jones beach show

[ShangriLaTroubl]

Originally Posted by Ghost_Tracker

And the wind became crazy...


I know that others might not see it the same way, but these are my thoughts on this show -


I was there also and had a GREAT time!



There were some things that Stevie and the band did that I really admire. It seemed that when Stevie first came out, she did a "caricature" of a woman caught in a windstorm - she held onto her hat in an exaggerated way, pretended the wind was about to blow her over, etc. So in other words - and I doubt many will be surprised by this - she turned it upside-down and turned something "bad" into something useful - she took advantage of the bad situation, and made what she could of it.
Then at the end she said something like, "I don't think you have ANY idea how hard it was for you to stay here - thank you!" As always, she took the bad and used it as a way to teach, and made the best of a bad situation - It seemed to me that in between her lines, she was telling us, "why NO, as a matter of fact I DIDN'T consider stopping even for a MOMENT; I DIDN'T think of our own (considerable...) discomfort up here even for a MOMENT - you don't get to be successful in the rock music business (or anywhere) by thinking that way." Of course, she DID think those things, she DID feel tempted to cut it short, call it a night, re-schedule, etc. - but she didn't.

And here's the thing - I'm not sure how many people were there, but it was far less than the grand-smacking legendary total of 6 freaking thousand that the venue can hold. I looked around, and i THINK maybe there were only a thousand people there - two thousand tops. That's one percent of Fleetwood Mac in their heyday. I literally doubt Stevie made more than 5 thousand bucks last night. It was chump change, she could take it or leave it. And yet, even with the harsh conditions added to that, she knocked it out, and belted it out like there was no tomorrow. She gave us the SAME show that she would have given 60,000 screaming fans at Madison Square Garden. She poured her heart into it, and she didn't miss a note, and imo her harmonies were DEAD-on. Ditto for all of her backup musicians. There was ONE point where Waddy Wachtell maybe wavered just a LITTLE bit - but GEEZ it was cold, I don't blame him. But for the most part I was VERY impressed - he was RIGHT on the beat; even when he was doing the intro to Edge with a cold wind trying to blow him off the stage, it was still as incredibly precise as always. (And no, I really don't think it was a recording, thank you very much.) So I just love the rock-on attitude, and I love that they were THAT determined to give us "our money's worth," even though it was "no skin off their backs." And I love how Stevie grabs something annoyingly bad like this and seizes it as an opportunity to teach. And we all still had a ball DESPITE the bad weather - including Stevie - I SWEAR to you that it seemed like she had a grand old ball - LOTS of fun. And she seemed VERY cheerful and not tired at all.

Couple of other details -

Listen to Gold Dust Woman - CLOSE! There's some interesting changes there. And she took out the end part where she screams and so on and replaced it with some VERY interesting interaction between her voice and Waddy on the guitar - her voice kind of goes up and down the scale as his guitar notes sort of "chase" her voice, except going down when she goes up, etc. - it was wonderful.

It was really great to hear "How Still My Love." I really enjoyed that a lot, and I felt the harmonies were great. Actually I felt the harmonies in ALL of the songs were great, especially of course at the end of "Landslide."

Anyway - awesome show, bad weather or not. And Long Island doesn't suffer from major suckage, I SWEAR! I HOPE she'll be back to Jones Beach, because on a GOOD day it really is a beautiful venue.

Jones Beach holds around 14,000 not 6,000. People like Stevie get guarantees, based on an OVERALL expectation for the entire tour...if a show sells bad, the promoter will be the one with chump change...

[jkmaletic]

WOW - thanks for posting the pics and videos! What a cool and different experience you guys had at this show! That's definitley one I'd have loved to go to, despite the cold.

~jamie

[HejiraNYC]

I Need to Know (does she always bark like that before the guitar solo?)



How Still My Love



Edge of Seventeen Pt. 1 (a Charles Dickens character with your top hat and your scarf...)



Edge of Seventeen Pt. 2 (I know what it sounds like; it sounds like yooooooooooooooooo...)



Edge of Seventeen SCREAM

[HejiraNYC]

Beauty and the Beast Pt I (how ****ing gorgeous is this?)



Beauty and the Beast Pt II + speech (Awwwww...)



"...well, it's time to say goodnight, and that is all..."

thanks a lot for posting ALL those great videos. looks and sounds like it was a great show, despite the weather.

i don't know, but, i love stevie in all those clothes...kinda reminds me of the old days when she would just throw on layer after layer of stuff. and i love the headgear too!

[Nikolaj]

It was a MISERABLE night! To Golddustwoman and Jazzyflowers who wrote they wished they could have been there-- NO... it all reads much better than the actual concert.
High Points: On the plus side, 'Sorcerer' was her vocal high-point of the evening, very alive and some excellent new percussion riffs that make it rock way more than the TISL version, really improving upon the song, tho at one point the extra beats by Lenny Castro thru Stevie off on a note, and she shot an exasparated look, at herself, for forgetting the extra percussion. I was way down front and had a lot of eye contact from her, it seemed to me, the band was really great and Sharon, Lori and Jana all sounded great and gave Stevie a lot of moral support, cracking up at her little stage anecdotes. The mentioned-here-on-TheLedge new ending to 'Gold Dust Woman' is a VAST improvement to the 'running in the shadows' ending she used for years and her voice did sound nice and edgy on this new ending.
Stevie was chatty, at one point- and looking straight at me (i was in row 6 section A right in front of her mic) in that wonderful graveluous voice of hers said "I'm sure singing a lot of the OLD songs tonight!! hehh-hehh-hehh"-- well, when they're all GOOD, you can do that!" (It was like 'take THAT, you and all the other Ledgies!!") Stevie also said that 'Landslide' "isn't about what everyone thinks it is, actually it was written when i was trying to decide if i was going to stay with my-now-ex-boyfriend", which cracked up some guy in the audience stage right, and his laughter prompted a roll of laughter from Stevie and she said 'so maybe some of you are dealing with that now, and well, good luck with that!"
As the concert ended, after 12 songs, she said how everyone staying and standing in the water 'restored her faith in music and i just want you to know that it has been very hard on all of you tonight and i want GOD to bless each and every one of you"... I hadn't heard her lay it on so thick since i was about 18 years old and she told all of us at the US Festival that "in case you ever think you don't matter, you're ALL that matters to me"...
It was nice of her to wish the blessings of the Messiah on the crowd last night at Jones Beach, but i already feel incredibly saved and grateful to Jesus and much would have preferred Stevie to do a great show than get all gushy.
LOW points: and i feel like that episode of 'The Simpsons'--- "WORST RHIANNON, EVERRRR!!" Not an ounce of passion, or artistry, just awful.
Standing in a foot of water for the first 4 songs, though that has nothing to do with Stevie. Except that she kept mentioning how cold it was, and she was. Well, babe, your feet were dry and your new Rockports weren't ruined! Plus, she was bundled, had the hot lights, and generally, there are heaters for the stage provided by the venue, tho perhaps she passed on using them. She wasn't trying to hit the notes for the most part, tho she was impressive with a fierce reading of "go on, get out" on 'How Still My Love'-- i felt like she was singing it just to me!
I did buy the $60 Hoodie and it saved my life (its warm, baby!) and actually wore it over ANOTHER hoodie i had with me; also bought the tour-book and the 'crystal visions' poster. And the merchandise stands were packed, all night long. I missed most of Chris' set because security wouldnt let me down to my seat, but as i walked in, Chris himself was walking in the audience and i quickly side-stepped into an aisle seat ("Sit anywhere" security told me) and was surprised he wasn't taller. I decided to hit the merchandise stand again and one hour after 'Wicked Game' Chris was STILL on the stage. What a LONG set.
Though i saw the water, i just wasn't expecting to have a new pair of shoes submerge and to be wringing out my pair of socks as i sat up high on the back of my seat (thank God i don't have a fat ass) but that was my 10 minutes prior to 'Stand Back' starting... When i heard the long drum solo, and then the opening riffs of 'Edge of 17' i just finally sat down in my chair (the tide had left the ground dry after 'Rhiannon') and with my head covered with 2 hoodie-hoods, i just stared at the ground. Made no attempt to move just 4 rows closer to shake her hand, i just sat there and listened, a couple times glanced over at the large projection screens, but i just couldn't look at HER. She was back in a flash for 'Rock and Roll' and 'BATB' and i did enjoy R&R but 'Beauty' just sucked, for me. A double punch of 'R&R' and 'Fall From Grace' i think woulda been a lot more fitting.
So, 12 songs is what Stevie Nicks calls a concert these days.

[danax6]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

Beauty and the Beast Pt II + speech (Awwwww...)

"Makes me believe in music again." Hah.

This show ranks as my favorite so far on the tour. Though I feel bad that Stevie was miserable, I still love the abundance of (new!) clothes, the insane gusts of wind that blow the ribbons all over the place, the freaky wild hair she had going on especially during Edge and just... it was great.

Thanks for all the videos!

[Kelly]

Twelve songs is incredibly short for a concert...especially comparing it to the Fleetwood Mac "Say You Will" set.

[danax6]

Originally Posted by Kelly

Twelve songs is incredibly short for a concert...especially comparing it to the Fleetwood Mac "Say You Will" set.

Yes, it is. If you take out all the long intros and the speeches in between, the show would only be about an hour long.

[equeen102289]

Thank you again for posting all of those videos. I loved watching them. The little speech at the end was very sweet.

[Rickypt]

Great videos. Thanks again, Ed.

All of these costumes plus the deletion of Enchated = priceless.

[jannieC]

Originally Posted by Nikolaj

i did enjoy R&R but 'Beauty' just sucked, for me. A double punch of 'R&R' and 'Fall From Grace' i think woulda been a lot more fitting.
So, 12 songs is what Stevie Nicks calls a concert these days.

What about BATB sucked for you? I just watched the video and thought it was stunning.

[ELIUD]

Originally Posted by Livia

Wild Heart cloak perhaps?

I just realized that the Jones Beach outfits were like a retrospective of her album covers. We've got the RAL look, the Wild Heart cloak, the Timespace doily, the Bella Donna Boots...

I don't think that's the wild heart cloak, I'm pretty sure it's the black beret from the pic in the booklet that came from the Aussie photo session.

[MacMan]

Thanks for posting all the vids.... I wasn't expecting to see much from this odd man out show... Lucky us!!

[Nikolaj]

Originally Posted by jannieC

What about BATB sucked for you? I just watched the video and thought it was stunning.

Jannie, i guess it was because i knew the show was over, that she cut a lot of corners, and it just wasn't the right closer, on this particular night, she needed to rock out. I know its a great song, you're right, generally her vocals were good on it, though the final note 'beast' sounded flat to me- compare it to the Jones Beach 'Timespace' 'beast' where her voice on that final note caressed the scale up, down, and back up again, that was chilling to behold.
Last night it was just the weather that chilled- and i felt Stevie, though gregarious in her chatting with the crowd, just only about 3 times in the night really did some exquisite singing (Sorcerer, the end of GDW, and some of Edge of 17) and i just love the voice, when she's working it. And for me, this Jones Beach show, she was looking for excuses to be lazy- even telling Sharon, Jana and Lori that it's "just too cold" to do long introductions of them, so ''this is gonna be real short." And 12 songs and calling it a night winds up at about $14 per song for the ticket alone, not to mention more than $30 in gas to get there and back. I gladly paid another $85 at the merchandise stands, and i did get some enjoyment during the show, when she exerted herself, which wasn't a lot. Still would see her again.
Plus the "Steviego" of her comment 'I sure am singing a lot of OLD songs tonight, hah hah hah-well, when they're all GOOD, you can do that" was very telling to me. She doesn't care about challenging herself, and is satisfied that 12 songs is a full concert. I just think- (controversial or not) that she owes her audience more, and is selling short her talent.
And for God's sake, if that's the best she can do with 'Rhiannon' send the old girl (meaning the song) out to pasture, it was horrible!
And 'Talk to Me' and 'I Can't Wait' are both easy songs, i don't care what she says- she actually soared on 'TTM' whilst on Klonopin in '91.
I'm glad she's sober and healthy, but she was a much better, and less mechanical, performer both on cocaine and tranquelizers. I gotta remember too, that she's 59 now. She's still Stevie Nicks- but the "Steviego" comment i mentioned is why her shows fall flat now and have been doing so for a number of years. Sorry. I know I'm a pain. I just "remember how good it can be," if only she'd "remember a melody" other than 'all the same, all the same'....
Apologies. But its how i feel, and i also think it is the truth.