Question for pre-Tango fans who went to Tango shows and those who became fans w/Tango

[EveryHour]

I am wondering...

Those of you who were fans before Tango (and had been to shows on previous tours) and went to Tango shows: How did you feel about Rick and Billy and the addition of backup musicians?

Also...were those of you who became fans with Tango thrown off or frustrated that there was one guy on the album and different guys at the show?

Random curiosities.....

[jbrownsjr]

I thought the Tango tour was amazing even though I was so hurt LB was not there. I mean I was sick to my stomach when I heard he left.

Rick and Billy were great. Christine took over for that tour and the next one as well. Stevie who I thought stole the Mirage tour (she was on fire that tour) seemed out of it a little the Tango and BTM. I thought Christine was a little weak on the Mirage tour.

So in conclusion (sorry about the ramble). I was pleased with it even though I was upset about LB leaving.

[chiliD]

[sarcasm]Wow, Fleetwood Mac touring with new members, what a totally unique concept. [/sarcasm] Because I've been a fan since the bands' inception, changing personnel has NEVER been that much of a big deal with me, once I got over Peter Green's departure, that is.

The 1987/88 Shake The Cage tour, as it was officially called, is VERY close to my favorite Fleetwood Mac tour of all-time.

[jbrownsjr]

I guess I'm like Chili. I started listening around Mystery to Me so the changes hurt, but you got used to them.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by chiliD

[sarcasm]Wow, Fleetwood Mac touring with new members, what a totally unique concept. [/sarcasm] Because I've been a fan since the bands' inception, changing personnel has NEVER been that much of a big deal with me, once I got over Peter Green's departure, that is.

The 1987/88 Shake The Cage tour, as it was officially called, is VERY close to my favorite Fleetwood Mac tour of all-time.

I thought The Dance tour was probably the most note perfect tour ever for FM since my tenure of fandom began with FM FM. But, I have to agree the Shake the Cage tour was great as I like Billy and Rick.

[sparky]

The guys were cool. They made for some interesting musical changes. I liked the two guitar thing, and the bluesy style they added. The tour, however, was a bit of a drag because Stevie was a total zombie at the shows I saw.

[dontlookdown]

at the time I remember being really surprised at how good the band was. i wanted to join the "Lindsey who?" ranks because there was so much good energy - at least at the New York shows.

Looking back - and watching the Tango live video - I have to say, their sound was pretty "watered down" and generic compared to Lindsey's.

Rick and Billy are great - but I think they're better suited for a Jackson Browne tour or a Bonnie Raitt tour. Fleetwood Mac is too unique and too high energy and too loud for them. They need Lindsey to keep things fresh. Thank God he's back.

[EveryHour]

Originally Posted by chiliD

The 1987/88 Shake The Cage tour, as it was officially called, is VERY close to my favorite Fleetwood Mac tour of all-time.

...and which one is closer?

[HomerMcvie]

so we were left with Mick, John,Christine, Bekka, Rick, and Billy. They were out promoting the Time album.

Christine was there???

[David]

Originally Posted by EveryHour

Those of you who were fans before Tango (and had been to shows on previous tours) and went to Tango shows: How did you feel about Rick and Billy and the addition of backup musicians?

Both struck me as somewhat nervous, maybe even unwilling, leaders of a megaband. They probably didn't have much time to adjust to the wild circumstances of joining the Fleetwood Mac juggernaut. There were things they did well: Don't Let Me Down Again, Go Your Own Way, I Loved Another Woman, Stand Back (those two forged the arrangement that is played to this day), Seven Wonders. Other ideas they had I wasn't so crazy about: World Turning, The Chain, Don't Stop (that lumbering, top-heavy arrangement has also lasted to this day).

Oddly, neither of them was able to evolve in any noticeable way in a live setting: e.g., compare Rick's playing of The Chain at the Capital Centre in October 1987 with Las Vegas in June 1990, & you'll hear virtually no difference in the riffs, the tempo, the attack or the general tone. This may have been the fault of the band in general, however. I call the 1987 tour the Digital Tour because everything went digital, & that gave a clinical dullness to the instrumentation (Mick's drums had never before sounded so bloodless & Christine's quirky keyboard presence was blunted) & the vocals, particularly the backup women. Speaking of which, there were the backup players. Oy gevalt. That was the year they all trouped out onstage for the duration of the concert -- one of the most unfortunate decisions the band's ever made, as far as I'm concerned. It was the tour that Fleetwood Mac got perilously closer to your worst MOR nightmare than it had ever been before.

Stevie herself was a different woman, but her stodgy comportment, which had only started that year, was sort of refreshing at the time, parodoxically enough. Christine was in great voice, but I wondered where that beatnik/bohemian quality of hers from years past had gone. I was sorry to see it go.

All in all, on okay big rock show (the catalog saved it) -- impersonal, not a lot of individuality & practically no idiosyncrasy -- about as far from the fey minimalism of the Tango in the Night album as you could get. And I can't help thinking it was probably deliberate.

[ricohv]

Tango was my first FM tour and I have to say I thought it was great. In retrospect is does seem a bit sanitized compared to tours before it, but there was so much anti-Lindsey sentiment at the time that I was happy to see pretty decent sounding and playing replacements (I think this configuration of the band could've really shaped up to carry on the FM legacy -I'm not sure what went weird- sort of lackluster songwriting on BTM, but not terrible. And something about the production of that album-like how everyone says No Questions Asked sounds like it was recorded in a trash can -so does a lot of that album to me. It just sounds sort of "thin"-I thought Love is Dangerous was snappy and could've been big on the radio but Stevies voice was just kind of lost in the mix...anyways, I digress!).
After having seen Stevie for the first time on 3 Rock A Little shows she did seem tamer but, of course everyone knew she had just went through Betty Ford and it also seemed to me at the time maybe she was just being sort of respectful and being part of the band-as opposed to the flailer out there speaking in tongues. Again, in retrospect maybe a good old fashioned excorcism/snake charming is what those shows needed to really set them on fire. Stevie did not seem off in the shows I saw-she actually seemed more in control of her voice and just more refined, which as much as we all love a good Sisters Of the Moon excorcism, (cocaine recovery/Klonopin addiction/Eipstein Barr syndrome/leaking breast implants aside) it is inevitable I suppose, that even the Queen of Rock is bound to grow older and more refined at some point! How's that for a rambling, hum drum answer!
Ricoh

[AngelaM]

It was the Tango album that drew me towards FM, but I soon became a solid Lindsey fan so for me FM didn't retain the same level of interest after he left. I didn't go to any of the concerts (partly because I was a student and didn't have money to burn) and although I bought BTM I probably only listened to it a couple of times. I didn't bother again about FM until The Dance.

I know Mick (amongst others) goes on about all the different versions of FM, but like golddustwoman says there are really only two versions that count: the Peter Green version and the Lindsey Buckingham version. And I do mean the Lindsey Buckingham version because the band was a shadow of itself when Stevie was there without him. I remember her saying in an interview that she could have left when he did and no one would have blinked and personally I think she should have done. Stevie on her own works fine - it's a whole different feel, style, emphasis, whatever you want to call it - but Lindsey and Stevie with FM - whatever their personal or professional lives now, feelings towards one and other (or no feelings) - are a duet within a band. The sum is greater than the parts.

My two-pennies worth.

Angela
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[HomerMcvie]

I know Mick (amongst others) goes on about all the different versions of FM, but like golddustwoman says there are really only two versions that count: the Peter Green version and the Lindsey Buckingham version.

Sacrilege! Bob Welch, and Christine, pulled FM through several years, that FM, most likely, would've DIED the death(=no BN, for you chiffoners). They got airplay. They WERE successful, even if not by Rumours comparison.
Do any of you wonder why Mystery to Me is CONSTANTLY listed as one of the favorite FM albums? What in the F did Bob Welch do to deserve this forgotten fate??? I don't GET it. I'd like to punch Mick in the mouth the next time he dogs Bob.
Ungrateful, stupid ****!(Mick) Greedy, ignorant loser! He's a real pro at milking the talent of others. Yet, he still forgets Bob. He must be the luckiest man alive....at least until his next bankruptcy....

[macfan 57]

I agree with Homer. The Bob/Christine line-up is my favorite Fleetwood Mac line-up. Fleetwood Mac is NOT just the Peter Green & Rumours line-ups.

I enjoyed the Tango tour. I never really cared for the Stevie/Lindsey angle, so I really liked the show that I saw. Even better, without Lindsey there were more Christine songs, which made me VERY happy. I liked Rick & Billy live. I was only vaguely familiar with Billy & had never heard of Rick. But, they won me over. Billy is a very good singer with & Rick is a terrific, but underrated guitarist. I also LOVED the set list. The only thing missing were a few Bob Welch era songs. The only complaint that I have about that tour is those back-up singers, too distracting in my opinion. I prefer just the band.

[AngelaM]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

Ungrateful, stupid ****!(Mick) Greedy, ignorant loser! He's a real pro at milking the talent of others. Yet, he still forgets Bob. He must be the luckiest man alive....at least until his next bankruptcy....

I know this is going off topic, but he really is the jammiest person on this earth. How many times has this man gone bust? And, what does he spend it on? Surely not just the white stuff?



Angela
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