Long review? This one is long-winded.
Knoxville.
Oh my gosh, where to begin? I was standing exactly in the middle of Lindsey and Stevie and let me tell you, it's hard to choose who to sing back to. As usual, Stevie is absolutely gorgeous and Lindsey is...you know,what isn't Lindsey? The front row positioned themselves before the crickets even started, so I grabbed my tour book (on sale now) and placed it between the speakers and got ready. "The Chain" is just a great song to start off with--it really gets everyone going. Stevie definitely has a warming up period--I was afraid she wasn't going to smile at all until Lindsey started doing his usual glances over. Then, the real Stevie came out.
Lindsey really starts going in 'Eyes of the World.' Not that Lindsey ever really stops, but he definitely turns it up a notch here. He's playing directly to those of us right in front of him. Lots of Lindsey interaction. Stevie's not far off, she looks like she's having a great time and laughing at Lindsey when he grunts 'Eyes' instead of chanting (?) it. Lindsey did make the Peacekeeper speech, but with a little bit of an introduction this time, to which I forget entirely. But yeah, Peacekeeper was great.
Second Hand News was amazing. Stevie is definitely on at this point. She's flailing the tambourine around, Lindsey's jumping all around and everyone's sing the bam-bam-bams. It was great. Stevie came up to the mic after that to introduce 'Say You Will' -- the crowd can't wait, of course, and Stevie has this thing so choreographed, it's just crazy. There are motions to everything which everyone already knows or picks up on fast and does along with her. She looks so happy during this song. At one point she walks over to center with Lindsey playing the guitar and does a little air guitar with him, he keeps leaning forward, so close you really think he's going to go insane and kiss her and she's smiling because she knows what he's doing too. Ah, it was great.
Oh, for some reason every time I make eye contact with Lindsey he smiles and shakes his head "no" but I'm too busy rocking out to bother too much.
The front row went crazy for Come. It was mostly females and we all knew what song that was. He played around at his mic stand for a while, and a few of the girls who were standing there, then came directly center and totally played it out to me and this girl standing next to me. Oh my Lord! I think I got Lindsey sweat, but I won't complain yet. He was flailing the guitar around all over, totally going all out, as usual. Such an amazing performer. Oh! They moved Lindsey's mic to dead center--(ie, directly in front of me)"Big Love" was just...just so amazing. It's such a different perspective seeing it right there, directly in front of you. You don't think Lindsey can outdo himself, but he does it with each repeat performance.
So, then it's time for "Landslide" and Stevie comes out and everyone cheers because, you know, we all know it's "Landslide." During the song Stevie reached out to Lindsey, he took her hand and kissed it--rather long pause there. And she smiled. They finished the song and Lindsey wrapped his arm around her and she held his hand; he kissed her forehead. Ah yes, and then "Say Goodbye" which was wonderful. Stevie turned her mic towards Lindsey. At some point during the song someone yelled out "STEVIE" and though obviously trying to ignore it, Stevie smiled really big and Lindsey laughed. Oh, so good.
Beautiful Child was really lovely, but because Lindsey was right in front of me, I kept looking at him, and he kept looking at me. He squinched up his nose that time and smiled, oh Lindsey, how I love thee
Then, of course, 'Gold Dust Woman' ---oh Gosh. It was awesome. Stevie has on these black stretchy pants that don't quite reach her shoes but her skirts come down right about it. Funny. She totally rocked out. and whoever was standing next to me was taking some amazing pictures.
I'm apparently not going in the right order. Oh well. "I'm So Afraid" was awesome, I love how Stevie just sort of hovers in the corner and comes out only for the sporadic harmony---she totally lets Lindsey rule the song and watches him play guitar. You know, sometimes I forget that "Silver Springs" exists until the moment they start to play it and then I'm just like...good Lord, there's not a bad song in the bunch. The setlist is awesome. She adds "I'm just a fool" as she's been apt to do as of late and sings a bit to Lindsey, who I'm honestly captivated by.
"Tusk" is just...'Tusk' -- everyone is so ready at that point. Stevie's wandering around the stage at one point and sees Lindsey's about to do his John tusking, so she goes around to her part, near the front of the stage and sort of waits for him. He unplugs his guitar and they start play-fighting in circles until he just grabs her and they dance real close, and he's resting his head on her shoulder. Very sweet. And then Lindsey's jumps around the stage for a while, hitting Mick's drums and just sort of...finding something to do. I'm not sure if it was for this song or not but Stevie heads over to center and turns her back on Lindsey, and he comes over and plays, and they're back to back. She then bends one of her legs, tilts her head back and lifts the tambourine high above her head while he rocks out. Oh, wow. Sweet.
I think "Stand Back" is just one of the major highlights of the show. The whole front row was singing and jamming and totally didn't care about anything else. There seems to be an elongated drum solo at the beginning, but it was awesome. Lindsey's looking at me while I'm singing all the words, smiling. I don't care. I'm in Stand Back country. Encore. 'Go Your Own Way' is just...it comes so late that it's a total surprise. I'm singing all the words and Lindsey looks down at me, totally singing to me at this point and shakes his head "no" again (what is this about), but then I squinch my nose up and nod 'yes' -- he relents and smiles. Woohoo! World Turning is so much better than I remember it. Totally rocking out here. Oh yeah, so Mick does his vest thing, and he's totally spitting all over Lindsey's poor mic and Lindsey's not offstage but sitting to the side wiping himself down. I love that Mick is so energetic, he's so funny, but honestly, I don't understand a word he said. Are you ready, maybe. At some point Lindsey comes over and they jam for a bit.
"Dont' Stop' was awesome, as usual. I really like the Stevie version. "Goodbye Baby" was so sweet. No interruptions, no fights. This front row was all friendly. Some girl was holding out a picture and a Sharpie and Lindsey came over to sign it and was looking around for other things to sign, so I shoved my tourbook up there and oh yes, I got a Lindsey autograph right on the Lindsey on the tourbook. Sweet heaven.
It was a fabulous night.
Other things: They wipe Stevie and Lindsey's microphones down with Listerine before the show, and then Lindsey's was wiped after Mick's drum solo. Lindsey signed a lot of autographs, and Stevie gave a girl one of the roses from her stand. I wish Stevie made more contact with the front row, or you know, the first couple rows, but she's usually caught up in song. No big deal.