The Ledge

Go Back   The Ledge > Main Forums > Christine McVie
User Name
Password
Register FAQ Members List Calendar Mark Forums Read


Make the Ads Go Away! Click here.
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 09-12-2009, 07:08 PM
nailatixela's Avatar
nailatixela nailatixela is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: a cage without a key
Posts: 1,811
Default Christine McVie Tour Stories

I thought we should have a thread to talk about Christine's solo tour. Did anyone here get to see her on this short tour? If you did, please do! It's not talked about very often and it would be great to hear your personal story. Anything about that night that you remember is special.

Reply With Quote
.
  #2  
Old 09-12-2009, 09:06 PM
David's Avatar
David David is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: California
Posts: 14,905
Default

I saw the show in Universal City on June 15. It was an older, well-dressed crowd -- some men in ties & some women in furs. People were dressed up. Several songs into the set, Mick Fleetwood crawls into a seat in the front. Cool. Apparently, Lindsey & Stevie were visiting, too, but they stayed backstage.

One of the women critics -- Connie Johnson or Kristine McKenna -- reviewed the show for the L.A. Times. Basically positive, give or take.
__________________

moviekinks.blogspot.com
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 09-12-2009, 09:40 PM
michelej1 michelej1 is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: California
Posts: 25,975
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by David View Post

One of the women critics -- Connie Johnson or Kristine McKenna -- reviewed the show for the L.A. Times. Basically positive, give or take.
The Connie Johnson review is here: http://bla.fleetwoodmac.net/index_vp.php?id=885&c=2
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 04-01-2010, 01:21 PM
michelej1 michelej1 is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: California
Posts: 25,975
Default

[just saw this one while looking up Go Insane stuff]


The San Diego Union-Tribune,April 18, 1984 Wednesday

SECTION: ENTERTAINMENT; Pg. D-5

LENGTH: 523 words

HEADLINE: McVie has had better days

BYLINE: Mikel Toombs

BODY:


After opening the second show of her current tour Monday night with "Say You Love Me," Christine McVie declared, "I'm glad to be in San Diego."

She must have been relieved to be out of Fresno, the site of her first concert, because the sparse Fox Theater crowd of about 800 surely was not much to be encouraged about. McVie has come to expect better from her days with Fleetwood Mac. The British songstress contributed a number of memorable songs to the group's "Fleetwood Mac" and "Rumours" albums, lovingly crafted works such as "Over My Head" and "You Make Loving Fun."

Monday night she delivered those songs in her distinctively warm way, her bluesy voice giving them just the right subdued feeling. Unfortunately, one woman's subdued feeling is another woman's bore.

When she sang the title of "I'm So Excited" in her almost blas'e fashion, she somehow made it sound convincing, but on other material she wasn't so lucky. Songs such as "Got a Hold on Me" and "The Challenge," both from her current solo album, sounded pleasant enough, but neither held any challenge for either McVie or her audience.

Even more disappointing was the simplistic "Ask Anybody," which she co-authored with the once-great Steve Winwood. McVie was on safer ground with her Fleetwood Mac material, reaching as far back as "Crazy Love" (from the "Mystery to Me" album) and "Spare Me a Little" (from "Bare Trees"). She was most effective when at the piano -- although she mostly played organ -- singing heartfelt numbers such as "Your Smile" and "For You," the show-closer that found her accompanied only by an acoustic guitar. In these moments, when she was closest to her folk roots, she evoked the spirit of the late great Sandy Denny.

McVie, however, has always shied away from the ambitious material that made Denny's work with Fairport Convention and as a solo artist so often moving. Besides the uneventfulness of some of the music, the concert was also a bit lacking in the visual department.

The huge keyboard motif used as a backdrop was nice, but watching someone with considerably less flamboyance than Little Richard or Jerry Lee Lewis play the instrument wasn't exactly thrilling. (At times, it would have helped to have Stevie Nicks around to take a few twirls around the stage.) McVie's band was a solid one, achieving a strong, familiar tone.

The spotlighted musician was lead guitarist Todd Sharp, who also co-wrote many of the songs on McVie's current album.

His tastefully aggressive playing was, not surprisingly, quite similar in style to that of Mac guitar man Lindsey Buckingham. Opening for McVie was singer-guitarist Baxter Robertson.

An amiable but slick performer, Robertson had all the cliches of the medium-tempo rock genre down pat. (His lead guitarist did him one better, though, striking a picture of foolish cool in red sneakers and sunglasses-after-dark while performing solos with lounge-band intensity.) Introducing his puzzling hit "Silver Strand," Robertson did make points with his knowlege of San Diego geography -- although someone should tell him that there is no beach in Escondido. Toombs is a free-lance writer on the arts.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 04-01-2010, 01:24 PM
michelej1 michelej1 is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: California
Posts: 25,975
Default

San Diego Union Tribune, March 4, 1984

HEADLINE: Christine McVie still rides Fleetwood style

BYLINE: George Varga, Free-lance writer

BODY:


CHRISTINE MCVIE, Christine McVie, Warner Bros. Records. Christine McVie's bittersweet ballads and lightly buoyant rockers are marked by a gentle lyricism and quiet strength that provide Fleetwood Mac with many of its most appealing qualities.

On her first solo outing since joining the group in 1970, the British-born musician barely deviates from her by now patented approach, and while "Christine McVie" is a warm, engaging album, it doesn't tell us anything about its maker that we didn't already know. Accordingly, most of the seven songs that McVie wrote for this record could easily be placed in the midst of any recent Fleetwood Mac album without attracting much attention.

Still, if "Christine McVie" rings with the sound of deja vu, it is not without its pleasures, and McVie is an accomplished tunesmith with a knack for producing compelling, if not especially daring, music. "Love Will Show Us How," the record's sprightly opening track, is the most uptempo selection presented, and any differences between it and McVie's work with Fleetwood Mac are so slight as to be virtually undetectable. More intriguing are the R&B-tinged "One In a Million," on which she energetically trades vocals with Steve Winwood, and another Winwood-McVie collaboration, "Ask Anybody," wherein her sonorous singing recalls that of Joni Mitchell.

Apparently, McVie does best when she has a musician with abilities commensurate with her own to serve as a foil to her.

It is for this reason that the two numbers featuring Winwood stand out from the album's other, more homogenized offerings. Elsewhere, the blonde vocalist-keyboardist glides easily through several restrained rockers, reaching her emotional peak on "The Smile I Live For," a tender, evocative love song that ranks with her best work.

The instrumental accompaniment by McVie's supporting musicians is predictably polished, and the presence of Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham on six cuts adds further to the record's air of familiarity. Hopefully, McVie will assume a broader, more daring approach next time around, although -- in lieu of a new Fleetwood Mac album -- "Christine McVie" is virtually assured of success. o o o SWEET RETURN, Freddie Hubbard, Atlantic Records. Few jazz trumpeters have soared as high or plunged as low as Freddie Hubbard.

A world-class musician with impeccable technique and a remarkably broad range, Hubbard's recorded work over the last decade has been at best erratic, ranging from stunning mainstream outings to stultifying funk and fusion sessions. With "Sweet Return," the veteran hornman has produced his most consistent album in years, and the results are uniformly splendid.

Spurred on by the inspired backing afforded him by pianist Joanne Brackeen, saxist-flutist Lew Tabackin, drummer Roy Haynes and former Bill Evans Trio bassist Eddie Gomez, Hubbard plays with rousing conviction and immaculate precision on each of the record's six selections. His rhapsodic reading of Erroll Garner's "Misty" is delivered with notable passion and freshness, while his slow-burning solo on "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" simply sizzles with intensity.

Equally noteworthy is pianist Brackeen's dexterous workout on "Heidi-B," Tabackin's raucous, Sonny Rollins-like tenor saxophone solo on "Calypso Fred" and -- throughout -- the consistently lithe ensemble work by Haynes and Gomez, both of whom traverse their instruments with grace, agility and a keen sense of harmonic and rhythmic sophistication. Indeed, by meeting Hubbard as musical equals rather than as subservient accompanists, Brackeen, Tabackin, Gomez and Haynes have helped the trumpeter to deliver his finest album since 1978's "Super Blue." Exuberantly performed, "Sweet Return" should appeal to anyone who likes his jazz delivered with flair and finesse. o o o TWO-FACED, Frieda Parton, Bearsville Records. Were it not for the fact that Frieda Parton's voice sounds as if it has been unalterably damaged by the accidental ingestion of some toxic poison or another, it might be possible to listen to her debut album for more than a few moments at a time.

Unfortunately, Parton offers her listeners almost no respite from her unceasingly irritating wailing, and her hopelessly mangled delivery is notable only for its sheer lack of musicality. Behind her, Parton's four-piece band dredges up nearly every hard rock cliche ever concocted, and while songs like "Soldiers of the Night" are clearly modeled after Pat Benatar, the results more readily suggest someone who has just swallowed her tongue. On the unfortunately titled "The Chosen One," Parton calms down long enough to demonstrate that she is capable of producing a song without lapsing into a hysterical display of histrionics.

Coming as it does, though, at the record's conclusion, it's unlikely that most listeners will get that far. Varga is a free-lance writer.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 07-22-2013, 06:22 PM
Villavic's Avatar
Villavic Villavic is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Lima Peru
Posts: 4,154
Default

Is 1984 the only solo tour she did? Actually I thought she never went solo on tour since she actually didn't like to travel, or so I read that was the reason to leave the band in 1997.

In fact it was a short road. Is there any video in the web? Would love to see Hold me


Date Venue City
April 16, 1984 Fox Theatre .
April 28, 1984 Civic Auditorium Omaha, NE
April 29, 1984 Iowa Civic Center Des Moines, IA
April 30, 1984 Uptown Civic Center Kansas City, MO
May 4, 1984 Milwaukee Performing Arts Center Milwaukee, WI
May 11, 1984 The Stanley Theater Pittsburgh, PA
May 13, 1984 Orpheum Theatre Boston, MA
May 14, 1984 Beacon Theatre New York, NY
May 18, 1984 Six Flags Great Adventure Jackson, NJ
May 19, 1984 Tower Theatre Philadelphia, PA
May 31, 1984 Sunrise Theatre Ft. Lauderdale, FL
. Agora Theatre Cleveland, OH
. . Chicago, IL
June 3, 1984 King's Dominion Amusement Park Doswell, VA
June 9, 1984 The Music Hall Houston, TX
June 11, 1984 The Majestic Theatre San Antonio, TX
June 15, 1984 Universal Amphitheatre Los Angeles, CA

The Tour Setlist:
1. Say You Love Me
2. Love Will Show Us How
3. The Challenge
4. So Excited
5. Just Crazy Love
6. Spare Me A Little Of Your Love
7. The Smile I Live For
8. Ask Anybody
9. Keeping Secrets
10. Guitar Bug(Todd Sharp performed this song while Christine took a break. He co-wrote it with Billy Burnette.)
11. I'm The One
12. One In A Million
13. Hold Me
14. Got A Hold On Me
15. Over My Head
16. You Make Loving Fun
17. Too Much Is Not Enough
18. Don't Stop
19. Songbird

http://www.fmlegacy.com/concertscmv.html
__________________
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 07-23-2013, 08:07 AM
nicepace nicepace is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Cape Cod, Mass.
Posts: 940
Default

Quote:

<snip>

... singing heartfelt numbers such as "Your Smile" and "For You," the show-closer that found her accompanied only by an acoustic guitar. In these moments, when she was closest to her folk roots, she evoked the spirit of the late great Sandy Denny.
"For You"? What song is that? And folk roots? What folk roots? A reviewer who is so poorly informed that they don't know the name of "Songbird" and they don't know Christine has BLUES roots (not folk!) is not to be trusted.
__________________
-Joanne (from Cape Cod)
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 07-23-2013, 09:18 AM
holidayroad's Avatar
holidayroad holidayroad is offline
Addicted Ledgie
Supporting Ledgie
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Down Endless Street
Posts: 5,140
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by nicepace View Post
"For You"? What song is that? And folk roots? What folk roots? A reviewer who is so poorly informed that they don't know the name of "Songbird" and they don't know Christine has BLUES roots (not folk!) is not to be trusted.
Maybe they thought Songbird was called For You, since those are the first words.
__________________
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 07-23-2013, 10:18 AM
chiliD's Avatar
chiliD chiliD is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: In the backseat of a Studebaker
Posts: 9,702
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by michelej1 View Post
[ -- singing heartfelt numbers such as "Your Smile" and "For You," the show-closer that found her accompanied only by an acoustic guitar.
Nice research there...

"The Smile I Live For" & "Songbird" wouldn't have been too hard to find by about a 2 second Google or Bing search.

Quote:
Originally Posted by holidayroad View Post
Maybe they thought Songbird was called For You, since those are the first words.
Still...no excuse for not doing the research.
__________________
Among God's creations, two, the dog and the guitar, have taken all the sizes and all the shapes in order not to be separated from the man.---Andres Segovia
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 07-23-2013, 10:24 AM
aleuzzi's Avatar
aleuzzi aleuzzi is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 5,983
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by chiliD View Post
Nice research there...

"The Smile I Live For" & "Songbird" wouldn't have been too hard to find by about a 2 second Google or Bing search.



Still...no excuse for not doing the research.
To be fair, the article was written in 1984. Back then "Google" was something babies warbled while learning to speak.

But yes, poor research.

I also don't think Sandy Denny's music was particularly adventurous. I mean, I love it and she was wonderful but she was pretty much a traditional folk/pop artist. Am I missing something?
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 06-24-2014, 05:08 PM
PenguinHead's Avatar
PenguinHead PenguinHead is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 4,471
Default

She was most effective when at the piano -- although she mostly played organ -- singing heartfelt numbers such as "Your Smile" and "For You," the show-closer that found her accompanied only by an acoustic guitar. In these moments, when she was closest to her folk roots, she evoked the spirit of the late great Sandy Denny.

Wow, the reviewer referenced Songbird as "For You." How could he make such an ignorant, egregious error on one her most famous songs?
__________________
Life passes before me like an unknown circumstance
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 06-28-2014, 05:58 PM
WatchChain WatchChain is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 915
Default

I attended one of the last shows of this tour at The Majestic Theater in San Antonio, Texas on June 11, 1984. At the time, this huge Fleetwood Mac fan had just turned 14 years old. My friends and I were the youngest people in the crowd, and looked like we would fit in more at a Go Go's or Simple Minds concert.

In the unimaginable age before the internet, I purchased our tickets at the JCPenney Ticketmaster outlet about three days after they went on sale. I guess the tickets were not in high demand, because I still managed to get FRONT ROW seats at the 2,500 seat capacity theater. I was thrilled, as I had never sat in the front row at a MAC concert. I had seen the band just two years before on the MIRAGE tour and sat in the upper reaches of the auditorium. Being not old enough to drive, my friend’s mother dropped us off at the theater.

Chris and her sassy band opened with "Say You Love Me", though I certainly missed hearing Stevie chime in harmony vocals for the chorus. My friends and I were screaming in the front row like 15-year-olds at a Beatles concert in this small theater. Chris wasn't sure how to take it! Nonetheless, she played through the set without missing a beat. I remember the crowd being comatose, most people just sat in their seats with polite applause. The real cheering did not start until near the end of the set when more Fleetwood Mac tunes appeared. When Chris introduced “Just Crazy Love”, I went nuts! I had always wanted to hear this “Mystery to Me” number performed live. With a backing band that included George Hawkins, Steve Ferrone, future Mac member Billy Burnett and future husband Eddy Quintela, Chris rocked the house!!
After the show, the sedated crowd left quietly. We purchased a Christine McVie Tour T Shirt (which I still have, although it doesn’t fit my 44 year old body), and waited outside for Christine to exit the back of the theater. Sure as rain, after about 20 minutes, the band exited the back door and made their way to a large passenger van as we shouted her name! Chris brushed by my arm as she walked hand in hand with her main squeeze, Eddy. Her face was half smiling, half asking “What the hell is this?” Faster than you can say, “gotta get my feet back on the ground”, the songbird and her band were racing off. She smiled, waved politely out the window, and took off in the night just like a white winged dove……..oh, sorry, wrong lady.
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 06-28-2014, 08:15 PM
BLY BLY is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Jun 2000
Posts: 1,915
Default I was at this show..........

June 3, 1984 King's Dominion Amusement Park Doswell, VA
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 06-29-2014, 02:01 PM
aleuzzi's Avatar
aleuzzi aleuzzi is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 5,983
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by WatchChain View Post
I attended one of the last shows of this tour at The Majestic Theater in San Antonio, Texas on June 11, 1984. At the time, this huge Fleetwood Mac fan had just turned 14 years old. My friends and I were the youngest people in the crowd, and looked like we would fit in more at a Go Go's or Simple Minds concert.

In the unimaginable age before the internet, I purchased our tickets at the JCPenney Ticketmaster outlet about three days after they went on sale. I guess the tickets were not in high demand, because I still managed to get FRONT ROW seats at the 2,500 seat capacity theater. I was thrilled, as I had never sat in the front row at a MAC concert. I had seen the band just two years before on the MIRAGE tour and sat in the upper reaches of the auditorium. Being not old enough to drive, my friend’s mother dropped us off at the theater.

Chris and her sassy band opened with "Say You Love Me", though I certainly missed hearing Stevie chime in harmony vocals for the chorus. My friends and I were screaming in the front row like 15-year-olds at a Beatles concert in this small theater. Chris wasn't sure how to take it! Nonetheless, she played through the set without missing a beat. I remember the crowd being comatose, most people just sat in their seats with polite applause. The real cheering did not start until near the end of the set when more Fleetwood Mac tunes appeared. When Chris introduced “Just Crazy Love”, I went nuts! I had always wanted to hear this “Mystery to Me” number performed live. With a backing band that included George Hawkins, Steve Ferrone, future Mac member Billy Burnett and future husband Eddy Quintela, Chris rocked the house!!
After the show, the sedated crowd left quietly. We purchased a Christine McVie Tour T Shirt (which I still have, although it doesn’t fit my 44 year old body), and waited outside for Christine to exit the back of the theater. Sure as rain, after about 20 minutes, the band exited the back door and made their way to a large passenger van as we shouted her name! Chris brushed by my arm as she walked hand in hand with her main squeeze, Eddy. Her face was half smiling, half asking “What the hell is this?” Faster than you can say, “gotta get my feet back on the ground”, the songbird and her band were racing off. She smiled, waved politely out the window, and took off in the night just like a white winged dove……..oh, sorry, wrong lady.
Glad you and your friends were there to remind her that she appeals to younger folks, too. I was also 14 in 1984 and a lot of my friends laughed at me for loving her.

I imagine the touring experience had to be a bit of a difficult pill to swallow: she did everything she'd always done, but was no longer lauded for it. In the context of FM, she was given high praise for years and years. On her own, without the others who spark so well off her, she was deemed bland and safe. The reviewers weren't entirely wrong (I thought the album, even at the time, was too close to slick, easy-listening polish) but there was enough to like on the album and in the live show (at least the video taped one I saw) to deserve higher praise than she got.

For what it's worth, a good deal of her ITM songs would have made livelier concert fare. Can you imagine Liar, Forgiveness, Anything is Possible, and Friend on stage?

Last edited by aleuzzi; 06-29-2014 at 02:04 PM..
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 06-30-2014, 02:00 AM
PenguinHead's Avatar
PenguinHead PenguinHead is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 4,471
Default

Christine is great at what she does, but she is not a headliner act on her own. I never attended any shows on her solo tour, but I did buy the video that was released after. It was good, but the show clearly lacked the elements/energy to rouse a crowd. Her demeanor is understated, and so counter-intuitive to someone like Stevie, or any front-line performer with a type A personality who thrives on the attention.

The reviews of her shows confirm that. She's just not that kind of performer. Thankfully, the Fleetwood Mac dynamic provided the best context in which her best attributes could shine. Her talents are more subtle.

In The Meantime has some great songs, with a little more meat on them. But I wasn't surprised that she didn't tour the album. ('Friend" could/should have been a Fleetwood Mac song!)

I can't wait to see what she has to offer on the new album, with Lindsey collaborating so closely with her. She seems very inspired by reuniting with her musical family. Having lived such a sedate life in the England countryside, this must be a very exciting and stimulating time for her to be back in the fray, making music again.
__________________
Life passes before me like an unknown circumstance

Last edited by PenguinHead; 06-30-2014 at 02:07 AM..
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


The Zoo Shakin' the Cage CD Mick Fleetwood Bekka Bramlett Billy Thorpe picture

The Zoo Shakin' the Cage CD Mick Fleetwood Bekka Bramlett Billy Thorpe

$14.72



RITA COOLIDGE CD THINKIN' ABOUT YOU BEKKA BRAMLETT LETTING YOU GO WITH LOVE 1998 picture

RITA COOLIDGE CD THINKIN' ABOUT YOU BEKKA BRAMLETT LETTING YOU GO WITH LOVE 1998

$14.99



I Got News for You - Audio CD By Bekka Bramlett - VERY GOOD picture

I Got News for You - Audio CD By Bekka Bramlett - VERY GOOD

$249.52



SEALED***South of Heaven, West of Hell Dwight Yoakam  CD 2001 Brand New picture

SEALED***South of Heaven, West of Hell Dwight Yoakam CD 2001 Brand New

$29.99



Bekka (Bramlett) & Billy (Burnette) - Bekka & Billy - 1997 Almo Sounds - Used CD picture

Bekka (Bramlett) & Billy (Burnette) - Bekka & Billy - 1997 Almo Sounds - Used CD

$9.00




All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:51 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
© 1995-2003 Martin and Lisa Adelson, All Rights Reserved