The Nicks Fix - Fleetwood Mac Fan Reviews

Say You Will FAN REVIEWS

7/18/04 Chumash Casino Santa Ynez, CA

Newest reviews posted at the top.

Dorothy
Well needless to say there was much anticipation about how this concert would be handled by Casino staff. There was a rope by row 3 and no one was at the stage before the concert started. Well after Dreams about 30 or so of us casually walked pass the rope and up to the stage. We had no idea what would happen after last night. I’m very happy to report that we were allowed to stay there for the entire concert. We knew those first three rows weren’t going up to the stage .I feel certain that the band must have said something to facilitate this. Well I found my spot this time in front of Stevie and of course it was an amazing show. The band pulled out all the stops. There was extended playing on I’m So Afraid, GYOW, and World Turning among others. Stevie belted out Rhiannon with tons of emotion – like the old days especially when she pulls the mic down toward her. Lindsey said before Peacekeeper how they had been touring for a year and a half with their new album and how this was their final show for awhile. During Peacekeeper I was being very animated and singing along (not to be heard but just mouthing the words), well doesn’t Lindsey point right at me and proceed to sing a verse or two looking directly at me – what an unexpected bonus. He actually looked at me other times, pointed and made goofy faces. I know fans have written about getting lots of love from Lindsey. Well that is exactly how I felt. It’s very emotional when you make those connections. Stevie did not make eye contact at least that I noticed. But I did observe Stevie, when she was off to the side and in shadow, looking out at the fans up front and how they’re reacting to Lindsey. I have a feeling that Stevie doesn’t miss much. She did do a lot of smiling and gave a spectacular performance. Tonight she did wear the black boots with the thin heels for the encore. She has really treated us this leg of the tour with the scarves, capes, gloves, dangling earrings, hair up for Sara and so much more. Stevie dedicated Landslide to all of us and thanked us for supporting ‘this band’ as per usual. Then she made a dedication to her Dad who has been touring with them in recent weeks and who just had his 79th birthday. LB was nodding and he mouthed Jess. Stevie also made mention of how he was in Ireland (I’m sure she meant Europe) with the band for four weeks. Then Stevie said as far as she’s concerned he’s the winner and he taught her so much and Landslide is for him. Stevie then took a moment to gather herself as she had a tear in her eye. Then SN and LB did a knock out version of Landslide. I am really going to miss hearing so many of these songs especially Sara. I hope it will find its way into future set lists – she said ever so optimistically. Too bad Stevie didn’t do more singing on Red Rover. She definitely sings all the words while standing off to the side. At the end of Gold Dust Woman when Stevie sort of whispers shadooow, shadooow, she added a high and intense shadooow. Stevie also varied her phrasing slightly in Beautiful Child but I can’t remember which line. Stand Back featured at least eleven twirls and get this I happened to turn around to look at the audience and everyone was sitting. Unbelievable! Thank God they let us stay at the stage to provide some emotional support for the band. The Tusk dance was a mixture of boxing and matador moves. At the end of Tusk LB came to the lip of the stage stooped down and grabbed hands with two fans. He kind of stayed there so I leaned over and touched his bare arm – more LB contact, shameless I know. For GYOW LB again came down the steps and into the midst of the fans. Needless to say he was surrounded and looked like he was enjoying the heck out of the moment as were the fans. After World Turning Mick was introducing the band and referred to Lindsey as the maestro, John as the backbone and Stevie as the lady of the band. There was a warm response and lots of clapping. There was no ‘you guys are great’ or other such comments they make when everyone is standing and “going insane”. Stevie added a little twist to the beginning of Don’t Stop and was clearly trying to make this last concert for awhile something special. Stevie had her red cape on for Goodbye Baby and sang a very poignant version of the song. At the end of the concert the band took their bows and shuffled their feet. Does anyone know if that little ‘custom’ had any particular meaning.? LB came toward the edge of the stage and I asked him to sign my friend's Live in Boston disc. It was the first of many things which he signed at the stage while Mick was again thanking the audience and speaking the usual about being good to yourself and taking care of one another. I had Lindsey sign a unique memento which we got at the Casino restaurant The Willows. It was the fixed price dinner menu printed with a photo of the band in the background and their individual promo photos across the bottom – very cool. When Lindsey finished signing he went over to Stevie who was waiting by John’s area and gave her a manila envelope presumably from a fan. Another momentous concert had come to a close. It has been a great ‘ride’ for all of us. I spoke to Cory and again thanked her for the tour diaries. I told her how I’m always checking and looking forward to them. She said, ‘I’m sorry” – referencing no recent tour entries. I said, “Don’t be. You’re funny and a great writer.” She was just all smiles and seems a little embarrassed at all the attention she gets. I want to say a big thank you to Jill who remembered to give me the set list which does say Santa Ynez July 17 & July 18. Of course my warmest thanks go to Mick, John, Lindsey and Stevie for the fun which was this tour and all the magic of the music that is Fleetwood Mac.

Debbie
For night two at the Chumash casino we didn’t know what to expect after all that went on the night before. (They made the people in front near the stage sit down after three and a half songs.) When we got there we noticed that they roped off the front and there were guards at every rope. So we thought they would make people sit like the night before. When the lights went down I didn’t even try to run up but the people next to me some how made it up there. And they got to stay. Then more people went up. But most were stopped. I tried and was sent back to my seat. So I enjoyed the first half of the show from there. But no one was standing and the ones who tried the guards made them sit. I had had enough I wanted to dance so I started trying again to make my way up front. It wasn’t easy but by Beautiful Child I was there. As for the first half of the show, Rhiannon, Sara and Come were standouts. I’m so happy she’s doing Sara live now I enjoy it more and more every time I hear it. I noticed the sound for the whole show was tonight than the night before they fixed whatever problems that they were having. For Landslide Stevie dedicated it to her father. He had been on tour with them for the last 3 weeks and before that he flew out to Ireland to see them she said. Landslide is always a beautiful song but some how it was even better tonight than usual. Maybe because it was the last show on this leg of their tour it had more meaning. GDW was different tonight then the last show. I love that Stevie tries to change the ending each night for the fans that keep returning to the show. Every time Stevie said shadows at the end she posed with the arms in different positions. For Go Your Own Way Lindsey went down into the audience for the second night in a row. This time I decided to go over there and strum his guitar. I just did it once I didn’t want to get greedy a lot of other female fans wanted the chance. Lindsey seemed a lot happier tonight since the fans got to stay up front. He played even harder on all his solos and broke a lot of strings. At the end of Go Your Own Way he started jumping up and down. He usually does it a few times but tonight he was so wired that he jumped for several minutes. I don’t know how he gets the energy. During the encores Mick acknowledge that this was the last show for a while and it was bittersweet. Someone tossed a card up on to the stage near Stevie after the last song. I was so focused on getting an autograph from Lindsey that I didn’t notice whether Stevie took the card or not but she ended up with two in her hand. Which is unusual for her, she hasn’t been taking things unless she knows the person. Lindsey signed autographs for everyone who wanted one. I think he wanted to make up for not signing any the night before. But eventually he said he had to leave. Then Mick said his final goodbye and the band left the stage. I was sorry to see them go. I hope they add more dates in California this fall or maybe even Las Vegas. I’ve seen the show a lot but it never gets old. They just keep getting better and better every night. I hope they keep touring for years to come.

Katie Moran
I got a call from my brother at 5:30 on a Sunday in July telling me that Stevie was playing in the Santa Barbara area at some Indian casino. I jumped up... What?! But Fleetwood had already played all of Southern California this summer... Was this a new show? I knew I had to go. I was sick the day they were at the Staples Center and was so bedridden I couldn't even stand up. I had two hours to get to this tiny Indian reservation outside of a small town called Solvang. I called the box office and there were only 16 tickets left. The worst part: they were only selling them at the box office so I couldn't pay for them over the phone. I called my best friend and told her to start driving. She came over and we made the over two hour drive from Los Angeles to Santa Ynez. Knowing full well it would be sold out when we got there. Knowing we would be an hour late. Feeling we would have to pray for a miracle. We got there and was amazed by the small venue Fleetwood had chosen. It only had about 1200 seats! I could hear them so clearly as the door opened and closed near the box office. My heart dropped. I asked the box office if there was anything they can do, if they had ANYTHING, at any price. They felt so bad for us but said they wished they could sneak us in but there wasn't even a place to stand in the crowded tiny theater. Just then a miracle came my way and I knew I had hit it big in this little mountain casino. I had hit the biggest jackpot of all... And that is when the evening turned from reality to fantasy. I heard a man in a blue suit say, "Ladies?" and when we turned around there was Bruce, my here, the director at the casino. He gently ripped open an envelope and there appeared my future, like gold shining in desert sand. I started to cry. I've never cried from pure joy so this was a first. They were tickets in the third row right in front of Stevie, my literary and musical hero. We were able to walk right up to the stage and dance just feet away from our idols, the people that have created the soundtracks to our lives all these years. The ones that have brought us so much joy with their work. I was smiling the entire time; and noticed a few times that my jaw had dropped in complete awe of this once in a lifetime experience. I can't thank Stevie and Fleetwood Mac enough for what they've given me; the songs, the hope, and the life. I owe my writing career to great writers and at the forefront of this is Stevie Nicks. I am forever indebted down through my soul for the passion and spirit that has moved me since I was a kid and will continue to inspire me through it, over it, with it and back to it again. I'm still in shock.

Michele
Saturday's show was a bit disappointing. It's not that the band didn't put on a good show, but the atmosphere was distracting. It was opening night for the casino's hotel and spa and many of the members of the audience seemed to be affiliated with the casino and more interested in the promotional festivities than in Fleetwood Mac. The venue's sound kept going out. Dick Clark opened the show. It kind of felt like seeing a nostalgia circuit act. So, I didn't have the highest hopes for Sunday, but I was in for a surprise. I was at the dinner buffet about 20 minutes before 8 p.m. and they announced over the loud speaker that there were two $145 tickets left for the FM show. I think that this doesn't bode well. I mean, if FM couldn't sell out a room the size of a postage stamp, I concluded that things didn't look well. But I was wrong. The difference between Saturday's show and Monday's was like night and day. In fact, I can honestly say that if this had to be the last time I ever saw the band, our parting would have ended on a more than triumphant note. Madison was a great show, because it was the first time I'd seen the second leg and I was bowled over by it. But this show is 2nd on my list after Madison. I think it's wondrous that FM can make me feel as good at the end as I did at the very beginning. I can't pinpoint what the real difference between the 2 shows was, but major factors were: 1) There were no sound problems tonight. In fact, they sounded pretty darn great, 2) it seemed to be an audience full of fans, rather than a large contingent of casino staff and associates like before. Until the encore of World Turning, except for about 3 rows of people in front of the stage, the rest of the audience remained seated, but this had no chilling effect on the band as it had before. There did not seem to be a sense of disconnect or distance. In fact, the members all seemed to glow. They may have been playing in a room fitted for a high school prom, but their finesse and star power radiated throughout the place. You couldn't confuse them with a lounge act. The show begins with the usual crickets, rather than with Dick Clark. Stevie ends Dreams by crooning, "know, know, knoooow" into her mic. For Peacekeeper Lindsey says that this is the last show in a long tour. They've been on the road for a very long year and half and this is the end of it, so he wants to thank everyone for coming out to see them. Of course, I suppose he forgot about the 3 shows they'll be doing in in New Jersey and Michigan in September. During I Know I'm Not Wrong, I think Lindsey starts to sing another round of "Don't blame me" instead of "dun, dun dun dun dah dah" as he is supposed to. He seems to realize his mistake and stares intently at Stevie for several moments, I guess to catch her eye and smile with her about it or something, but she is not looking in his direction. As always, it is the silence and pause in NGBA that make the song, the moment when Lindsey stops playing and sings, "you don't know what it means to win. So come on down and see me again," with only John for accompaniment. Lindsey and John's duet. I was in the 10th row ("J") on Lindsey's side. Sitting back there, I had more of a panoramic view of the stage than I usually do. It was great to watch everyone just playing their hearts out. Their entire bodies flung into the song. It seems like Steve is behind Mick in an attempt to make him less obvious, but I don't know. Seeing this anonymous man just clanging away back there kind of adds a certain energy. As if you're seeing the motor of a watch, not just its face. Then there's Taku, making a science out of using his various percussion tools. Neal and Carlos strumming and swaying, Brett stretching himself from one end of the keyboard to another. John and Mick, the stalwart centerpieces, and Lindsey standing at the edge of the stage, strumming away intensely, the heart of it all. Seeing the "big picture" is more than impressive. Can someone please remind me exactly what was it about "Sara" that (according to Stevie) didn't transfer well onto the live stage? There are phrases that have become so clichéd that they lose their meaning. They are romance novel fodder, used more for parody than as a description of emotion. But then you can have an experience that's so powerful that you suddenly realize how a cliché originated in the first place. Hackneyed words are redefined for you, given fresh meaning. I watch Sara unfold and I understand what the term "achingly beautiful" really means for the first time. The video image is moving; there's no doubt about it, but even without it tonight (the stage was too small for the back drop or for the monitors on the sides), my eyes were moist. The way the moody song is presented, you embrace loss. It's not a sad tune, yet it makes the body react in the same way it does to sorrow. Your head says, "I'm enjoying this," while the lump in your throat revisits the pain of elusive love. And what's brilliant about FM's performance is that they KNOW all of this. Swathed in red, with her hair up and her head down, Stevie seems to be sensing more than singing. When she floats across the stage to sing at Lindsey's mic, my heart moves through time, willing it to stand still or somehow reverse itself. For Landslide, Stevie says that this is the last show "for the time being." She thanks the band for supporting them all these years and she says she wants to thank her dad. She explains that he's been with them now on tour for 3 weeks, maybe more. He initially said that he wanted to travel with them the whole tour. He was with them for a few weeks last summer. Then, he joined them in Ireland and was with them for 4 weeks. Now, he's back again. She just wants to say, "Daddy, you win the game. You beat all of us." She says that he taught her how to do this (ha! She used to credit her granddad for standing her on a table top and singing cowboy songs with her, now she's forgotten all about Grandpa) and says the song is for him. Say Goodbye is lovely. Well, I'm not the song's biggest fan. So, to be more accurate, I'll say the efforts that Lindsey makes to make it special are greatly appreciated. He says it's a song he wrote sometime before the other tunes on their new album and it's about learning that to move on you've got to forgive others and forgive yourself. He blows a kiss to Stevie at the end of the song and she nods in acceptance. Now that the tour is just about over, I'll make a declaration: Red Rover should not follow Say Goodbye. I'm not saying it should be removed from the set necessarily, but I just feel it hurts more than enhances the show where it is. For Beautiful Child Stevie says it's from an album they did in 1979 and they spent 13 months working on it, 6 days a week, sometimes 7. She says that at the time it was a difficult experience making a double album but now, she looks back on that recording process with funness (I am pretty sure she said "funness" and not "fondness"). She says that this is one of the "tribal" songs on that album. After GDW, Stevie does her pose at the end and gets applause, but then the stage lights come up and she turns to face the audience and gets even more applause. Hair tumbling over her shoulder, she looks younger in the natural light than she does under the spotlight. For Tusk, when Lindsey lunges on John, John reaches up and grabs the hand Lindsey places on his shoulder and holds it for awhile. When Lindsey turns to Stevie, she puts up her fists and plays with him a bit more than she did last night, when she just let him rush past her. She's boxing, but he doesn't do it that much himself. He holds out his arms for the hug pretty quickly. At the close of the song, Stevie ends it at the drum kit, but she extends her tamborined hand out like an usher, letting Lindsey pass her, so that he ends the song center stage in front of the mic. I couldn't see Lindsey during Stand Back from where I was last night, but tonight I'm on his side of the stage and getting a kick out of the way he points to himself while mouthing the words "take me home" and "I need a little sympathy." There are steps pushed up against the stage and for GYOW he walks down onto the floor, standing in the midst of audience members and letting him strum his guitar. Now, when you're on a subway, holding onto the overhead strap, pressed next to strangers, one of your worse nightmares is to have a sweaty guy come stand next to you, but for some reason the fans down in the front row didn't seem to mind when a soaking wet Lindsey did it. Last night, the audience was not allowed to stand or to stake out positions in front of the stage. During Peacekeeper, the casino security shooed them all away. Lindsey and Mick both complained about this. Saturday, during Go Your Own Way since the audience couldn't approach the stage to play Lindsey's guitar, he went down into the audience. Sunday was different. Security let about 3 rows of people bank themselves in front of the stage just like at other concerts. So, Lindsey could have simply knelt on the stage and let the audience strum his instrument, but he decided he wanted to descend into the audience Sunday too. It was great. During the World Turning introductions, Mick says that this is their last show for awhile and while they are glad for the break, they are feeling emotional and sentimental, because of what they have been through for the last year and a half. After introducing everyone he asks for one more round of applause, not just for their crew, of which there are 85 members (I didn't know that), but for the band on stage as well. Twice during World Turning after the breaks in vocals, Stevie bends herself over at the waist while at her mic and just stands there frozen, waiting for the drum part to begin or end. I hadn't noticed her striking these poses before. At the end of Don't Stop, Lindsey doesn't play with Stevie's hair any longer as he has in past shows, but as she stands with her back to him, arm upraised, he rests his chin on her shoulder briefly. After Goodbye Baby, they take their group bow and afterwards Lindsey grabs Mick and holds him for a long while. His face is turned away from me, so I cannot tell if he is talking to Mick or if they are just, well, smooching. Whatever, it is kind of a sweet moment. Lindsey signs autographs. Someone gives him a manilla envelope which he takes back and hands to Stevie. At the end, Mick doesn't say his usual "the Mac is back." He says, "The Mac WILL BE BACK." Sometimes you fall in love because you're young, vulnerable, inexperienced. It's not the person that captures your heart, so much as what they represent to you at that time in your life. When you grow or change, your feelings for that person do too. Well, it's the same way with music. You often wouldn't be caught dead supporting the artists on the posters and records that filled your high school bedroom. But after tonight's show I honestly felt that if I had walked into the Chumash showroom and seen the Mac for the very first time this evening, I'd fall in love with them from scratch, just as hopelessly at 40 as I did at 16.

Rick B.
I had an opportunity to see Fleetwood Mac up close and personal at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez. The band played all their classic hits and several songs from their Say You Will cd for two and a half hours! They played with lots of energy and enthusiasm! Lindsey Buckingham was awsome with his guitar playing and interacting with the audience. Stevie Nicks looked gorgeous and sounded fantastic!! John McVie and Mick Fleetwood were excellent on every song. I loved this concert!!

more reviews coming......

Back to The Nicks Fix Main Page