Thoughts on LA
 

Went to the Wiltern show last night - (my first on this tour).

Here are first impressions:

In general it was WAY too loud. And I was up in the balcony where it is normally not so loud. I LOVE loud shows, but last night was way over the top.
It was too bad because for me, it sort of made Lindsey seem absurd + histrionic at times. It was as if he was playing in a huge arena with the a sound system that wasn't suited for a small old theater.
So as you can imagine, much of the night sounded muddled.
All that aside, Lindsey was full of energy and sounded great on the quieter songs.
Highlights: Big Love, Go Insane, I'm So Afraid, World Turning, Save Me A Place

Lowlights: Under The Skin, Show You How, Red Rover (all ruined by sound that just didn't work in a small theater).

It was great to see Lindsey but I have to say I miss the old more "subtle" Lindsey, when critics would marvel at the times when he DIDN'T play - the spaces in between, etc.
It's fun watching the show-off Buckingham but I did enough of that on the Say You Will extravaganza. I was expecting something more intimate. Instead I felt slammed by a ridiculous bombastic wall of sound that could have been about 500 decibles lower. Oh well. I'm just glad he's still out there making music.

That's too bad, the 3 shows that I went to were absolutely phenominal !:nod: Milwaukee, and the 2 Chicago shows - just awesome !!!!!:D

I was also in the balcony (mezzanine). Last Friday at the Grove I was fourth row and I thought the sound was incredible. I also felt last night that the more upbeat songs were a bit muddled. I thought the slower songs or more acoustic songs were great, but I think the sound at The Grove was better, at least from where I was sitting.

It didn't keep me from enjoying the show, though. I thought Lindsey was a bit more receptive to the crowd at this show and I was glad to see that during Go Your Own Way, the first few rows got to go to the stage, play Lindsey's guitar and STAY up there for the remainder of the show. Wish I had been one of them. I was just glad to be able to get to a second show.

I brought two different friends to each of the shows I went to and both of them loved Lindsey. They both made similar comments about how when Lindsey was up there playing by himself, he made enough music for what sounded like 5 guys! Great experience and since we never know what the future holds, I'm glad I got to see Lindsey live. I would go back and see him in a SECOND if he comes back next year. I will believe it when I see it, but I hope it's true he releases another album (next year) and tours (solo) again.

I was on the floor, and I didn't notice anything wrong with the sound, except during Red Rover.

Aside from that, it was completely amazing. My highlights were Big Love, World Turning, Holiday Road, and Show You How.