Rumours Live Album Sept 23

[David]

Sonically, this thing sounds very good. The lower end is solid, there’s good clarity, extraneous crowd and electronic noise are mostly under control (the exception seems to be “You Make Loving Fun,” which was the worst-sounding cut on the Live Deluxe last year — there’s something about that arrangement that comes across messily).

A lot of these performances are good, tight Mac with energy, and everyone seems to be in fine voice with leads and harmonies. It may or may not be your favorite Rumours performance — probably not — but I think a few of the tracks stand out for that tour: “Say You Love Me,” “Over My Head,” “World Turning,” “Blue Letter.” What’s so powerful about the set is that it’s a single set and it hangs together like a set. It’s what’s been missing from all the previous groupings of live recordings from different cities. When you listen to this from front to back (or back to front, as Stevie idiotically says), you hear that sensation of coherence in a single night. To me, this is important as a live Mac set because it’s probably the first time we’ve ever heard a professional release in its entirety from a single place and time, except for some radio broadcasts like the Trod Nossel studio concert from 1975 or some pre-1975 stuff. Even the Tusk and Mirage shows released on video were all scrambled and shortened. I really do hope Rhino compiles several more of these things. I wish they could get their hands on a Wild Heart concert — don’t even ask Stevie, just do it — or a Street Angel concert.