Las Vegas 12-31-1995

[jmn3]

https://youtu.be/o0F5ZSxXqPQ

I had never seen this before. Live footage of this incarnation has always been a bit hard to find and I think the only full show I saw was from France? This was New Year’s Eve 1995 and hard to believe in less than 18 months, The Dance would have already been recorded and about to enter our lives.

This band really isn’t too bad. Bekka’s vocals are really strong and while I’m not exactly a fan of Billy and Dave, they’re a pretty tight band here. The set is pretty diverse but of course is built around the typical standards. Interesting things: is this incarnation responsible for the “falling, falling, falllllllinnnnng” ending to Say You Love Me that so many here hate? I kinda dig this strange version of Gold Dust Woman - it’s just different enough that it doesn’t in any way feel like Bekka is simply covering Stevie. Nearly 15 minutes of World Turning. I suppose better than the 20 minute affairs they had done previously but who the hell has ever told Mick that anyone wants to see this crap? Blue Letter is a nice surprise and fits their voices perfectly. GYOW is impossible for anyone to do justice to IMO and this solo is a bit blah but it isn’t terrible. I wasn’t expecting Not Fade Away toward the end but maybe that was something this band covered and I just never paid attention.

Altogether this really was rather pleasant to watch. I will always prefer the band that reformed the next year and Dave Mason in Fleetwood Mac is forever weird to me, this was definitely a tight unit and Bekka’s vocal abilities are really incredible. It is however hard to reconcile this as Fleetwood Mac without Christine, Stevie, or Lindsey’s voices.