Fleetwood Mac

[Prettymaid]

Soda, I think you handled yourself well with just the right amount of restraint. Glad you enjoyed the show and got some more attention from Lindsey. I think it's great that they let the first few rows go up to the stage.

As far as the sign issue - talk about from one extreme to the other! A tasteful sign (or flag) held up at just the right moment during a concert can be uplifting, but for security to allow vulgarity on a sign is unnacceptable, IMO.

[TimothyBFan]

Great review Soda~~ love the picture, gee couldn't you get any closer? Are there anymore pictures anywhere of the concert? Would love to see Stevie's outfit. She is always dressed to the max!!

Sorry to hear about the sign lady, I can't believe you are the only one that stood up to her. I bet when you did, everyone else was silently applauding you for it! Don would have had a coronary with that one!

Enjoy the rest of your stay with the family!

[Brooke]

Great review Soda! Sounds like it was a fantastic concert and to be so close and get some 'Lindsey time', too!

As far as the banner lady, geez! How uncool and unclassy to put up a vulgar one and then do it multiple times! Sounds like you handled it well.

I can't even imagine what Don would have done!

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Nanc - glad you had a great time at the show and got a little bit of attention from Lindsey. Good job in handling 'sign woman' as well. It's funny, but when I first typed this, I called her 'sign lady', but then, I immediately deleted it because that is no lady.

[Maleah]

David Cook must be a fan of your band Soda

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRBjmDPOn84[/ame]

[sodascouts]

Makes me love him all the more!

[TimothyBFan]

Sorry this is not about FM touring but I have a question and I didn't want to start a whole new thread just for it. I knew if I put it here, the person it's directed to will see it.

Last night after we came inside, I flicked on the tv and happened upon the last half hour of The Fleetwood Mac biography. They were talking about how many albums the different lineups of FM there are. Of course that made me think of a certain someone. My question is to our resident Macaholic--- Of all the albums, how many do you actually have? Do you just have the ones with Lindsey and Stevie or have you collected all the different lineups, such as the ones with Peter Green or Bob Welch prior to Buckingham/Nicks or do you have the one with Dave Mason and Bekka Bramlett after Stevie and Lindsey left in the early 90s? And what were your take on those different lineups?

Does anyone else here have any of the FM albums with the other lineups and what do you think of them?

[sodascouts]

I have all the Fleetwood Mac albums recorded after the addition of Buckingham Nicks, even Time which neither of them were on (they had both left the band at that point). I also have the Bare Trees album which was recorded prior to their joining. I don't know if this counts, but I bought 25 Years - The Chain which is kind of like the Eagles' Selected Works and it has a disc of Fleetwood Mac's pre-BN music. I figured that was enough.

The truth is that Fleetwood Mac really was prolific in the early days. They put out 9 albums in 6 years (1968-1974)... and during that time had 8 line-ups! They also had a completely different sound - very bluesy. It almost became a different band with the addition of Stevie and Lindsey, which is one reason why it took off then and not before.

[Brooke]

That reminds me of what I've read in the books, Hotel California and Laurel Canyon. So many of the different bands members moved from band to band and only were together for one album or so, then someone got mad and left and went to another band. It was like 'musical bands' (pun intended) back in the 60's and 70's!

[sodascouts]

Willie, I just realized you also asked me to evaluate rather than just report! My thoughts:

1967: Fleetwood Mac is formed. Fleetwood Mac was born when the legendary guitarist Peter Green decided he wanted to form a band. He recruited Mick and wanted to lure John McVie away from John Mayall's BluesBreakers for his new band (Green was also in the BluesBreakers) - he even named the band "Fleetwood Mac" in hopes to get McVie to join. It worked eventually - but only after they had hired another bassist - who was promptly "let go"! People were saying to Green "You named your band after the rhythm section??" lol But they're both still there today, and will be until they have to be carried off the stage. The fourth member of the band was guitarist Jeremy Spencer.

Peter Green's incarnation was great at what it did: the blues. Because I don't listen to blues music a lot, it's not really my thing - but if you're into that, you'll love Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac.

1968: Fleetwood Mac adds guitarist Danny Kirwin. The band had an additional harmony sound that was nice - less basic blues, but still solidly in the genre. Again, good if you like it.

1970: Peter Green goes mental. He got a hold of some tainted LSD and it messed him up BAD. He left the band. His loss hurt Fleetwood Mac, which lost its direction, but it was at that time that John's new wife Christine was added to the band. She brought her soft voice and skilled piano playing to the table, and the band took on a new sound that I prefer to their straight blues.

1971: Jeremy Spencer goes mental. He left the band to join a cult. Again struggling, the band grabbed guitarist Bob Welch. He was their first American member and added a kind of American sensibility which again changed the sound.By now it was far from Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, but still hadn't quite captured a hit. I love Welch's song "Sentimental Lady." His voice sounded lovely harmonizing with Christine. Bare Trees is a good album, just not an excellent one.

1972: Kirwin goes mental. See a theme here? lol He became a raging alcoholic and in a fit of rage banged his head against a wall until it bled and refused to go onstage. He was fired, too. Poor Fleetwood Mac!

1973: They hire Dave Walker to add to the vocals. He was fired pretty soon because his voice didn't really gel with the others. Bob Weston was also hired... but fired after his affair with Mrs. Fleetwood. There was a lot of turmoil, but I think the album Mystery to Me has the best pre-BN track of all: "Why." A magnificent song. It also features "Hypnotized" which I like.

1974: Welch decides to leave and....

STEVIE AND LINDSEY JOIN FLEETWOOD MAC!

You know what I think of that lineup! lol

1988: Lindsey goes mental. Not super-crazy like the other FM guitarists before him, but crazy enough to have a knock down, drag-out fight with Stevie at Christine's house over whether he would tour with the band to promote Tango in the Night. After the fight, he went to his car in Christine's driveway and sat in it, crying, for a good 15 minutes. Then, he drove off. That was it - he'd quit the band. It says a lot for Lindsey's prowess that he was replaced by TWO guys - Billy Burnette and Rick Vito. Unfortunately, the band with its ungainly six members was not able to recreate their hits. Despite the fact that Stevie was still in the band, the album Behind the Mask didn't have the Fleetwood Mac bizazz. There are a couple good songs... but I would never have bought it if Stevie hadn't been on it.

1991: Stevie has a fight with Mick and quits the band - then Vito goes, too! Mick scrambled around for replacements and found Bekka Bramlett and Dave Mason. Now all of the sudden Fleetwood Mac sounded country! The album they made together, Time, is very weak. I bought it anyway - and regretted it! They were reduced to being an opening act. It looked like the end for Fleetwood Mac....

1997: THE DANCE reunites the Rumours line up. Awesomeness!

1998: Christine leaves the band and can't be enticed back. She has sworn to never set foot on a stage again, and hasn't to this day.

2003: Fleetwood Mac records a new album as a quartet. While it's not the same without Christine and the current line-up is missing something, the band still rocks. I love the album Say You Will and I hope the band makes the new album it's promised us. Hey, if the Eagles can pull one out when they're in their sixties, why can't the Mac?

Shoot, that was long! But getting me talking about the Mac and that's what happens.

(I changed the thread's title so we can have these discussions with abandon.)