MSG - Oct 6

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by blackcat

I was there too! It almost feels unnecessary to post a review since so many videos are doing an amazing job capturing the show.

Some of us can't watch those videos, so these written reviews are very much appreciated. I don't care about the songs, I just want to know about what the band members did and you gave me some beautiful images. Thank you.

That woman with the Brett sign should have been escorted from the premises. I hate people like that so much. Glad you weren't one of the ones closest to her.

Michele

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by blackcat

I was there too! It almost feels unnecessary to post a review since so many videos are doing an amazing job capturing the show. !

That was a fantastic review!! Thank you.

[blackcat]

Thank you ^ ^. I'll tell you Michele, I was retracting my claws to not go after said young lady myself. I was so close to pulling out a $20.00 to pay someone to just rip the sign up. Time makes you bolder but I tried to be patient. Hiring the "hit"? Well, I thought I might be walking a thin line.

[jenniferuk]

Thank you for the details! I love reading the little nuances and seeing how well they cope when things go off script.

I would have lost it had that sign blocked my line of site!

I saw that Broadway star / singer Betty Buckley was there and tweeting. I mention as I know she has some fans here and has been at shows on previous tours.

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by applebucked

I have a friend who went to the same show and people are being asked to sit down by the staff WTF???

It's usual at MSG. They did the same in 1997 during the Reunión (Dance) tour.

[Lisa W]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

How did Christine sound? From the youtubes she sounds pretty good, but all three sound good on the youtube, which is a good sign..

Christine sounded terrific and her positive impact on the harmonies is very apparent. She smooths out the sound and everything sounds so much more full and balanced.

I'm still so thrilled at the great spirits the band members are in. I've been attending their shows since 1979 and they've never seemed this happy and comfortable in eachother's company. You can see they sincerely appreciate this opportunity for all five to perform together at such a high level after all they've experienced over the years.

Another unusual occurrence were the balloons that started floating through the arena during Go Your Own Way. They appeared to be coming from one of the suites in the back of the arena and a few made their way onto the stage. At one point Stevie kicked one to keep it out of her way. I noticed that the colors -- yellow, purple and white -- and wondered if some Lakers fans had infiltrated the Garden!

So many sweet moments that people have been writing about. When Stevie got mixed up and started to introduce Gypsy when it was time for Chris to speak about Over My Head, the interaction between the two of them was like seeing a private, funny moment between the pair. I also really liked the stage and lighting effects. For instance, during Gypsy, the video playing on the wall behind the band was based on the original Gypsy video with the vintage look and rain. At the end of the song when Stevie does her twirls, they insert her live color image into the video shot to evoke the end of the original video when she is twirling on the cliff. I loved this and thought it was such a classy touch!

I'm in NYC for the week, so will post more as I can after upcoming shows.

[rhiannondontgo]

Originally Posted by jkmaletic

Have they been letting people to the front for these past shows? Putting it nicely, are the "Lindsey girls" being led up to his side when the lights go down? I only want to know because I haven't bought my tickerts yet snd need to work out my strategy. Jamie

Yes security walked through the floor seats looking for groups of teenage or 20-something girls and lined us up on the side of the stage to run to stage when lights go down. It was pretty fun. I was right against the stage on Lindsey's side, directly against his monitor and mic. He was really fun. He had a sense of humor when we teased him and pointed at him during the "players only love you when they're playing" line, and smiled & gave us a look like he was saying "me?!". I accidentally hit him with a balloon at one point too. A drunk lady next to me kept smashing me into the stage and it was shaking his monitor and he looked amused by it. We got lots of Lindsey winks/smiles/points. He was really fun. Stevie comes to his side a lot too when she's dancing and hitting her tambo during Lindsey/Chris songs, so you still get a lot of Stevie action even on his side. She also comes right to his side during her "crackhead dance" in GDW and does it right in front of the Lindsey's mic area.
Anyway it was a really great show. Landslide was dedicated to Matthew who she called her stepson, and she said she is very proud of him. Chris sounded great and her prescence alone seemed to make Stevie so much more upbeat. I've never seen her smile so much in concert. My favorite song of the night was Little Lies for sure, it was so much fun. Highlight of the show to me was when Stevie stepped up to the mic to introduce her song with a story before Chris stepped up and looked at her funny and Stevie realized it wasn't time for her song, it was Christine's time for Over My Head. And then when it was time for Stevie's Gypsy story,she didn't remember it at first. She was funny, at one point she laughed at her mistake and said "At least I make myself laugh".

[Hawkeye]

Knowing this band, something happens spontaneously once and they are likely to rehearse that and make it permenant banter. Stevie will start telling her gypsy story before over my head every night and pretend the audience doesn't know it's coming and it'll grow into the point where the explanation into why the gypsy intro needed an intro to its intro until eventually over my head is dropped in favor of a 10 minute gypsy discussion, only focusing on gypsy for a minute and a half of the 10 minutes

[TimeCastASpell]

Originally Posted by rhiannondontgo

Yes security walked through the floor seats looking for groups of teenage or 20-something girls and lined us up on the side of the stage to run to stage when lights go down. It was pretty fun. I was right against the stage on Lindsey's side, directly against his monitor and mic. He was really fun. He had a sense of humor when we teased him and pointed at him during the "players only love you when they're playing" line, and smiled & gave us a look like he was saying "me?!". I accidentally hit him with a balloon at one point too. A drunk lady next to me kept smashing me into the stage and it was shaking his monitor and he looked amused by it. We got lots of Lindsey winks/smiles/points. He was really fun. Stevie comes to his side a lot too when she's dancing and hitting her tambo during Lindsey/Chris songs, so you still get a lot of Stevie action even on his side. She also comes right to his side during her "crackhead dance" in GDW and does it right in front of the Lindsey's mic area.

This seriously happens at shows?! Oh man, finally my age works in my favor! Too bad my health doesn't so much but I've been debating floor or accessible seating and am going with an aunt and uncle in Detroit but shoot, they won't mind if I go run off to the front. Thrilled to hear Stevie was over on your side a lot. Last year I had accessible seating on the Lindsey side of the stage, up a bit on the far side and it was probably the second best seats around beyond being in the front on the floor but we didnt get enough Stevie! Pretty much only when she walked to our side to wave. Although that's got to be another benefit to having Christine back, Stevie can't be way off on one side anymore.

Thanks so much everyone for the awesome reviews. My health has been really rough this year and its going to be tough to even make it to a show but its literally the one thing I've had to look forward to and I am SO THRILLED they're doing Seven Wonders and Sisters of the Moon! I've been on a huge SOTM kick lately, has to be one of their all time best and most underrated songs- I'd take it over GDW any day!

So cute about Stevie and Gypsy/OMH intro. Last year in Detroit her earpiece or whatever somehow stopped working at one point and after how scripted everything was it was so awesome to see the earpiece malfunction and the amazing way she handled it, joking about how it was just like the 70s again. As much as she seems to love to follow a script, perhaps she doesn't give herself enough credit for how entertaining she is off the cuff and how gracefully she handles anything that goes wrong. And those off the cuff moments stick with you for sure.

[michelej1]

Fleetwood Mac Relives Past Peaks & Lows at Madison Square Garden Concert

Billboard By Kenneth Partridge | October 07, 2014 12:00 PM EDT

http://www.billboard.com/articles/62...garden-concert

In the setlist created for Fleetwood Mac's latest tour -- the first in 16 years with singer and keyboardist Christine McVie -- Fleetwood Mac leaves plenty of room for inter-song stories.

And for good reason: This band's personal dramas are nearly as legendary as its music, and the various elephants in the room can't be ignored. They ought to get their own drum solos during "Tusk."

With that in mind, it hardly felt like a misstep on Monday night (Oct. 6) when Stevie Nicks jumped ahead during the first of two Mac concerts at Madison Square Garden and prepared to tell New York City fans the tale behind "Gypsy." The problem? It was time for song No. 15 on the setlist -- where McVie explains and sings "In Over My Head" -- not 16, and that left Stevie to offer a sheepish apology.

"I don't know the story for this one," Nicks said with a smile. "I'd love to."


The lives of the five individuals onstage are so intertwined, of course, that a little overlap is inevitable.

Nearly 40 years after the release of its 1977 landmark Rumours, this British-American band of ex-lovers and drug buddies has put professionalism before lingering resentments. And during Monday's rock-solid performance, Nicks' minor gaff was the only chink in the armor. The Mac attack rolls on, leveling cities with the power of its hits and letting the backstory frame the presentation without distracting from the songs.

Guitarist Lindsey Buckingham wouldn't have it any other way. Monday night at MSG, the skinny-jeaned singer, guitarist, musical director, and onetime Nicks paramour bounded across the stage with more energy than his four bandmates combined.

With McVie back in the fold, Buckingham predicted a "profound and poetic new chapter for this band," and to prove his point, he followed that statement with "I Know I'm Not Wrong," a punk-inspired cut from the Mac's divisive 1979 double LP Tusk.

"I Know I'm Not Wrong" didn't get the same reaction as "The Chain, "You Make Loving Fun," or "Dreams -- the trio of smashes that opened the 24-song, two-plus-hour show -- but it pointed a way forward for the group. Buckingham and McVie have reportedly been spearheading efforts for a new Mac record, and if Buckingham brings any of the barking intensity he showed on "I'm Not Afraid" or the fiery doom-grass finger workout "Big Love" (a showcase for his innovative picking technique), the Mac might return with a worthy addition to its canon.

If not, they can continue coasting on the old stuff, though it helps to have McVie making her triumphant return. The Mac was getting dangerously low on storyline. In addition to presiding over her excellent '70s gems and oft-overlooked '80s hits "Everywhere" and "Little Lies" -- both of which kept the band relevant as the classic lineup began to dissolve -- McVie gave Monday's show a reason for happening.

"Our songbird has returned," drummer Mick Fleetwood said during his stage introductions -- and indeed, McVie's honeyed vocals are as strong as ever. She's the Mac's not-so-secret pop weapon, and on "You Make Loving Fun," she glided easily through the high notes of the chorus. "And the songbirds keep singing," she sang during the night's grand finale, "Songbird," "Like they know the score."

Nicks, by contrast, gave deeper, more growling readings of "Dreams" and "Rhiannon" than casual fans might have been ready for. While the latter became a challenge to sing along to, Stevie's new approach suits her dark, mystical lyrics. These days, Stevie digs into the material more than she belts it out, though she might have been saving herself for late-set thriller "Gold Dust Woman," that wonderful anti-fairytale about cocaine and breakups and everything else that went into the Rumours cauldron.


The first encore belonged to Fleetwood -- all decked out in his dandy pirate-wear -- who yipped and shouted as he banged out the drum solo in "World Turning," offering clues into what goes through a drummer's mind when he's given free reign. Next was "Don't Stop," which sadly didn't bring a surprise appearance from Hillary Clinton, who danced awkwardly to the tune two decades ago at her husband's first inauguration.

It probably wasn't the right time for Hillary to announce her candidacy for president anyway. Monday's gig -- and this entire tour -- is about nostalgia for the '70s and '80s, not the '90s. Perhaps Clinton will find a campaign song on that new record the Mac is promising. There's supposed to one called "Carnival Begin," a fitting title for all parties involved.

[michelej1]

[Hey, did Mick say "Amen" or "Hallelujah"? Which is it. ]


Concert review: Fleetwood Mac at Madison Square Garden

October 7, 2014, 12:58 PM Last updated: Tuesday, October 7, 2014, 1:13 PM By JAY LUSTIG Special to The Record

http://www.northjersey.com/news/conc...rden-1.1104025

“Hallelujah,” drummer Mick Fleetwood said when introducing Christine McVie to the crowd at Madison Square Garden, Monday night. And it was exactly the right word.

When singer-keyboardist McVie decided to stop touring with the band in the late ’90s, the loss wasn’t only a musical one. A band is a family, not just an assemblage of artists, and rarely is that more true than in the case of Fleetwood Mac, whose mid- to late-’70s commercial and artistic peak coincided with a time when various relationships within the band were being tested, broken and reassembled.

Many of the band’s best songs are autobiographical, or at least seem to be, so you really need the original cast to give them their full resonance. When ex-lovers Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, for instance, sang together on “Go Your Own Way” and “Silver Springs” on Monday, they glared at each other, as if their romantic wounds were still fresh.

McVie sings lead on hits such as “Over My Head,” “You Make Loving Fun” and “Say You Love Me,” as well as the majestic ballad “Songbird.” So when it was announced, early this year, that she would be rejoining the band for its current On With the Show Tour — which began last week, and also includes a stop at the Prudential Center in Newark on Saturday — it made the tour into an event. Those songs would be back, but more important, the entire family, with all its thorny dynamics, would be reunited.

Appropriately enough, the band began the Garden show with its anthem of interconnectedness, “The Chain,” and sensibly arranged the setlist to underscore McVie’s presence: The second song was “You Make Loving Fun,” and the last encore was “Songbird.”

The evening’s emotional high point, though, belonged to Nicks and her sad, reflective acoustic ballad, “Landslide.”

The band is working on a new album, but stuck to its old material at the Garden. Still, there was no doubt that band members are feeling re-energized by McVie’s return. I’ve rarely seen a classic-rock show where all the band members seemed so happy just to be there together. I know this is crazy, but during “Second Hand News” and “I Know I’m Not Wrong,” I thought of the Ramones: The band barreled forward with that much focused energy. It really was amazing, particularly when you think that Fleetwood and bassist John McVie co-founded the first incarnation of the band as part of the blues-rock revival of the 1960s, and that current band members (who were joined by four unobtrusive backing musicians at the Garden) range in age from 65 to 71.

There were some minor surprises, including a slowed-down, hypnotic version of “Never Going Back Again.” But in general, the band followed its usual script. Nicks did her spinning on “Rhiannon” and “Gypsy,” Buckingham stomped around the stage playing wild guitar solos on “Tusk” and “I’m So Afraid.” Fleetwood got the crowd charged up by taking a long drum solo, complete with eccentric vocalizing (he almost seemed to be speaking in tongues at times), during “World Turning.”

Yes, it was a greatest-hits show, but it was also a chance for the band to touch bases with Christine McVie again before setting off in a new direction.

During his introduction for “I Know I’m Not Wrong,” Buckingham said that this is the beginning of a new chapter for Fleetwood Mac that will last for a long time and be “very fruitful.” Things always seem to be changing in the Fleetwood Mac world, so there are no guarantees. But at the very least, the stage has been set for Buckingham’s vision to come true, and as long as everyone can remain as positive and inspired as they were on Monday, there’s no reason it can’t happen.

[SadAngel86]

Originally Posted by blackcat

I was there too! It almost feels unnecessary to post a review since so many videos are doing an amazing job capturing the show. I had a VIP ticket but skipped out on going to the M&G after, thankfully, hearing SadAngel86 describe it.

Yes, there were "crickets" chirping before the show began, then the lights lowered. I don't know that I've ever heard why crickets are used. (RATS! I should have gone to the M&G and asked that!)

Well, blackcat, I wouldn't go as far to say that what happened to me at the United Center M&G will always happen at the meet & greet. It could've just been whoever the VIP host was that day and since I haven't seen anyone describe Minneapolis or NYC I have nothing to compare it to. At least you still made a nice night out of it.

You know, if anyone was interested, I did record a video of what happens when the lights went out at the UC. They would dim the first set of lights and then some time after that the whole place would go dark. Anyway, if you're interested, here it is:

[macpai]

Originally Posted by jcalzaretta

Anyone at show? I was. I was also at 10.2 in Chicago.

Chicago FAR better. Crowd way more into it. Half of NYC sat for the whole show.

Last night - during Gold Dust Woman. I think John messed up a bit. Could see the look between him and Stevie on it. Ultimate professionals. Did not phase anyone in the band. Killer performance. She danced her ass off!

Stevie also started telling her Gypsy story when Chris was supposed to tell her Over My Head story. Priceless. Lot of interaction between the ladies last night. Loved it.

Look forward to next show - DC!

I was there. I didn't sit -- and even better, no one ever told me to or even looked sideways at me. I found that super-cool, that's not usually the case.

They sound amazing with all five together! I was blown the heck away. I wish I could go every night and just live through the variety of emotions their music instills in me.

Christine, it was just so bloody wonderful to have her back.
And John, well, I feel blessed that he's there and giving it all backbone.
Mick and Stevie and Lindsey, I adore ya.

I'm not bothered by who stood and for how long, all that's important to me is what the experience was for me -- transcendent -- and how my sis liked it -- she loved it. So very happy I got to see all five together FINALLY.

[wheart]

Both shows were amazing. Crowd was better at the second one. You could really tell how genuinely happy the band was to have Chris back. Very heartwarming to watch. SOTM is improving slightly. The choruses are less lifeless. I liked Over Head more than I thought I would. Stevie switched up the ending on silver springs with some incoherent babble. I LOVED it. I will post more later. two fantastic shows!!!

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by wheart

Both shows were amazing. Crowd was better at the second one. You could really tell how genuinely happy the band was to have Chris back. Very heartwarming to watch. SOTM is improving slightly. The choruses are less lifeless. I liked Over Head more than I thought I would. Stevie switched up the ending on silver springs with some incoherent babble. I LOVED it. I will post more later. two fantastic shows!!!

Thanks for posting. The youtubes sound so good. I can only imagine how good it must sound in person.