Cologne TODAY
 

Hi Folks,

tonight is the one and only night in Germany ! And no posting about that show here ?

I am very excited because I have one of the very expensive tickets right before the stage ( Row 12 ). What do u think ? Would it be possible, to stand up and leave the seats during the concert ? Last time in Cologne I have seen them, no one was sitting on his seats, many people standing front of the stage without any security complains ! Is this normal at Mac Concerts or was it just a lucky day ?

Greetings

Christian

It may depend on the venue, but in London there were 3 security guards manning the aisle next to me - 2 at the stage and 1 at the back - making sure that no one left their seat to go to the front. It looked like only the first 3 rows were allowed to the stage. I guess they need to keep aisles clear for security reasons, and they definitely didn't want people crowding to the front. Quite a number people did go to the front to take pictures, but were sent back almost immediately by the poor guy at the back that had the responsibility of telling people to get back to their seats. He looked exasperated by the end of the night.

So I don't know if the set up in Cologne will be any different. I was around row 18 and still had a great view. I hope you enjoy the concert, and maybe you can get to the front! :)

Could you tell me a bit more about your experiences in London? I had seated tickets at the O2 on the 28th and it looked quite crowded down the front, although that could be my bad eye sight! I've got a seat in Block A1, Row A for the 22nd June and I'm hoping I'll get to stage at least once to pay my respects. :angel:

Well, we just got home. Security was tight tonight, only the people from the front row were allowed to go to the stage, everyone else had to stay at their places. We had front row seats, left them and stood between Christine and Stevie.

In short: Christine was a pleasure. She was lively, had fun, her playing made the concert for me, the way she guided the other musicians was great to watch, I had alot of eye contact with her. We made a sign with "Dear Christine, we missed you, we LOVE you!" and she liked it, thanked us. Christine would get an A++ from me.

Lindsey was on the other side of the stage, his guitar playing was outstanding. He was not interacting much with anyone but Christine from what I saw.

Stevies singing was very good, aside from "Sisters" which sounded totally wrong for no specific reasons. But she looked extremely tired and exhausted to me, she wanted to be somewhere else for most of the time. At the end of the concert, she seemed upset for unknown reasons. There was zero unscripted interaction between her and Lindsey.

I felt that the band was holding back a bit tonight, only Christine and Mick were giving everything.

Christine played Songbird, it was lovely.

Stevie did not give a speech at the end, only Mick came back onstage.

All in all a great concert, in 2013 I saw the best concert ever at the same place, this one was different, this was Christines evening, she made it worth it.

Did anyone notice, that Lindsey was playing Go insane just before he started his BIG LOVE speech? Only four notes but at least something unexpected :)

All in all the concert was great - I miss a little spontaneity in their performance.

Tschoe

^^^That Go insane notes confused us, we were like HUH? Nice one. I agree about spontanity. And I really disliked some of the sound effects, especially during So Afraid and GDW, I very much prefered the "rougher" versions of the earlier tours, it at least appeared to be more spontanious when there is not an effect underlying.

Over and out.
 

I was there and will post later on, when I'm home again.
Now off to do some shopping before I leave Cologne.

Made tons of pictures, but as always: a lot of pictures taken right in front of the stage have bad lighting.
At least taken on the phone.

Anyway: I loved it and now I'm suffering from the usual post concert depression. Sigh.

You'll have no problem getting to the stage if you are in row 1. I couldn't see exactly how many rows were let up, but I'm fairly sure it was no more than 3 by the amount of people up there. It probably looked crowded from higher up, but most people in the front sections were standing in their allocated seat area (I could be wrong - but I did go near the front twice and that's what I remember) . I was really surprised that 3 guards were covering just one aisle - I had no idea there would be so much security. For the final bows and Mick's speech, I got to the front with a few others - I think the security had given up by that point.

That's amazing you have a row1 seat! :cool: The perfect spot to wave at Christine. I have a row 10 seat for the 22nd June but its right off to the side of A1 - not sure if I'll be able to get any further forward, but I'll certainly be trying :nod:

So this was my first Fleetwood Mac concert and imo it was absolutely amazing!
Their vocals were REALLY good and I loved every second of the concert.

The sound wasn't that good in the upper tier, but I didn't expect it to be different, because that's a general issue in the arena.

Did it look like Lindsey made a mistake or like he was teasing?

Michele

I'm sure he was teasing.
:lol:

I think someone in the front row was screaming "GO INSANE" when it became clear that he would play an acoustic song and after he began playing it, he stopped and said someting like "No, not this one". ;)

He was definitely teasing. But the sound tech yelled 'Go Insane' a few moments before... and then some people in the crowd, so I guess he just went with it. :lol:

Oh ok, so that's what happened. :D

Yes, the Go Insane moment was very special.

It was a great concert, my third Mac Concert and it was the best. Because of my premium seat in Row 12, Block 102. From this point of view it was different, then other people mentioned here: The whole Block was standing from The chain to Songbird, and they go insane ! People from behind running to the stage and the security was helpless. After the 5th Song they were ordered back to their seats. But this lastet only 2 Songs and after that, all the spaces between the blocks were full of people. Some people couldn t get it to the front, but they were standing at Row 5, there was a security man....

This is a real concert atmosphere ! Fantastic ! But my view from Row 12 was so good, I decided not to leave my space....standing and dancing the whole concert....great

Greetings

Christian

I love to read the Christine is still peppy and really enjoying herself. Cologne is such a beautiful city (was there once). It must have been a dream night. If Stevie is too tired, I fully support letting her take a break with dropping a few songs from the set. This way we can get some more of Christine ;)

Go Insane
 

love it!

there was also this tweet (thanks Nicole for heads up!):

@benniganclaire
oh yeah also somebody yelled go insane before lindsey played big love so he also played a little bit of go insane

So :). I was there too, row 11 in a block 102 :).
It was, for sure, great! :)

Someone really screamed "Go insane" before Lindsey was going to talk about Big Love and he played a little of it :).

Lindsey was great, he really enjoys that, or he can play, like he is enjoying. Stevie really most of the time doesnt even care, if she looks like she´s enjoying or not. It´s just her I think always when she´s playing with Fleetwood Mac. I read it here before I went there, so I was expecting that. Anyway she sang beautiful and great. I would say better than in 2009 or 2013, when I saw them Berlin.

And Christine, I would say she was much more like Lindsey. She was a little interacting with the audience too, not like Stevie. My highlight of the show was probably You Make Loving Fun, I didnt expect it, but it sound great live. I had never said that it´s one of my most favourite songs, but from this tour... it definitely is.

I missed Stand Back very much. It would be better then Sisters of the Moon, Gypsy or Silver Springs.

And it´s also funny, that Stevie, the most sleepy part of the band, is anyway the most popular. I can say that from what I saw and heard from the audience.

And I was also surprised, that at the end was only Mick talking there. What happened? Stevie like so much to talk on stage :-D. That´s my feeling.

I´m really curious what´s going to happen next. Because I really don´t feel, that Stevie would like to do something with the band... maybe it´s the time when she will do something solo for the last time to say goodbye or something. But it´s funny, now, when Christine is back. She would make a new record for sure.


And one more think. I was very nice surprised also with the people around me, Im talking about the audince in the front. On both concerts in 2009 and 2013 everyone was sitting till Go Your Own Way... and that´s sick on rock concert.... here... right when The Chain started, everone stood up and were standing almost all the time... they sit just for a Silver Springs and something slow or when someone was talking... so that was really great. Even if I couldnt go right to the stage, it´s much better to stay, than sit.


So thank you Fleetwood Mac, thank you Christine :).
It´s funny. I was always thinking that I will never get the chance to see them. Now I saw them 3 times already and even now Im thinking, that it was for the last time, like in 2009 and 2013 :-D. So now I really have no idea, what should I expect, or what should I think :).

For sure I know, what I want. And that´s something, what is really not going to happen, and that´s Stevie´s solo tour in Europe. Because that´s not Stevie, here on Fleetwood Mac tour, that´s just some robot, who sang great a few old songs, and that´s it. I want to hear Edge of Seventeen and something new too. Well... should I take a plane to USA? :D

So enjoy guys the other concerts in UK and Australia.

and here it is:


thank so much Nicole for finding and sharing it!! :xoxo::wavey:

Hi Matthew, nice to hear that you were there again, too.
I have to agree with you about the robot-Stevie, I was standing in front of her, basically 2 meters away and it was even worse from there. She absolutely did not want to be there, when she was in the shadows, she appeared near disgusted from all of it. With Christine being so super cute and having fun, Lindsey playing his heart out and the rhythm section being on point, Stevies behaviour onstage was so bad that it really makes me question my decision to put out 291 Euros to see the band. I left with a bad feeling about the concert that even all the positive stuff that went on can't shake. Sad, and very unprofessional from her.

Hi,
Does anyone know where Row FF was in the front blocks of O2 London ?

Were they after F and infront of G or at the back? Im finding it hard
to get anyone to commit. :D

Thanks so much . . . . . Cant wait!!!

Lindsey is so cool for reacting to the fan to play a tad of Go Insane

Spoke to my brother today who was at the cologne concert, he was expecting something memorable after my Amsterdamexperiences, but he was totally disappointed. Shabby sound, aweful audience constantly complaining about people who stood, the playing was pretty sloppy, especially Lindsey, so all in all an uninspired performance. I felt sorry for him.

We had those constant complainer, too, seriously, when you sit in the first row where people were alowed to stand up and dance, you should expect that some folks dance. Sigh!
Some people left after 30 minutes because the sound was so awful, but this is a well known venue problem, nothing Mac specific.
I'm still disapointed about the concert, too. Seeing Christine was wonderful, but the band was playing tighter in 2013 and Stevie was reluctantly sleepwalking through it.

Interesting to read that some people have noticed this even back in the day. Maybe it depends on Stevie's constantly changing mood that it sometimes seems she's just going through the motions.
I was too far away to notice it on Thursday, but I wouldn't blame her if she's tired of the routine. I would only blame them for charging so much money for concert tickets in this case. :D

By the way, I always think she looks bored and tired on the "The Dance" dvd as well.

LOL! I think I fell into a trap of my own frugal making here. Stevie is only human and has the right to have a night where she isn't motivated. But for me, the ticket price was rather hefty and I DEMAND perfection for 323 $, plus the travelling to Cologne, the minimum of Merchandising and something to eat and drink was another 130 $. I've spend less for whole vacations. Can I get a refund because Stevie wasn't in the mood? :)

Now I really hope she does better in Antwerpen, I want my Stevie happy, in harmony with the rest of the band, in a dancing mood (and butterflies and unicorns, please)!

Mind you, I'd feel bored to death as well if I had to sing the same handful of old songs night after night for a massive tour....she wouldn't be half as bored and miserable if they were more adventurous.

yeah let's cut Stevie a break. Unlike 2009 where she was consistently acting bored/disinterested on stage, she has been quite engaged and giving solid performances (some better than others) since the start of the tour. Maybe she was just having a bad night. Everyone is entitled to that once in a while.

So, here I am to share my thoughts on the Cologne concert:

It was the first time for me seeing all five members on stage and my fifth FM concert overall. I love that Christine rejoined the band - it definitely added to the 'cycle' and also to the setlist. I mean - I did miss Stand Back and Sara, but the additional Christine songs made up for it.

I agree with everyone else about the security: very tight this time. Luckily I did have my front row seat and the band security guy (Gervais?) recognized me this time (we didn't speak before) and introduced himself to me. Nice, although I wasn't very chatty, because I was kinda excited that the show was about to start. :p
When the light went out I went to stand between Stevie and Lindsey's mic. In hindsight maybe not the best spot. I do love watching these two, but I had a hard time seeing Christine (during Songbird I only saw the piano. :rolleyes:).

I didn't notice sound problems, but honestly? Standing in front always makes for a bad sound experience, so I didn't give it much thought.

Regarding the interactions with the crowd: same as always. Lindsey does way more, but I can't say that Stevie did less than at the other concerts (she did look a few times and also signed something for someone). I must say that I missed the playfulness between Stevie and Lindsey though. My last concert before this one was Stuttgart in 2013 and that was a highlight. Maybe there really is some strain at the moment. Who knows why? Maybe the album? Be as it may: I'm happy I got to see them again and I really hope it wasn't the last time.

Landslide was dedicated to relatives of Stevie from Cologne. She said she was/is trying to find them, but hasn't so far. Also to the Cologne cathedral.

Here are some of my favorite shots (no filter - the stage light messes with my iPhone camera):

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/506/18...2b51a463_z.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/455/18...1e695d60_z.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/396/17...6f3aed79_z.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8840/1...8891b821_z.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/272/17...70c2d83d_z.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/537/18...8bb0f733_z.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8874/1...ed12ca44_z.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8888/1...3a06ef69_z.jpg

And some more here:
https://www.flickr.com/gp/11599049@N08/X5LW7m


To all of you who will go to the upcoming concerts: enjoy! I did.

I like those photos! When the band gets washed out in the photos, especially in their faces, they look so young.
I have to admit, I still love to look at her shoes. It seems her shoes are custom built with the front part being so high to the heel that it looks like her feet are not at a severe (and painful) angle, but more flat, like she was wearing a 2" heel. I could be way off on that as I don't wear ladies shoes. :o

Seems like the Cologne Fans were pretty lucky after all, I just read that tonight they didn't play Silver Springs and Songbird. That does not sound good.

Oh, really? Well, than we are lucky...

Maybe I would be so hard to Stevie. Maybe she really have some problems with her back, knees or whatever, and doing this would be for me boring too... always the same... :D
who in this age can do that?
Christine had a 15 years vacation... so that´s something else :)

some pics of LB in Cologne shared from http://www.contactmusic.com/lindsey-...-hotel_4768626 -

#lindseybuckingham #fleetwoodmac #koln @contactmusic pic.twitter.com/zzzZt5sj91

— elle (@ellellew) June 7, 2015

(larger versions here http://thingsthatmademewonder.tumblr...leetwood#notes)

I'd like to know what his body fat percentage is. The old guy is in shape! :)

i know right?