Las Vegas 12-31-1995

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by Street_Dreamer

Bekka should have been doing anything but Stevie's songs. She should have done deeper cuts like Spare Me A Little Of Your Love, Why, Just Crazy Love or Warm Ways. Sugar Daddy would have been a fantastic song for her to do.

I've never felt that Dave was a good fit for Fleetwood Mac. He always came across to me as someone who's a "straight-ahead" performer whereas most of the members of the band felt like they could branch out. Besides, if you can't get along with Bekka Bramlett, you must be a giant @$$hole.

Even if things worked out completely with this era of the group, success still would have been limited given the amount of change within the band. I like the Time album but the best thing that happened IMO was it gave Bekka her biggest platform. I wish more people would be able to get past whatever comparisons they thing about a blonde replacing another blonde (or two depending on your point of view.) She's such a fantastic and overlooked talent. She also seems to be an absolute sweetheart of a person who has never seemed to allow whatever negativity came from that period to affect her.

Well, could they fill ANY seats without milking "the hits"? They were out with Pat Benetar and REO Speedwagon. THAT crowd didn't want to hear unknown album cuts(I did, though). The crowd around me bitched incessantly, about how "this isn't FM!"

Bekka is the greatest singer FM ever had. She STILL has pipes to die for. I went and saw her band in Nashville pre Covid, several times, and she was awesome. And stood out in the sidewalk like some commoner on break, smoking her cancer sticks. I asked her about Time, and she acted shocked that I knew about it. The band truly could have had a new horizon, with her as the singer, if they'd only been given the chance.

[David]

The one and only time I saw them was fall 1994 (after Stevie’s superb concerts in Northern California at Arco Arena with Rick Vito and Russ Kunkel). Mac was playing Konocti Harbor Spa in Clear Lake, a buffet dinner club with about 200 people eating chicken and rice pilaf at their tables. After dessert was finished, you turned your chair toward the small stage at one end of the room — and there was Fleetwood Mac. Not exactly auspicious.

They played essentially the same set (five or six Mac hits and several Mason numbers, just over an hour) with the same confused listlessness and flippancy. Afterwards, I went out on the boat dock and talked to Mick Fleetwood, who was smoking a cigarette and staring out over the dark water.

It didn’t really matter who was in the band at this point. The band had no focus, no raison d’être. It was as if their arrest warrant and death sentence had already been signed, not only by their label but the public, as well. They had sunk to the level of a side dish with your chicken and rice.

[HomerMcvie]

I had lawn seats, and the people around me were bitching incessantly, "this isn't Fleetwood Mac!"

[jmn3]

Originally Posted by David

The one and only time I saw them was fall 1994 (after Stevie’s superb concerts in Northern California at Arco Arena with Rick Vito and Russ Kunkel). Mac was playing Konocti Harbor Spa in Clear Lake, a buffet dinner club with about 200 people eating chicken and rice pilaf at their tables. After dessert was finished, you turned your chair toward the small stage at one end of the room — and there was Fleetwood Mac. Not exactly auspicious.

They played essentially the same set (five or six Mac hits and several Mason numbers, just over an hour) with the same confused listlessness and flippancy. Afterwards, I went out on the boat dock and talked to Mick Fleetwood, who was smoking a cigarette and staring out over the dark water.

It didn’t really matter who was in the band at this point. The band had no focus, no raison d’être. It was as if their arrest warrant and death sentence had already been signed, not only by their label but the public, as well. They had sunk to the level of a side dish with your chicken and rice.

I think this is what Lindsey called the “steakhouse circuit” during that MTV interview for The Dance. “Next stop, Palookaville!”

[jmn3]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

The band truly could have had a new horizon, with her as the singer, if they'd only been given the chance.

Could they though? They’d have to totally disassociate themselves with the Rumours era of the band and there’s no way that was going to happen at that point. Even if the Time album had been pushed, how could they reasonably tour it effectively with Christine on the album but not on the road? And by the time we’re talking about, with Hell Freezes Over still making obscene amounts of money, no doubt that any restart of Fleetwood Mac was going to be to reset it back to the 1975-87 era.

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by jmn3

Could they though? They’d have to totally disassociate themselves with the Rumours era of the band and there’s no way that was going to happen at that point. Even if the Time album had been pushed, how could they reasonably tour it effectively with Christine on the album but not on the road? And by the time we’re talking about, with Hell Freezes Over still making obscene amounts of money, no doubt that any restart of Fleetwood Mac was going to be to reset it back to the 1975-87 era.

If they were willing to forego commercial success, there was the alt.country/No Depression/Americana movement that was growing. They could have carved out a niche in that, especially if they’d replaced Dave Mason with Mick Taylor, who was part of the Rolling Stones’ country-rock era. Maybe they could’ve gotten signed to an indie label like Matador, but I absolutely think they could have redefined the band.

However, that would have required leaving an insane amount of money on the table. I don’t think Mick or John would have been willing to do that, and it would be hard to blame them, since it’s the same amount of work either way.