Stevie was awful tonight *spoilers*

[TheScoop]

Originally Posted by fleetwoodtrick

*hisses angrily* First, you come in here with a fake setlist, then you tell us that Stevie sucks. That is not a good way to start it off, IMO.

For instance: (I am most certainly not pick on you, it's just an example!) Carrie was picking on Stevie last night on the setlist topic. But she has over 10,000 posts. When you have 10,000 posts, you can bitch about Stevie as much as you want. But one of the first things you post here shouldn't be bashing the woman half of the people on this board are obcessed with.

I'm very unimpressed.

I honestly couldn't care less that you feel I need to have thousands of posts on here to justify my own opinions or to feel worthy enough to share my feelings about the performance I saw last night. I have been a Stevie/Mac fan for over 25 years and I have seen every single tour (including solo tours) up until this point. I have been to pretty much every opening night show as well and yes, I have seen Stevie nervous during those performances. However, this was a completely different story. She was simply unprofessional last night and could not even muster 10% of the energy level that the rest of the band put forth. She forgot the words to most of the songs (including Rhiannon & Dreams which she has now performed 1000s of times in her career). She kept playing with her ear pieces the whole night and kept talking to the guys handling the sound. This was of course not the first time I have seen her do such things over the years. But not to this extent. At one point Lindsey was about to start singing one of his songs (can't remember which one right now) and she was still mouthing something to someone toward the side of the stage. Sorry, but that is unprofessional. It was a distraction and quite annoying, I must say. Weak vocals throughout (with the exception of certain parts of "Sara", "Storms", and the very ending of "Silver Springs" when she shouted "never get away, never get away, never get away"). The rest of her performance however was a mess. Again, she didn't seem nervous at all. If anything, she seemed quite relaxed. Maybe she was heavily medicated, who knows. But if it's an opening night show in a semi-major market, you better bring your "A" game, and she sure didn't. She didn't dance, she hardly played the tambourine, she forgot the words to almost every song, she constantly missed her cues, her eyes were shut for more than half of each song, she kept mouthing stuff to the sound guys, she kept playing with her ear pieces, and yet still managed to smile throughout. How precious.

Anyway, I don't want this to come across as if I'm picking on Stevie because of her age. I am not at all. If she's having a problem moving around on stage, I would have no problem with her standing at the microphone the entire night and REALLY singing out her songs. But she couldn't even do that either. She lacked passion, focus, and enthusiasm. She was clearly out of pace with the rest of the band and honestly, they deserved much better than that. Lindsey's performance was excellent. Sure, his vocals weren't exactly perfect either, but at least he belted them out with passion and energy and played his butt off on the guitar. I would expect nothing less from him and he certainly delivered. Same for John and Mick. All three of them are professional musicians and they performed beautifully. They were all "in the moment", except unfortunately for their front woman who was clearly on some other planet.

[jwd]

Originally Posted by TheScoop

I honestly couldn't care less that you feel I need to have thousands of posts on here to justify my own opinions or to feel worthy enough to share my feelings about the performance I saw last night. I have been a Stevie/Mac fan for over 25 years and I have seen every single tour (including solo tours) up until this point. I have been to pretty much every opening night show as well and yes, I have seen Stevie nervous during those performances. However, this was a completely different story. She was simply unprofessional last night and could not even muster 10% of the energy level that the rest of the band put forth. She forgot the words to most of the songs (including Rhiannon & Dreams which she has now performed 1000s of times in her career). She kept playing with her ear pieces the whole night and kept talking to the guys handling the sound. This was of course not the first time I have seen her do such things over the years. But not to this extent. At one point Lindsey was about to start singing one of his songs (can't remember which one right now) and she was still mouthing something to someone toward the side of the stage. Sorry, but that is unprofessional. It was a distraction and quite annoying, I must say. Weak vocals throughout (with the exception of certain parts of "Sara", "Storms", and the very ending of "Silver Springs" when she shouted "never get away, never get away, never get away"). The rest of her performance was a mess. Again, she didn't seem nervous at all. If anything, she seemed quite relaxed. Maybe she was heavily medicated, who knows. But if it's an opening night show in a semi-major market, you better bring your "A" game, and she sure didn't. She didn't dance, she hardly played the tambourine, she forgot the words to almost every song, she constantly missed her cues, her eyes were shut for more than half of each song, she kept mouthing stuff to the sound guys, she kept playing with her ear pieces, and yet still she managed to smile throughout. How precious.

Anyway, I don't want this to come across as if I'm picking on Stevie because of her age. I am not at all. If she's having a problem moving around on stage, I would have no problem with her standing at the microphone the entire night and REALLY singing out her songs. But she couldn't even do that either. She lacked passion, focus, and enthusiasm. She was clearly out of pace with the rest of the band and honestly, they deserved much better than that. Lindsey's performance was excellent. Sure, his vocals weren't exactly perfect either, but at least he belted them out with passion and ebergy and played his butt off on the guitar. I would expect nothing less from him and he certainly delivered. Same for John and Mick. All three of them are professional musicians and they performed beautifully. They were all "in the moment", except unfortunately for their front woman who was clearly on some other planet.

That's one opinion, which you are most certainly entitled to. But man, I've read so many other comments of folks who attended the show last night, and said just the opposite. Even the press gave the WHOLE BAND rave reviews. It's funny how some people can go to the same show and see things so differently.

I thought Stevie's Soundstage was exceptionally good. I can also testify that the performances on her last two solo tours were inspiring and totally enjoyable, to me. Stevie Nicks will leave that stage when she's damn well ready to. I don't think it's going to happen any time soon!

[fleetwoodtrick]

[QUOTE=jwd;801911]
I thought Stevie's Soundstage was exceptionally good. I can also testify that the performances on her last two solo tours were inspiring and totally enjoyable, to me. Stevie Nicks will leave that stage when she's damn well ready to. I don't think it's going to happen any time soon![/QUOTE]

Amen!

[Tango]

Originally Posted by jwd

That's one opinion, which you are most certainly entitled to. But man, I've read so many other comments of folks who attended the show last night, and said just the opposite. Even the press gave the WHOLE BAND rave reviews. It's funny how some people can go to the same show and see things so differently.

I thought Stevie's Soundstage was exceptionally good. I can also testify that the performances on her last two solo tours were inspiring and totally enjoyable, to me. Stevie Nicks will leave that stage when she's damn well ready to. I don't think it's going to happen any time soon!

I agree with you: I don't think Stevie's going anywhere. I am seeing more positive than negative comments. Maybe Stevie will leave Fleetwood Mac at the end of this tour, but I think she's got a strong enough following to continuing performing at a solo level that suites her. Stevie definitely happier and more animated when she's not with Lindsey. She was the happy rocker chick with Don Henley and Tom Petty on her recent outtings. Her Soundstage DVD is the best looking recording of Stevie that we've seen in years!

Both Stevie and Lindsey admit to years of not getting along and have constant power plays. That's not going to change. However, last night seems nothing more than 'first night jitters' for Stevie. As someone pointed out, you could actually see gooseflesh on her arms on one of the photos. Stevie doesn't like to take chances and has a clear comfort zone. At least STORMS is out of the vaults this time around. There's about 12 more that deserve to be "unleashed." And a few, perhaps, that ought to be "chained up."

At this point, I think if Stevie OR Lindsey left, there wouldn't be enough to sustain "Fleetwood Mac"- particularly worse if Stevie left. If you want to see more Lindsey solo you better be hoping this "money machine thing" works.

People whined at the possibility of "replacing" or filling in the vacancy left by Christine, and while a solid number of people on The Penguin appreciated Bekka Bramlett, I've certainly read enough whining over the years to know most won't deal with Stevie leaving. Rather than Sheryl Crow, they should have, perhaps, tried another more seasoned British female, at least someone with the same name. What's Chrissie Hynde up to these days? Nah, she's not a piano player. She's a songwriter/singer/guitarist. Would she give any balance or referee in the Stevie/Lindsey issues? Who knows. Who would want to take on that job! Whatever they do, I don't think they should give up on putting someone else in the band IF they want to push on and get an album out. I guess we have to see if they get through this tour first.

So who is bringing in the audience and filling the seats? I don't think it's Mick and his vest. And as the most "normal" member of the band at this point, I don't think it's John with his killer bass. I think it's the drama, it's the MUSIC, also the draw of both Stevie and Lindsey.

While I think TheScoop is rough in his overall assessment of Ms. Nicks, it's his opinion. Stevie does play with that ear piece/pocket thing too much. She's fussing less with playing with her formerly billowing dresses at least. Some of that behavior is probably nerves. Maybe she's getting feedback in her ear. I remember that was an issue on the Trouble In Shangri-la tour and Lori figured it out.

[Moz]

Originally Posted by TheScoop

I honestly couldn't care less that you feel I need to have thousands of posts on here to justify my own opinions or to feel worthy enough to share my feelings about the performance I saw last night. I have been a Stevie/Mac fan for over 25 years and I have seen every single tour (including solo tours) up until this point. I have been to pretty much every opening night show as well and yes, I have seen Stevie nervous during those performances. However, this was a completely different story. She was simply unprofessional last night and could not even muster 10% of the energy level that the rest of the band put forth. She forgot the words to most of the songs (including Rhiannon & Dreams which she has now performed 1000s of times in her career). She kept playing with her ear pieces the whole night and kept talking to the guys handling the sound. This was of course not the first time I have seen her do such things over the years. But not to this extent. At one point Lindsey was about to start singing one of his songs (can't remember which one right now) and she was still mouthing something to someone toward the side of the stage. Sorry, but that is unprofessional. It was a distraction and quite annoying, I must say. Weak vocals throughout (with the exception of certain parts of "Sara", "Storms", and the very ending of "Silver Springs" when she shouted "never get away, never get away, never get away"). The rest of her performance however was a mess. Again, she didn't seem nervous at all. If anything, she seemed quite relaxed. Maybe she was heavily medicated, who knows. But if it's an opening night show in a semi-major market, you better bring your "A" game, and she sure didn't. She didn't dance, she hardly played the tambourine, she forgot the words to almost every song, she constantly missed her cues, her eyes were shut for more than half of each song, she kept mouthing stuff to the sound guys, she kept playing with her ear pieces, and yet still managed to smile throughout. How precious.

Anyway, I don't want this to come across as if I'm picking on Stevie because of her age. I am not at all. If she's having a problem moving around on stage, I would have no problem with her standing at the microphone the entire night and REALLY singing out her songs. But she couldn't even do that either. She lacked passion, focus, and enthusiasm. She was clearly out of pace with the rest of the band and honestly, they deserved much better than that. Lindsey's performance was excellent. Sure, his vocals weren't exactly perfect either, but at least he belted them out with passion and energy and played his butt off on the guitar. I would expect nothing less from him and he certainly delivered. Same for John and Mick. All three of them are professional musicians and they performed beautifully. They were all "in the moment", except unfortunately for their front woman who was clearly on some other planet.

Dude, it's opening night. You make it sound like the sound/mic problems are her fault.

However, who knows about the meds thing. KLONOPIN'S BACK!

[SortaSavageLike]

So, once again:

[JbbyStew86]

I'll be the first to say, that an (obviously) bogus setlist, and bombastic claims made this guy pretty weak in the "esteem" department. But I do have to say that Stevie was a tad weak last night. The lack of effort in Landslide (how CAN you almost miss a cue when it's just you and the guitarist?), the Dreams almost putting me to sleep, etc. But all that's perfectly normal for an opening night...I guess. Just because LB is on the top of his game doesnt mean Stevie's slumming it. I'm sure she'll hit her stride in the next couple shows.

[macpai]

Originally Posted by JbbyStew86

I'll be the first to say, that an (obviously) bogus setlist, and bombastic claims made this guy pretty weak in the "esteem" department. But I do have to say that Stevie was a tad weak last night. The lack of effort in Landslide (how CAN you almost miss a cue when it's just you and the guitarist?), the Dreams almost putting me to sleep, etc. But all that's perfectly normal for an opening night...I guess. Just because LB is on the top of his game doesnt mean Stevie's slumming it. I'm sure she'll hit her stride in the next couple shows.

You miss a cue when you're so overwhelmed by the audience's reaction that you lose your place.
I thought it was so endearing.

[David]

Why are there so many audio problems? There's a sound crew whose job is to make sure everything goes smoothly night after night. Problems occur from time to time to everyone, but is it my imagination or are there far more problems affecting Fleetwood Mac every year they go out?

And that in-ear monitor business Stevie is hooked up to is insane. In all the Mac & solo videos recently, she is constantly fiddling with it. I saw Mac in Anaheim in 2003 & she was fiddling with the damn thing much of the night. She was fiddling with it here in 2001 on her solo tour, too. What on earth is up with it? Obviously, the dumb thing doesn't work well, or doesn't fit her ear well, or something. It's like watching a teenager play with her cell phone in the mall. It's ridiculous for Nicks to be onstage performing & reaching for the device on her hip 300 times a night (unless that's how it's designed to be used?).

Could the problem be with her & not the device? Is she losing her hearing? It's not unheard of for rock stars to lose their hearing in old age.

[TheScoop]

Originally Posted by David

Why are there so many audio problems? There's a sound crew whose job is to make sure everything goes smoothly night after night. Problems occur from time to time to everyone, but is it my imagination or are there far more problems affecting Fleetwood Mac every year they go out?

And that in-ear monitor business Stevie is hooked up to is insane. In all the Mac & solo videos recently, she is constantly fiddling with it. I saw Mac in Anaheim in 2003 & she was fiddling with the damn thing much of the night. She was fiddling with it here in 2001 on her solo tour, too. What on earth is up with it? Obviously, the dumb thing doesn't work well, or doesn't fit her ear well, or something. It's like watching a teenager play with her cell phone in the mall. It's ridiculous for Nicks to be onstage performing & reaching for the device on her hip 300 times a night (unless that's how it's designed to be used?).

Could the problem be with her & not the device? Is she losing her hearing? It's not unheard of for rock stars to lose their hearing in old age.

It was ridiculous how many times she played with that ear piece last night. I agree that in general she fiddles with it too much, but she took it to a whole new level last night. At least if you need to adjust it here and there, be subtle about it. Don't adjust it between choruses for god's sake. No one enjoys seeing that sort of thing. It takes away from the whole performance aspect. It makes the whole thing seem all the more like a job/chore instead of what it's supposed to be.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by David

Could the problem be with her & not the device? Is she losing her hearing? It's not unheard of for rock stars to lose their hearing in old age.

Certainly it's not. Mick has lost his hearing after all. Yes, there was one song where Stevie sang it with BOTH of her hands up to her ears for a few minutes. I don't remember what it was, but it was like she was making headphones out of the palm of her hands and that was the only gesture we were getting from her for about a minute, as she sang. Kind of funny actually. Like she was pretending to be the "Hear No Evil" monkey.

I do think there was something wrong with the sound last night, because I could hardly hear the woman on Monday Morning and The Chain. I wouldn't have known she was there if my eyes were closed. After that it could have been all in her imagination.

Oh Tango, what you said about some songs that ought to be chained up is priceless. So funny.
Michele

[EveryHour]

Originally Posted by macpai

You miss a cue when you're so overwhelmed by the audience's reaction that you lose your place.
I thought it was so endearing.

You don't want to be sooooooo 'professional' in rock 'n' roll that you lose emotional and spontaneous moments like this!!! That's what it's all about.......

[ElusiveDreamer]

I seem to recall reading in a couple interviews somewhere with Stevie commenting she's now more reserved when performing with FM than when she's performing solo. And if there is a back-story to any drama going on it's possible we'll hear about it when the tour is all over ala SYW tour. I saw a picture on another thread from a Flickr spread where Stevie's standing in the shadows with a lovely smile and that smile looks real to me. I'm not sure at what point of the show that picture was taken and I'm willing to remain looking forward to seeing them perform when they're in my neck of the woods. I just hope these entertainers pace themselves and keep their health/energy rockin so they can maybe extend the tour to our friends overseas who I've heard truly want to see them again also.

[EveryHour]

Originally Posted by ElusiveDreamer

I seem to recall reading in a couple interviews somewhere with Stevie commenting she's now more reserved when performing with FM than when she's performing solo.

I do think she does some of it on purpose, in order to let the talent of the others shine through. I think she may be wanting to do whatever is within her power to deter the press and public from focusing on her 'celebrity' more than the band at this point. Even though it's not her fault, it's the way things are, and I'm sure it has hurt Lindsey. Perhaps it is something they have discussed openly now that they're older.

And in regards to the reported lack of passionate interaction with Lindsey, I'm wondering if she is starting to feel, within herself, that there is a respect issue now that Lindsey is married with kids. Especially now that the kids are getting older. What should LB say to Will if he comes offstage and says, "Daddy, how come you look at Stevie the same way you look at Mommy?". Maybe some parents can weigh in, since I don't have kids of my own.