The Dance of Fleetwood Mac

[BLY]

I was looking back at a tape I made for a friend back in 1992 of Selections from Fleetwood Mac CDs. I wanted to give him some of the deep cuts at the time to give him a sense of what the MAC was outside of the " Radio Hits" I called it The Dance of Fleetwood Mac. some of the tracks included;

Dust
Jewel Eyed Judy
Station Man
Sometimes
The Ghost
Why
One Together
Emerald Eyes
That's Alright
Silver Springs
Never Forget
I Know I'm Not Wrong
Walk A Thin Line
Beautiful Child

[bethelblues]

I always wondered what took Fleetwood Mac so long to perform Beautiful Child live. It's a fantastic song. They kept playing Rumours forever and ever, even for The Dance, probably the last height in the band's popularity when a deep-cut from Tusk would've been most appreciated.

[PenguinHead]

I always wondered what took Fleetwood Mac so long to perform Beautiful Child live. It's a fantastic song. They kept playing Rumours forever and ever, even for The Dance, probably the last height in the band's popularity when a deep-cut from Tusk would've been most appreciated.

It's because they convinced themselves that fans only want to hear the popular songs; the ones the general public know. I think the huge success of Rumours was a blessing and curse, because it eventually constrained their set lists. Granted, the Tusk tour, as well as future tours featured a few surprises here and there. A lot of established bands feel the pressure to pack their sets with all the expected songs -- the most well-known songs, to placate the masses. And it's easier to just go through well-worn motions.

However, I know of so many big, famous bands who don't go that route. They may honor their past glories to a certain extent, but they are not tied and strangled to them. Their set lists are fluid, and often very diverse and distinctive each time they tour. Nothing is set in stone, making shows very interesting and special for them and their audiences. Yet, Fleetwood Mac doesn't approach things that way. They play it safe, and I guess some fans like it that way.

I remember seeing a Fleetwood Mac show (I can't remember...it might have been a Behind The Mask show) and they didn't perform Rhiannon, and perversely, I was glad they didn't perform it, if that makes any sense to you.

I am happy that they have surprised us with a few rarely or never performed songs in recent years, but it's a small gesture. I'd truly like to see a profound and radical restructuring of their set. But that's asking too much, because they are just not that kind of band. It's even more challenging and complicated when there are three distinct singer/songwriters in the band.

[Dex]

Well, it wasn't exactly something they just made up. Fan/audience feedback is something it's very easy to get a sense of when performing live. And I can definitely understand their inclination towards songs that they know get a very strong reaction. The "I want Band X to play songs I know and love" mentality is a very real one that I hear all the time from people all over. I think we in the more hardcore fanbase are the exception, rather than the rule. But it is nice when they do throw us a bone now and again, even if I wish they did it more. Because let's face it, Beautiful Child is a lot more successful live than Dreams has been for the past 30 years.

ETA: BLY, that tracklist sounds superb! How did your friend like it?

[BLY]

Well, it wasn't exactly something they just made up. Fan/audience feedback is something it's very easy to get a sense of when performing live. And I can definitely understand their inclination towards songs that they know get a very strong reaction. The "I want Band X to play songs I know and love" mentality is a very real one that I hear all the time from people all over. I think we in the more hardcore fanbase are the exception, rather than the rule. But it is nice when they do throw us a bone now and again, even if I wish they did it more. Because let's face it, Beautiful Child is a lot more successful live than Dreams has been for the past 30 years.

ETA: BLY, that tracklist sounds superb! How did your friend like it?

He loved it and couldn't believe the diversity.

[Dex]

Is that the complete tracklist or just a sampling of the range you put on it? I think I'd like to try it out myself. I'm always looking for new tracklists to make old songs seem fresh again. :)

[BLY]

Is that the complete tracklist or just a sampling of the range you put on it? I think I'd like to try it out myself. I'm always looking for new tracklists to make old songs seem fresh again. :)



That was Just a sample of the selection of songs I included. I went through all the albums released from 1970- -1992 and put my favorites on the cassette. It was about 90 minutes long. It didn't include any solo stuff. I still can't believe that I titled it " The Dance of Fleetwood Mac" 5 years before the release of " The Dance"

[He's So Unusual]

I always wondered what took Fleetwood Mac so long to perform Beautiful Child live. It's a fantastic song. They kept playing Rumours forever and ever, even for The Dance, probably the last height in the band's popularity when a deep-cut from Tusk would've been most appreciated.

I do wish the band would mix their set lists up a bit more, they just need to get a better balance between catering to the casual music fans and catering to the more loyal fans who want a few more surprises than one or two tracks here and there. They have a huge back catalogue that they need to show off more. I know a lot of casual music fans probably don't really care about a random track from the b-side of Mirage, but how are people supposed to get used to different tracks when the band never plays them live? Why should casual fans care about tracks that the band seemingly don't care about and choose to ignore? Listening to quite a few of the bootlegs from the Rumours Tour in 1977/1978 it sounds like some songs on that album took a while for the audience to warm to as their reactions seemed pretty nonplussed on occasion.

Just a few ideas:

- Instead of performing I'm So Afraid yet again they should perform Tango in the Night.
- Instead of playing the acoustic version of Big Love yet again they should play the full band version for a change.
- Drop Oh Well and perform Albatross. European audiences would be incredibly receptive towards that. Stevie can twirl or exit the stage to put on a shawl or something while the band play. Black Magic Woman or The Green Manalishi would also be great to hear instead of Oh Well.
- I know Stand Back gets a good reaction from the audience, but they should drop it for a change and perform another Stevie song like I Don't Want to Know or Seven Wonders instead.

I'm really hoping that the upcoming tour isn't just going to be a rehash of The Dance. This is the first time that the band will have the chance to really showcase Mirage and Tango in the Night to audiences outside of the US as the classic five-piece line-up (same goes for Tango and US audiences), I hope they make the most of this and really highlight both albums which have been largely ignore for decades now. One thing which has always surprised me is that Stevie and Lindsey didn't use Christine's departure as a reason for putting a few Buckingham Nicks tracks into the set lists on their Say You Will and Unleashed Tours, especially Frozen Love and Don't Let Me Down Again.

[Dex]

- I know Stand Back gets a good reaction from the audience, but they should drop it for a change and perform another Stevie song like I Don't Want to Know or Seven Wonders instead.


Oh dear God please do this, FM. Please! Stand Back live is the deadest of all the horses in the entire horse graveyard.

[BLY]

Oh dear God please do this, FM. Please! Stand Back live is the deadest of all the horses in the entire horse graveyard.



It's got my vote too. Not to mention, I Don't Want to Know is the song that got me hooked.

[FuzzyPlum]

I do wish the band would mix their set lists up a bit more, they just need to get a better balance between catering to the casual music fans and catering to the more loyal fans who want a few more surprises than one or two tracks here and there. They have a huge back catalogue that they need to show off more. I know a lot of casual music fans probably don't really care about a random track from the b-side of Mirage, but how are people supposed to get used to different tracks when the band never plays them live?

On the one hand I'd love to see/hear a load of deep cuts played live. However, it was really off-putting to see the mass 'comfort breaks' whenever the likes of Storms and Not That Funny were played on 'recent' tours. I can understand the band's aim of trying to play to the masses (of course, people still need to take breaks but they aren't noticeable when the are spread out). At the end of the day, most audience members at shows will probably own a couple of albums at most, one of which will likely be a compilation.

I do however strongly feel they need to mix things up for different audiences. It is so disappointing not to get any pre-75 material on European tours. The second encore consisting of Silver Springs and Say Goodbye would I'm sure have been great for a US audience but they weren't perhaps the best songs to play at the end of UK shows. Silver Springs came to prominence on The Dance which was huge in the US but isn't really massive in terms of the UK's consciousness and relatively few audience members would be familiar with Say Goodbye. 'Shall we stay Bob? Nah, I don't know this one, lets shoot'. At the London shows the O2 arena was half empty by the end.

I'd love to hear Oh Well in the set list, though Need Your Love So Bad or Black Magic Woman would be good and a return to Station Man could be a good replacement for World Turning. Why should definitely be in there- perhaps as Christine's second song of the set.

[bethelblues]

I've seen Santana play "Black Magic Woman." I want to see Fleetwood Mac show everyone it's theirs, with Christine doing the vocal. I also want Christine to play Why, as per the other thread. Albatross is one of my favorites; Lindsey should suck it up and play it in a medley tribute, Albatross then right into Black Magic. People know these songs! The worst thing for a band to do is consistently return to only one of their albums; they then become a one trick pony in the collective consciousness. Rock critics/publications even pass over songs from Tusk, pre-1975, Tango. When Christine returned, top 10 lists of her best songs hardly mentioned any deep cuts and zero Mystery to Me songs.

[BLY]

Having Christine back in the fold I cant see them doing her pre 1975 stuff. There is no reason to do anything from that era with all the great material that can be pulled from Mirage and Tango.

[bethelblues]

Having Christine back in the fold I can see them doing some of her pre 1975 stuff. There is no reason to do anything else from that era with all the great material that can be pulled from Mirage and Tango.

Oh, it definitely shouldn't be more than a song or two. Doing a medley or when one song goes right into another would probably work: Albatross/Black Magic/Oh Well, for example, since they are pretty short songs. Also---Paul McCartney just began a North America tour yesterday, playing 41 songs in his setlist!! One can hope...

P.S. The Tango and Mirage songs I most want to hear are all Christine's: Love in Store, Hold Me, Little Lies, Isn't It Midnight, and Everywhere.

[BLY]

Oh, it definitely shouldn't be more than a song or two. Doing a medley or when one song goes right into another would probably work: Albatross/Black Magic/Oh Well, for example, since they are pretty short songs. Also---Paul McCartney just began a North America tour yesterday, playing 41 songs in his setlist!! One can hope...

P.S. The Tango and Mirage songs I most want to hear are all Christine's: Love in Store, Hold Me, Little Lies, Isn't It Midnight, and Everywhere.

Agree, Agree..... But I would also like hear Tango in the Night and Book of Love live.

[bethelblues]

Agree, Agree..... But I would also like hear Tango in the Night and Book of Love live.

I'd definitely love to hear a different big guitar solo from Lindsey. Also, Seven Wonders would be fun, if Stevie's up for it. Had both in my last setlist idea.

[BLY]

I'd definitely love to hear a different big guitar solo from Lindsey. Also, Seven Wonders would be fun, if Stevie's up for it. Had both in my last setlist idea.

Seven Wonders is definitely in my top 10 of favorites. Most of them are when I get all three voices. That's what got me hooked in the first place, the harmonies.

[nicole21290]

One thing which has always surprised me is that Stevie and Lindsey didn't use Christine's departure as a reason for putting a few Buckingham Nicks tracks into the set lists on their Say You Will and Unleashed Tours, especially Frozen Love and Don't Let Me Down Again.

It doesn't surprise me hugely. As much as, at the time, they didn't shut up about liking the new dynamic (cue their 'jokes' about how they'd had to wait decades to get it this way), the one time they DID try this? It lasted exactly one show, the first of the US leg in 2004. Cory Buckingham wrote this about it in her tour diary:

"Then out from the depths of the Buckingham Nicks era (and a brief, albeit glorious appearance on the FM Live album) came Don’t Let Me Down Again. That calls for pee your pants excitement in my opinion! It sounds great, and they played it at the first show in Madison. If you were at the Madison show, consider yourself lucky, because I think it will be leaving the set. Sadly, it seems it can’t find a place to fit in. It will be sorely missed, but at least I got to see it come to life, it was like a little piece of history...farewell Don’t Let Me Down Again, it was nice knowing you...sigh."

Luckily, it was filmed.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/1Bv9d2qCmuo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Wdm6789]

Oh, it definitely shouldn't be more than a song or two. Doing a medley or when one song goes right into another would probably work: Albatross/Black Magic/Oh Well, for example, since they are pretty short songs. Also---Paul McCartney just began a North America tour yesterday, playing 41 songs in his setlist!! One can hope...

P.S. The Tango and Mirage songs I most want to hear are all Christine's: Love in Store, Hold Me, Little Lies, Isn't It Midnight, and Everywhere.



I got 14th row floor seats, center stage for Paul McCartney. For Fleetwood I got 9th row on the floor, left section so I'll be right in front of Christine. Both of these shows in one month. Its going to be awesome.

I will flip out if they play Hold Me. I have an irrational love for that song. It could quite possibly be my favorite song ever.

[Nicks Fan]

The problem with Fleetwood Mac is that they have promoted Rumors ad nauseum for almost 40+ years. It doesn't matter what new cd the toured behind or even if they just toured for the hell of it like in 2009 Rumors was rehashed for the umoteenth time. They need to give it a rest and only do 3-4 songs from it.

Plus when they tour these days they tend to consistently play the same non singles at every show (The Chain, Gold Dust Woman, NGBA, SHN, So Afraid etc) that the show has gotten very stale.

For me these songs need to go.

1. GYOW- I love this song but singing it in a lower key just ruins for me.
2. Big Love (Acoustic) It was a show stopper in 97 but now the novelty has worn off and it feels stale.
3. Silver Springs- This is my favorite song but like Big Love the novelty has worn off of this lost classic because they have over played it and she doesn't sing it very well these days.
4. So Afraid- Another song that works well as a showpiece for LB but he needs to showcase something else and my vote would be for TITN as he could really go to town with this one on guitar.
5. NBGA- I love this song but the arrangement that he does these days.
6. SHN- Overplayed and needs to go. I would swap IDWK in and take SHN news out.
7. Dreams- This one IMO has not sounded good live since 97 and it needs to go. She has enough other lesser played songs to chose from.
8. Stand Back- This is probably the one song I want to see leave the setlist the most as it is not a FM song and never should have been in the set in the first place.
9. World Turning- They have done this for 3 tours now as one of the encores and it needs to go or at least be done somewhere else in the setlist.
10. Rhiannon- She just doesn't sing it very well anymore and I think they could dust off something else like 7W instead.

The band needs to realize that they can't keep touring with a setlist that is 75% the same every time. It needs to be more diverse and showcase a much broader spectrum of their catalogue.

[MikeInNV]

8. Stand Back- This is probably the one song I want to see leave the setlist the most as it is not a FM song and never should have been in the set in the first place.

I see this sentiment a lot, and I'm always scratching my head about it. I mean, if you don't like the song I can see wanting it out of the set. But usually it's just what you said....it's not a Fleetwood Mac song. Technically I guess it isn't, but it was written and sung by the person who has the third longest tenure in the band (after Mick and John), and they've been playing it in their shows since the 80s. On the other hand, a lot of people are hoping for "The Farmer's Daughter," which has no relationship to FM at all. In Stevie's solo shows, people treat covers as the ultimate sin. And at least "Stand Back" has all of Fleetwood Mac playing on it, as opposed to "Go Insane" which is often done acoustically and thus is solo in every sense of the word.

[KarmaContestant]

On the one hand I'd love to see/hear a load of deep cuts played live. However, it was really off-putting to see the mass 'comfort breaks' whenever the likes of Storms and Not That Funny were played on 'recent' tours. I can understand the band's aim of trying to play to the masses (of course, people still need to take breaks but they aren't noticeable when the are spread out).

Fleetwood Mac has, unfortunately, set the expectation for fans that they don't play deep cuts, hence the reaction you observe. Someone mentioned recently that Tori Amos, on her current tour, in just a couple dozen shows, had played 169 different songs. She set the precedent, and thus the expectation, years ago by never having a setlist.

I agree with you totally, though, I believe it's just too late for FM to do things differently because they've (or at least Stevie) conditioned themselves to feel negatively when the audience reaction isn't on par with Go Your Own Way or The Chain for every single song, hence keeping the deep cuts to the barest of minimums.

[Nicks Fan]

I see this sentiment a lot, and I'm always scratching my head about it. I mean, if you don't like the song I can see wanting it out of the set. But usually it's just what you said....it's not a Fleetwood Mac song. Technically I guess it isn't, but it was written and sung by the person who has the third longest tenure in the band (after Mick and John), and they've been playing it in their shows since the 80s. On the other hand, a lot of people are hoping for "The Farmer's Daughter," which has no relationship to FM at all. In Stevie's solo shows, people treat covers as the ultimate sin. And at least "Stand Back" has all of Fleetwood Mac playing on it, as opposed to "Go Insane" which is often done acoustically and thus is solo in every sense of the word.


I do like the song but I feel like it is way overplayed to the point where even on talk shows if she does at least one old song it is this one that she plays. I feel the same way about going to an Eagles concert and 7-10 songs are selections from either Henley, Frey, or Walsh's solo career or in some cases the music of the James Gang.

I just feel with all of the songs FM has not performers live either in a long time or not at all they should drop solo material from any of the band members and play or FM material. They have enough songs that surely they could find something that would be a good substitute.

[bethelblues]

On the one hand I'd love to see/hear a load of deep cuts played live. However, it was really off-putting to see the mass 'comfort breaks' whenever the likes of Storms and Not That Funny were played on 'recent' tours. I can understand the band's aim of trying to play to the masses (of course, people still need to take breaks but they aren't noticeable when the are spread out). At the end of the day, most audience members at shows will probably own a couple of albums at most, one of which will likely be a compilation.

I do however strongly feel they need to mix things up for different audiences. It is so disappointing not to get any pre-75 material on European tours. The second encore consisting of Silver Springs and Say Goodbye would I'm sure have been great for a US audience but they weren't perhaps the best songs to play at the end of UK shows. Silver Springs came to prominence on The Dance which was huge in the US but isn't really massive in terms of the UK's consciousness and relatively few audience members would be familiar with Say Goodbye. 'Shall we stay Bob? Nah, I don't know this one, lets shoot'. At the London shows the O2 arena was half empty by the end.

I'd love to hear Oh Well in the set list, though Need Your Love So Bad or Black Magic Woman would be good and a return to Station Man could be a good replacement for World Turning. Why should definitely be in there- perhaps as Christine's second song of the set.

Question: Were the reactions the same for Beautiful Child when it was played in 2004? I understand for Storms and Not That Funny. Storms just doesn't translate well to a concert setting and is Stevie's weakest song on the Tusk album (though that doesn't mean it's a bad song by any means). And Not That Funny, I don't think it's a very good song at all.

Sara seemed to get a pretty strong reaction on the last tour, though Stevie can't imbue that one with the same power as she used to (especially over a 6+ min runtime). I love the Tusk tour version so much, including the way Lindsey was playing it then. One of those taped performances that capture how special Stevie was/is as a singer-songwriter-rock female vocalist.

[bethelblues]

1. GYOW- I love this song but singing it in a lower key just ruins for me.
2. Big Love (Acoustic) It was a show stopper in 97 but now the novelty has worn off and it feels stale.
3. Silver Springs- This is my favorite song but like Big Love the novelty has worn off of this lost classic because they have over played it and she doesn't sing it very well these days.
4. So Afraid- Another song that works well as a showpiece for LB but he needs to showcase something else and my vote would be for TITN as he could really go to town with this one on guitar.
5. NBGA- I love this song but the arrangement that he does these days.
6. SHN- Overplayed and needs to go. I would swap IDWK in and take SHN news out.
7. Dreams- This one IMO has not sounded good live since 97 and it needs to go. She has enough other lesser played songs to chose from.
8. Stand Back- This is probably the one song I want to see leave the setlist the most as it is not a FM song and never should have been in the set in the first place.
9. World Turning- They have done this for 3 tours now as one of the encores and it needs to go or at least be done somewhere else in the setlist.
10. Rhiannon- She just doesn't sing it very well anymore and I think they could dust off something else like 7W instead.

I like that you wrote something up. I agree the setlist gets repetitive and same-old, same-old. I disagree on a few. The idea is the same though, that the must-play songs list is actually smaller than the band perceives.

Must-Play (Perhaps there are even fewer?):
- Go Your Own Way is in a lower key, but it's a setlist staple and one everyone wants to hear.
- Rhiannon. Probably the most famous Stevie song with Landslide.
- The Chain, the band's anthem.
- Landslide der
- Don't Stop
- Gypsy was hugely popular when I last saw Fleetwood Mac. I know they will do this song. I am, however, open to hearing a revamped acoustic version.
- Gold Dust Woman
- You Make Loving Fun...with Christine back, these next three will be in for sure, giving her a little freedom for 5-6 more.
- Say You Love Me
- Songbird

NOT Must-Play:
- Dreams is definitely not a must-play. Yes, it's the only number one hit, but if you ask concertgoers at random, I bet many won't be able to get the name of the song correctly. They'd say it's the "Thunder" and "raining" song. I definitely think that people are looking for Gypsy and Gold Dust Woman before Dreams.
- Never Going Back Again. It's been left off set lists before. I agree with you...I'm not liking this slowed down version.
- Tusk. Some people look to hear it, but it's not as essential as the songs above. I really like the faster paced 2004 Boston version over how Lindsey played it for the 2013 tour.
- So Afraid. I want to see what else Lindsey can do on guitar.
- Acoustic Big Love, agree with you here.
- Second Hand News, also not a must-play, but it was a damn effective opener.
- Silver Springs was cut from Rumours. It can be cut from a setlist.
- World Turning...sorry Mick.
- Stand Back PLEASE take this out!

[PenguinHead]

I've seen Santana play "Black Magic Woman." .

That's a good idea. It would be so cool if they performed 'Black Magic Woman.'
Unfortunately, many uninformed audience members are going to say "Hmm, they are covering a Santana song!" Fleetwood Mac would have to give the song an introduction as to its origins.

[FuzzyPlum]

Question: Were the reactions the same for Beautiful Child when it was played in 2004? I understand for Storms and Not That Funny. Storms just doesn't translate well to a concert setting and is Stevie's weakest song on the Tusk album (though that doesn't mean it's a bad song by any means). And Not That Funny, I don't think it's a very good song at all.


I personally loved Beautiful Child back in 2004 and from what I remember the general reaction among the audience was very positive- I don't recall it being a major toilet break opportunity. I didn't really know anything about the set list in advance back then and had no idea what to expect. Thinking back, when Stevie started to introduce the song I think there were rumblings around me concerning Sara. I think people were expecting Sara and were initially a bit confused before it became clear it was Beautiful Child (I think- though I could be wrong).

[michelej1]

I see this sentiment a lot, and I'm always scratching my head about it. I mean, if you don't like the song I can see wanting it out of the set. But usually it's just what you said....it's not a Fleetwood Mac song. Technically I guess it isn't


More than technically. I'd say audibly. To me, it doesn't matter how long Stevie has been in the band, it still doesn't sound like Fleetwood Mac. In the same sense, Come doesn't sound like FM either. On the other hand Gotta Hold On Me, does sound like FM.

Now, incongruent or not, I think the setlist needs the energy of Stand Back, so I'm content to keep it there.

Michele

[Nicks Fan]

I like that you wrote something up. I agree the setlist gets repetitive and same-old, same-old. I disagree on a few. The idea is the same though, that the must-play songs list is actually smaller than the band perceives.

Must-Play (Perhaps there are even fewer?):
- Go Your Own Way is in a lower key, but it's a setlist staple and one everyone wants to hear.
- Rhiannon. Probably the most famous Stevie song with Landslide.
- The Chain, the band's anthem.
- Landslide der
- Don't Stop
- Gypsy was hugely popular when I last saw Fleetwood Mac. I know they will do this song. I am, however, open to hearing a revamped acoustic version.
- Gold Dust Woman
- You Make Loving Fun...with Christine back, these next three will be in for sure, giving her a little freedom for 5-6 more.
- Say You Love Me
- Songbird

NOT Must-Play:
- Dreams is definitely not a must-play. Yes, it's the only number one hit, but if you ask concertgoers at random, I bet many won't be able to get the name of the song correctly. They'd say it's the "Thunder" and "raining" song. I definitely think that people are looking for Gypsy and Gold Dust Woman before Dreams.
- Never Going Back Again. It's been left off set lists before. I agree with you...I'm not liking this slowed down version.
- Tusk. Some people look to hear it, but it's not as essential as the songs above. I really like the faster paced 2004 Boston version over how Lindsey played it for the 2013 tour.
- So Afraid. I want to see what else Lindsey can do on guitar.
- Acoustic Big Love, agree with you here.
- Second Hand News, also not a must-play, but it was a damn effective opener.
- Silver Springs was cut from Rumours. It can be cut from a setlist.
- World Turning...sorry Mick.
- Stand Back PLEASE take this out!


The reason I said GYOW should be cut is that having it performed in a lower key just doesn't do it for me and I fins that he seems to struggle to hit the notes on this one at times. Gypsy is another song that I really like but they need to do something else. If all we get is one new song from her in the set (Angel or 7W) and everything else is the same. I won't be happy. Rhiannon is a classic but she doesn't sing it very well these days and I think they could do other songs instead that have never been done before or not performed in a long time.