San Jose Reviews

[michelej1]

Saw this review on someone's blog:

http://ashley.yichi.org/archives/author/ashley

By Ashley H., May 21, 2009

OMG. It’s been so long since I last went to a concert. (I just checked, the last one I went to was Outside Lands last year, which was 9 months ago. That’s crazy…) When the lights went out and they slowly emerged on the stage, my heart started racing… this is the concert scene I’ve been missing. How I’m glad to be back!

Few notes about the concert:

Dreams was so right. Get me right into the mood.

Sara was brilliant!

Rhiannon was kinda disappointing cos Stevie didn’t hit those high notes. gotta cut the old lady some slacks I suppose.

Landslide was so melancholy, just the way English people like it. It almost made me cry.

Go Your Own Way and Don’t Stop were the highlights of the show.

Lindsey Buckingham was friggin’ awesome!!!!!!!!

[michelej1]

http://www.magnetmagazine.com/2009/0...a-may-21-2009/

Live Review: Fleetwood Mac, San Jose, CA, May 21, 2009
May 23, 2009

Magnet Magazine

The last time I saw Fleetwood Mac in San Jose, there was a near-riot—and it wasn’t because people were trying to get in. When the U.K./American outfit played the half-empty, three-thousand capacity San Jose Civic Auditorium in January 1974, somebody must have thought the local residents were pretty stupid. The band that followed warm-up combo Silverhead (fronted by Michael DesBarres, husband of famed tell-all author/groupie Pamela DesBarres) onstage was definitely not Fleetwood Mac. We’d seen their photos, bought their records, and these were five guys named Moe. Patrons immediately stormed the box office, demanding their money back and were told that the band’s manager, Clifford Davis, who owned the name “Fleetwood Mac,” had fired the original members and hired an all-new lineup. Sign this list, kid, and you’ll be mailed a full refund. Still waiting for that check.

The itch was finally scratched last night when Fleetwood Mac played to a near-capacity crowd of more than 20 thousand at cavernous H.P. Pavilion, home of the San Jose Sharks. Lindsey Buckingham and Stephanie “Stevie” Nicks climbed onboard the Mac express in 1975 and shepherded the group through its superstar period during a 10-year run. Buckingham and Nicks reminisced onstage about their local connections. Both attended Menlo-Atherton High School in Menlo Park in the late ’60s, San Jose State in the early ’70s, then cut their only Buckingham Nicks album in 1973. “When we played the Fillmore West opening for Quicksilver Messenger Service,” said Nicks, “Bill Graham screamed at a guy who was heckling me, ‘Get out of my Fillmore and don’t ever come back!’ That’s when I knew we were going somewhere.” Dressed in her trademark, free-flowing ensemble, Nicks spoke warmly of the boyfriend/girlfriend days she spent with Buckingham, dedicating the band’s ‘82 hit “Gypsy” to “the paper roses, the house we had in Los Gatos and the gypsies that we were.” Nicks, who just turned 60, tentatively tried a pirouette on ‘76 smash “Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win)” but gave up about halfway through. With her voice as strong as ever, it’s probably time to think about switching from playing Ophelia to a long run as Lady MacBeth.

Buckingham, a year younger than Nicks, proved especially feisty, reeling off a juicy guitar break on “Dreams” (”Thunder only happens when it’s raining”) and a solid vocal turn on a re-tooled version of “Oh Well,” a searing, stop-and-start blues number first cut by the 1970 version of Fleetwood Mac that featured guitartists Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer and Danny Kirwan. It was also a treat to hear Nicks perform onetime Mac singer/keyboardist Christine McVie’s showcase number “Say You Love Me.” A hired keyboard player did his best to replace the USC marching band, the original accompanist (recorded at Dodger Stadium) for stirring 1979 number “Tusk,” a revered highlight of the Mac’s masterpiece double album of the same name.

Drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie (the band’s original namesakes) remain in place, with the stork-like Fleetwood, dressed in black knickers and red shoes, particularly nimble on a gavotte-styled bow that followed big hit “Go Your Own Way.” Everyone knew what the encore would be—the only ace in the deck they hadn’t dealt. 1977 classic “Don’t Stop” gained a second life as the campaign theme song for Bill Clinton in 1992. It sounded every bit as exciting in the first term of Barack Obama.

—Jud Cost

[michelej1]

I do have to say that I am moved by the way Stevie has included Lindsey in the Gypsy introductions, simply because it's not a Coffee Plant song. It's not one I've associated with their romantic relationship.

Professionally, because Lindsey has always singled it out as his favorite collaboration, I do think of him as part of the song. But meaning wise I never did. So, Stevie's decision to introduce it this tour has been a surprise.

If I could, I'd save that intro from every show they've done this tour. I'd save that, the Sara walk over the end of Landslide and the group bow. I'm not too bothered about saving video from the songs themselves!

Michele

[CADreaming]

Originally Posted by michelej1

I do have to say that I am moved by the way Stevie has included Lindsey in the Gypsy introductions, simply because it's not a Coffee Plant song. It's not one I've associated with their romantic relationship.

Professionally, because Lindsey has always singled it out as his favorite collaboration, I do think of him as part of the song. But meaning wise I never did. So, Stevie's decision to introduce it this tour has been a surprise.

If I could, I'd save that intro from every show they've done this tour. I'd save that, the Sara walk over the end of Landslide and the group bow. I'm not too bothered about saving video from the songs themselves!

Michele

I didn't know they had a house in Los Gatos prior to moving to LA. That was interesting when she mentioned that in her Gypsy intro in San Jose.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by CADreaming

I didn't know they had a house in Los Gatos prior to moving to LA. That was interesting when she mentioned that in her Gypsy intro in San Jose.

Who knew they could afford one. I assume it was rented, but still.

You know what, although they have talked a lot about the pre-Mac years, we only get the same details over and over again. They tell us the same 10% all the time. 90% of the stuff they did never gets talked about. I demand detailed information.

Sit down, Stevie: 1967 to 1974, every single thing that ever happened. Start writing.


Michele

[CADreaming]

Originally Posted by michelej1

Who knew they could afford one. I assume it was rented, but still.

You know what, although they have talked a lot about the pre-Mac years, we only get the same details over and over again. They tell us the same 10% all the time. 90% of the stuff they did never gets talked about. I demand detailed information.

Sit down, Stevie: 1967 to 1974, every single thing that ever happened. Start writing.


Michele

LOL. For real. I thought they always denied being in a relationship in the Fritz years. Ha. I guess the older you get the less you care about pretenses...

[ElusiveDreamer]

Originally Posted by CADreaming

LOL. For real. I thought they always denied being in a relationship in the Fritz years. Ha. I guess the older you get the less you care about pretenses...

Protecting their parents sensibilities or other significants? I thought I heard Stevie say during one of her song intros on the 21st that her parents offered to pay school and living expenses for both her and Lindsey if she stayed in school at San Jose State? (first time I heard her include Lindsey in this story). Sort of off topic but I remember during one of their early tour stops in the Bay Area I attended, Stevie saying on stage she wished she could just sit down at the edge of the stage and tell us all about the incredible stuff that was happening. That comment truly endeared her to me. I don't know if that was a standard comment of hers back then ... but wouldn't that have been fun?

[Regina]

I'm still thinking about the cutting the old lady some slacks comment. Who knew anyone wanted to see her in pants so badly?

I remember hearing the Gypsy demo way after, I think, hearing Lindsey speak about it. I think that one shocked me. I was so used to hearing demos from Stevie and there are some I adore and some I find horrendous (like the 97-minute version of what was to become the Nightmare. Aptly named, IMO). But, Gypsy was really, really rough and I never expected it to be.

And I do think that one really was a collaboration. I think Stevie definitely had the bones of the song--and--without a doubt--the lyrics and depth--but Lindsey brought out the magic and the Stevieness of it all. And I do like to think that he knew exactly what she was aiming for in that one and how important it was to her, on some level. Or maybe I'm just romanticizing. But, actually, her nostalgia about it seems to indicate that it means a lot to her--even if Lindsey messed with it;-)

[ElusiveDreamer]

"[QUOTE=michelej1;821959]http://www.magnetmagazine.com/2009/0...a-may-21-2009/ Live Review: Fleetwood Mac, San Jose, CA, May 21, 2009, May 23, 2009 Magnet Magazine: The last time I saw Fleetwood Mac in San Jose, there was a near-riot—and it wasn’t because people were trying to get in. When the U.K./American outfit played the half-empty, three-thousand capacity San Jose Civic Auditorium in January 1974 ..."

I went to that "concert" and I recall feeling sorry for the players up on the stage and not wanting to hurt their feelings - but my bf said no way was he staying so off we went. We did not get a refund. A few years later we were rewarded with Bill Graham delivering the real FM at Day on the Green and all I can remember of that day is the experience of Rhiannon for the first time in all this group's glory. And there changed my life ...

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by ElusiveDreamer

Protecting their parents sensibilities or other significants? I thought I heard Stevie say during one of her song intros on the 21st that her parents offered to pay school and living expenses for both her and Lindsey if she stayed in school at San Jose State? (first time I heard her include Lindsey in this story).

I've heard her say it both ways, that her parents were going to pay for both her and Lindsey because they knew she wouldn't leave him AND I've heard her say she was going to leave him and go back to school. But it doesn't sound like her parents made much of a fuss about them living together. She says the parents considered them married.

Michele

[SpyNote]

Los Gatos is a really pretty area of the Bay Area. It's just south of San Jose/Silicon Valley. Lots of beautiful trees, hills, trails, and homes. I wonder if she still visits friends and family there.

[michelej1]

Letter to editor of San Jose Inside, May 23, 2009:

http://www.sanjoseinside.com/sji/blo...rants_raves18/


I attended the Fleetwood Mac Concert on the 21st. I was able to buy a single best available in the 116 section. I was close and expected to hear some great sounds as I had experienced at Shore Line several years ago from them.

I knew from the first song the notes did not sparkle for me.
My question today is , do the groups that perform bring their own speakers? Was it the section I was in?

I recall sitting in the nose bleed area and experiencing the same sound effects. Yet I have been there for some great music at times.
I was disapointed and decided to leave after 5 or 6 songs. It was fun getting excited about even getting a ticket at the very last minute. Henry’s was packed with concert goers, that was fun as well. I went home and listened to their music.
Mac Attack

Posted by Mac Attack
Saturday, May 23 at 07:30 AM

[michelej1]

http://www.fabsugar.com/3177985

FABTV: Fleetwood Mac Live "Rihannon"
Sun, 05/24/2009 - 1:34am by FabSugar

This week I saw Fleetwood Mac live for the first time — and it won't be the last. I went through a FM period in college, but I didn't expect to be so mesmerized. Touted as one of the most incestuous and drama-filled groups — I mean, it was the '70s and they were all hot — the remaining members are the majestic Stevie Nicks, silly drummer man Mick Fleetwood, the electric Lindsey Buckingham, and bassist John McVie. You all know who my eyes were on all night. Stevie is the coolest — what I would give to raid her costume trunk. My favorite song performed was "Gold Dust Woman." She put on this special beaded gold shawl for it — oh, and by the end of the night, she was wearing a top hat. If you've never seen FM live, I found a gem of a performance of "Rihannon." Stevie really flies and her sheer black getup is totally awesome. Rock on . . .