"Rhiannon" live these days
 

What's up with "Rhiannon" live these days? Although I am new to this board, I'm not new to FM's music.

Every tour that Stevie does (be it solo or FM), she does Rhiannon and each time her vocal range gets smaller. I realize that in 1975/76 she would scream and shred the **** out of her throat, which was not a good thing.

I had KIND of a glimpse of hope during "The Dance". She almost seemed to be going for the end, but then threw away with the croaky "All the same- all the same..." stuff.

For the TISL tour she basically phoned the song in- even in LA where she usually gives fantasic, energetic performances. The interesting thing is that she TOTALLY kicked ass on "Fall From Grace" (which is in the exact same key as "Rhiannon"), yet was flaccid on "Rhiannon".

I don't know.... I think she should retire the song until she can do it justice.

I saw Ann Wilson from Heart a year ago and she still blisters every note!

Whaddaya all think??? With such a huge catalog of songs, don't you think she'd rather do something that she has energy for rather than not doing "Rhiannon" well???

Well,i have to agree that she doesn't kick this song in the @ss the way she used to....but i think it is b/c she realizes that it is not going to do any good to shred her vocal chords anymore..and it IS one of her signature songs so i don't think it is something that she would want to cut from her setlist.As a younger fan who just started seeing her tour a few years ago,i am not complaining..I am just psyched that she is still singing and stuff..so i'll take the classics any way that i can get them :)

:nod: Man I would love to see Heart in concert!!! I was looking at Ticketmaster just last week and seen they were doing some concerts but none in my area.:(

Re: "Rhiannon" live these days
 

I agree that it's annoying to hear words which used to stretch out forever being cut short and taken down an octave, but the thing is, nowadays when Stevie sings Rhiannon (etc), it's almost like a matured, serene version in tribute to the "screaming" versions of '75 & '77. So sure, it doesn't rock like it used to, but it's still Stevie's song (i.e. it's not like Puff Daddy trying to sing Pavarotti...where you'd think...dude..if you're gonna cover...cover someone else!), and I guarantee you she'll sing it in every (main/setlist) live performance she does until she retires, because it HAS to be done...an FM concert without Rhiannon would be like missing out The Chain or I'm So Afraid. It just ain't gonna happen...ever! So they give their best performances of these songs that they possibly can given their age and inevitably decreased vocal abilities.

I must say the most vocally annoying performance for me on The Dance was "Go Your Own Way". I love this song to a degree which words cannot even begin to express, and I was soooo annoyed by the fact that they sang the chorus the way they did...i.e. going down the octave. I don't know why they did it i.e. whether it was because Stevie couldn't get that high anymore or Lindsey couldn't...but he seemed to be more than able to sing it the way it's meant to be sung during his OOTC tour (ok, it was 4 years before), and some of the performances of Big Love from the Dance Tour are vocally absolutely incredible, so if he could manage that he should have easily been able to hit the notes for Go Your Own Way...so I reckon it was because maybe Stevie wasn't ok with it...I don't know/don't care why they didn't...but I just got really annoyed that they did it the way they did it.

I think the way Lindsey sings "if I could, baby I'd give you my world.......open up, everything's waiting for you" at the end of the second verse of Go Your Own Way on Mirage Tour video from '82 is my personal favourite Fleetwood Mac "moment" of all time. He sounds like he's literally crying out his heart.....it's such an incredible performance.

:wavey: :wavey: :wavey:

Re: Re: "Rhiannon" live these days
 

I agree with you! I loved the way she used to sing it.. she seemed really into it and at times like she was possessed... but I also enjoy the way she sings it now. I mean, sure the octave is lower than the old days.. but it still gives me chills to hear her sing this song today! I don't think any FM or Stevie solo concert would be complete if she dropped Rhiannon.

:) Michelle

I was just talking about this on the weakest link thread
 

and I think it should probably be retired. I realize no one could be expected to keep that kind of thing up 30 years or so, but why bother with that second part of the song just to say "all the same" about 16 times. I realize it's "a classic" so they may never drop it, but if they keep it I think they should find a way to do it differently (a la "Big Love", "Go Insane", and even "Say You Love Me" from The Dance) instead of this way, a shadow of its former self.

It hurts too much.....
 

Give up Rhiannon......

Not in my lifetime.......do you really think the way she sings it now is BAD? I don't . It's taken on its own maturity. No, it's not sung like it used to be with all the screaming and banshee effects but it's sung effectively. In all honesty I wouldn't want Stevie to scream it or try to. I loved the way it was done on the TISL Tour....really!!

Stevie without Rhiannon is like:

peanut butter without jelly
pizza without beer
Fleetwood without the Mac...get the idea?! ;)

Joe

I hope to god Stevie never gives up singing Rhiannon!!!

Pip

Stevie could never give up Rhiannon! And I don't want her to either!

Though I do love the '75-'76 versions of Rhiannon, the Rhiannon now has it's own qualities. I don't expect her to belt out at the end of the song like she used to though that would be something if she surprised the crap out of us fans during the next FM tour.

Funny thing though I was listening to the FM show from 1975 at Trod Nossel Studios and I was trying to belt out Rhiannon and well that wasn't happening for moi!

Hey did anyone notice, of you all have, but the only screaming versions of Rhiannon from the TUSK tour is on the Live album in London (unless there were other performances we don't know about). I have an audio tape of the other London show and she didn't do the screaming version. Maybe she knew they were going to record or unless she was on something....HA just kidding! (well you never know!)

-April:)

Re: Re: "Rhiannon" live these days
 

I still love to hear/see Rhiannon live~it's still amazing to see Stevie open her arms with her gorgeous batwing sleeves and do a slow spin or two. For the most part, her performances are still quite beautiful and the song still rocks, though in a different way. I hardly mind the serene, matured tribute version at all, except for one thing.
What I DO mind is what I think Seteca might be referring to when he talks about words being cut short. I noticed this at this year's AHI benefit in particular. During the screaming part, I noticed that Stevie pulls her head back away from the microphone when she's doing some of the screaming part resulting in the sound of the words being completely cut off. If you listen to the bootleg from the show you can hear what I'm talking about.
When she starts to sing the the third and fourth "Dreams unwind and still it's hard to find/ a state of mind" and the second "Take me like the wind," the beginning of the phrase is cut off because she is either not actually singing it or she is too far from the mike to be heard.
She must be doing this on purpose because she doesn't want to strain her voice by hitting those higher, more intense notes or maybe because she's afraid she won't be able to hit them? I don't know. What I don't like is that it seemed like she was trying to be sneaky and fool us into thinking she was singing those notes! lol
I saw her a bunch of times during the TISL tour and don't remember her doing it as obviously as at AHI. Did anyone else notice this at any of the recent shows?


ps: I think she can still sing those parts just fine, really, because she does the rest of the show beautifully, though the beginning of the Edge of 17 scream disappears in the same way...Head back, looking like she's singing with all her might, but silence! Then she leans into it and the scream is there in all its glory. :nod:

Joe, "Mini Mick"....
 

BRILLIANTLY SAID!!!! ;):laugh::nod: I TOTALLY AGREE! :cool:

LOL:lol:
~alex~*

"Hey did anyone notice, of you all have, but the only screaming versions of Rhiannon from the TUSK tour is on the Live album in London (unless there were other performances we don't know about). I have an audio tape of the other London show and she didn't do the screaming version"

i'm an idiot and don't know how to 'correctly' paste a portion of someone's post but regarding the above from ( i forget who?)...that album (FM live -1980) is actually a culmination of live tracks recorded from 1976-1980...that version of Rhiannon is NOT from the tusk tour...it's from the early Rumours tour....it took me years to figure this out but it is true...i've become pretty good at detecting the eras of live songs from FM...i won't get into it (let me know if you want specs!)...if anyone has the St.Louis 1979 soundboard and listens to "Sara" - and then notice how that song on the album (FM live 1980) is credited as "St.Louis"...the vocals are totally different but the backround music is the same...they deleted her original vocal and she rerecorded it in a studio for various reasons...a few other of the songs on "Fm live" were recorded on the Rumours tour like 'dreams', 'Say you love me', and 'Over my head'...

Now that i've gone off on a tangent...yeah, Rhiannon has suffered since the days. Those versions ('75-'77) were completely possesed performances (and they're my favorite of all time from ANYONE)...she can't do it that way anymore...i think she wants to a little but it doesn't sound good...she tried on the Dance and Enchanted and i don't think it sounded strong...Not to say she can't find some other interesting energetic way to end it but maybe she doesn't want to...maybe she feels like it's been done and the song (like her) has matured and 'gone beyond that song'....anyway, i still like seeing her perform it in concert...she didn't do it on TOSOTM when i saw her and in a radio interview at the time claimed she 'didn't want to burn her (Rhiannon) out so i stagger it from one tour to the next...' i'm glad she's left it in these days.

At least she has a good reason in not wanting to rip up her voice.
My question is what happen to the Lindsay's guitar solo near the end?
I remember first watching the Dance and later on the tour, knowing that Stevie couldn't hit the notes I waited for the blistering solo to make up for it and it never came. He just played, what seemed to me, a few notes then the song went into the ending. Whatupwitdat? :eek:

Are you sure? The songs sound like from the TUSK tour. I would think they would use songs from that tour.

hmmm maybe I'll have another listen with my other FM live shows from the Rumours and Tusk Tour.

-April:)

I certainly hope that Stevie never retires Rhiannon. I absolutely love the way she is performing it now. The piano intro is wonderful and I think her vocals are great. The version from the "Welcome to My World" House of Blues show is amazing!

It may seem like Rhiannon has lost a lot of her energy and power but she really hasn't.

Stevie is a different woman now than she was 20 or 30 years ago. Not only has she aged but she has changed emotionally. Rhiannon is also different. They have both matured. Stevie's in a different place now and Rhiannon has gone with her.

Granted, I would love to see one of the older 'possessed' performances of Rhiannon but I don't think that for the Stevie we have now it would be a true performance.

And she can really still wail on a song. Gold Dust Woman from the Dance is proof of that! :)

Jennifer

Rhiannon.......
 

Rhiannon like Stevie has matured....she needs to be treated with a little more respect nowadays..... there is a little more serenity.....that comes with age......Not to mention respect for Stevie's vocal chords........had she continued singing Rhiannon as she did screaming her heart out... Stevie would not be singing now. Be thankful that we still have Stevie AND Rhiannon......in tact

:wavey: :wavey: :wavey:

I really like what everyone had to say. There are just a coupla things I'd to thrown back in to the discussion.

Stevie's use of her instrument (her voice) has GREATLY improved since the early Rhiannon days. I don't think her ability to hit the notes is really in question, as she sings the same notes in songs like "Edge of Seventeen" and "Fall From Grace".

I think if she's gonna drop the climax from the song, she should simply do it as a recitative leading into something else. The piano intro is GORGEOUS and there are so many songs based on the Rhiannon chords/concept that I'm sure she could come up with a fresh perspective on the song.

I'm a performer myself, and I know how it is to get burnout on certain songs after performing them hundreds of times. And I really think that burnout is the case when it comes to Rhiannon. I KNOW it is- especially after seeing the energy and fire she threw into "Fall From Grace".

Stevie has said in various interviews that she can't drop any of the "classics" because her audience expects to hear them. That's a shame because she is such a vital, prodigeous artist. I don't think she needs to rely on being a "greatest hits" artist at all.

It's like Joni Mitchell once said "Musicians are the only artists out there that are required to reproduce their work for eternity. No one out there ever said to Van Gogh, 'Hey man, could you paint 'A Starry Night' for me?'"

While I'm sure that Stevie loves "Rhiannon", "Dreams" and "Stand Back"- I think both FM and her solo shows would be better serviced by playing some fresher material live. There are sooooo many great songs that have never even made it to the stage, as well as selections that they haven't played for years.

I really hope the band takes a fresh approach considering this will be the first time FM will be playing live based on Buckingham/Nicks. "Sisters of the Moon" in particular comes to mind as a song that would work perfectly.

Yes!
 

I think this tour will give Fleetwood Mac the "OK" to dig into their catalog of songs. I know Lindsey wanted to do some songs on the Dance tour that were not as "well known" I think besides the new stuff that will be added. Blue Letter, Sisters of the Moon,Frozen Love, Accoustic Gypsy,Seven Wonders,Beauty and the Beast,Trouble should all be added. I think the solo songs will be added as they did with the Dance shows.

That brings another thing to mind-

While Stevie's solo songs have made it into FM live shows, others have been ignored.

Wouldn't it be killer to hear something like "Countdown" (which, in my opinion, is a TOTAL Mac song) performed with Stevie's voice layered into the backgrounds.

Lindsey's solo stuff has be ignored for way too long. Same with Buckingham Nicks.

"Crying in the Night" would KICK ASS!!!

Hi everyone. I'm gonna try and respond to a few things from this thread. For one, the Rhiannon on the Live album is no way from the Tusk tour. I would tend to agree with the other poster that it was from early in the Rumours tour. In addition to the other songs that someone mentioned were not from the Tusk tour on that album, I don't think anyone mentioned "Don't Let Me Down Again." This was from '76 at the latest. I don't *think* they played that song after '76, until the '87 tour.

As for Rhiannon, well, I don't know. It will NEVER be retired from a Stevie/Mac setlist. I've heard a couple of versions from the '98 and '01 tours, and well, I don't care for them too much. But, I never liked the way it sounded in any of the versions I've heard from Stevie's solo concerts... *Ducking for cover* I agree that it sounded like it was going to maybe have some of it's old-style during the Dance, but then it just fizzled. I also agree with the comment that Lindsey's solo at the end was AWFUL. The whole ending was just so bland, with the "all the same"'s and the mediocre guitar solo. On another note, am I the only one who really likes the Mirage Tour Rhiannon's? When I first heard the video version, I thought it sounded just awful. But the more I listen to it, the more I liked it. Now, it's one of my favorite versions! I just love the "I don't change, you don't change" parts.

As for the FM tour, I would really like to hear (I guess in this order):

Rhiannon, The Chain, Dreams, Oh Well, Eyes of the World, Gold Dust Woman, I'm So Afraid, Frozen Love, Countdown, Don't Let Me Down Again, Never Going Back Again, Landslide, World Turning, Gypsy, Angel, What Makes You Think You're the One, The Ledge, Seven Wonders, Big Love, Second Hand News, Stand Back, Hold Me (Lindsey could pull it off on his own, I think), Silver Springs, Go Your Own Way, Blue Letter, Sisters of the Moon, Don't Stop.

I know I'm missing some that I want, but I can't think of them right now. That, coupled with the fact that I already have 27 songs, plus I would imagine 4-5 new songs. That's enough! :)

Now that I am listening to the Live album, I totally notice the songs that weren't from the TUSK tour...man sure took me a long time to figure that one out!!! Where did my brain go?

Anyways I have to agree about the Dance version of Rhiannon. I wished that Lindsey would have done a bit more on the guitar solo at the end. I guess it wouldn't have gone with the flow of the song. But good ole Linds could have rocked out at the end. Of course, there wouldn't be the flying fro!

-April:)