Joe's (DownOnRodeo) Brisbane review

[wondergirl9847]

Joe asked to link his review back to the Ledge and around, so I thought I'd just bring it over. Here tis!!

(SORRY HAVE TO RUSH OFF TO CONCERT 2 _ WILL FINISH THIS TOMORROW)

Brisbane Entertainment Center, 19 February 2004.
"Lightning Strikes, Maybe Once..."

Disclaimer: I have a truly defective memory so any quoptes in this review will probably be more like the 'gist' of what was said rather than what was said verbatim.


BEFORE THE SHOW

JC (Lux) and I met up at 10:30 in the morning of the show, at a local shopping center where I was able to get my I Know I'm Not Wrong T-Shirt printed. I had made the image the night before and was pretty happy with it. JC was wearing her 'Tusk' T-Shirt made the day before and it looked very chic. The lady working at the T-SHirt printing shop must have remembered JC and her shirt because she looked at JC and remarks "It looks great, hey". Then she loads up my I Know Im Not Wrong image from my disc and goes 'Oh, is this Fleetwood Mac?' Like so many other people I have heard in the past few weeks, she goes 'Oh, I wish I could see them' and sounded really envious.Then she surprised Lux and I by looking closer at JC's Tusk T-shirt and saying 'Oh so is that Lindsey Buckingham?'. That makes this woman officialy the fifth person in Brisbane to know who Lindsey is.

At about midday and a foot-long-Seafood Sub and choc-chip muffin later, we caught a bus to the city. First we went to the old LP shop. JC said she had been in the day before and hadn't found anything other than the usual Rumours, Tusk etc. But I had a good feeling so we had another look through. And what did I find? The Visitor, Law & Order, and singles for EOTW, Sara, Gypsy, You & I Pt 1, Oh Well pt 1 & 2, Monday Morning and Never Going Back Again. Plus I also picked up an LP of The Wild Heart, my first Stevie album, in case I was going to meet Sharon like Maz and the other Newcastle folk did. I can't wait to hear it after all the good things I've heard (too bad I don't have an LP player at home!?!). The loony guy who runs the shop said he did have Buckingham Nicks LPs, but they were out the back and went for $100 or something. Um, as much as I want one... I don't think so mate!

As we left the LP shop, my man-bag was near bursting. It had half the Mac catalogue in there. Then we went to the nearest newsagent to buy a pen for any prospective autographs. Even this exrecise took a great deal of time and consternation. Ten minutes later we were moving out towards... The xxxx Hotel. I cannot give you the name of this Hotel - you'll find out why soon.

When we got there, JC and I are standing outside and going 'What are we doing?' 'We are insane.' 'Are we really gonna do this?' 'Are you doing it or am I?' Eventually I got up some cahones and lead the way. I went up to the Concierge desk.
"Hey, um, this sounds crazy but, would you be able to tell me whether Fleetwood Mac is staying here?"
Well the Concierge we spoke to was really cool! First of all he said that 'No, they're not staying here.' He was saying how he usually gets tickets from the bands that stay there, like the Stones etc. He was saying how miffed he was that he couldn't get tickets to Bowie from two nights ago, cause Bowie didn't stay overnight in Brisbane, he flew out the same night of his concert. So he was feeling sympathetic with us and seemed to realise 'Well, they're not too crazy' and said 'OK, look, give me one second and I'll make a call, cause I think I know where they might be staying'. He made a call to the Concierge of another hotel in town. They were talking like old buddies for a few minutes, but he also asked about whether Fleetwood Mac was staying there. A few excruciating minutes later he ended the call and looked at us and said quielty: "Now you did not hear this from me, OK? You didn't hear it from me, but ....they are staying at the Stamford Plaza." JC and I probably reactedly in a very goofy way like getting the giggles or something, so he goes again: "Now you didn't hear it from me OK." And I go: "Who are you?" "That's the way," he laughed.
So after getting some directions, off we headed to the Stamford Plaza - full of the excitement of the prospect of meeting someone associated with this band that we idolise, and, if nothing else, just a great caper. I love a good caper! Not the fish kind. There is no good caper of the fish kind.

We get into the lobby of the Stamford. It was so opulent. I instantly had a good feeling that this is where the band might be staying. It looked like Stevie had been personally retained to decorate and furnish the lobby. Now that I think about it, she does have a fair bit of spare time. Maybe she runs an interior decorating firm under a pseudonym? Hmm. Straight away we saw these three goofy looking guys in shorts and T-Shirts sitting down on the other side of the lobby. let me tell you - it was like looking into a mirror. I knew straight away that these guys were fans also in the process of stalking. We exchanged a few glances. But it was one of them who had the guts to come up and approach us. He advanced towards us and was patting his man-bag - his suspiciously LP-sized man-bag. 'Hey guys,' he said.

This, we soon learnt, was James. His friends George and Michael came over to join us soon after. This was about 2:30pm. We sat there, the five of us, for the next three hours, talking about this and that and showing each other albums etc. Each of them had an LP-filled man-bag like me They were all from Melbourne and were in brisbane for the week to see Bowie and hopefully meet Fleetwood Mac. George had seen them on the SYW Tour last year at Madison Square Garden, and showed me his photos taken with Lindsey, which spun me out. I was seeing a photo taken with Lindsey and someone I was sitting next to. Somehow that just spun me out. Anyway, these three guys had been staying at the Stamford for the past week, and had not seen FM yet. So it soon became clear that they had not checked into the hotel yet but probably would after the concert.

Now these three guys were not actually going to the Brisbane concerts. James and Michael will be going to the Melbourne ones though. James will be bootlegging the Melbourne shows with his MD. Now eventually I got up the courage to suggest to him that I could use his MD for the concert that night, to bootleg it. They were all really happy with that, cause that means they'd be able to hear it that night when we got back from the show. The let me hear a sample of the Bowie concert they'd recorded and I was blown away by the sound definition - it was like being there. So James hooked me up with his MD and showed me how to set it up in the bathroom at the venue ten minutes before the show. Apparently the Bowie bootleg starts with the sound of flushing toilets.

We went across town to get a new mini disc and get some KFC for dinner. We aren't cruel to the chickens in Australia, don't worry! My step-mother's sister works at a 'chicken factory' for want of a better name and there's even a vet there apparently so that if theres any chickens who are in pain etc, at least up until the point that they get humanely killed, then they are taken care of. This is way off topic - sorry. I guess this is more for Dissention's benefit if she's reading

Then Geroge showed us his amazing little camcorder. It didn't take me very long to say to him: "George, if you are happy to risk taking video footage of the show tonight, I will all too happily buy you a ticket." Needless to say, George was all too happy to accept!

Now we were set. We had the audio setup. We had the video setup. We had Lux on photo duty. What could go wrong with this whole concert bootlegging process?

...Everything!

At 7pm, Lux, George and myself got picked up by Lux's mum on the road outside the Stamford, and we were on our way to the concert. Everyone was talking, but I heard Don't Stop on the radio after a few minutes! It took Lux a while to realise but she soon cranked up the volume. The traffic was terrible as we got closer. The Brisbane Entertainment Center is in the middle of some sort of bizarre outback swamplands that just happen to be situated to the north of Brisbane. But when we got there we eventually rolled out the door at the best available opportunity. We had to hotfoot it through the unbelievable (14,000 strong) crowd. Let me stress - this was my first ever concert. Not just Fleetwood Mac, but period. But I wasn't really enjoying it as much as I could've been cause of how everything seemed to be up in the air like it was being juggled. The first juggling balls were my folks who were having dinner at the Entertainment Centre's main restaurant with friends from their work who were also going to the concert. I was to meet up with them at the restuarant. I walked through the restuarant but couldn't find them. I guess it was already going on 8pm (concert at 8:30) so they'd already finished eating. The other juggling ball was Karen, aka Sister Honey, who is going to the Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth shows as well, but had to fly in from the middle of the fair dinkum Australian outback. So Karen was who knows where and my parents were who knows where, and we also had to try to get a ticket for George. Well we lucked out because the lady at the box office goes 'We only have two left', and then I was about to buy one of those but some ladies to our left tried to intervene saying desperately "We have a ticket, we have a ticket". I said "But I only want a $100 one." Their ticket was $150, but 15 mins before they show, they were just happy to get anything for it so I paid $100 even to them, and so now George, the man with the cam, had his ticket! An attendant at one of the doors said I wouldn't be able to get inside with my man-bag as it was not A4-size. Well lady, thelast time I checked, bags don't come in A4 sizes - I think she must use a lot of paper or something.
Eventually I ran into my folks, and then Karen, and soon everyone was moving into the arena, while I stayed behind to go into the bathroom to set up the MD recorder. I got it all set up in my jeans pocket under my shirt. In I went, into the arena.



THE SHOW

I wish I had a photo or even better, video, of that moment, walking into that unbelievably massive arena with so many thousands of people, and then looking down to the stage and the giant front row streatching across, and seeing where I was to sit - directly beneath Lindsey's mic. I was suprised at how close SnL's mics were! For some reason that honestly suprised me. I thought they'd be really on opposite sides almost, but they were considerably close. Which meant that I would be so close to both of them... By the way, the arena looks exactly like the one shown in the Programme at the bottom of one fo the pages - sorry, I don't have my Programme here at the moment, but its the picture at the bottom of a page shown an empty arena with chairs and a stage. Hah, how unsurprising that it looked like that! But I guess I was just so taken aback by how long the stage and front row were.

Soon the cricket noise started, although it took me a while to realise what it was even though I'd been hearing it for a while. Lux quipped that maybe it was just the marshland insects from outside.

Now the lights went down.

The roar rose up instantly - the deafening, eery noise of 14 thousand fans in one room roaring as the lights went down... Some tribal, gladiatorial, primal atmosphere that cannot be described but must be experienced. An infectious fever of anticipation about an empty stage. If you've ever heard the noise and felt the sensation and drunk in the atmosphere, then you know how good it is.

Mick and John came out. Now I always respected Mick as an awesome drummer, but from the moment he walked out onto the stage, this concert was as much his as it was SnLs. I was catching glimpses of him and trying to get his eye almost as much as the others. He just has that innate sense of theatre, of showmanship. To see these guys moving around right in front of my face was uncanny.

Then the biggest roar went up and I realised that SnL were walking out - I hadn't even noticed. Now I was freaking out. I was freaking out. From this point until the end of The Chain I was not dealing well at ALL, and its a wonder I didn't have a coronary and get airlifted to the hopsital. Like minds do in crisis situations, mine made a quick realisation: that I would not be able to cope, for the first song or so at least, with drinking in the reality of both Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham being right in front of me about to perform. Instead I made the decision to focus on Lindsey at first. Well the lights were still down, the crowd was still cheering, and Lindsey was standing with his back to the audience, one leg up on Mick's drum stage, as Mick began the bass kick. Stevie was positioned in the center in front of Mick, with her back to us. I was not getting any less used to the fact that the real, living group was in front of me - instead, I was getting worse! The whole arena was clapping to the beat. Then Lindsey eventually started playing the intro notes, turning around slowly as he did so. I need to mention that what made it even harder to deal with Lindsey being right there in my face was that I was expecting him to have a very nervous temperament like he does on The Dance. Instead, from the moment he walked out, was checking out the audience, to the moment he started playing these opening notes and began to walk up to us, the look in his eyes, the knowing smile on his face, and just his gait,. those deliberate footsteps - it was an aura of composure that seemed to be saying to me and the others all standing now right at the stage "I know you're excited and a little nervous, but it's cool, don't worry, we're gonna have some fun and you got nothing to worry about." OK I just realised how sexual that sounded but now I think about it - that's sort of how he did it. It was like he was trying to seduce us! And for some of us, it was seduction in a sexual way, the rest of us obviously in a non-sexual way, and he was succeeding!

The fans up the front were awesome. Awesome fans. None of them were so interested in Stevie that they weren't interested in Lindsey - everyone semeed to be just as into both SnL on equal footing! So during NGBA and SG, there were no annoying 'I love you, Stevie!!' people shouting - everyone was respectfully silent for Lindsey at the appropriate moments. Yet for the rest of the time they were dancing, moshing, arms awaving, you name it! Just looking around was great to see everyone so happy and enjoying the experience. I was asked later what songs didn't go down particularly well, but I had to say none, because even if there were some songs that weren't very well recieved, I wouldn't have known from down there in the thick of it.

Now forgive me because these snippets are all completely out of order. If something's missing its not cause they didnt play it - they played the same setlist we're all familiar with.

Dreams: Now was my chance to start drinking in the presence of Stevie Nicks, four feet away from me. But I also found myself looking over to Sharon and Jana. But it was seeing Lindsey in person two feet away playing the Dreams guitar licks that did it for me for this song.

EOTW: You gotta love it. I was looking over at Shraon & Jana for the 'Ooh ohh bits'. Oh and at the beginning I found myself singing the Christine 'Oh oh ah ah' bits! I stopped myself. I had a few moments like that.

SHN - "I know there's nothing to say," began Lindsey. After Lindsey sang that first line, I happened to look at Stevie and caught her looking at Lindsey, and she said: "I know." That was so cool to catch that! She really pronouncedly mouthed it, as if to get the message across. She wasn't smiling when she said it, either.

SYW and Peackeeper went down so well. According to George who was up in one of the high banks of seats on the side, it was SYW that really got the crowd going. And I saw the SYW lasso dance for the FIRST TIME! Which meant I had to learn it very quickly!! lol I'll know it for tonight. Argh its so hard to catch Stevie's eye though. Lindsey acknowledged me a number of times, not just fleetingly, but Stevie's eyes were hard to catch.

NGBA - completely silent audience for the quiet bits, unbelievably pure falsetto by Lindsey. God I hope its on MD. AGHR!

SAY GOODBYE - not a whisper in the audience for the final part. Thank God. Ahhh it was bliss. There was too much low level hum though. Probably cause I was so close though.

SILVER SPRINGS - she was doing stuff at the end that was not on the Dance, not on the bootlegs I've heard so far. They were these new phrases that I couldn't even understand, but they sounded so good, so much more FIERCE than what she shouts on the Dance.

Landslide dedication: "Well we just like to take this time, Brisbane, to thank you guys for supporting us. We don't really know any of you," (lol!), "but we really appreciate you coming tonight."

For Beautiful Child she said that 'her gang' had let her do the song, which I thought was a cool turn of phrase for her to use. I've heard her say 'My band' in another bootleg and it sounded so formal, but this was just more fun and friendly. That is how Stevie came across the whole night - not a diva, not a self-absorbed princess, just a stellar vocalist. The 'Your hands held mine' vocals - I wanted to watch Lindsey for that great harmony, but my head flew back to Stevie because I couldn't believe what was coming out of her mouth. No - not spit. Just the most pure, glistening, syrypy vocals. (Wow, syrypy has three 'y's.)

For Tusk before the singing starts, Lindsey approached us with his fender for this 'Little Lies video walk' up to the mic.You know how he has this one leg crossing the other swagger - very funny, I had to laugh for one of a few times at Lindsey during the show. I saw Lindsey do the Little Lies video walk right in front of me!! Arghh.

Lindsey did this bizarre but amazing full-body Epilepsy Groove during ALL of Taku's solo before Stand Back. I would've thought he was having an epilepsy attack if it weren't that he was gyrating and spasming in perfect time to the beat! It was awesome.

Another full-body movement that blew me away - Stevie's Vibrating Booty-Shake during one song - I forget which now. It was awesome. back to the audneicne, standing in one spot, wshe was going all out. Her hips were dancing to one rhythm line and her booty was dancing to the other. How could she have a hip problem and do that?? Geez they were so energetic, so intensely physical.

Come - This rocked (der, I guess) - but like all the other songs, the vocals were so good that there wasn't that strange warble to Lindsey's voice that you hear with some of the other bootlegs of Come. Instead the verse vocals were so pure, so haunting... the percussion and guitar of the Come verses - it's magic. Magic. That deep, sporadic bass drum thumping down, straight through my bones and out through the whole arena. I looked around during the following outstanding solo to see if there was any mass exodus like other reviews have reported but there sure as hell wasn't.

WTWCT - This song, with the arrangement they have developed for it by this stage of the tour, is just so good.... It really rocks, and it rocked there in front of me that night!
Mick was mouthing the chorus, and throwing his arm straight up to the ceiling when singing 'Everyone's go-one to the mo-on' while the other hand hit the hihats and his foot thumped the kick.

ISA - Lindsey, two feet away... playing ISA. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to describe that - maybe you need a degree in Literature.

Stevie going to either side of the stage and recognising the banks of fans during GYOW. GYOW - playing the guitar - had to really reach, but Lindsey made a point of letting JC and then me be able to reach the strings too, and I had this ridiculously awesome 'in synch' thing going with him where I would try to pluck madly at the string I could reach, then would pointedly lift my finger up so that he could pull the guitar back a bit to play the next little solo riff from the bridge, then he'd put it back down for us and we'd pluck and grab again, then I'd lift my finger back so he could play the next bit I knew was coming up.

Big Love was magic but it was ruined for me as at the beginning I realised the mic had come away from the MD player in my pocket. I had to risk taking it out and trying to fix it.

The GDW shawl fell down to around her waist at the end of the GDW pose. lol, the song went over so perfectly that I was looking for anything remarkable and stand-outish and that was it!

World Turning - Mick didn't seem to be spitting IMO. It was thoroughly enjoyable too, I don't know what people complain about. Maybe you need to be right in front underneath him?? I don't know. Anyway, I threw up my copy of The Visitor that I'd just bought that day to try and get it just next to the foot of the mic so if he had a chance to sign it or at least notice it he could. But because I didn't want to throw it at his feet and get hauled away by secuirty, the throw turned out to be really lame and of course it happened to arc across and then go directly down some gap between the speaker stage and the stage proper, never to be seen again. I've rung the Centre to see if they can find it, but they think they may only be able to get it when they pull it down after the band goes, which is no good cause I was hanging out for Mick to autograph it.
I was so absorbed by Mick's drum solo that it was only towards the end that I happened to look over and noticed Lindsey crouching down on the side of the stage, smiling. I swear we exchanged a few smiles and glances then, although from Lux's account it could have been her at that point, because when Mick was about done, Lindsey stood up and came over and gave Lux his blue towel. Woohoo! One out of 14,000 crazy screaming fans aint bad. Good work Lux!


AFTER THE SHOW

Long story short is that we had decided that the only way to possibly intercept them at the hotel would be to high-tail it out of the Center before Goodbye Baby.

*Sorry no time to write in the bit about who we met and what was said - I'm getting a lift now out to Concert 2. Will edit in this bit tomorrow.

(Here's my pre-written conclusion. I always need to finish with a flourish - its pathetic)

By virtue (vice?) of our devoted fanship, we all felt like we had earnt this opportunity. But as I said to everyone there, bathing in the afterglow of an encounter with our heroes, although we may have earnt the opportunity, it was the unsolicited graciousness of the individuals (Lindsey, Sharon, Jana, Brett and Taku) who had turned the opportunity of a late-night lobby encounter into the successful fan & band moment that it was.

http://burnish.net/board/index.php?act=ST&f=2&t=1466&

[WelshWitchPMD]

Joe, you had such a great experience. I am so happy for you!
I can't wait to see and hear the show. By the way I am now ironically watching a certain Seinfeid episode.
Oh why did I not go to Australia? Please give me a kick in the rear!

[Les]

Way to go, Joe! I'm glad you finally got your chance and it was such a great experience!

[wondergirl9847]

CONGRATS Joe on meeting THE MAN!! Can't wait to hear all the rest and see more pics!!!

[DownOnRodeo]

Thanks so much for cross-posting it, Christy.

I'm actually almost near finishing it - I had to polish it up a bit, and fill in the 'After the Show' bit obviously. Sorry you all had to read the dodgy rushed version of the review but I figured better something than nothing in the interim.

Guys, the show on Thurs was great and meeting Lindsey and the backup guys was amazing, but the show on Friday was.... it was not the same old show. Me, JC and this other guy were yelling out so much, to John, Mick and Lindsey, that the latter two were so jazzed and thrilled that they got stuff mixed up, Mick was losing the beat a few times, Lindsey forgot his WTWCT patter cause we were raving on about Mick and Lindsey stopped to turn around, put his hand over the mic and said to Mick "He's right" (to us calling out 'You rock Mick!' and 'You're a king!') which eventually got a little drum solo out of Mick. And then those two and us are just standing there laughing and Mick's expression is just 'This is so cool, I can't believe you guys', and Lindsey is still turned around, he's not turning bacxk, he's giving Mick all the attention. So Mick just eventually launches straight into the hihats for WTWCT. Guys, Stevie did the concert for the whole arena, but half the time last night, Lindsey and Mick were playing to JC and me! I kid you not!

Les - I'll just say, in lieu of the full review of this most amazing night, that at last night's concert, after Goodbye Baby, via Lindsey I was able to get to Stevie a flower around the stem of which were wrapped four little sheets of paper, one for each member. There some notes to each of them on there but basically each one had a limerick I wrote on the train out there, then made the cards up on a table outside my door at the arena. I'd felt so guilty about having met Lindsey that night and forgetting to mention madnessfades.net (cause that was one of the main things I wanted to tell him if I ever met him, to check it out), that I wrote the address at the bottom of the little card.

I've got a good feeling that the band read them on the plane back to Melbourne that night! I put little smiley faces on them and wanted them to come across as something light-hearted, something fun for them to give them a little buzz, rather than something really deep like 'My entire family was wiped out in a hurricane, you and your music have raised me and I live for you' - I mean, how would you like to have to read that? No thanks.

Here's the limericks - I'll write the other little messages I crammed on the little pieces of paper in the review:

There once was an artist named Stevie
Who was destined to do things achievily
So now she and L.B.
Nevermind Chris McVie
Are still rocking Down Under, believe me!

There once was a man with a plan
For making the world understand
That a player who thrills
With his heart and his skills
Is more of a god than a man.

There once was a bassist named John
Who was loathe to lend voice to a song
But by making his mark
With that low level spark
He ensured that the magic went on.

There once was a Briton named Mick
Who was savvy with cymbal and kick
Hear the beat of the bass
See that twitch in his face
On he conquers our souls with a stick!


Pattie - I am now giving you a big kick in the rear - don't worry, not as big as the one Stevie did in Stand Back last night!

[wondergirl9847]

You're welcome!!

OMG, those limericks are greatness!!! I hope they read them and got a kick out of them, I'm SURE they did!!

I've been dying to read your reviews and stories!!! I'm so glad the day FINALLY came for you Aussies!!!

[sodascouts]

Tremendous review! Thanks, Joe! Can't wait to hear about your meeting with the band and read your next installment of your concert adventures! lol

[Les]

Wow, Joe. I don't even know what to say to that. That's really just...too kind. Thank you.

[golden braid]

Joe, awesome review. I can't wait to read the rest. I also loved your limericks.

[Merf]

Joe, those limericks are fabulous!

Good work, my friend! Can't wait to hear more.

Love, Merf

[GardenStateGirlie]

Joe, that's awesome. The limericks? rock. I'm certain they read them and had a good chuckle...good job, my friend!

[shackin'up]

Great to read!!!

Please, joe, could you tell if there was some more to say about your I know I'm Not Wrong T-shirt?

[DownOnRodeo]

(It will be another 20 hrs before I get a chance to post the full and complete review of Bris # 1 because I’m at my folk’s tonight as Brisbane is experiencing a 40celcius+ heatwave and I don’t have air con at my own place. Hopefully the Bris # 2 review will not be long off. Here I’m gonna post everything from us meeting Sharon to meeting Lindsey. It is all out of context and makes more sense with the rest of the review but that’s at home I’m sorry. I brought it over on floppy but the disc was defective. Grr! So here’s basically the details of who we met in the hotel lobby near the lifts after the show.)

---

....

I said to Sharon: “How do you do it, night after night?”

“Are you kidding?” she replied. “It’s so much fun.”

After I’d had a photo taken with Sharon, Jana and JC, I ask Sharon, “So what’s your favourite Stevie album?” In retrospect I should have said ‘album that Stevie’s done’ or ‘album by Stevie’ rather than calling it a ‘Stevie album’, but it just shows how used to talking about FM stuff I am that I use the little specialized, short phrases we have for things that come up in threads all the time. But I would have said a lot of different things in retrospect. In fact I wouldn’t have asked her what her favourite of the albums were, I would have asked something like, which producer did she enjoy working with the most. But I had to think of something on the spot that I thought might be interesting to some of you guys. As it was she said, “Umm.. Bella Donna.” I said “Oh, not the Wild Heart?”, my copy of which she’d just signed. And she goes, “Yeah I’ve said the Wild Heart before..” lol, the poor thing. I kept saying ‘You poor people’ to all the band members we accosted that night. I felt terrible for getting them on the way to their rooms. Then Sharon, the sweetheart that she is, asked me “So what’s your favourite?” This is while she is signing the other’s stuff. I go, “Oh, Trouble in Shangri-La. For sure.” “Oh yeah? Yeah that was great.” “Yeah you did a great job on that.”

Sharon and Jana eventually escaped from our clutches and went up the lifts. Before they left they asked whether we were front row the next night. Actually Jana seemed to be struggling with too much baggage and I half-jokingly ask: “Are you alright with your luggage?” She managed though. Now maybe it was my gentlemanly remark here that earnt me my wink and smile from Jana the next night…

Now I think that the next two people actually became before Sharon and Jana, but it’s all a blur so let’s pretend they came next. The first was Brett, and he was pretty much about to get into his lift cause no one was making a first move. I was coming up to him, and I’m turning my head back to ask the guys whether its Neale. “Is it Neale?” I say like a doofus. Then I look more closely and realize who it is. It’s Brett of course! (They do look quite similar though, don’t you think?) “Brett!” I call out to him. He seemed pretty cool about hanging around for a while, and came over. Taku was there at that point too, an d of course we didn’t let him get to the lifts but got him to come over to the Stamford Lobby Autograph Production Line. Brett was getting assailed by the Melbournians wanting photos etc with him, but I just made a point of saying a few things to him. The first thing that came out was, “You are great, you’re really doing Christine proud.” He seemed really flattered by that remark. The next thing my mouth-on-autopilot spat out was, “So are you gonna stay with these guys? You’ve been with them for a while now.” “Well, yeah, with Stevie’s thing” we both clarify at the same time. “Yeah,” Brett says, almost wistfully, “It’s been a long time now.” I then asked Brett if he would mind signing my programme, and he was all too happy to. He signed ‘To Joe – Rock on! Brett Tuggle’ next to his picture in the programme. While Taku was signing stuff I asked him, ‘So are you originally from Japan?’ “Ah, yeah,” he says, “I was born there but I grew up in America.” They eventually escaped, but not before leaving an impression of two really cool guys who are happy enough to suffer fan shenanigans even at 1am in a foreign country.

We’re sitting down again on the couches, reveling in the moment, and with LPs and Programmes gratuitously spread out all over the coffee table and everywhere else. Then James and George, who’s sofa faced the entrance, pretty much jump up and someone says “It’s Lindsey.” I turn my head and see him walking by the back of my sofa between the columns, with Ray Lindsey and another minder. He gets ambushed by the Melbournians, and it takes me a while to get around to where they all are. He looked pretty tired, and said a number of times over the next 5 minutes “I’ve really gotta get going guys”. But he was all too happy to sign our stuff. The first thing he says as he looked on the table for what to sign was, I soon realized, directed to JC. He There were a dozen albums and programmes he was signing like lightning, and I rushed back over to my couch to get my pre-prepared ‘Lindsey package’ – the inset of the Tusk LP with the photo of him grinning at the rest of the band who are clutching him and staring in awe, the spread out OOTC CD back and front cover, and the single of NGBA that I’d picked up that day. I felt terrible offering three things, and I apologetically said “I don’t know _what_ I want you to sign..” but I could hardly say that before he signed all three – each signature was quick, but with clearly formed L, B, and H etc. And he waited for my prompts to check it was ok to sign each one. And he was careful to sign in the best place possible on each one! Needless to say guys, for all these things, there will eventually be photos. Oh, and Ray Lindsey is a champ – Lindsey was holding under his left arm this wrapped-up gift of an Aussie-style clock (I dunno, kangaroos or something) that James, Michael and George had presented to him, and then when the signing frenzy started, Ray came up and offered to take the present for him. Other than that, Ray and the other guy didn’t say a word. I felt bad cause it was only later that I was able to confirm my suspicion that it was Ray, so I didn’t really say anything to him I don’t think. Not that I think he minded at all – he probably felt like the lucky one.

Then everyone went into paparazzi mode and was getting photos with Lindsey. The Melbournians wanted about three each in different lighting and with forced handshakes, but James made a point after the photo of saying to Lindsey “I just want to say that it’s a real honour to meet you. Could I shake your hand?” Of course Lindsey obliged. I don’t see any point at ALL in a forced handshake but at least that was a respectable way to do it. It came JC’s turn to get a photo and I imposed myself into it as I didn’t want to be keeping Lindsey. I instantly picked up that JC felt the same way and of course was fine for me to get into the photo. James took it on his analog camera which he says turned out to be a great photo so I can’t wait to see it and post it. But I’ll need to see it with my own eyes before I stop believing that my tongue is hanging out of the corner of my mouth and my eyes are pointing in opposite directions, let alone even open. Obviously the plan eventually will be to frame the ‘Lindsey package’ that he signed and the photo, together. By the way, I found out later that I accidentally had the NGBA single the wrong way up, so he signed the A-side – Don’t Stop! At first I was really annoyed and half-pretended to hurl it across the foyer, but now I realize that it’s just as cool because after seeing how much Don’t Stop made the crowd dance those two nights, Lindsey has a lot to be proud of about his involvement in that song as guitarist, a producer and arranger, and singer. A song that has a varied, proud history and means a lot to many different people.

Where was I? Oh yeah, taking a photo with Lindsey and JC. He had his left arm around her and I stood up next to him on the right. He put his right arm around my shoulder. It took me a few moments but soon I gingerly reciprocated. I think I gave him a little affectionate pat on the back/shoulder in the process, lol. James took our picture. Then as we broke apart, I turned around to face Lindsey and said, “Hey, Lindsey check out our shirts.” I said “our” but I stuck out my non-existant chest into his face to ram the point home that he shouldn’t waste any time looking at JC’s but should focus on mine. As I found out much later, JC was still winning because for a few moments there after the posing for the photo had broken and he and I started talking, he was facing me but still had his arm firmly around JC’s shoulders. Lindsey looked closely at my shirt, and to my absolute surprise and delight, for the first time his face began to visibly light up! I think he was looking around the edges at the lyrics, and he made this ‘Ohhh’ sound like it was dawning on him that this shirt was all about the fact that I Know I’m Not Wrong is a song worth writing home about – or that is, worth writing on a shirt about! I said “You should be doing this song live, man, it rocks!” He was nodding enthusiastically, as if we were discussing a mutally interesting topic. “Yeah,” he enthused, “actually Mick has been talking about doing something, like this, you know, like Eyes of the World..” I’m just nodding in agreement. “Oh, really? Cause it’s just like what you’re doing, like Eyes of the World, and um… Second Hand News.. Sort of short, punchy, it rocks!!” “Yeah, yeah,” agreed Lindsey. I forget exactly what else he may have said here – sorry Gerald! But it wasn’t anything bearing.
“Lindsey,” said James, “can I just say – you need to do Murrow live. It rocks.” Everyone vocally concurs then James says, “Lindsey, someone’s gotta change your mind.” Now I thought that James, who is a funny guy, was making a pun, saying that Lindsey should be playing Murrow live but using the name of the other song to say it. I didn’t even think at the time that Lindsey would be surprised that we had heard of SGCYM. Well Lindsey is like, “Oh, so where’d you hear that, the Internet?” (Said with a capital ‘I’). He didn’t sound to excited about the whole ‘So yeah, we all listen to your private demos on the internet’ reality, but that was just what I read into it. If I had at all gleaned from his response that he did not have an any issues with the GOS leak, then I would have been all over him about Down On Rodeo, as you might imagine. So in fact I guess its better that I decided not to! He got accosted for a few more signs, but JC got in a request for a handshake and I looked on as he complied and then leant in to give her an embrace and plant one on her.

People say (and I have always been among them) that Fleetwood Mac may not be the best people to meet on a personal level – I mean, as fans, but in a personal context rather than from on stage. Well, in one magic night this baseless theory of mine was utterly contradicted. And this was echoed equally strongly the next morning in JC’s encounter with Mick in the same lobby.

Lindsey, Ray and his two minders soon after were escaping up the lift, and I must admit that I was standing there from back at the couch ogling my idol as he did the most mundane thing possible in front of me – walk into an elevator. Every other day I see people go into elevators. I go into elevators. Now I was watching Lindsey walk into one to go to his hotel room. There is something so leveling about walking into an elevator with luggage. At that moment, he was no longer a guy in videos and photos I’ve seen ad nauseum. He was the bloke I’d been talking with a minute ago who was now going to his room to get some rest. This observation makes me sound so bloody crazy. Oh well, the façade was never very convincing to begin with. lol

Now were were all sitting back on the sofas, in a daze of disbelief and satisfaction, signed LPs and Programmes galore all over the shop in an unadulteratedly displayed disarray of fandom that would look like junk to the average passer-by but anybody reading this review would probably kill someone or at least have someone killed in order to get it. Sorry, don’t know where all the homicidal metaphors came from. Moving right along!

Brett came down again soon after and was headed for the bar. “Get a drink mate, you deserve it!” I called out. He replied with something I didn’t catch. Then Taku came down again, and some of the Melbournians must have asked him to sign some more Programmes or something because I realized I had a window open to get Taku to sign my Programme which I didn’t before. When he got a chance to sign mine I asked if he would be able to do it in Kanji (Japanese characters) if he knew Japanese. He did it! While he was writing that I asked where in Japan he was born and he said Osaka, but that he moved to LA when he was 3 or 5 or something.

Then that was it. JC, Karen and I broke left the Melbournians in the lobby as we went off to find food and a drink. We went past the hotel bar where I could see Brett inside sitting on a stool at a cocktail table laughing with what I swear were two attractive blondes on either side of him. I may be wrong with some details there! Anyway naturally the last thing we wanted to do was go intot hbe abr where he and Taku were so we kept on walking out of the hotel gardens (‘strolling through the garden..’ hmm, doesn’t quite pack the same punch, does it) and into the streets of downtown Brissie and eventually to a Subway. After that, Karen was kind enough to drop me JC home at our respective homes on the other side of Brisbane. After that, poor Karen had a drive all the way down to the Gold Coast where her hotel was that night. But she said she’s be cool cause she had a cd player in the rental car. I wonder what cds she played.

I got home and spent about 20 minutes online then hit the sack (it was going on 3am). I felt that I had just peaked, that I was not even frankly looking forward to the next concert because it could only be less of an experience.

I was wrong…

[shackin'up]

Originally posted by DownOnRodeo


I was wrong…

Although You Know You're Not!

Thanks so much! What a totally cool story......rave on!!!!

gerald

[David]

Joe, your enthusiasm makes that a fantastic story. That's what being a fan is all about. I'm glad you Aussies, after waiting for so long, get to see your idol Buckingham front the band.