Tango was my first FM tour and I have to say I thought it was great. In retrospect is does seem a bit sanitized compared to tours before it, but there was so much anti-Lindsey sentiment at the time that I was happy to see pretty decent sounding and playing replacements (I think this configuration of the band could've really shaped up to carry on the FM legacy -I'm not sure what went weird- sort of lackluster songwriting on BTM, but not terrible. And something about the production of that album-like how everyone says No Questions Asked sounds like it was recorded in a trash can -so does a lot of that album to me. It just sounds sort of "thin"-I thought Love is Dangerous was snappy and could've been big on the radio but Stevies voice was just kind of lost in the mix...anyways, I digress!).
After having seen Stevie for the first time on 3 Rock A Little shows she did seem tamer but, of course everyone knew she had just went through Betty Ford and it also seemed to me at the time maybe she was just being sort of respectful and being part of the band-as opposed to the flailer out there speaking in tongues. Again, in retrospect maybe a good old fashioned excorcism/snake charming is what those shows needed to really set them on fire. Stevie did not seem off in the shows I saw-she actually seemed more in control of her voice and just more refined, which as much as we all love a good Sisters Of the Moon excorcism, (cocaine recovery/Klonopin addiction/Eipstein Barr syndrome/leaking breast implants aside) it is inevitable I suppose, that even the Queen of Rock is bound to grow older and more refined at some point! How's that for a rambling, hum drum answer!
Ricoh