[David]

Originally Posted by michelej1

His appearance there indicated to me that he was not angry about the book that had only recently been released. He may have been hurt by it, but I do think his appearance was an act of rapprochement -- between him and Mick. And his body language with Mick, said the same thing to me. Lovely moments with Christine, who couldn't keep her hands off of him. Heartbreaking, but touching moment with John. His body language with Stevie said something quite different. That was devastating, touching and funny at the same time.

You know, based on Stevie's comments, I think she had hope that maybe the Clinton inauguration would lead to a band reunion, but after they got together for that, she saw that wouldn't happen. Well, just watching, I couldn't tell too much about their interactions in 1993, but 1990 was just raw and painful and on display for everyone to see. I did see the Los Angeles show actually. But I wasn't there the first BTM night, I only heard about it after the fact.

Now the show I saw was the Oakland Coliseum show. I'm sure the shows were mirror images of each other. Lindsey looked sorry he had made the decision to appear not more than two minutes after he appeared. Nicks was aloof & vacant during the acoustic number, paying no attention to him (not even musically--her vocal pauses & dips were heedless of his picking accompaniment, like two separate tracks that hadn't been synched). During Go Your Own Way, I squirmed again for Lindsey. He seemed like the guy with acne or bad jokes at the party, the one the other kids ignore. The whole thing was mind-boggling. The only remark he made about it, years later, was that it felt surreal to him because he saw all these people backstage he hadn't seen in decades, & they were all still there, doing the same thing they had always done when he was in the band.

The other bothersome thing about Oakland was that Fleetwood Mac was in such bad shape musically by that point (the two McVies being the exception, but those two introverts could always be damaged by their environment): no genuine or believable interaction, no spontaneity, no sexy danger, no nothing, really. The special guest may have wanted to create rock & roll magic that night, but you could see how rapidly disappointed he got before the first number he was a part of ended.

I do really believe the relationship between Lindsey & Mick, probably since about 1977, was a close one. My views on this were influenced by former Ledgie Les, with whom I discussed this at length several years ago. But I would further explain my view by emphasizing that it was a closeness primarily of musical exploration & integrity. Lindsey's friends -- at least those we've known in public -- have always seemed to share his aesthetics to some substantial degree, & have understood & shared his sonic world, whether it was Richard Dashut or Mick Fleetwood or John Stewart or Matthew Sweet or Rob Cavallo or Mark Needham or whoever. Lindsey & Mick have always had a lot in common musically; in fact, I'd say those two had more in common by far than either one did with any other member of the band (even in the case of Mick & John, who share only a fondness for blues & blues-rock, developed in their late teens). Moreover, they're both the most musically far-reaching & adventurous members. No need to review Lindsey's musical eclecticism because we all know it, but think again about Mick's career: the blues of his early years with Fleetwood Mac, the West African music of "The Visitor," the various styles from early Beach Boys to Peter Green to pop to bone-crunching guitar rock on the other solo albums, the enterprise stuff he's done with different types of drum, percussion & recording equipment, &c. He's a lot like Lindsey in many respects, even though we don't really think of him that way. He tries things musically that the McVies & Nicks would consider silly or crazy or ugly: think of his two experimental forays into songwriting -- Lizard People & These Strange Times -- which combine tape loops, mysterious refrains, & Mick's own brand of I guess what we could call sprechstimme. Lindsey, if he has heard those tracks, probably really digs them.