Soundstage aired last night - any reviews?

[EveryHour]

Originally Posted by Johnny Stew

No, "Rhiannon" isn't exactly the goosebump-inducing scorcher it used to be, but I think Stevie's fashioned it into a really intense slow-burner, that perfectly suits her current voice and deportment.
For me, it doesn't lack energy or passion... it's just a different reading on it.

So well said! "Slow-burner" indeed it has become and I have no problem with that. Rhiannon is continually evolving. Yes, Stevie used to really rip into this one. But the semi-ironic thing about everyone complaining about the current (and other mellower) version is that they're more like the way the song began and the original recorded version anyway. So I don't see why it has to be deemed "lesser". Also, one cannot necessarily put it down to age, because she did it mellow on the Bella Donna Tour...no "all the same", etc. It's unfair to act like this song died in live performance after the RAL Tour (or for some of you, it may be as early as Tusk or Mirage). It continued to evolve after that...it has never really been the same on any tour, including in more recent years. The TimeSpace version (which I think was great), was different from the Street Angel version, which is different from the SYW version. I do wonder, though, if Stevie is in fact tired of performing a lot of her songs...it's impossible to not notice that she seems to perk up when she is singing something that she hasn't done much (Beautiful Child or accompanying someone else, for example. I recently saw the AHI '00 video for the first time, and she seemed much more excited while singing with Chris Issak and Sheryl than during her own songs. She really laid into the "acoustic set" on the Enchanted Tour, too...she really seemed to be enjoying herself. It makes me feel really bad that she felt the need to announce "the acoustic set is officially over" at every show...like she had to apologize for doing it.).

[EnchantedSLN]

I just had a chance to see it. Rhiannon was as I expected it to be... a bit spotty, but decent. It didn't sound any better or worse to me than it did at any other show on this tour. As a whole, I *really* enjoyed the Soundstage broadcast. Someone said it wasn't as "polished" as The Dance. That's what I liked best about it. Real concert, real audience, not too much fancy camera stuff. They did a great job conveying what it feels like to actually be at a Fleetwood Mac concert.

I didn't recall Lindsey's Stand Back dance looking quite so hilarious . To whoever asked about the Landslide dedication (not in this thread), it was in there.

[MacMan]

But the semi-ironic thing about everyone complaining about the current (and other mellower) version is that they're more like the way the song began and the original recorded version anyway.

This I agree with. Everytime I hear someone complaining about Rhiannon and the passion that seems to be gone from it.. I think - go back and listen to the album version.

Someone said it wasn't as "polished" as The Dance. That's what I liked best about it. Real concert, real audience

That's what I like too and am most looking forward to.

[dissention]

Originally Posted by MacMan

This I agree with. Everytime I hear someone complaining about Rhiannon and the passion that seems to be gone from it.. I think - go back and listen to the album version.

Keep in mind that not everyone likes the album version.

[blinker12]

This I agree with. Everytime I hear someone complaining about Rhiannon and the passion that seems to be gone from it.. I think - go back and listen to the album version.

True, and that brings up a very simple solution to the "Rhiannon" problem: She should just sing it like it is on the album. Forget the extended coda, with the "Take me like the wind" bit. Singing it low and monotone just spotlights the fact that she can't do that version justice anymore.
And another thing. I just don't get the discrepancy between Stevie's great studio performances and her ho-hum live performances. It's as if she's afraid she'll hurt herself if she sings live like she does in the studio. While that might have been the case two decades ago, she now supposedly takes vocal lessons and knows how to sing correctly. If that's the case, she should be able to sing the same thing every night without hurting herself. In other words, if she can hit the high notes in "Sorcerer" six times in the studio, there's no reason she can't do it on stage, too. GET OVER THE FEAR, STEVIE!

[Hawkeye]

I think the reason isn't AS good anymore is 's fault at all. It's LINDSEY'S. The freaking long extended guitar solo/piano and bass thingy is gone and now there is like a 12 second piano thing. That's what makes people think Stevie isn't doing it justice anymore. Does anyone want to mention that this Say You Will Tour is the first time Stevie has even done the Wellllllll I DON"T THNK YOU DO part. And she does a very decent ending. She takes the mic back and yells TAKE me like the wind. The only thing that dissapoints me with Rhiannon these days is the "All The Sames" they haven't ben good in awhile. But then she goes into a good Take to me the sky Dream on DON"T YOU TRY HARD. And in the beginning of the tour she did the ending different;ly. She did the You Still Cry Out for Her, but fast paced and over and over. And I liked that ending alot better. Listen to the Buffalo Boot. I was there and it was great that night. Rhiannon is one of the few songs I feel was better the beginning og the tour. And Rhiannon is like the only song I can say is Different EVERy tour. It's almost never the same two tours in a row. And it changes from SHOW to SHOW alot. Listen to Columbus, Buffalo, Worchester, the AH! 2003 show. All of them have complely different endings.

[DownOnRodeo]

Well the Boston show Rhiannon must have been a stinker because in Australia that song went off.

[sodascouts]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

I think the reason isn't AS good anymore is 's fault at all. It's LINDSEY'S. The freaking long extended guitar solo/piano and bass thingy is gone and now there is like a 12 second piano thing.

Yeah, what is up with that? Lindsey could tear up the end and make us forget about octaves and monotones, but for some reason he doesn't.

[Nicks Fan]

I agree that Rhiannon has not been done as well as I think it could but just seeing Stevie live on stage is exciting for me.

[jmn3]

ITA with you Hawkeye...Rhiannon continued to be edgy and kick-as$ long after Stevie toned down the "Take me like the wind..." part ('76) in large part due to the musical arrangement of the song. Over the years, Rhiannon seemed to go from about 10 minutes long down to four or five. Where's the blistering guitar solo that used to follow the end of Stevie's wailing at the end? It sort of disappeared after the Mirage Tour and by the time the Dance came around, there was nothing left of it at all. Oh, yes...and the one that followed the main part of the song and came before the "Dreams unwind" part? That also took a hike after 1982. It seems that the time allotted to Rhiannon was reduced basically to give more time to other songs.

Aside from the musical arrangement which bugs me, I still enjoy Rhiannon...Stevie can still rock it when she wants to. I was at HSBC that night too...and Rhiannon was awesome! I don't think anyone in the audience was saying...boy this sure doesn't sound like it did in 1975!

As for the "Welllllll, I don't think you DO!," I think she started doing this on her 1998 tour didn't she?

Finally...I think I'm the only one out there that enjoyed Rhiannon on the Dance tour. NOT the CD mind you, THAT was too boring...but I thought she took it up a notch during the tour. She was going for some higher notes...I don't know, I really enjoy the '97 boots of Rhiannon.

[earthdreamer]

I think all her songs she has performed on a permanent set basis have aged gracefully with her, I love Stevie's voice, she might not be the same person she was back then when she first created these songs but there is an elusive definitive evolution that can't be touched, nor should it ever be.

[face of glass]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

I think the reason isn't AS good anymore is 's fault at all. It's LINDSEY'S.

Nah. It's Stevie Nicks' song and surely she approves of the final live arrangement before they start doing it. If she doesn't want it to include a screaming guitar bit then it doesn't have a screaming guitar bit. If she thinks "her wisdom is much evolved" then she doesn't want an arrangement similar to the past one. Buckingham tears it up on "Come" and "I'm So Afraid" and certainly could do it on "Rhiannon" too if he was given the permission to. But no, it seems like it has been decided that when they're doing a song the songwriter should get the main attention and the other frontperson should not even try to take the attention away from him/her. Which sucks because when I'm listening to audio from 1975-82 it's the battling for attention that puts those performances into stratosphere for me.

[dissention]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

I think the reason isn't AS good anymore is 's fault at all. It's LINDSEY'S. The freaking long extended guitar solo/piano and bass thingy is gone and now there is like a 12 second piano thing. That's what makes people think Stevie isn't doing it justice anymore.

How absurd.

Do you honestly believe that Lindsey himself changed the arrangement? I think not. It's Stevie's song, she has the final say. I suspect that the reason the arrangement has been changed is because Stevie's voice just can't keep up with the song if it's a straight rocker like it used to be. If they kept the old arrangement, the whole song would be out of sync because she'd be her vocals would be petering out just as the music was escalating to a crescendo.

[shackin'up]

Originally Posted by dissention

How absurd.

Do you honestly believe that Lindsey himself changed the arrangement? I think not. It's Stevie's song, she has the final say. I suspect that the reason the arrangement has been changed is because Stevie's voice just can't keep up with the song if it's a straight rocker like it used to be. If they kept the old arrangement, the whole song would be out of sync because she'd be her vocals would be petering out just as the music was escalating to a crescendo.

And I bow deeply.
Well said.

[Johnny Stew]

It's definitely not Lindsey's fault.
Though I don't think the current arrangement is Stevie's "fault" either.

I know when they filmed 'The Dance,' I remember reading that they knew they had to shorten some of the lengthier songs, with an eye towards releasing the album as a single disc.

For example, the long guitar outro during "The Chain," just after the "Chain, keep us together/Running in the shadows" part, was dropped.
And they went fairly quickly into the end of "Rhiannon," bi-passing the extra piano & guitar parts that used to be there.
For some reason, they decided to stick with those two arrangements, even beyond 'The Dance' filming.