Live Performance Battle: Stand Back
 

I demand that Brad tours with Fleetwood Mac if they play Stand Back this year :laugh:

While far from my favorite song, it is certainly liked by the masses. Which performance is the best, in your opinion? What makes some performances better than others?

SNL:

STEVIE NICKS - "Stand Back" & "Nightbird" LIVE, Late On a Saturday In 1983 from Videodrome Discothèque on Vimeo.

Solid Gold:


"Elaine" 1983:


Red Rocks:


Tango (don't this really counts as a live performance though...):


2004 with Mac:


Today Show 2005:


Live in Chicago 2008:


Ellen Show, 2011:

Elaine, for the cute factor.

SOUNDSTAGE!! :thumbsup:

Is this really a question.....SNL hands down!

God, that SNL performance makes my skin crawl every time I see it. That drummer SUCKS. Just seeing him try to friggin' do....actually, I don't even know WHAT he's trying to do at the beginning of the video. Looks like he's midway between having a stroke, trying to disco dance and keep a steady rhythm of clapping (which he isn't, by the way) all at the same time while high on coke. Jesus.

Anyways, I've always preferred (not sure why) the Live In Boston performance. Just can't get enough of it.

I haven't seen any of these in a while but I must say that the Today show is pretty much spot on vocally. Stevie is energized!

AMEN to that !! Honey, that SNL "Stand Back" was certainly performed on the RIGHT SHOW.....It looks like a damned parody skit......Utterly ridiculous. Sharona's dancing at the beginning looks like she's about to fall into a seizure. As Brad Jeffries makes his dramatic entrance, I begin to have stomach pains. ALSO, I love the fact that Stevie hired RICK JAMES to sashay around the stage playing a tambourine with a bass guitar slung over his shoulder. RICK JAMES' red leather hot pants are the only thing that save this performance from going into convulsions.

Elaine, just because the song is played very plain and Stevie's interaction with Elaine is cute.

Stand Back from Live In Boston is my favourite. It actually got me into solo Stevie initially..
I feel like she just racked up her first line of coke in 10 years and went out there to smash some Stand Back

Stand Back is probably my most favourite song... the melody and the power of it it´s just amazing. So I love every performance of it... from these choices I would give plus for the first from SNL, it´s just crazy 80´s, great performance. The one from Red Rocks is similar... I love her crazyness. Very different is that from Tango tour, but I love that too, her husky voice and acting more like a lady... cool too. And my favourite performances from these are from Live in Boston and Soundstage too. I like the "new" end and her enjoying it singing on Soundstage... and Live in Boston is kind of very rocking version... great.

But I can tell there are other great performances or "versions" of this song. I like how they did it on 1989 tour, the keybords especially. Great is also the performance in Arsenio hall from 1991. Then in 1994 she did it with big enegery again and with very nice voice. Then it started being kind of "boring" comparing to the older performances. But when it´s filmed for some DVD like Live in Boston or Soundstage she still can gives it something interesting and energic.

But anyway seeing this song live is great anytime :). I think. I don´t even think the performances of this song during tour in 1990 were bad. She was a little sleepy, but the long beginning with keybords and still the melody gives it something

I vote for the LIB version; the only song she seemed really energized for on that tour.

That SNL version with Dancing Brad...I. just. can't. :distress:

AMEN to you Sann2! This is Stevie raw. The performance is full of passion and energy. I used to watch this over and over again back in my youth. I love the Solid Gold performance too. While the band wasn't live, Stevie was and I don't think I've ever seen her looking more beautiful. Red Rocks is full of passion as well, but after that, I don't think any of the other performances come close. F Mac plays a too rushed, a too hurried version and it doesn't do anything for Stevie's voice.

I wish that the 1998 Jay Leno version had been on here. THAT was a great one. She looked and sounded amazing

I think that is Liberty DeVitto. The drummer for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

As far as I know, DeVitto was never Bruce's drummer...it went Lopez, Carter, Weinberg.

Agreed. So glorious, in every way.

The Today Show 2005 is my favorite.

Followed closely by... Tango. :o

Live In Boston. Every other version pales in comparison.

I wrote up a nice Top 3 review in word about the evolution of a song and then my puter went cblunk and I lost it.

Anyway, the key points were:

SB on SNL was very collaborative, I love the fact that Rick James was there. Although messy, I like to think of this as early 80's creative chaos. Compared to the super pop of Culture Club's "Karma Chameleon" and Dexy's Midnight Runners that were begging fans to "Come On Eileen", this was alternative rock.

The LiB performance showcases Stevie at the height of her (reborn) popularity and energy era. The way she takes the stage and dances/plays with the musicians indicates to the audience that they are in for a real and rare treat. I love how she brushes back her hair right before the first line with a wild smile on her face, a gesture that shows a resemblance of the petite, ultra-feminine persona she once was on stage. Also, during the bridge Stevie does a half-twirl foreshadowing the big twirl to come. The Reeboks may have made a debut this tour, but Stevie was determined to show that her famous Twirl was far from retirement.

Solid Gold version of this song was a dark, mesmerizing performance. This song was Not written from a happy place. We all know by now that she wrote this on her wedding night. But was the song really about the wedding and Ken? Was it really about LB? I think neither is true. This is a sad song despite the energy it creates on stage today. With the single line “...one man said he could not stay, I said 'Well baby, just go away'” indicates the heartbreak Stevie was feeling at the time. The song and it's meaning had perplexed me for many years until I saw this performance. Stevie fell in love with a man that just wanted to use her for sexual gratification. This was a man that she really cared for and could see a future with. The line “Well, you could be standing in a line” made better sense in this context. Therefore, this imo is the Best SB performance.