Love Temporary One and Sweet Girl (actually thinking about doing a live cover of this). My Little Demon is good- but the weird demon noises are confusing!

I still feel there is a market for Fleetwood Mac. If Madison Square Garden holds say 19,000 seats, 15 of them were sold for their show there in June. All this after basically saturating the NY area market. I also went to look at a house today and while in one of the kids bedrooms, there were cd racks. So of course I had to look and sure enough this guy had all of BN era Fleetwood Mac cd's. He also had all of Stevie's solo discs and Lindsey's. They were there along with NIN, Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam etc etc. My friends 16 year old daughter loves them. Ans about a month ago i had one of my FM t-shirts on and this girl (about 13) told me she loves them and went to their MSG concert with her older sister. So I dont feel its time to write them off just yet.

As for the sets being stale. Eh. They still put on a great show and from the looks of the crowd reaction, a satisfying one.

I agree Louie... I love "Sweet Girl"... It has special meaning to me from a journal/letter that I gave to Stevie at her 'Street Angel' tour concert when I saw her in Dallas, September 10th 1994... on the 'Street Angel' tour, prior to the Dance album and tour...


Donnie Wayne ~

http://www.yahoofreak.com/animated%2...cons/disco.gif

This show did about 6K paid.

David, I think you're more right than you even know! To me, The Ledge is almost the only interesting thing about being a Fleetwood Mac fan right now- the band gives us no new inspiration and it's depressing- they haven't done a thing for their fans in ages. They wouldn't even sit together for photos for a new tourbook or get one lousy single (or a great one) up on the Net, or in stores, or do anything significant with their website. The tour is nice, but they are doing it for them, for sure. It certainly isn't interesting or imaginative, musically, its so predictable, and need not be. As long as 'Dreams' is so stagnantly placed in their set as song 2 or 3, as it has been for 30 years, the concert fights an uphill battle to be exciting, whereas if it were placed late in the set, it'd actually build some anticipation for it and not just slow the concert down. Little things can mean a lot. And LB I think would be willing to shake things up a bit, but apparantly he's outvoted. They are on their huge money-making quest, and I enjoyed the show, but found it very stultifying that basically the years 1975 through 1982 were what was represented, and not even in an interesting enough way.
The Ledge keeps it alive for me, because it's lean times for longtime fans. They are raking in many millions of dollars on this greatest hits 'Unleashed' tour- they should put free new music up on their website if they are so disenchanted with the recording industry. Like that would happen- and most of us would be willing to pay for downloads of unreleased demos we already have to support the band, but again, they just aren't interested in throwing us even a bone in their commerce-driven 'Unleashed' venture- I have nothing against commerce or greatest hits, but they need to find a balance, because Fleetwood Mac is about the music, and there hasn't been ANY new music in 7 years.

nikolaj..wow..interesting post and I think I can agree with you. Maybe this is why, I've gone off them a bit and onto other newer people ( I kept thinking their music and concert material , I'd seen and heard on youtube lately has become ...dare I say it gereatric).Lindsey, is the one to appeal to, for shaking things up, but if he's out voted then what can he do? I think your suggestion of song rotation might be the only answer, they need to sit down and check out other artists and see, how they do it.

One thing I would really like to see them do in the future is just loosen up...everything is planned now to the smallest detail...its just way too polished. I don't know that they are aware of how much is lost when you do that. Spontaneity is so important. If the performance is less than extraordinary it might be because they're so damn bored doing and saying the same thing over and over and over. Remember the days when you never knew what the hell Stevie was going to say or exactly how they were going to interact with each other?? I say just go out there and do whatever comes natural to you at the moment...don't think about it...just feel it. Isn't that what you're supposed to do with music anyway??? I think that throwing out their carefully crafted rule book would do a lot to breathe new life into the show...and they'd probably start to enjoy it a lot more too.

And the worst thing is that this is exactly what Lindsey does on his solo tours so he knows how to do it. Check out the UTS tour where he'd take requests at the end of the show. He didn't do it much until the second half of the GOS tour but I think he was just settling in to the new tour and new material. As Blues players I'm sure Mick and John know how to loosen up and play around with the set and improvise and I bet Stevie could do it as well. It's just a pity that they get into the Mac-machine and suddenly they have to give the audience "product" rather than "music".

The average person who pays ~$150 to see Fleetwood Mac in 2009 doesn't want to see them do anything other than the hits. Its not like Bruce Springsteen, where the fan base actually clamors to hear songs rarely performed.

This is the conundrum. If FM started a tour and they mixed things up every night for a handful of songs for the first couple shows, word would get out, and it wouldn't be good. 13,000 people- only 1,500 are going to even recognize (however vaguely), say, "Straight Back". Not worth it.

So very sad but so very true.

I think it amazing that Lindsey was able to do that! I guess maybe its easier to do things like that when its just one person as opposed to a whole band. :shrug: Its the small stuff that I think is most important. Everything is so planned out...they stand in the exact same places and say the exact same things night after night. It would be great if they would switch the sets around a bit instead of putting on the exact same show night after night. Mostly, though, I just want them to go out and get lost in the experience of being on stage the same way the audience can get lost in the performance. I don't know how to explain it...it just seems that there was an air of freedom that they lack now.

I agree it was strange for Lindsey to go on the road without a new FM album. Maybe he was thinking that as long as he makes the record company money on the road with FM that he will be able to keep doing his solo albums, (whether they make money or not) and not be dropped from the label.
I worry about the future of Fleetwood Mac too. Lindsey is my fave and I feel he would probably take more chances on different directions for FM if he could. As for Stevie waiting for Lindsey to "decide he's ready to do something different", I don't know if that's an issue. I guess they're all afraid to reinvent the band for fear of losing "us" (faithful fans). I do feel they could get out in the public more, not just for concerts, but out connecting with all of us who have stood by them through all these changes. Maybe we expect too much, I don't know. I just want FM to be successful
and sell more albums to new fans also, but without the members of FM feeling like they are "selling out"

They just need to follow this formula:

1. Stevie, write 6 songs about Lindsey that are constructed around private, mystical metaphors.

2. Lindsey, write 6 songs about Stevie spiked by sexual innuendo, double entendre, puns, and grunts/groans.

3. Alternate between tracks that are rockin' and tracks that are (very) pretty.

4. Title it: Rumours II.

That would be bliss.

^lol...wouldn't it be funny that after all these years of them trying to do something "not Rumours," doing another Rumours themed album would be the thing that put them back on top :lol: You know what they say..."if it ain't broke..." :p

You know what was funny to me reading interviews from 1976 http://www.ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/sh...ad.php?t=41594is that even then Lindsey was looking beyond Rumours (the album that had not even been released yet). He told Cameron Crowe that he didn't think making an album that would follow up to the White album would be hard and now that the new album was about to be released, he looked forward to getting back in the studio after the tour:


He was saying as soon as they got off the Rumours tour, maybe they could spend time in the studio with each other. Even though he was praising the new album, even then Rumours seemed something he wanted to get past, so he could return to the studio. Little did he know he'd still be trying to do the same thing 35 years later.

Michele

OMG, I think you've got it, this would be perfect :] and to add, sit down and watch 52 Slowride videos of Adam and Allison on the 2009 Idol tour and see how to change it up every night for 50 nights.brilliant

Wow I never knew that this thread was going to be so popular!

You picked a good title.

You're my favorite ledgie of all time -- & that's no mean feat.
I find that I relate best to you & your thought processes.

Tell me Lies tell me sweet little lies....

So that's why Steve Winwood tours 3000 seat arenas... But his shows are sooooo damn good!!!

Originally Posted by LukeA
The average person who pays ~$150 to see Fleetwood Mac in 2009 doesn't want to see them do anything other than the hits. Its not like Bruce Springsteen, where the fan base actually clamors to hear songs rarely performed.

This is the conundrum. If FM started a tour and they mixed things up every night for a handful of songs for the first couple shows, word would get out, and it wouldn't be good. 13,000 people- only 1,500 are going to even recognize (however vaguely), say, "Straight Back". Not worth it.
Then vivfox agreed:
So very sad but so very true.

Sorry guys, but I totally disagree. The concert stage was not besieged by angry mobs nor was there a massive exodus to the restrooms by audiences on the last 2 tours when 'Beautiful Child', 'I Know I'm Not Wrong', 'Eyes of the World' or 'Storms' were given a place in the set. 3 of these songs were not from a #1 album, while 'Straight Back' was from a #1 album, it's a known song, potentially, by anyone who had the album. I never wrote 'don't play the hits', I meant there's more than enough material for the band to play along with the hits, as they have been doing, but not to the extent that I feel would make for a better concert. 'Gypsy' is a disaster and needs to go, that's one hit that Stevie sounds embarassingly inept performing live now, and 'Straight Back' would have to be a huge improvement.
With 'Tango' being so huge a cd in Europe, they'd be wise to play the title track, and near the start of the show, to show they can be more adventurous and give their fans more than the very same songs, as always, from the first notes played, for much of the concert; and/or SevenWonders, its not like I'm suggesting they do something obscure like 'Mick the Screecher' :)
I also don't agree with the position expressed (and also by Stevie) that 'the average person' attends their concerts. I think their audience vastly are repeat customers and is the audience they've held onto for 30+years (or from the start of Stevie's solo career circa 1982). It's only right to represent more of their songwriting catalogue than the band has been willing to attempt, thus far. An 'average fan' doesn't shell out several hundreds of dollars for 1 or 2 seats to see a band they don't care much about. I'm a 'casual' fan of some bands like Heart, and would go see Heart for a reasonable ticket price of under $75 or so, but passed on their double-bill with Journey for $140 that played here in CT this month.
People could handle one or 2 new songs, most of the hits, and a rotation of album cuts, like 'Thrown Down' or a mashup of 'Big Love' with 'Everybody Finds Out'. It might take editing of the teleprompter between the 'Go To Tent' messages the band relies on, but it could be done. One writer here who pointed out the lack of any spontaneous moment in the 'Unleashed' set hit the nail right on the head.
Underestimating an audiences attention span is a good way to maintain some lazy performing habits.
I do see your points, just don't agree in this case, cheers, regardless :)
(and 'Roseanne' and 'Frazier' and 'Friends')

:lol::lol: Good point!

Not to take away from GoldDustWoman, but I suspect you actually mean GldDstWmn, without the vowels, who has had an amazing presence in her writings here for years.
Whichever, may they both 'rock on' here on The Ledge for years :)

:lol:

Yeah sure. Exit Buckingham for the 2nd time.

He may be getting up there but I think he can still discern the difference between the 2 aforementioned posters.:laugh:

They can name it Tusk two just to make him happy.

The demo is great. The Dance version reminds me of the Allman Brothers. :shrug:

It would have sounded better with FM. :sorry:

Or
I want to fly across the world
In a golden ball
Many of the cities
Well I never saw at all
Sometimes I think I was always on call
Sometimes even I am allowed to fall
He said come down here for a minute
Sweet girl

I also thought Bleed To Love Her was fantastic.

Yes. I'll marry you. :laugh:

I liked it a lot when I saw it for the first time... but I don't think it compares to Sweet Girl...

I guess I love the message in Sweet Girl as well... it's such a compelling romantic story...

Stevie does one of her trademark songwriting tricks with the 'track a ghost though the fog' lyric. I love it when she does that. Lindsey does it too. For some reason I always think of her grandfather when I hear this song.

I guess i really appreciate what Stevie had forgone to lead the life she had... and I know she would do it all over again...

Noooo, he can't do that, he's the ONLY one who could actually make it happen!!!

Yup. Best new song on "The Dance."

(that was (almost) say you will)

I'm actually serious about Rumours II, by the way. That phrase has entered the mythology -- put there by Lindsey himself; I'd think he might actually appreciate the irony. Besides, it's what the world wants/needs: a continuation or a resolution. That's why "Silver Springs" rocked the 90s.

Unfortunately I've encountered many of the casual fan types who shelled out the big bucks for these shows. In fact that's usually the type of "fan" I'm surrounded by at the front, whether at Stevie or Fleetwood Mac shows (Lindsey is different). There are exceptions of course (and the people who manage to get up front despite where they're supposed to be sitting:p) Stevie is right they don't want to hear anything different, and for the few songs that are not "hits" they do go to the bathroom and for more beer. Why they pay so much for these seats and don't enjoy the show is beyond me. It's too bad the band is unwilling to play smaller venues so they could be more creative in their set list.

Well they aren't entirely uncreative in the setlist. I think it's shame that it doesn't change, but the following were nice additions:

Monday Morning
I Know I'm Not Wrong
Go Insane (full band)
Storms
Say You Love Me
Oh Well

Actually, now that I list it, that's not that many. :laugh: But still, they aren't the usual suspects.