I really LOVED it!
So chilling to hear that opening riff once again. Stevie voice handles the song just fine. Sure, as we expected, she's not shredding the chorus, holding it longer & singing it higher like she did on the "Tusk" & "Mirage" tours, because obviously if she did (even if she could) she'd shred her vocal chords and blow out her voice - which is exactly what she did numerous times during "Rhiannon" & SOTM live performances in the 70's through early 80's, causing show cancellations and vocal inconsistencies.
Remember this show is a not a sprint, it's a marathon. Stevie is very aware what NOT to do to keep her voice in shape, this is a pretty long show (which is probably the reason this song has been shortened) and basically a grueling North American tour schedule (at their age) through July 6th. Also, I think that based on SOTM's placement in the setlist, I believe it was probably an intentional move on the bands part to not only shorten the 2013 "live" version of this fan favorite, and not make it the barn burner-esque song of yore, hence Lindsey's less intense & subdued guitar solo & shortening the song.
I suspect between opening night jitters and being the first show, that as the tour rolls along Stevies performance's of SOTM will only get better. I don't expect this song to get dropped at all!
AND "Without You" sounds amazing - If the live version sounds this amazing, I can only imagine what the studio version sounds like. And Stevies definitely singing as high as she did on the early 70's demo! WoW
Btw. I love the "Sisters" vamping in the chorus - it's new and sounds eerie. It reminds me how she sounds & sings "Honey" on "Trouble In Shangri-la"
I can't wait to hear this live in person!!