Yes, yes, Rosebud, Rockhoppers, Midnight Special, Live 80, blah blah blah.
All awesome performances. None bring fresh debate to the table.
I would like to contend that the best performance of Rhiannon in that last 20 years has been Live at The House of Blues 1994. Yes, The Street Angel Tour!
It has an extended intro not remarkably dissimilar to that of the Dance Tour. The actual body of the song, aside from Stevie taking a lot more liberties vocally, is not overly distinguishable. And yes, Lindsey is not playing guitar. Tear.
However, the ending, beginning with "Dreams unwind..." is all sung the EXACT same way as it had been nearly 20 years before! There is less screaming, but the DREAMS UNWIND, STILL IT'S A STATE OF MIND etc. etc. are all done on that high G or whatever it is, I used to know it. The note that Stevie sings a full octave lower these days. It's crazy. When I first heard it, I hadn't thought she had been able to hit those notes since at least 1982. And here she was, singing Live 80 all over again. The very end manages to stay in her upper register, never dipping to the depths it saw during The Dance or SYW Tour, yet still captures "Whooaaa.. you still cry out to her, and he says, don't leave me, DON'T leave me........." It works very well high, and makes me wish she never got lazy.
Another gem from this performance is Stand Back, which I believe to be the definitive version. Again, she's not afraid to take all the chances, even some we'd never heard. What a groundbreaking concert!
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