Open Letter to Stevie

[StandbackStevie]

I think stevie will play what she wants on the tour and that is fine with me would be awesome to hear Sisters of the moon always have been fan of stevie's since I was 9 years old back in 1979 and was 16 years old when I went to see stevie first time in concert and have been ever since will continue to do so. I think whatever she does will be fine with me its like as along as she is there and performing to her best I am there and lovin the show no matter what. I say too like other people either don't go to the show or go to the show and enjoy the show no matter what songs she sings it will be a great show. I am excited and looking forward to the show and can't wait.

[mike_nh]

Stevie playing casinos is no different than elvis playing vegas. She just wants to breeze thru the
4 or 5 money making shows with the same tired setlist. She no longer wants to put any effort into
the show. The only change might be the background or lighting but the sad truth is that most of
the songs we want to hear she has either forgotten the words and does not want to relearn them
or just lost the intrest.

[JeannieKartis]

Originally Posted by skuncles

That happens at the Mac shows too, only it's usually when Lindsey is doing his songs. Stevie's average age group is 35 and up and they sit a lot regardless of what song is being played. People go to the bathrooms during the non hits at nearly every show (not just Stevie) that I've gone to.
But again I go back to the "Enchanted" shows, on that tour she did "Rose Garden", "Sleeping Angel", "Garbo"!!!!, "After The Glitter Fades" and "Gold and Braid" and she said she knew that no one would know these songs, but hopefully they would like them. She was shocked to see the crowd singing along to "Gold And Braid" she even said "I didn't think you'd know that one!!". My point is she totally underestimates her audience.
She's not picking up new fans without an album or song on the radio and if she keeps doing the same show over and over then she's going to lose those who have been going for years. Why pay the high ticket price to see something you've already seen a bunch of times?

I couldn't have said this any better..thank you! The Enchanted shows were the best...

[jrpjr]

i have to agree w/all this chatter...i have been seeing every tour since 1983...that was a great show...1986...great show...1989..starting to get a liitle "same ole"....but pretty good..she was alittle crazy...in a good way..1991 pretty much started to get "old"...1994..oh my god stevie is gonna die...1998 ENCHANTED TOUR....BEST ONE EVER!! played alot of unplayed stuff...worth every penny of the ticket price....2001...the worst...couldnt wait for the show to end....read reviews of all shows from that point on and realized she is NEVER going to play anything different again....i said that in 2001!! looked like her career was clearly coming to an end..she makes the statement by NEVER adding anything fresh and new...she is tired and uninterested..as am i w/buying her overprised tickets..i work wayyyyy to hard to spend money on something she puts absolutely no effort into...i love her to death as do all of her fans..but she needs to listen to wat ppl are saying otherwise she is just gonna fade away into that rocking chair and leave her multi decaded fans pissed off...who is advising her anyway??? they MUST see this..is there ever a discussion in her living room w/her ppl about the redundant 20 year old set list??? this is a hhhhhhhhuuuugggee "WTF STEVIE?" no anger here at all..i am just making a point..hey i am 48 years old and have been a physical therapist for 24 years...i am pretty much burnt out myself..i am only doing what i do because i have to, to pay for a "chickenshack" i can not afford...stevie does not need to do this anymore...gives us (your fans who love you very much and have had our lives blessed by your music) the book we are alllll dying to read..we will laugh and we will cry and we will all be even further moved, blessed and lucky that we were touched by you..

RESPECTFULLY,
John

[discokandi7]

There was a post in the Open Letter to Stevie Thread that really hit on a great idea. I don't think dropping the most popular standards (Stand Back, 17, dreams, etc) is the answer. Its the cover songs ( need to know, crash, etc) and a few others (sorcerer, fall from grace, enchanted etc) that need to be dropped. Its not like those three songs are big hits or well known, yet they have have been part of her setlist for the last ten years or more. She has a lot of other more well known songs (talk to me, Rooms on fire, Angel) that could fill these slots in the set list and provide a much more energized and refreshed show. I think thats the way she should go as it would satisfy her diehard fans as well as casual fans who only know the hits. Stevie has made comments alluding to the fact that performing new or non-hit songs is hard because the bulk of the audience doesnt know them. If that is true, then how can she justify keeping in some of the songs she has been stuck with for the last ten years as they are certainly not hit songs.

[CADreaming]

Originally Posted by Macfanforever

Dont go to the show.I think Karen has nothing to do what Stevie picks for the setlist, Dont go,

On the other hand, go. Stevie may actually change the setlist...do one new song or do one cover that she hasn't done before. Take a chance. Buy a ticket! Then, come back here and complain. It's what we live for.

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by CADreaming

On the other hand, go. Stevie may actually change the setlist...do one new song or do one cover that she hasn't done before. Take a chance. Buy a ticket! Then, come back here and complain. It's what we live for.

Yes. Absolutely.

Don't get mw wrong, I'd sign a setlist change petition any day. But, I'm going to see her regardless.

[Meowi]

Originally Posted by StreetAngel95

I'm just trying to imagine Stevie looking at this thread and being totally dismayed by what we are saying...her songs are her children, she's always said, and if we want to never hear 'em again, that's like "i don't want to see your kids anymore"....sorta....not really...

bottom line, Stevie gets pure joy out of performing. She's mentioned how "Stand Back" is totally timeless and takes on a life of its own on stage and it's true. No matter how many times you see it, it still gets you...

Exactly Miranda,
Anyway, who cares what the song list is, at least she's taking the time to perform for us.

[APerfectLie]

The only thing I'd ever ask Karen for is her job.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by CADreaming

On the other hand, go. Stevie may actually change the setlist...do one new song or do one cover that she hasn't done before. Take a chance. Buy a ticket! Then, come back here and complain. It's what we live for.

Yes, it's perfectly acceptable to complain, go to the show and then complain again after the show. That's what I like to do.

And she better not do another cover.

Karen, the only song that Stevie may sing that she didn't write is Some Become Strangers.

Michele

[Nikolaj]

Funny, this thread and the Karen Johnston thread basically are identical!
I agree with what almost everyone wrote in this thread, and some of you disagreed with each other, but it all made sense. I think it was skuncles who wrote that it isn't the casual fans who pay $150 a ticket, and that's a great point. Her audience is made up of repeat-customers much more than a casual fan who wants to spend $300+ to bring a date!- His point also that she hasn't had enough new recordings to have gained new fans also rang true!
I also loved the Enchanted set, yet agree her voice wasn't too strong on that tour, just a year after The Dance, when it had been strong. The TISL set- gosh we got SIX songs from the new cd, I liked that a lot. That was really her last time for being adventurous, back in 2001. I think the 9/11 disaster really took the wind of her sails for that tour, but at the show I saw, nobody walked out when she played the new songs.
Thus far, since 2001, she just hasn't been willing to listen to set advice, Waddy even said that, basically. I am very certain Lindsey would have been willing to do Frozen Love on either the Say You Will or Unleashed tours- Stevie just won't be told what to sing. This topic has come up for the past 9 years! She does not care.
At this point, Karen Johnston or any of Stevie's people won't even mention it to her, Stevie has said her 'people' keep things from her that they know will upset her (like the gay fan who thought Stevie could 'cure' him) and the guy who hanged himself and died in the parking lot at her concert (Now, that really is taking her setlist too hard!)
Our only hope really is if Stevie has been really excited about her recent recording sessions and knows in her gut that she has some killer new songs that she can't wait to perform. I think it's possible, but I'm unsure.
I just wish that Mick, Lindsey and John could get a super-smart lawyer who would be able to prevent her from singing any Fleetwood Mac material at all in her solo shows. Ha. If they could, I'm sure that'd be the end of Stevie in Fleetwood Mac.
SN is probably the worst offender of any performer stuck in their set list, because every tour she has done in the past decade- solo or with Mac has had 'Dreams', 'Landslide', 'Rhiannon', 'Gold Dust Woman' and 'Stand Back'. Her solo tours in recent years are about 13 songs. I feel she won't change it. The concept of a solo tour having solo songs only just doesn't appeal to her. I think each of her solo cds (even Street Angel) should be represented with at least one song. Like others said 'How Still My Love' and 'Enchanted' were never hits.
She does what she wants. I accept it now. I don't like it, but I accept it, and usually enjoy her solo tours. But for someone who's always said since the '70s that she'd love most recognition for her songwriting, she really is letting herself down by not performing some amazing songs she's written that she doesn't perform. Why not 'Candlebright' instead of 'Fall From Grace'? (Incidentially, I love Fall From Grace)
The thing that bugs me the absolute most is 'Dreams' always being second or third in the set. I hate that effin song now. I think if she'd save it for an encore, or put it near the end, I'd like it again. For 20 years or so, I just know I gotta sit through 'Dreams' and then for me it's when the concert begins, knowing it's out of the way!
I guess it's good we have each other to vent to, because Stevie will do whatever she wants.
I guess that in a way makes perfect sense, though it isn't fan-friendly. Had we had careers, we could sing 'Sisters' or 'Sister Honey', 'Nothing Ever Changes' or 'Doing The Best That I Can'. With her, it's 'Doing What The Hell I Want' and, I'll take it. I look forward to seeing her at least once this tour. If I like the show a lot, I'll travel to see others. And I'm not expecting any big changes in her set, but hope she has at least a couple of new songs she has been so excited hearing played back that she can't wait to perform them. That could happen. I think Unleashed showed signs she was a bit weary of some of the songs we are weary of as well! So, I'll go hoping for the best and just will be happy to see Stevie this summer.
But man, if 'Dreams' comes second or third again, I am walking out immediately to go buy a beer or look for a smoking section! Wouldn't it be funny if the die-hards down front made their t-shirt runs or bathroom breaks when the songs she clings to began? There would go her whole concept. "Oh no, now when I sing Dreams, everyone leaves and doesn't come back til it's over!"

[AliceLover]

I understand where everyone is coming from. However, I can see where Stevie is coming from as well. She knows what works at her shows. She knows that when everyone is up having a good time, she is having a good time. No one will ever know what it feels like to be her on that stage.

However, I think we all get upset because of the POTENTIAL Stevie has. Her bands are always incredible and she always puts on a great performance. I think her experience performing "storms", "How Still", "Beauty and the Beast", and "Beautiful Child" have shown her that she CAN go out and perform a few of the rarities. Didn't she say in an interview on the Mac tour that she wanted to do some deep cuts from BD and THW?

Anyway this is just a ramble. I don't care if she came around and did Dreams and Landslide back to back for 2 hours. I would still go, have fun, and pay $150 for prime seating.

PS...That initial post is an English major's nightmare.

[ButterCookie]

Originally Posted by AliceLover

PS...That initial post is an English major's nightmare.

I enquired about the bad English and it started a 'fight'. I say 'fight' because it was frakkin' hilarious, it was that ridonk.

[CADreaming]

Originally Posted by michelej1

Yes, it's perfectly acceptable to complain, go to the show and then complain again after the show. That's what I like to do.

And she better not do another cover.

Karen, the only song that Stevie may sing that she didn't write is Some Become Strangers.

Michele

She could do a LB song. That would be awesome. Even something off UTS or GOS. Spice it up.

[Stevie's~Prince]

I hope to god she never reads any of this...