Vegas

[Les]

Whew, just got back from my drive from Vegas a few hours ago. LONG drive, but I figured it was the last show of this leg, and they were within driving distance, so what the hell?

I can't remember every song so clearly at the moment, so I'll just try to touch on the little bits and pieces that were in some way different from other things I've seen/heard about the shows.

Before the show I saw Bob Aguirre again. I'd seen him at the San Jose show I went to also. He went backstage about an hour before the show and then I saw him come back out about ten minutes before the show started. He was preceded by Lindsey's wife.

I wasn't in front row this time (see Bakersfield!), so I didn't quite get the unencumbered experience that I'd had at the previous concert. It looked like the front rows were great and energetic, but on the whole, the Vegas crowd was kind of a bummer, if you ask me. A lot of fat cats who decided to take in a show as a break from gambling...or something. I'm sure each and every one of them was perfectly nice, but they didn't make for the best crowd at a show. Most were very much casual fans who sat for anything and everything they didn't instantly recognize, which of course included all of the new songs, and almost everything that wasn't on Rumours, including So Afraid, Beautiful Child, Silver Springs, etc. But nevermind them.

As I mentioned, Bob Aguirre was there. Lindsey ditched the usual Peacekeeper intro to say (paraphrasing)..."A long time friend of mine is here tonight. Before Stevie and I came down to LA and met these guys who we were destined to meet, we were in a band in Northern California. The drummer of that band is here tonight and he is getting married right after the show at the Graceland Chapel [he starts to chuckle here as he's just told thousands of people exactly when and where the service is to take place]. He's going to get married by one of those Elvis guys. Like me, he waited a long time to do this. So this is for you, Bob and Melinda!" Stevie applauded.

The intro to Landslide: Stevie says (paraphrasing)..."This is our last date on this part of the tour..we go to Europe next month, this tour has just turned into a big wonderful thing for all of us. But our tour Manager, Marty Hom, who has done an incredible job and has been here with us for each and every one of the 70 shows we've done so far, is leaving us now to go work for Bette Midler!" Stevie starts jumping up and down in a mock rage, like a little kid throwing a tantrum. Lindsey's shaking his head, giving the big thumbs down. The crowd is booing. It's all in fun, of course. So Stevie dedicates Landslide to Marty for having done such a great job for them.

Beautiful Child was introduced along these lines..."I always wanted to do this one and these wonderful guys up here with me let me do it on this tour. This is for my dad, who's here tonight." Silver Springs was dedicated to mom.

The guitar solos on Come and So Afraid were longer and definitely changed up from the the July shows I'd seen. Lindsey actually dropped his guitar toward the end of So Afraid, so he just threw himself on the floor and continued to molest the poor instrument. He was spazzing out, looking somewhat like a turtle on his back trying to turn back over. He was over on Stevie's side, in front of Brett while this was happening, and Brett laughing pretty hard. Go Your Own Way seemed a bit changed up as well, in the solo department.

Just after finishing Gypsy, Stevie turned to grab her mic, but she'd moved a little farther way from it than she'd realized. Without quite looking in front of her, she reached out to grab where she thought it was going to be and completely missed. She got a great big smile on her face, in some mild embarrassment, and then grabbed it and said thank you.

Lindsey "tusking" of John was amusing and different. He sort of approached John at waist level. He had a shoulder pushed into John's hip, with his arm around John's waist, and he just sort of ran in place, like a cartoon. The stage is slippery enough that his feet were going out from under him and he just kept running like that while John was getting a good chuckle out of it.

Stevie forgot when she was supposed to start singing in World Turning and missed the first couple of words. Her eyes got big and she got that, "Oh crap!" look for just a second, and then caught back up with the words and smiled. Hehe. Mick's drum solo seemed much longer than at any other show I'd seen. The vest part was longer, but the actual solo at the kit before jumping down front stage was longer too.

Before the first intro, as Lindsey and Stevie say thank yous to the crowd, Mick went around and shook the hands of all the backup players. I know he did this at Bakersfield too, but I forgot to mention it. During band intros Mick thanked not just the band, but the whole caravan of people who make the tour possible - the sound guys, lighting guys, stage guys, truck drivers, limo drivers, etc. Mick introduced each of the backing band individually this time, instead of in pairs, like he had been doing with Sharon & Jana/Mindy, and Neale & Carlos. Lindsey walked over and hugged Mick and buried his head in Mick's should for a second when introduced. Stevie took a long, deep bow. John did his little touch the bill of his hat gesture.

Lindsey signed and signed and signed stuff. He actually took a BN album from someone in the front and took it backstage with him. When they came back out for the final encore, he remembered who handed it to him and he gave it and the pen back to that person. I'm guessing maybe he signed it and also got Stevie's signature too, otherwise, he probably would've just signed it on the stage. Pretty cool.

Aside from the somewhat lackluster crowd, it was a trip I'm glad I made. I hope it was fun for them too and they enjoy their break for a few weeks!