Does anyone have any bootlegs from 1988 Europe shows from Shake The Cage tour?

[Wdm6789]

I really want to hear Sara from the Tango tour (Shake The Cage tour) from 1988. They played it at a bunch of their European shows in 1988.

Thank you!!

[David]

I’m sorry, I checked my Koblenz June 4, 1988, and I don’t see the audio for “Sara.”

Edit: But I did find a “When the Sun Goes Down” from rehearsals for 1990!

[Macfan4life]

Sara was only performed in less than half of European dates. Birmingham, half of London shows and Scotland. I did not see it on the setlist on any other European date even those first several London shows.

Thats what makes it so rare and impossible to find Supposedly Stevie came out dressed all in red.

If you find it, you have won the game

[SteveMacD]

What's her aversion to playing "Sara"? It's such a great song in concert. I've only heard it once (last SYW show), but the way it builds makes it a way better concert song than "Gypsy" by far. Plus, it was the bigger hit between the two. I hear "Sara" way more than "Gypsy" when I venture out into the world.

[bwboy]

What's her aversion to playing "Sara"? It's such a great song in concert. I've only heard it once (last SYW show), but the way it builds makes it a way better concert song than "Gypsy" by far. Plus, it was the bigger hit between the two. I hear "Sara" way more than "Gypsy" when I venture out into the world.

I agree, I’d rather hear Sara live than Gypsy. And I do believe Stevie also sang Sara live on her Soundstage Live CD as well. As for why FM doesn’t perform the song anymore, I recall a Q&A with Rick Vito years ago, I think here on the Ledge, where he said Sara was difficult to perform live, and someone followed up asking him if he meant hard for Stevie to sing because it was such an emotional song, and he clarified no, that it was hard to make it sound good live. So perhaps that was why they dropped Sara from their setlist midway into their 1987 tour, although from reviews I read at the time, the song was received well by the audience.

[Macfan4life]

I agree, I’d rather hear Sara live than Gypsy. And I do believe Stevie also sang Sara live on her Soundstage Live CD as well. As for why FM doesn’t perform the song anymore, I recall a Q&A with Rick Vito years ago, I think here on the Ledge, where he said Sara was difficult to perform live, and someone followed up asking him if he meant hard for Stevie to sing because it was such an emotional song, and he clarified no, that it was hard to make it sound good live. So perhaps that was why they dropped Sara from their setlist midway into their 1987 tour, although from reviews I read at the time, the song was received well by the audience.
The song was never performed during the 1987 Tango tour. I saw the show very early in the tour and no Sara. The band did perform Sara the next year in Europe but only a few stops. Believe it or not but they did not even drop a song to perform Sara. Their standard set was 20 songs but for a few lucky Euro stops they got 21 songs and Sara.
Sara no doubt is not easy to perform live since its very intricate. But guess what? The Mac nailed it every time. I never bought that reason. I don't find it a coincidence that once the Don Henley article was released, Sara disappeared in the set for an entire decade except these few Euro stops. I was in shock in 1988 when I read Sara was performed in Europe. I was like...what gives? Is there not an article in the Greatest Hits package that talks about the band and mentions Stevie dressed in red performing Sara in Europe? Or that was from somewhere else. I just remember being in shock the band chose to perform it there instead of the states. But maybe they just wanted to try it out there and was not crazy the way it sounded.

Standard Tango setlist from the states performed in Europe - London stop
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/fleetwood-mac/1988/wembley-arena-london-england-5bd39730.html

Sara added a few London shows, Birmingham, and Scotland
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/fleetwood-mac/1988/nec-arena-birmingham-england-53d3974d.html

[UnwindedDreams]

What's her aversion to playing "Sara"? It's such a great song in concert. I've only heard it once (last SYW show), but the way it builds makes it a way better concert song than "Gypsy" by far. Plus, it was the bigger hit between the two. I hear "Sara" way more than "Gypsy" when I venture out into the world.
Sara was a setlist staple since 2004 SYW Tour. It only left the set in 2014 because she swapped it for Seven Wonders, but then brought it back for the end of the OWTS Tour.

As for why she didn't do it in 2018 and 2019, I think Sara live was such a Stevie and Lindsey act where they'd sing to each other ("I'd stay home at night..."), she'd sing "All I ever wanted..." at his mic and then they'd butterfly kiss at the end. Same for why she didn't do Silver Springs in 2018/2019 (which hadn't left the set since 2009 until the 2018 Tour), she wasn't going to turn her mic at Neil and sing "I'll follow you down."

The only reason she did Sara one time solo for Soundstage in 2007 was because the producer wanted it on film, since FM didn't do it for their 2003 Boston performances that he filmed.

I hear Gypsy way more than Sara on FM radio and Sirius. It could be that it's a faster and shorter song than Sara. Also, the music video tied to the song was colossal in the 80s.

[Wdm6789]

Sara was only performed in less than half of European dates. Birmingham, half of London shows and Scotland. I did not see it on the setlist on any other European date even those first several London shows.

Thats what makes it so rare and impossible to find Supposedly Stevie came out dressed all in red.

If you find it, you have won the game


I’ve listened to it before from a bootleg. I got it from a Buckingham Nicks tumblr, but sadly it has been deleted.

[Wdm6789]

I agree, I’d rather hear Sara live than Gypsy. And I do believe Stevie also sang Sara live on her Soundstage Live CD as well. As for why FM doesn’t perform the song anymore, I recall a Q&A with Rick Vito years ago, I think here on the Ledge, where he said Sara was difficult to perform live, and someone followed up asking him if he meant hard for Stevie to sing because it was such an emotional song, and he clarified no, that it was hard to make it sound good live. So perhaps that was why they dropped Sara from their setlist midway into their 1987 tour, although from reviews I read at the time, the song was received well by the audience.


Sara has always sounded good live on every tour they have played it. I would even argue that sometimes it sounds better live than the album version. Sara is a beautifully crafted song. The album version is amazing and it’s equally amazing when performed live. Now songs like Gypsy, Hold Me, and Everywhere don’t translate as well live. They sound better with the added production on the album versions. (The Dance Everywhere is awesome though, but that was cleaned up a lot for the video).

[Wdm6789]

Sara was only performed in less than half of European dates. Birmingham, half of London shows and Scotland. I did not see it on the setlist on any other European date even those first several London shows.

Thats what makes it so rare and impossible to find Supposedly Stevie came out dressed all in red.

If you find it, you have won the game

Also, if I remember correctly, several years ago someone posted a lot of bootlegs on here from like every tour. I haven’t been able to find the post though.

[David]

What's her aversion to playing "Sara"?

In 1979, she said she loved singing it in concert — “the absolute delight of my night,” she called it.

Before too many years flew by, I guess she had decided that it didn‘t sound great in concert because the noise on the album track couldn’t be replicated.

Years after that, I guess she had decided that it sounded pretty good in concert, after all, so Fleetwood started playing it a little again.

With Stevie, you have to follow the bouncing ball.

[David]

As for why FM doesn’t perform the song anymore, I recall a Q&A with Rick Vito years ago, I think here on the Ledge, where he said Sara was difficult to perform live, and someone followed up asking him if he meant hard for Stevie to sing because it was such an emotional song, and he clarified no, that it was hard to make it sound good live.
Oy. Leave it to some weirdo fan to assume such a stupid thing. “Too emotional” to sing? How cringe to ask Rick Vito such a thing.

[David]

Sara no doubt is not easy to perform live since its very intricate.
Actually, it’s easy to play onstage. You can’t replicate the studio track because that’s a swamp of dozens of little acoustic guitar twings and twang-doodles, so you just power through “Sara” chord changes however you want and it’s easy and repetitive and straightforward. The whole song only has two main sections, and they’re both easy for all the musicians to handle. But if you really want to do it right, you put the drummer on a minimal kit with brushes, turn down the input on the (acoustic) keys so that they blend in to the rhythm, and tell the guitarist to pick and not power-chord (Waddy, that means YOU).

Stevie is the gal who should be responsible for giving the song a slow build and climax, but she doesn’t have that dynamic range anymore unless she is singing to acoustic backing, like “Landslide.” So I blame Stevie for screwing it up. Thoughts?

[David]

As for why she didn't do it in 2018 and 2019, I think Sara live was such a Stevie and Lindsey act where they'd sing to each other ("I'd stay home at night..."), she'd sing "All I ever wanted..." at his mic and then they'd butterfly kiss at the end. But how do we know how much they really did that? It’s just that we see her do that on the St. Louis film — and then, what? assume that she did that the entire tour? It’s like everyone saying she did the Charleston on “Angel” every night just because you see her do it in St. Louis, or that she had her hair in a Gibson bun for “Sara” all the time. Sometimes she did and sometimes she didn’t, I bet. We can’t just watch one film and then say, oh, that was the formula for ten months of touring.

We could check the Landover/Largo 1979 film, too, but we don’t have much visual evidence for anything.

[David]

Also, if I remember correctly, several years ago someone posted a lot of bootlegs on here from like every tour. I haven’t been able to find the post though.

I remember hearing a 1988 “Sara” on someone’s old tape. It might have been Sweden or something. I don’t remember it being extraordinary, just straightforward noise with no dynamics, the way you’d expect it to sound in 1988. Sweden or Germany or something, although it isn’t on the Koblenz recording.

[UnwindedDreams]

But how do we know how much they really did that? It’s just that we see her do that on the St. Louis film — and then, what? assume that she did that the entire tour? It’s like everyone saying she did the Charleston on “Angel” every night just because you see her do it in St. Louis, or that she had her hair in a Gibson bun for “Sara” all the time. Sometimes she did and sometimes she didn’t, I bet. We can’t just watch one film and then say, oh, that was the formula for ten months of touring.

We could check the Landover/Largo 1979 film, too, but we don’t have much visual evidence for anything.
I was speaking for Sara from 2004 onward, which had some acts in it that were as reliable as the Stand Back kick.

But those Saras with the red chiffon and bun were to die for! I like how she paid tribute to Tusk Tour Sara with her red coat in 2004.

[SteveMacD]

But how do we know how much they really did that? It’s just that we see her do that on the St. Louis film — and then, what? assume that she did that the entire tour? It’s like everyone saying she did the Charleston on “Angel” every night just because you see her do it in St. Louis, or that she had her hair in a Gibson bun for “Sara” all the time. Sometimes she did and sometimes she didn’t, I bet. We can’t just watch one film and then say, oh, that was the formula for ten months of touring.

We could check the Landover/Largo 1979 film, too, but we don’t have much visual evidence for anything.

There’s also the rehearsal videos.

[jmn3]

Well, I dug out my old external HD with all my MP3's on it and went through tons of Mac stuff and alas, I do not have any Sara's from 1988. Now, I know I've heard one and I swore I had one, but, nope. From what I recall, it was very perfunctory in its execution. Not a bad performance, but nothing special. To me, Sara peaked immediately upon being played live during the Tusk Tour. Some of those recordings are incredible - certainly the Live album and what came out on the Tusk Deluxe - but also bootlegs like Melbourne always stuck out to me as peak performances of the song. After 1980 there was always less magic IMO. Her solo performances were always meh and even on the Mirage Tour, they altered it just slightly enough to make it lesser.

The modern Sara's (2004-2017) were, like most songs in that era, performed well and somewhat true to the recorded version (as best as the band and the backing band could do it), but still rather perfunctory. The dance and the theatrics with Lindsey and Stevie were really stupid of course. "OMG SHE USED HIS MIC!!?!?!?!!?!?" Kill me.

[jmn3]

The song was never performed during the 1987 Tango tour. I saw the show very early in the tour and no Sara. The band did perform Sara the next year in Europe but only a few stops. Believe it or not but they did not even drop a song to perform Sara. Their standard set was 20 songs but for a few lucky Euro stops they got 21 songs and Sara.
Sara no doubt is not easy to perform live since its very intricate. But guess what? The Mac nailed it every time. I never bought that reason. I don't find it a coincidence that once the Don Henley article was released, Sara disappeared in the set for an entire decade except these few Euro stops. I was in shock in 1988 when I read Sara was performed in Europe. I was like...what gives? Is there not an article in the Greatest Hits package that talks about the band and mentions Stevie dressed in red performing Sara in Europe? Or that was from somewhere else. I just remember being in shock the band chose to perform it there instead of the states. But maybe they just wanted to try it out there and was not crazy the way it sounded.

Standard Tango setlist from the states performed in Europe - London stop
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/fleetwood-mac/1988/wembley-arena-london-england-5bd39730.html

Sara added a few London shows, Birmingham, and Scotland
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/fleetwood-mac/1988/nec-arena-birmingham-england-53d3974d.html

Those 1987 setlists always puzzle me from Stevie's perspective. Especially with Lindsey gone, starting with Rhiannon and Gypsy in the set, only to remove both, is a real head scratcher. Given the success of both Gypsy and Hold Me on their previous album, I always thought it was strange to chug ahead without either. And yes of course Lindsey was gone and Hold Me would be different, but Chris did it on her solo tour. I suppose Gypsy and Rhiannon being left out are the price you pay for including HAEWAFY and Mick wanting to include Stand Back.

[jmn3]

Sara has always sounded good live on every tour they have played it. I would even argue that sometimes it sounds better live than the album version. Sara is a beautifully crafted song. The album version is amazing and it’s equally amazing when performed live. Now songs like Gypsy, Hold Me, and Everywhere don’t translate as well live. They sound better with the added production on the album versions. (The Dance Everywhere is awesome though, but that was cleaned up a lot for the video).

I'd agree on Gypsy and Hold Me, but to me Everywhere is boatloads better in a live setting than on the album. Even the Billy/Rick era versions I thought were a lot more lively. The album version is good IMO, but it's a bit boring at times. I know, blasphemy!

[jmn3]

Stevie is the gal who should be responsible for giving the song a slow build and climax, but she doesn’t have that dynamic range anymore unless she is singing to acoustic backing, like “Landslide.” So I blame Stevie for screwing it up. Thoughts?

It's what kills me about the modern Stevie's live performances. Her unique voice, the way she could alter a song and her phrasing were always what made her live performances stand out. Sure, the demonic Rhiannon's from the mid 70's are always going to be at the top, but even as her voice changed, she managed to add little nuances to her performances that added something to the song that's hard to describe. But, since at least 2005, she just won't do it anymore. Songs like Sara, Landslide, Dreams, Gypsy, and of course, Rhiannon, have become monotonous blahs. However, she will follow up the most nasally and boring performance of Dreams with a version of Black Magic Woman that is full of little ways of her vocally owning the song. She will put the same effort into Gold Dust Woman (although relying more on her dancing...skills...) but not the others.

[Macfan4life]

Those 1987 setlists always puzzle me from Stevie's perspective. Especially with Lindsey gone, starting with Rhiannon and Gypsy in the set, only to remove both, is a real head scratcher. Given the success of both Gypsy and Hold Me on their previous album, I always thought it was strange to chug ahead without either. And yes of course Lindsey was gone and Hold Me would be different, but Chris did it on her solo tour. I suppose Gypsy and Rhiannon being left out are the price you pay for including HAEWAFY and Mick wanting to include Stand Back.
You caught something that I did not. That set does not include Rhiannon nor Gypsy. Both were in the set in the USA. Perhaps for Europe that is why Sara got added. Was Sara a bigger hit there than Rhiannon and Gypsy? Rhiannon was her staple and always has been. Surprised it was removed.

[Villavic]

Mick final words in his first book, about each member, he said this: Stevie Nicks? Better than ever, in my opinion. (Although she doesn't let us play "Rhiannon" in concert anymore.)

Well I seriously doubt she was better than ever in early 90s, but the point is about Rhiannon, I always wonder why "she didn't let" them play that song anymore, I guess because she didn't want to risk her voice with the screams, but she prove us she could perform it in a decent way since The Dance.

[Macfan4life]

[QUOTE=Villavic;1277208]Mick final words in his first book, about each member, he said this: Stevie Nicks? Better than ever, in my opinion. (Although she doesn't let us play "Rhiannon" in concert anymore.)

*****************

[Wdm6789]

Well, I dug out my old external HD with all my MP3's on it and went through tons of Mac stuff and alas, I do not have any Sara's from 1988. Now, I know I've heard one and I swore I had one, but, nope. From what I recall, it was very perfunctory in its execution. Not a bad performance, but nothing special. To me, Sara peaked immediately upon being played live during the Tusk Tour. Some of those recordings are incredible - certainly the Live album and what came out on the Tusk Deluxe - but also bootlegs like Melbourne always stuck out to me as peak performances of the song. After 1980 there was always less magic IMO. Her solo performances were always meh and even on the Mirage Tour, they altered it just slightly enough to make it lesser.

The modern Sara's (2004-2017) were, like most songs in that era, performed well and somewhat true to the recorded version (as best as the band and the backing band could do it), but still rather perfunctory. The dance and the theatrics with Lindsey and Stevie were really stupid of course. "OMG SHE USED HIS MIC!!?!?!?!!?!?" Kill me.

I appreciate you looking through you stash. Thank you!!

I really liked Sara on the Mirage tour. They sped up the tempo just a little bit from the Tusk tour and it sounded really good. I think Mirage tour Sara is my favorite. I’m bummed they didn’t add an entire live set to the deluxe Mirage reissue because I really wanted a live 1982 Sara.

But Stevie always sang the last line of Sara on Lindsey’s mic. She started that on the Tusk tour.

[Macfan4life]

Mick final words in his first book, about each member, he said this: Stevie Nicks? Better than ever, in my opinion. (Although she doesn't let us play "Rhiannon" in concert anymore.)

Well I seriously doubt she was better than ever in early 90s, but the point is about Rhiannon, I always wonder why "she didn't let" them play that song anymore, I guess because she didn't want to risk her voice with the screams, but she prove us she could perform it in a decent way since The Dance.
OMG I think you cracked the code and connected the dots. This ending to the book always confused me because I read the book when it came out when the Mac was on tour in 1990. I saw them in 1987 and 1990 and Rhiannon was played in those concerts. What could Mick have meant since Rhiannon was played during every Mac tour with Stevie.
Now lets connect the dots. Rhiannon was not played in Europe or most Euro dates in 1988 and we discovered that Sara was added. In 1988 Stevie had enough of Rhiannon live and dropped it. In 1989 she also dropped it from most of her OSOTM tour too. Mick was writing his book these years and so this explains why she did not do it in 1989 either.
Having seen the Mac in the states there was no context for what Mick wrote because Rhiannon was played every tour in the states.

[jmn3]

You caught something that I did not. That set does not include Rhiannon nor Gypsy. Both were in the set in the USA. Perhaps for Europe that is why Sara got added. Was Sara a bigger hit there than Rhiannon and Gypsy? Rhiannon was her staple and always has been. Surprised it was removed.

They dropped both Gypsy and Rhiannon in the states. I want to say Gypsy was dropped first and then Rhiannon. Certainly by the later shows in 1987 they were both gone. I have the Salt Lake City show which was end of November and the set was:

Say You Love Me
The Chain
Dreams
Isn't it Midnight
Oh Well
Seven Wonders
Rattlesnake Shake
Over My Head
Gold Dust Woman
Don't Let Me Down Again
HAEWAFY
I Loved Another Woman
Brown Eyes
World Turning
Little Lies
Stand Back
You Make Loving Fun
Go Your Own Way
Blue Letter
Don't Stop
Songbird

[jmn3]

I appreciate you looking through you stash. Thank you!!

I really liked Sara on the Mirage tour. They sped up the tempo just a little bit from the Tusk tour and it sounded really good. I think Mirage tour Sara is my favorite. I’m bummed they didn’t add an entire live set to the deluxe Mirage reissue because I really wanted a live 1982 Sara.

But Stevie always sang the last line of Sara on Lindsey’s mic. She started that on the Tusk tour.

The sped up Mirage tour way is one of the chief things I didn't like about it! :D

There was also this thing they did right before "All I ever wanted was to know that you were dreaming" on the Tusk Tour where Lindsey and Stevie sang "oooooooohhhh...SARAAAA" twice and I think it just added something special to the song.

[Macfan4life]

They dropped both Gypsy and Rhiannon in the states. I want to say Gypsy was dropped first and then Rhiannon. Certainly by the later shows in 1987 they were both gone. I have the Salt Lake City show which was end of November and the set was:

Say You Love Me
The Chain
Dreams
Isn't it Midnight
Oh Well
Seven Wonders
Rattlesnake Shake
Over My Head
Gold Dust Woman
Don't Let Me Down Again
HAEWAFY
I Loved Another Woman
Brown Eyes
World Turning
Little Lies
Stand Back
You Make Loving Fun
Go Your Own Way
Blue Letter
Don't Stop
Songbird
OMG I feel lucky. I saw both Rhiannon and Gypsy in 1987. Now it all makes sense though. I always scratched my head at Mick's comments since I saw both tours and Rhiannon was played at both. Gypsy sounded pretty good. Stevie could still hit some high notes back then. I had my own personal bootleg that I recorded back then. But I threw it away many years ago :(

On another note we wonder why Mirage is a forgotten album when the band forgets it too. With Gypsy out of the set mid Tango that means no Mirage songs and the entire 1990 tours had no Mirage songs. They play the songs the classic rock stations play as their concert staples.

Gypsy from 1987 Were you there Homer?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80VXq721IeU

[jmn3]

On another note we wonder why Mirage is a forgotten album when the band forgets it too. With Gypsy out of the set mid Tango that means no Mirage songs and the entire 1990 tours had no Mirage songs. They play the songs the classic rock stations play as their concert staples.


It blows my mind they ignored Mirage like they did during the Tango era. Gypsy was the only song and it was dropped. It was their most recent album and it was a success with two hit singles. Hold Me in particular should have been played. Gypsy too and how cool would a Tango era Straight Back have been? I’m still befuddled that they ignored Hold Me altogether from 1982 until 2018…I guess 2017 if you count BuckVie.

[HomerMcvie]

Gypsy from 1987 Were you there Homer?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80VXq721IeU

I WAS there. With the worst seats I ever had for FM. Imagine as absolutely far away from the stage as you could get... that was where we were.

[Wdm6789]

It blows my mind they ignored Mirage like they did during the Tango era. Gypsy was the only song and it was dropped. It was their most recent album and it was a success with two hit singles. Hold Me in particular should have been played. Gypsy too and how cool would a Tango era Straight Back have been? I’m still befuddled that they ignored Hold Me altogether from 1982 until 2018…I guess 2017 if you count BuckVie.


I really like how a lot of the songs sounded with Rick and Billy on guitar they got kind of a new twist. But I also can’t help but wonder how awesome it would have been if Lindsey did the Tango tour. Hold Me and Gypsy live in 1987 would have been so good. And the live videos would have been so cool to watch if Lindsey was there. The classic lineup with all the 80s glam.

[Macfan4life]

I WAS there. With the worst seats I ever had for FM. Imagine as absolutely far away from the stage as you could get... that was where we were.
Cool! I saw someone in the first few rows with top hat, scarf, and tambourine. I thought it might have been you.

I remember I was just a senior in high school and skipped school to drive to the mall to stand in line to get tickets. My tickets were not that bad, on Rick and Billy's side up the arena some. It was nice that Chris was facing towards me. I just remember looking at the tickets with the words Fleetwood Mac on them. I really doubted I would ever see that.

It was a great show and the arena was packed. But Stevie packed the same arena just the year earlier on her RAL tour. Back in those days remember the beach balls and frisbees that used to get tossed around in the arenas. Someone threw a red frisbee on stage and Stevie picked it up and threw it back into the audience. Her throw was wimpy and pathetic but it sill was cool.

Did you weep during HAEWAFY?

[Villavic]

I WAS there. With the worst seats I ever had for FM. Imagine as absolutely far away from the stage as you could get... that was where we were.

Was that far, that the image arrived before the sound? That happened to me in a festival (latin rock), the singers in the big screen moved their lips but I heard their voices seconds later. :lol:

[HomerMcvie]

Was that far, that the image arrived before the sound? That happened to me in a festival (latin rock), the singers in the big screen moved their lips but I heard their voices seconds later. :lol:

There weren't big screens back then, were there? I honestly don't remember.

I was far enough away that it took me a few songs to figure out that Billy wasn't Lindsey. :lol: