Steve Winwood concert.
 

I FINALLY got to see Steve Winwood tonight. The show was the antithesis of a Fleetwood Mac show. There were only five musicians: Steve on keyboars and guitar, a guitarist, a wind/keyboard player, a drummer/backing vocalist, and a percussionist. Steve not only played the organ, but also the bass pedals. He didn't attempt to recreate anything, and was that ever refreshing! There was lots of improvisation, and all of the songs turned into an extended jam. THIS is organic! He did some new songs that I wasn't familiar with, but he mostly played the classics.

40,000 Headmen
Pearly Queen
Can't Find My Way Home
Rainmaker
Higher Love
Back In The High Life
Dear Mr. Fantasy
Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys
I'm A Man
Crossroads (a la solo Clapton)
Gimme Some Lovin'

I saw him in 1988 & was bored to tears. Haven't been a fan since. It was pouring rain at the Mann outside Philly, but mainly I was disappointed that he seemed to have no stage presence, IMO. The previous summer I had seen Whitney Houston hey, I was 17) & I left with the same impression of her. Anyway, I lost my taste for both artists after I saw them.

I will say that in 1988 his concert sounded just like the album versions to my young ears.

I do like the Warren Zevon Back In The High Life.

But it sounds like you had a good time. Cool.

- Jake

I saw Elton John a few weeks ago and on stage there was Elton, a keyboard player, bass player, drummer, percussionist and a guitarist. Just the 6 of them (apart from the gospel choir who joined him for a few songs).

I though it made a nice change from FM who seem to have the dead of 2 world wars with them.

Gail

That sounds great! I've only seen him once, years ago. But I LOVED the show. He's an incredible talent. His show is ALL about the music, nothing superficial. That isn't the entire set list is it? Did he play any more of his solo stuff?

By the way, there was a Winwood Soundstage show that aired on PBS last year. It's going to be released on a full length DVD, I believe in August. I've already pre-ordered it.

Now THAT's a monster of a song. Isn't there a very crappy Fleetwood Mac-liveversion of it from the Time line-up? (Mason?)

He played a few new songs, but I don't know the titles.

I don't know if I'd call it crappy, since it was pretty different from the Winwood/Traffic version of the song, but yes, they did it. It's also on a number of recent live releases from Dave.

"crappy"? :cool: Hardly. :mad:

Oh, come on chiliD, when you hear Winwood sing that song something very special happens. I really enjoyed the Time-line-up concert, although i sometimes felt like seeing a coverband, but that Dear mr. Fantasy was a very mediocre version. Thanks to Macs name givers that concert rocked. Mick was totally on fire.

Didn't have that same view of the Time lineup concert. I dug the whole thing. I thought Dave Mason's guitar playing had more fire than ever. (and I had seen him a dozen or so times with his own band, previously). Bekka kicked ass.

Sure, hearing Winwood sing it in person (which I have twice...at both Traffic's "final" tour in 1974 and their reunion tour in 1994), the song is "magical"...but, I have nothing bad to say about Fleetwood Mac's (nor Dave Mason's) renditions. They weren't "magical", but they weren't "crappy", either.

I just get sick of the whole comparison of the Time lineup being a "cover band". Holy crap, how many "cover tunes" did Lindsey sing that first tour after he joined the band?

I know, ChiliD, they may have sounded like a coverband also in the beginning in the ears of green/welch-fans. I could imagine that very lively too. That's NOT a weird perception. But that line-up made it up BIGTIME within a year buddy. The Time line-up didn't.

I couldn't agree more. Steve WinWOODEN. I also saw him on the "Roll With It" tour, and it was almost like watching one of those puppets at Disney World singing "It's a Small World." Just stiff and robotic- no eye contact or facial expression- there just seems to be nothing behind those deeply set eyes. Yes, he can certainly sing and play the organ, but that certainly does not equate to great showmanship. Maybe Kraftwerk has an opening for him. :lol:

They didn't get the chance. The tour was OVER before the album was released.

AND they did not have the same potential as the 75 line-up.

I saw this in San Diego It was an incredible show as usual!!! 3rd time I've seen this tour! Amazing!!

add

Different Light
Bully
Cigano
Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring
Send a Fax
Freedom Rider

It's so funny, but I feel and interpret the exact opposite accessment. I guess I let the music do the talking and don't care what his face looks like. But I agree the craftsmenship is amazing.

That's really apples and oranges. In 1975, the band was an underground band with limited popularity and SOME exposure, they just added two relative unknowns, and they were working as one unit.

In 1995, the band had already conqured the world and their careers were in decline. They were old, yesterday's news. It could have been the "Rumours" band and it wouldn't have had the same potential as they had twenty years earlier. The sales of OOTC, SA, and "Time" combined were less than 500K. There just wasn't a great demand for Fleetwood Mac. That the "Time" band deviated pretty heavily from the general view of Fleetwood Mac wouldn't have helped sales. That they weren't working as a single unit wasn't really helping, either. Since Mick and John pulled the plug before they had a chance to tour behind the album, we'll never really know how well it could have done.

Having said that, I think with a few changes, it could have had loads of potential for an "old" band. Have Christine retire, lose Dave Mason, and bring in Mick Taylor, who doesn't sing. That way, only Bekka and Billy would be fronting the band. Their voices are so big that they don't need another vocalist. Since Mick Taylor was in the Rolling Stones during their country phase, I see him as being a force that could have found that happy medium between Mick and John's blues/rock tendancies and Bekka and Billy's country tendancies. They COULD have come up with a NEW Fleetwood Mac sound, instead of trying to mimic the old Fleetwood Mac sound.

He didn't do WKWTMB or "Freedom Rider." Hell, I wish he would have done WKWTMB, as that's one of my favorite Traffic songs. For that matter, "Means To An End" would be killer. Also on my wish list for a Winwood show would be "Had To Cry Today," but Blind Faith is one of my all-time favorite albums.

I think it's the classic art vs. entertainment debate. Fleetwood Mac is definately more entertainment, while Winwood is definately more art. I had to choose between Winwood or Nicks last night. In an earlier life, I probably would have chosen Nicks, but I'm COMPLETELY satisfied with my decision. It was just so refreshing to hear somebody playing a song as if it were for the first time.

That's just it. Steve Winwood played these songs like it was his first concert. FMac of today sounds forced. Not all of FM's concert but most of it just sounds so stale anymore.

I do think Stevie sounds a little more fresh in her solo tours than SYW. Wonder why?

As I proposed to you privately...since Winwood makes an appearance on Clapton's upcoming new album and Eric's reunion with Cream's drummer Ginger Baker, keep your eyes open for Eric to get the surviving members of Blind Faith back together for an Albert Hall series of shows within the next couple of years. (they'll need a new bass player, though, since Rick Grech sadly passed away a number of years ago)

Lately Steve has been playing the bass parts with his organ pedals. Very cool to watch btw!

Did you get my reply? I suggested another bass player. I bet you can't guess who. I'll give you a clue. Scroll all the way up and look at the upper left corner of your screne. Or, why not go all out and add Steve Winwood to Cream? Or, they could get Phil Lesh and say they've traded one dead bass player for another.

Yep...as much as I LOVE John's bass playing, I don't think he'd be a good fit with Ginger Baker.

Which is pretty close to what Blind Faith WAS. If they were to follow with Fleetwood Mac's personnel rules, Blind Faith would've just been an incarnation of Cream.

That's REALLY funny :lol: :lol: :lol:

That's what I mean. A band with potential in 1995 COULD have come up with a new FM-sound, too. I'm not talking about sales, i'm talking about freshness, surprise. And they CERTAINLY did NOT have that. It was a rehash of old FM-styles with a lot less identity and spunk.

On that point, I think everybody will agree, although I thought their take on GDW was refreshing. Personally, I can't fault Bekka or Billy for any of it. The Bekka & Billy album sounded MUCH better than "Time." I really wish Mick would have let them just be themselves. Also, I wish they would have limited the classic Mac songs to "Oh Well," "The Chain," "Don't Stop," and GYOW and have the rest be nothing but newer material (stuff from "Behind The Mask" and "Time").