten this intro to Without You because it's longer than the song" So cute. Also her little Dreamcatcher speech at the end. At the end a guy next to me yelled out "long distance winner please" I looked at him, he looked at me, and we knew we were soulmates. Glad everyone had a great time.

[WildHearted]

Originally Posted by sinwagon48

The Atlanta show was awesome!! I really loved that somebody managed to bring a copy of TUSK because I think that must have made Lindsey's day.

That was me.

On a personal note, I was standing behind this family and I swear to you they talked the entire time, from how to build houses to how they like their mixed drinks. They were so loud I couldn't even hear Stevie singing Sara. Had to switch seats with someone. I didn't drive from Nashville to listen to all of that. Why do people like that come to these concerts?

That's annoying, and I really don't understand why those sort of people bother to waste the money for tickets if they aren't going to listen or pay attention at least MOST of the time.

At the end a guy next to me yelled out "long distance winner please" I looked at him, he looked at me, and we knew we were soulmates. Glad everyone had a great time.

Ah! That's awesome!

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by elle

Mick has 2 really young daughters too (tween age maybe?), and there has been a lot of pics of them going around with him on this tour. so it certainly seems he's enjoying being a dad to them and making up for all the stuff/time he didn't have with his older daughters at the time when he was so out of it.

yeah, but if I was Amy and Lucy the fact that he's all over the younger daughters would make me a little sad, actually. They're grown now with lives of their own, so I'm sure they've gotten over old pains, but ... if he was going to make it up to them, the best way would probably be to show an interest in their children and that part of the family, in addition to being a good father to Ruby and Tessa.

Michele

[WildHearted]

I'm still uploading the rest of my videos, but here are the first two I got.

[michelej1]

^Oh that was a sweet Sara hug and we got a really good view of Stevie's face. Thanks.

Michele

[CADreaming]

Wildhearted gave such a great review, but I'll add in a few things.

-The VIP with Mick was totally worth it. I honestly only did it for the good seats but I ended up being totally fascinated by his stories. It was also handled very well, very organized and they were all very gracious.

I do remember one of the comments he made during the Black Sabbath story, he was seguewaying into performing in general and how to treat an audience (or not) and how some artists won't even speak to the audience. Someone mentioned Van Morrison - which was funny because she had mentioned him while we waited outside in line for the same thing - that he doesn't address the audience at all. At that point, Mick agreed and then did say something like, "but he's so great you don't mind". Later, during the Q&A there were several interesting tidbits - he mentioned drummers he was fond of - the guy who played on "Teen Beat" is his favorite drummer and also another guy who used to play with BB King.
About music in general he said he listens to a variety of music, but probably mostly blues. But, if you asked him to name 100 blues artist he could only come up with 5. He said he also listens to hip-hop, boy bands (because they can sing) and other new music, but that he doesn't purchase new music as a rule. Lindsey does purchase new music to "keep up" with what's current. He made the comment about how people will say things like "oh, there will never be another Jimi Hendrix - but that's not true. There will always be someone else come along who is better."

I also found the story of finding Lindsey (and Stevie) interesting to hear him tell it in person. He explained how he had listened to the Buckingham Nicks album with Keith Olsen at Studio City and then a couple of weeks later Bob Welch quit and he called Keith Olsen to ask who he had listened to that day. Keith told him pretty much right away that they came together, that he would never get Lindsey without Stevie. He said he hired them without an audition, their album was that good, and met a Mexican restaurant. He sort of smirked when he said that and I wondered what he must have been remembering. One man said he had been to the show in Birmingham, AL when Buckingham Nicks announced they would be joining Fleetwood Mac and they were very excited. Mick was really excited to hear that, he said he had never met anyone who had been at that show and he repeated a couple of times that he was going to relay this personally before the show to Stevie and Lindsey. I wish I had the chance to ask this gentleman a few questions about that show, but I didn't see him again.

Mick talked almost non-stop, I don't know how he did it. But, I could have listened to him for hours.

I probably should have put that in the VIP thread, but OH WELL.

Noticed the acoustic instrumentals of "Beautiful Child" and "Stephanie" pre-show.

Great to meet up with Wildhearted & TwistedGypsy!

****

This show seriously was so amazing!!! I can't even tell you in words! The set list was flawless. It flowed so well, much better than Unleashed.

I was a little sad for Stevie (and me) because "Without You" draws the least audience response. The intro she did was cute, but she did cut it down considerably and seemed a bit self-conscious about it, and Lindsey didn't even get to say his spiel about how Mick didn't know he also needed a brilliant lead singer. He seemed poised to do it, but never quite jumped in there. So, I would suggest maybe y'all just let Stevie tell her story and not try to get her to cut anything down. It's all good! And, it's really more fun. I did think it was funny when she said she had written the poem in 1970 and actually she and Lindsey had been together for quite a while before that -- shades of Los Gatos were in my head from her "Gypsy" Unleashed story -- but Lindsey kinda grinned and shook his head and then went to Mick because he felt the need to dispute that to someone and Mick was obviously his closest culprit. Because, hey if he had said it to me, I would have agreed with Stevie! LOL. It was cute how she said "no where in the description for lead guitarist did it read and his hippie girlfriend". She thanked her boys and Lindsey blew her a kiss. I think John is actually getting into her giving him props now. He grinned. I do hope Stevie could see several of us were singing along and I think she got a kick out of us doing her 5-count "ah's" with her at the end.

On the flip side of the new songs, "Sad Angel" keeps everyone dancing and I noticed a lot of us at the stage at least knew the words and it got a great applause at the end.

Other observations I had -- strictly from the PDA point of view -- there was no hand kissing. I'm not sure what I did that deserved that, but yeah. There was not as much Stevie & Lindsey antics or interacting. She didn't chase him during GYOW, he barely held her hand at the end of Landslide - although I forgive that for the "pinky promise" - that was so cute. And, Lindsey did get almost right to her mic during Sara when she's singing "You just ask me and I'll be there, I care." And, Lindsey leaning up to her during "Sara" when she's at his mic is getting to be better than the hug! So, it evened out pretty good for my Buckingham Nicks moments.

For "Landslide", it did crack me up how she came over to the mic and she did a little wave at him and said, "Hi." During the dedication, she mentioned Matthew's mom and that she would be so proud - maybe it was my vantage point but I thought that was emotional. She then said Leo Rossi, who used to be a tour manager I think, and how he was backstage laughing that he didn't think they would make it out of the 80's. Then, it was kinda funny how she turned around to Lindsey and told him who she dedicated it to and he was like, "I know."

I have to say, I have no shame about riding on Wildhearted's Tusk coattails. I finally scored some Lindsey interaction due to that! We had some great "Stand Back" sing-a-long moments - I think I actually got a genuine laugh out of him on that and got to strum his guitar during GYOW. Oh, I have to say, I was so thrilled with "Not That Funny" - I thought I might be bored but it was so cool! It was just as Michele described it - very angry young man - punk. Perfect. Stevie dancing in the shadows to NGBA - was so dramatic and creepy in a way. At one point, I actually wondered if she was having a problem, but no that was just her doing her thang. LOL. And, do her thang did she ever - especially on "Gold Dust Woman"! OMG!!! She was ON FIRE!!! I have never seen such a fantastic, brilliant performance!!! The band was smoking and she was so in character on that song....I have no other words. It blows every other song out of the water, with the exception of "I'm So Afraid", which is Lindsey's moment. The arena went absolutely nuts after that. I have seen him do this a few times live, and it is always one of my all time favorites, but this was the best performance ever!!! When they came back out for the encores, we had a pretty good line of sight to Stevie and she really got into "Silver Springs" at the end. I was very happy with the energy she put into it - because sometimes she fizzles out by then. And, ending with "Say Goodbye" which I was not looking forward to - it actually was perfect. The arena was fairly quiet except for the odd shout here and there - but they focus so completely on the song it's not as obnoxious if you just watch and listen to them - easier to do at the stage, I'm sure.

I just can't even tell you how thrilled I was last night - and proud - to be a Fleetwood Mac fan! If you have a chance and haven't - GO SEE THEM! They are at the top of their game and you will be so glad you went! But, I have to say last night, the balance was pure Buckingham Nicks. And, they really brought it.

[michelej1]

What a wonderful review, Dee.

When Lindsey refuted Stevie's comment about them being a couple for a long time, did she have a response? Did she laugh or give him a look or something?

That's really cute that audience members were doing the finger count with Stevie during "Without You."

When Mick was offering those $40,000 jet packages I know Hejira was saying that he would feel the need to talk to the people on the plane with him all during the flight and I was saying no, but the way you described the meet and greet, I bet he would. I bet he would give them 100s of anecdotes during the short plane rides.

I don't think I heard the acoustic Beautiful Child at my shows. Stephanie, yes.

The way you wrote about the show made me feel thrilled about it all over again.

Michele

[michelej1]

For sound reasons that I don't really understand, Stevie really seems to believe that Lindsey can't hear her during the Landslide intro. It seems to me that if the arena can hear her, he can, but maybe her voice is projected out in such a way and the way speakers are positioned, they can't hear on stage back where he's standing.

How much of her he really can hear is anyone's guess, but she seems to be under the impression that he can't hear at all.

Michele