Mohegan Sun from Stage Left

[Nikolaj]

I made it to the concert, and wound up in Front Row of Section 26, to the very left of the stage, Stevie's side, and where she entered and exited between songs. So, it was first row, if you don't mind watching a concert sideways
Stevie was walking fine and looked very good. She wore a black dress for the first songs, the red one came later in the show, though Lindsey came out in the red shirt, as in other shows I've read about. Stevie introduced 'Gypsy' as "a song from our Tusk album in 1975" and went into an animated story about how it was "about before we became famous, me taking my mattress off the frame and putting it on the floor, which i have always done"-- it's possible she may have said '1979' but it sure sounded like '75, and she definitely said it was from 'Tusk'-- oh well! I think Lindsey may have wanted to correct her, but he didn't, he just had a quick look on his face like 'oops'.... My favorite moments were 'Storms' and 'Say You Love Me'- i think they've worked out whatever kinks fans have noted, and the verses sounded excellent, as did the choruses.
Mick looked to me like he was feeling sick. His eyes looked puffy and his face seemed like he was in pain and just quietly dealing with it, but he played his heart out and put his all into the show. He was also quite noticeably very heavy. John remained very in the background, most usually facing Brett, who was to the very left at the rear of the stage- at least once John walked down the stairs right by my seat ( i believe it was on Micks' drum solo on "World Turning")-- i was right infront of the 'teleprompter' or whatever it was, set up next to several laptops- and the songs and the lyrics would be on the small screen, i imagine they were also visible on the stage for Lindsey and Stevie)-- amusing, near the end of the show, it said "Band Introductions" and then "Lori Nicks" which remained on the screen for several minutes, and Stevie gave hands over head oversized applause to Sharon Celani when she was introduced. The prompter also read "GO TO TENT" after 'Don't Stop'.
Lindsey was fantastic. The best 'I'm So Afraid' I have ever seen him do, and i saw the 'SYW' tour 4 times. He hinted broadly that there would be a new Mac album coming "We don't have a new album (pause) YET"-- to loud applause, early in the show.
I've always loved Stevie in concert, and this time i still did. However, though she was very professional and upbeat to the crowd, when she would turn to walk off the stage between songs, her smile instantly left her (not that i'd expect her to be all giddy) and she seemed sad just in her body language, walking purposefully and looking lovely (slimmer, i believe, in her hips than in a long time) An odd thing to me was there wasn't anyone, security or an assistant, waiting to walk with her, just a lone female with reddish hair could be seen in the doorway maybe 75 feet from the area Stevie walked alone, waiting for Stevie to reach the doorway. A nice moment, Lindsey singing 'Never Going Back Again' before Stevie joined him centerstage, she was in the wings, her back to the audience, her hand on her hip, eyes closed, and sighing like she was in heaven, listening to how he very effectively stretched out certain notes, i think it was his best singing of the night)-- As others have written, Stevie got better vocally as the night progressed, but on "Silver Springs"-- near the end, where she sings the difficult 'call and response' lines--- ("Was I just a fool"/ then "Give Me Just A Chance") this INTENSE look came on her face, lips pursed, and like a stutter, and ALL she got out was "fool" and "chance" on both of those lines, but then did a very nice and firey 'You'll never get Ay-Way" three times. But the intense concentration during the unsung "was i just a"-- managing to get the word 'Fool" out' and the also unsung "Give Me Just A"-- getting only "chance" out was fascinating and a little sad to watch. I think she is having some problems on this tour with her voice, to be sure. "Gold Dust Woman" was the least animated I've ever seen it performed by her ever, and it just sort of ended- i wasn't expecting the extended versions we heard on her last 2 solo tours, but i believe it was even shorter than the 'Rumours' cd version. Lindsey's singing live was quite good, i believe the best I've heard him, though, as someone else pointed out, he still comes on too strong on 'lightening strikes, maybe once, maybe twice'- but his overall singing i think has improved a LOT since 'The Dance' cd, which i just gave a spin for the first time in years, and was surprised at how much vibrato and weird vocal choices, he made. (just my subjective opinion, of course)
I think "Gypsy" definitely has to go. And Stevie sure seemed depressed singing it, too. It was unfortunate. Though her introduction of it was perky, for sure.
A weird feeling i get is that maybe (maybe?) finally Stevie is getting burnt out on the same songs as some of us are. She lost her place in 'Rhiannon' forgetting the 'taken by, taken by the sky' part before the 'dreams unwind' segment before Lindsey's solo. Or has it been removed from the arrangement this tour? I believe she also forgot her place once on 'Sara' though i won't swear by it, i'll need to check YouTube. It was fairly early on in the song, and i was distracted by ushers and latecomers, so maybe she didn't jump to a wrong place, perhaps, but i think she did.
Oh, and during the band introductions, they all got a huge round of applause, i was happy that Lindsey's was SUCH an ovation-- but then Mick's introduction of "Stephanie Nicks" got an ever huger ovation-- and yes, Lindsey noticed. The man's facial expressions, if he weren't so brilliant a guitarist, what an actor he could have made. Yes, he noticed her huge ovation, and that it was bigger than his huge ovation had been; yes he STILL compares and measures their applause when they are introduced. A nice change, though, was that he didn't seem that bothered by it, this time. He has to KNOW how excellent his performances are on this tour, this truly is the best I've ever seen Lindsey be in Fleetwood Mac.
I guess that's all. Just little things and how they struck me, ringside.