Say Goodbye Live question

[FiercestCalmSea]

So i am listening to the Buffalo show...and this song comes on..and i'm like "whoa",cause it sounds like Stevie and Linds are sitting next to me singing..but anyway,my question...the "ooohh" parts..is that programmed,or is that Sharon and Mindy? I can't remember from the Worcester show...

[estranged4life]

Originally posted by FiercestCalmSea
So i am listening to the Buffalo show...and this song comes on..and i'm like "whoa",cause it sounds like Stevie and Linds are sitting next to me singing..but anyway,my question...the "ooohh" parts..is that programmed,or is that Sharon and Mindy? I can't remember from the Worcester show...

To me it sounds "programmed"...As do some of the backing vocals on "Peacekeeper".

You can't raelly hear that on either of the Worcester show bootlegs...And Btw, The 5/27 sounds great for an audience recording, IMO it's even better than 5/15 Buffalo!!!

Brian "2 Days to FM Live!!!" j.

[FiercestCalmSea]

The Worcester 5/27 is awesome..i love it even more cause i was there,lol..the thing about the Buffalo show is that the vocals are more prominent i guess..which i suppose is ok...i mean i like it on songs like Say Goodbye...but for an overall show..i like Worcester...but back to the topic...i thought it sounded programmed too..just from the way it cuts it...almost abrasively..although it does not sound that way when you are in the audience.

[skcin]

On the Buffalo boot I think Say Goodbye sounds live, but Peacekeeper - WHOA! WTF? It sounds like aliens are singing the chorus - it's the only song I skip, it sounds way too weird to me!

paula

[stevierocks87]

Originally posted by skcin
On the Buffalo boot I think Say Goodbye sounds live, but Peacekeeper - WHOA! WTF? It sounds like aliens are singing the chorus - it's the only song I skip, it sounds way too weird to me!

paula

I thought the same thing when I heard it! What's up with that? It did NOT sound like that in Atlanta! It does sound like aliens! WEIRD!

adam

[PenguinHead]

I'm glad that people are addressing the programmed vocal issue. The thing with bootleg concerts is -- the circumstances surrounding those recordings are wide and varied...that's why they all sound a little different.

The Buffalo show, for whatever reason, captured only a portion of the entire mix. As a result, Stevie/Lindsey's vocal are right upfront, whereas you generally barely hear the background vocalists.

While it is nice to hear just the two of them, without all the glossy filler background vocals, it revealed a slightly dubious technical fact about their live shows now: programmed vocals.

Most harshly evident in the chorus of Peacekeeper and Say Goodbye, these patched-in alien-like vocals are inexplicable! We hear them now (whereas the attending audience wouldn't) because of this unusual mix -- which doesn't pick up the actual background singers and other instrumentation.

I can see why these fake vocals would be used --- to smooth over the rough spots...especially trying to create live a lush, thick vocal sound that was produced in a studio.

But what do others think about this use of "technology?" I guess these days, it's expected that every note be perfect and every song sound just like the album...but it leaves me cold.

I long for the days when this technology didn't exist. I much preferred the times when Fleetwood Mac was a scrappy rock and roll band and rough around the edges. There were only the five of them -- no background singers, no extra band of musicians, no fake vocals. Lindsey throws the word "organic" around alot, but the live band as it exists today is more Vegas than organic.

Before the Dance-era of the band, you didn't get concerts with carbon copy renditions of album tracks. Translated live with just the basic band, the songs sounded heavier, grittier and urgent.

With that said, can anyone say where they got the Worcester show? Is it posted somewhere? I grew up in that surrounding area (saw many shows at the Centrum), and would love to hear it!

[dissention]

I agree completely! If they're going to do a live show, do a live show, not a programmed one. But since 1997, the Mac has just been putting on a production, not a concert.