SOUNDSTAGE Part 2

[kathy1]

hello i saw part two of soundstage this morning. i thought it was great.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by starshine

I don't like the 'baby, baby' thing at the end of GDW...to me it has no place there really

The "baby, baby, baby" is what is making the song for me these days. Last night though, she left out a little part. Usually after she says, "you can't save me now; you can't see me now" she also adds, "you just can't do it. You can't do it." I love that as well. I think she left a few of those out. But I still enjoyed the song. Indeed, since Rhiannon, Dreams and Landslide don't move me in concert (although I did look at the Jess film clip last night and think what I wouldn't give to have my own dad on video or hate myself for how quickly I deleted his last phone message to me -- 'cause I didn't know I would never hear his voice again), anyway, since those other early songs are now lackluster for me, I love GDW even more.

Originally Posted by starshine

I also didn't like the black gloves she wore through most of it....I don't get it? Is she afraid to show us her hands now??

Well, she shows her hands sometimes and then she doesn't. I think she might be a werewolf. Once the concert has been in full swing for awhile and the moon is becoming fuller in the sky, I believe that she starts growing hair on her knuckles and palms and everything. So she covers them up real quick. So, that's the reason, in addition to not getting germs during the Edge Walk.

Michele

[TrueFaith77]

Be gentle. This is my first attempt at critical writing about the Mac. . .

http://heroesarehardtofind.blogspot....n-vs-juno.html

I know my approach is different than a lot of people's (and I'm not the most expert at music terminology), so I definately defer to the experts.

[aleuzzi]

I saw it late last night on Public Television. I stumbled across it, not knowing it was scheduled, so this was definitely a treat.

I thought her her harmonizing with Vanessa was simply excellent, and she is still able to pack a strong punch on some of those old songs. "Landslide" was likewise moving. However, I have to agree with what some people said about her vocals on "Edge." It's no secret that Stevie has lost a lot of her range in the past ten years--even more so than when she did The Dance.

Part of what makes Stevie so amazing is how she works with those limitations and diminished range to create a new, exciting sound. I could hear that excitement on "Rhiannon" and a few other songs. However, by the time she got to "Edge" there was very little music left in her throat. I was relieved when I heard Sharon's patented cameo towards the end, since it lent the song some much-needed color.

[vivfox]

Originally Posted by michelej1

(although I did look at the Jess film clip last night and think what I wouldn't give to have my own dad on video or hate myself for how quickly I deleted his last phone message to me -- 'cause I didn't know I would never hear his voice again)

Well, she shows her hands sometimes and then she doesn't. I think she might be a werewolf. Once the concert has been in full swing for awhile and the moon is becoming fuller in the sky, I believe that she starts growing hair on her knuckles and palms and everything. So she covers them up real quick. So, that's the reason, in addition to not getting germs during the Edge Walk.

Michele

Two things: For almost 20 years now I've been saving my favorite phone messages people have left for me, on cassette. My greatest love passed ten years ago but I can still listen to him sing and talk to me when I'm in the mood.

A werewolf I believe is a man's job. I would relate Stevie more to Carolyn Collins than your buddy Quentin. But was Quentin the werewolf or was he just un-afraid of the wolf?

[Ghost_Tracker]

Originally Posted by michelej1

Well, she shows her hands sometimes and then she doesn't. I think she might be a werewolf. Once the concert has been in full swing for awhile and the moon is becoming fuller in the sky, I believe that she starts growing hair on her knuckles and palms and everything. So she covers them up real quick. So, that's the reason, in addition to not getting germs during the Edge Walk.

Michele

Uhm, personally I think it's because she's been told that the limo is going to turn back into a pumpkin at midnight, and if that happens she wants to still be looking fabulous as she's hitchhiking back to the hotel....

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by vivfox

A werewolf I believe is a man's job. I would relate Stevie more to Carolyn Collins than your buddy Quentin. But was Quentin the werewolf or was he just un-afraid of the wolf?

It's amazing to me that you said this, because I was thinking of Quentin Collins when I wrote this and also about Michael Landon in I Was a Teenaged Werewolf.

When my grandmother passed away last year, I did have many messages she left for me saved and I made them wave files and I sent them to my mother and uncles and aunt. My grandma was 87, so I guess I expected her to go eventually and I was preparing.

With my father . . . I talked to him on a Wednesday and then he called me back on Thursday night to, ostensibly, ask me about a class action bill that President Bush had just signed. In retrospect, I believe that he was not feeling well and he probably called because he just wanted to hear my voice. Anyway, he had a stroke a few hours after that call and although he lived for 3.5 more months, I never heard his voice again. Meanwhile, at my home, I get his answering machine message, think I'll be talking to him on Saturday and I delete the message in less than a second. Man!

So, yes, I see the film clips of Jess Nicks at different points in his life and I not only think of him and everything that Stevie has said about him over the years, but I think of my own dad as well. Michele

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by TrueFaith77

Be gentle. This is my first attempt at critical writing about the Mac. . .

I loved your review. I would have never made the link between Red Rover and Crash. Good observation. Even though Red Rover is a child's game, for some reason, the way Lindsey sings the words, I don't think of one of those playground chants we used to have. So, I wouldn't have thought of the Crash comparison myself.

If anything I would associate Crash with the children's voices at the end of SYW, but really the adult theme with the childlike cadence in Crash is part of what makes it work so well and, similarly, in Red Rover, I guess fusing the child's game with an almost apocalyptic message is what gives it its ironic depth.

I mean, it's like redrum, redrum in The Shining.

I loved what you said about Carlton. You have to admire singer songwriters in this day and age, when there seem to be fewer. But Carlton is so much surface. Even when her lyrics are intricate, she can't give them full voice or nuance. She's not a girl, but she still sings so young. I looked at her last night and what's amazing about Stevie is that even in her twenties, when she sang Landslide her voice had the wisdom of a 55 year old woman's already.

Stevie put experience into her words, phrasing and interpretation, even before she really had experience. So, it's not only the way she strings unlikely phrases together that makes her songs resonate with people who endlessly read between her lines. It's also the vocal treatment she gives those words. She expresses something that can be felt, but not articulated. Vanessa . . . to me she has a way of singing that makes her words mean less, rather than more. This isn't as clear when she's just an opening act, as when you put her side by side with Stevie.


Michele

[omigodstevie]

I loved part 1 and 2 of Soundstage. I was a little disappointed in Rhiannon, though...I thought it took Stevie a while to get into it. By the ending it was good, though! Gold Dust Woman was fabulous

I'm surprised so many people on here don't care for Vanessa Carlton. She's definitely not even close to being as amazing as Stevie, of course, but I think she's great. She's a better writer of music than lyrics, IMO.

[TrueFaith77]

Originally Posted by michelej1

She expresses something that can be felt, but not articulated.

Michele

Well that about says it all. Beautifully put! Thank you for the nice words and for allowing my review to encourage your own thoughts. Like I said, I defer to the experts. So from you it means a lot. Cool beans!

[StandbackStevie]

I liked both parts of the soundstage pbs broadcasted but wish they did film at one of the arena's instead of the studio cause I felt she was trying to make it magical and it was but her shows in concert at the arena's where she is filling up 10,000 fans with all the energy in the audience this seemed more staged but good. I like love stevie's sound stage and I do feel fleetwood macs live in boston was better it caught the energy too in the audience and you can see it as well with stevie and lindsey great night in boston on there sound stage.


Steve

[TrueFaith77]

A friend did some screen caps for me!!!!!

Pictures:

http://heroesarehardtofind.blogspot....n-vs-juno.html

(and I promise not to link to this again. . .)
(see contest details below)
(lol)

[studyinscarlet]

I thought part 2 was 'meh'. No, she doesn't look like she did all those years ago and she certainly doesn't have the vocals that she did. I dunno where people are seeing or hearing that. I'll watch the HBO special or the Red Rocks to see Rockin', gravel-voiced, Stevie.

This was Stevie today, as she is now. Okay. But I wince when people say this was the best ever and she hasn't changed. Like 'Yikes!'. Of course she has. Things change. Even Stevie.

I did like Part 1 better.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by BombaySapphire3

yep ..when she came out in the top hat .bat wings and brown suede platforms for a moment I could swear it was 1976 again!

I agree. She looked fantastic throught the whole thing actually. And, it was not just the lost weight and the clothes, though those played a big part of it. It also was her attitude, posture, and gait in those boots.

Vocally, she was good, though Rhiannon is painful for me post SA. She sings many of the other songs in a higher register, so what gives with the monotonal , gutter voice on Rhiannon? Having said that, I still think this concert will serve as a fitting coda on her solo carrer.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by Nikolaj

. . . you know is a really huge, gorgeous, incredible c*** that's been limp and unable to get hard for 14 years! . . . .

Okay -- I just spit out my Diet Coke when I read that