Tango in The Night Tour

nailatixela · #1 08-28-2009, 04:53 PM

It was a long time before this tour came along. Did you all fear the Mac was done for?

If you went to the TITN tour, tell us about it here! Anything you remember about the night is great. Tell us your stories.

It's my understanding that it was a well known fact Lindsey was not touring. What did you think of the two new guys in the band? Also this is when a lot of back ups were first brought along with Fleetwood Mac. What did you think of them doing that?

This was also the first time Stevie's preformance was cocaine free...your thoughts on the change in behavior? This was the first time they brought solo songs into the set, with Stand Back and HAEWAFY.

So share your stories!

David · #2 08-28-2009, 05:22 PM

I'm in Southern California, so that's where I saw several gigs, in December (Los Angeles & San Diego). Everything seemed sort of staid to me, & bland. A few things were interesting: some old blues numbers, & a good "Buckingham Nicks" cover, plus an excellent "Blue Letter." But I wondered what happened to all the former weirdness. From Peter Green to Danny Kirwan to Bob Welch to Lindsey Buckingham, these guys were all such nifty writers & performers because of their idiosyncrasies; & here was an incarnation of the band where nobody weird was left.

Stevie Nicks might have continued to be satisfyingly weird if she hadn't cleaned up from dope earlier that year.

Still, I looked slightly forward to hearing this incarnation record something. The two tracks on the hits album the following year were pretty bad, so I adjusted my expectations accordingly. When "Mask" finally was released, I didn't even think of Fleetwood Mac any more in terms of magical weirdness. They were just a big expensive contraption of an arena band. They had become what the punks ten years earlier had accused them of being.

AliceLover · #3 08-28-2009, 05:33 PM

The first month of the tour was definitely the best, in Stevie terms. Everyone else was great the whole way through. I thought it was a great show when they were doing "Gypsy" and "Rhiannon" before they got cut in October of 87. Stevie still had a lot of fire in her. I suggest getting the Ames, IA 87 DVD, Stevie is pretty firey.

GoldDustOrphan · #4 08-28-2009, 05:43 PM

TITN Tour was the first time I had front row seats for FM or Stevie.

Oct. 30 - Boston Garden & Nov. 1 - Providence Civic Center were announced and I was thrilled, but disappointed that they weren't performing Halloween night - my dream concert: to see Stevie on Halloween night.
I had good seats for Boston; crappy for Providence.

When I was told Halloween was added, I thought people were playing an awful joke on me. My friends Sandra and I add waited out overnight at the Salem, Mass. ticketmaster - not because of the obvious Halloween connection, but because Salem is minutes from her house and we figured we'd have a better chance to be first in line waiting out there than waiting out overnight in Boston - which was always a mob scene. (Two years later, we waited out overnight in Salem and got third row for Aug. 19 and front row for Aug. 20 OSOTM shows at Great Woods.

We were first in line and got four front row tickets - for Halloween. Up until that day, I was expecting the worst. Stevie would get bronchitis and Halloween would be canceled/postponed until later. But, Halloween 1987 brought The Great Pumpkin and Stevie Nicks. That night, Mick was carried out in a coffin; Stevie wore a traditional witches hat. We brought plush-stuffed jack o' lanterns and threw them on-stage. Despite over-present security, we snuck about two dozens photos with crappy cameras.

Photo one: The best of the photos: Sandra got this one.

Photo two: Stevie's holding black & orange Halloween balloons.

These are only two posted to my photobucket acct. because Sandra resent them to me. I'll find the rest, upload and post.

michelej1 · #5 08-28-2009, 06:20 PM

I saw them once.

I remember really loving Isn't It Midnight.

Stevie seemed loud and out of synch to me and I don't even necessarily mean her singing voice. It just seemed she was bold and striking and called your attention, but not in a way that meshed with the rest of the band. It was like she took you out of what they were doing. She wasn't bad, but I just felt that she wasn't with them and if they had all been putting on the same show, it would have been a better one.

But I didn't go there saying, "I'm unbiased. I'm going to give this new line up a chance. I'm open."

I went there saying, "I've been a Fleetwood Mac fan for years now and they're never going to put on a show that I don't see. It's a badge of honor with me. So, let's get this out of the way."

So, my impressions were probably colored.

Michele

Musicman408 · #6 08-28-2009, 07:46 PM

Really cool to hear all of your stories!!! This is a concert tour that doesn't get talked about a whole lot!!!

Why did the band end up dropping Rhiannon and Gypsy as the tour went along?

silvasprings · #7 08-28-2009, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AliceLover

The first month of the tour was definitely the best, in Stevie terms. Everyone else was great the whole way through. I thought it was a great show when they were doing "Gypsy" and "Rhiannon" before they got cut in October of 87. Stevie still had a lot of fire in her. I suggest getting the Ames, IA 87 DVD, Stevie is pretty firey.

Depending on exactly when Stevie was put on Klonopin, I would say this shows a pretty good example of how they totally zonked her out...

I think she still would have been firey without cocaine, but then the klonopin definetly f-ed that up.
If you watch the Live DVD from the cow palace in san francisco, she might as well be asleep on stage,

And has anyone heard Everywhere from that DVD, stevie randomly sings over the top of christine "I wanna be with you" it sounds terrible...

The rest of the band is in pretty top form though

Imo, i wish lindsey hadn't left at that stage, but Vito and Burnette did an alright job of filling in.
As for the albums they did, the greatest hits tracks and Behind the mask, they're catchy and commercial, But their is none of that (excuse the pun)

Fleetwood Magic...

LukeA · #8 08-29-2009, 01:25 AM

Were any of the dates officially announced and/or put on sale prior to when Lindsey bailed in early August? Considering the fact that opening night was September 30, along with some pretty big dates capacity/market wise early on (like Alpine Valley on October 3), I'm betting that at least some dates were put on sale early-mid August.

daniellaaarisen · #9 08-29-2009, 01:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David

I'm in Southern California, so that's where I saw several gigs, in December (Los Angeles & San Diego). Everything seemed sort of staid to me, & bland. A few things were interesting: some old blues numbers, & a good "Buckingham Nicks" cover, plus an excellent "Blue Letter." But I wondered what happened to all the former weirdness. From Peter Green to Danny Kirwan to Bob Welch to Lindsey Buckingham, these guys were all such nifty writers & performers because of their idiosyncrasies; & here was an incarnation of the band where nobody weird was left.

Stevie Nicks might have continued to be satisfyingly weird if she hadn't cleaned up from dope earlier that year.

Still, I looked slightly forward to hearing this incarnation record something. The two tracks on the hits album the following year were pretty bad, so I adjusted my expectations accordingly. When "Mask" finally was released, I didn't even think of Fleetwood Mac any more in terms of magical weirdness. They were just a big expensive contraption of an arena band. They had become what the punks ten years earlier had accused them of being.

The sad truth. I always consider the TITN tour the official ending of the glory years. Some songs on TITN are awesome to me, though, and I would have loved to see them live ("Isn't It Midnight" especially but also "Big Love" and even "Family Man" to a degree).

sjpdg · #10 08-29-2009, 01:56 AM

This was actually my very first FM concert. I saw them at the Cow Palace in San Francisco and was totally blown away!!! I'd seen FM on TV before but had never seen them live and couldn't wait for the show. I'll admit I was apprehensive about what Rick and Billy would sound like instead of Lindsey, but went with an open mind. And I am very, very, very glad I did. It was a great show, Rick and Billy totally rocked in my opinion, and Mick totally blew me away with his solo on "World Turning". It was that night that I decided I wanted to learn to play the drums.

I totally loved "Isn't It Midnight" live. It was awesome! I also loved Rick bringing back (even if just a small number) of original FM songs from the PG days. That really helped round out the show for me. At minimum it paid tribute to where the band had come from. If you watch the TITN video (recorded over the 2 nights in SF), you can see Mick really getting into "I Loved Another Woman" with Rick in the lead. To me, it almost looks as though Mick is mentally in some smokey London club in 1968 backing up PG instead of in SF in '87.

Anyway, I honestly really enjoyed the Vito/Burnette era, as short as it was. It was just a shame that it didn't last longer than it did.

paleshadow · #11 08-29-2009, 04:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LukeA

Were any of the dates officially announced and/or put on sale prior to when Lindsey bailed in early August? Considering the fact that opening night was September 30, along with some pretty big dates capacity/market wise early on (like Alpine Valley on October 3), I'm betting that at least some dates were put on sale early-mid August.

I saw them on Oct. 30th at the Boston Garden. It was my first time seeing FM and Stevie live. I don't remember if we already bought the tickets. I think they at least announced the date because I do remember panicking when they had a TV press conference to announce Lindsey left the band, and at the same time they announced Rick and Billy would fill in on the tour.

It was such an exciting time back then. MTV still showed videos and had VJ's and they would announce when the world premiere of the videos would be. I would be planted in front of the tube getting goosebumps when the world premier logo came on before seeing the Tango videos for the first time! Those were the days!

SorcererJP · #12 08-29-2009, 05:07 AM

Well, it's my first Mac-tour. In 1988 they played two nights in the Rotterdam Ahoy' (same venue als they will play in october). I only knew TITN (because it peaked in Holland) and I knew the hitsingles as GOYW, You make loving fun (from a compilation-album) and I knew Stevie's Stand Back (because I had taped the Wild Heart from my uncle), so many songs were new to me...but I did not bother...It was just great to experience a rock-concert like that...

I'm not sure if the concert-video was out then, I knew I had taped it on VHS from TV that year, but cannot remember if it was before or after the show. I knew somehow that Billy and Rick were in the band, probably cause the live-video for Isn't Midnight was heavily played on MTV and Music Box.

Alas, it was a memorable night. The Dutch soccer team played against England on the (later won) European Championship in Germany and everywhere in the venue people had radios to miss nothing of the game. The Adventurers where opening for them (and they were from England). We won the game and the atmosphere was exited.

I went alone, was 18 years old and it was my first big concert, I had a seat on the side and had some argument about my seat (he or I didn't take a right look at the seatnumbers, cannot remember).

Alas the show was great, lot's of songs I knew and also lot's of songs I didn't knew...I had lot's of fun and thought these people were real rock-dinosaurs (Well Stevie was only 40 years old in 1988 and I'm almost 40 now...). Billy did congratulated us with winning the game that night and I thought that was great!

The next day (I believe) I got the Rumours-album and whitin a year I had all their albums Stevie's solo albums...and got hooked...

Started heavily tapetrading (before the days of the www) and got this show Mac played in the Ahoy and almost greyed out the tape (if you know what I mean). I do have a digital copy on my iPod nowadays..

Saw Stevie in 1989 (also in the Ahoy'), Mac in Utrecht in August 1990, Mac in Leiden (Time-line up) in late 1994 and then finally Mac in Oberhausen (Germany) again in 2004...was many many times very pissed that she/they only toured the US and I'm thrilled to see them again (twice) next month...

Stevieforever · #13 08-29-2009, 07:47 AM

GoldDustOrphan--Thank you so much for your account!!! I loved reading it! If I had a time machine and could go back and see any Stevie/FM show, it would have to be the Halloween Night 1987 show for sure. It must have been magical there that night. Seeing a Stevie/FM on Halloween is something of my dreams, so thanks so much for telling us about it. And thanks for the pictures too. I especially love the one with the baloons! Would love to see more when you get a chance.

GoldDustOrphan · #14 08-29-2009, 07:58 AM

Quote:

And has anyone heard Everywhere from that DVD, stevie randomly sings over the top of christine "I wanna be with you" it sounds terrible...

The post-production on the TITN VHS/DVD was a bit much. From remixing to re-recorded vocals (and Stevie's studio shot close-ups), made the show seem somewhat chilly and detached. I enjoyed the video at the time, but their live performances where so much more charismatic and energetic than the video.

I agree, Stevie's overdubs on Everywhere were awkward, but it sounded less severe live. (I thought her harmonic "wells" during the chorus of Isn't it Midnight enhanced the song.) She's Stepford Stevie in the video - very controlled and mannered - but she was much more spontaneous and spirited during the performances I saw.

I wish the video had the entire show, because I feel the abbreviated set list is somewhat lethargic.

Musicman408 · #15 08-29-2009, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldDustOrphan

The post-production on the TITN VHS/DVD was a bit much. From remixing to re-recorded vocals (and Stevie's studio shot close-ups), made the show seem somewhat chilly and detached. I enjoyed the video at the time, but their live performances where so much more charismatic and energetic than the video.

I agree, Stevie's overdubs on Everywhere were awkward, but it sounded less severe live. (I thought her harmonic "wells" during the chorus of Isn't it Midnight enhanced the song.) She's Stepford Stevie in the video - very controlled and mannered - but she was much more spontaneous and spirited during the performances I saw.

I wish the video had the entire show, because I feel the abbreviated set list is somewhat lethargic.

I agree. From this thread it almost seems like the band wasn't quite as bad as some would make you believe. If only I was around back in those days!!! I know they played Freedom Hall that year, so I soooooo would have been there!!!