I have been a fan since I was a child (through the late 70s and 80s), but I didn't get to see them in concert (which I had been waiting for all my life, until I was old enough to go--this was the first opportunity---college!) until I saw them with KISS and Brother Cane in July 30, 1994, at the Gibson Guitars 100th Anniversary at Riverfront Park, Nashville, TN. They opened for KISS. This felt strange to me, because I didn't feel like they should be opening for anyone---they're Fleetwood Mac! I was there to see them, but most everyone else was there to see KISS, even the people with me.
But it was during the time that Stevie and Lindsey both were on leave from the band, so we were left with Mick, John,Christine, Bekka, Rick, and Billy. They were out promoting the
Time album. The concert was good, but it left me with a "where the h#ll is Stevie and Lindsey?" feeling. Somehow it just wasn't the same. There just wasn't the same magic, emotion, or feeling with that particular group of people---no chemistry. When I saw Fleetwood Mac in 1997 on the Dance tour with the Rumours lineup, it just felt right---------like this was the way it was supposed to be. Therefore,(after all this rambling
), I would have to say that, in my opinion, this era of Fleetwood Mac just isn't the same without Lindsey or Stevie, just like the original era of Fleetwood Mac wasn't the same without Peter Green. I think that is why Fleetwood Mac went in a different direction after Peter left, so they would be more excepted---like it was a different band, and it worked. But, it didn't work here, because they tried to stay exactly the same as when Lindsey was in the band--trying to have the same kind of sound, etc. Rick and Billy weren't Lindsey (which I'm not trying to say that that was a bad thing), and the band was just trying to make them into something they weren't, and a sound that wasn't them really. For me, it just didn't work. It might have worked for me, if they had went in a different direction with these people, like they did after Peter. That is just my $1.25s worth of opinion.
