Leslie, that old Rolling Stone article is quite telling. Seems to me Lindsey has always been quite electric on stage, even when he's playing acoustic.
He seemed to have slowed down some on the Dance tour for whatever reason. Also, during the Cradle tour he had very little space to move around, but he certainly still released incredible amounts of energy. The more subdued performance in the Dance tour might have been as a result of so many years off the road and getting reacquainted with the band. But even so, I remember thinking that Lindsey was finally getting respect because a lot of reviewers were noticing his big stage presence.
Because of the lag time between each tour since the mid 80s, it seems every time Lindsey goes back on the road, the audience and the reviewers have to get reacquainted with him. Ever since the Cradle tour, I've sensed a "I had no idea this guy could do that" kind of reaction. Keep in mind, each time there has been a new crop of reviewers, and even publications. For all I know, this current Rolling Stone guy wasn't even born when Lindsey joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975. But Rolling Stone has made itself irrelevant anyway. Any publication that gets so hung up on the style du jour inevitably loses its importance. And influence.
If you think about it, another reason Lindsey seems to awe people on stage is that he has really become known as sort of a studio mad genius. I remember detecting -- in I believe it was Rolling Stone -- a palbable amazement on the part of the writer after Go Insane came out. All the gizmos and low-tech sounds Lindsey managed to get into a cohesive musical work seemed to really have a profound effect on that particular writer. Today, you will find some of that approach (which of course originated with Pet Sounds) in things like the Eels and Sparklehorse. Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse is definitely influenced by Lindsey, though I'm not sure about E of the Eels. Unfortunately these guys don't talk about Lindsey enough. They should, but I definitely get the sense that at least among certain creative pop circles, Lindsey is a major inspiration.
That of course has to do with his studio sensibilities. When it comes to playing, you don't hear as much. Monte Montgomery, a guitarist out of Austin, Texas, has often named Lindsey as one of his biggest influences, but you're probably saying, "Who's Monte Montgomery?"
Right.