Fleetwood Mac

[Brooke]

I caught a little of the jazzfest Saturday and Sunday on AXS tv and was hoping they would show FM and Soda, of course! But they didn't!

They did show most of Little Big Town! I've loved them for several years and have their first cd with Boondocks on it! When I first saw them on CMT I thought they had a bit of an 'eagle' sound with their harmonies. I actually think we have a thread here on them somewhere. I'll look later when I get time.

Willie, I'm shocked you like Boondocks!.

eta: Did a quick look in the Singing thread and didn't see it. I know I talked about them somewhere, but it's been a long time ago!

[Prettymaid]

I have a confession----I like Little Big Town's song, Boondocks. Yes, that's right. I like a country song called Boondocks. Can't help myself, every time I hear it, I think of my childhood and my upbringing and it never fails to bring a tear to my eye. Shhhhh......

Glad you enjoyed the trip, Soda!!

Will wonders never cease!

Brooke, that's the cd we have too. I really like Living With Lonesome, among others.

[sodascouts]

Here's my review - a bit late, as usual!

JazzFest was not nearly as brutal as last year weather-wise. It was a pleasant temperature right up until mid-afternoon when it got hotter, but there was never a moment when I thought I would pass out from the heat!

We ran to our spots as soon as the gates opened at 10:30 and held down the fort all day.

The mud was absolutely wretched. I'm not just talking about squishy mud. There were sections that if you stepped into them, you'd find yourself sunk past the ankle in mud. However, since we got there early, we were able to get to the rail and we could sit on metal rather than mud. Many people were wearing rain boots and many of those who didn't went barefoot; any other kind of shoe would simply get saturated. But why tell when I can show? Here's a photo of what the ground was like before the crowds arrived:



The crowd was the largest I've ever been a part of. There were many at the Eagles last year but Fleetwood Mac's crowd trumped it. I heard people say afterwards that it was the biggest crowd JazzFest had ever had for a show. The VIP section in front of me had over 500 crushed into it, about double last year. Estimates of the size of the crowd at the Acura stage to see Fleetwood Mac: anywhere from 40,000 - 50,000. It was hard to tell from where I was in the front about the people behind me, but this shot tells you something:



And that was taken BEFORE everyone arrived. Yes, when Fleetwood Mac came onstage, the crowd was even bigger!

Unforunately for me, New Orleans is the last city in America where smoking in crowds is socially acceptable. We were surrounded by smokers, be it cigarettes, cigars, or weed. The weed was so bad that at one point, I felt dizzy. Luckily the wind shifted, but if I wasn't smelling the weed, I was getting cigarette smoke blown in my face. The lady sitting in front of me smoked without respite for several hours. Talk about a chain smoker! Just my luck!

With 500+ people in front of me, there was no way any of my photos would come out. However, Getty images to the rescue:



I think you can get a better idea of how beautiful Stevie looked from this video:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWWMkGCNyGY&feature=player_embedded[/ame]

As you can see, Stevie wore her hair beautifully crimped. While you can't tell from that video, Lindsey was his usual dynamic self. "I'm So Afraid" blew the crowd's collective mind. Vocally, they weren't at the top of their game - probably because of the heat - but there was no shortage of spirited performances.

They requested an extra half hour from JazzFest so they could play their full set, which they did, with the exception of two songs ("Silver Springs" and "Say Goodbye", the second encore). These were probably cut because a bug flew into Stevie's mouth and she was forced to take several minutes to look for some coffee to scald out the taste of that thing. While she walked around, we enjoyed an improv jam session with Lindsey on guitar and Mick on drums (this after Mick danced a bit to just Lindsey improvising). It actually turned out to be pretty cool, lol.

Because we were in New Orleans, Stevie sung a snippet of her song "New Orleans" as the dedication to "Landslide." The song has only been performed in its entirety once and even a snippet of it only twice, so I felt privileged to hear it.

The crowd was very into it - singing along with every word, dancing as much as you could with people pressed so close - it really brings home just how many lives this band has touched. It wasn't just baby boomers; I saw people of every age. By the final song "Don't Stop," the crowd was absolutely frenzied. The energy was incredible. As much as you have to suffer while waiting, there's nothing like people a part of a crowd so huge, every one of them into it full-throttle. It's truly an experience to remember.

At the end, Mick brought out his fraternal twin daughters. Very cute! The poor man is currently going through his fourth divorce so I'm sure it was nice for him to spend some time when his tween daughters.

Well worth it. Fleetwood Mac rocks!

[Brooke]

Soda, OMG, the mud! I hope you didn't wear your stilettos!

And the crowd

Glad you managed to have fun despite the smoke and mud! Stevie does look gorgeous.

[Henley Honey]

We'll have to take up a collection and get you a pair of hot "waders" for next year! Glad you rose above the smoke and had a great time!

[sodascouts]

I wore shoes designed to take the mud but they were so uncomfortable that I took them off. It wasn't so terrible going shoeless. I just hosed off my feet after the show (hoses were provided) and all was well!

[Tiffanny Twisted]

oh nancy
thanks for the great review.'sounds like a great show. and yo made the best of the sitation,,

[Prettymaid]

Darn those uncomfortable shoes!

Glad you had a good time!

[TimothyBFan]

40,000 people!!! WOW!!! I often think what kind of rush that has to be for the artists. You know by now that FM is pretty accustomed to looking out over a huge crowd but I wonder if it ever gets old. It has to be pretty awesome to know that that many people will come see you over and over again.

[Prettymaid]

Just had a chance to watch the video Soda posted, and it made me wonder if Stevie gets distracted by the off key accompaniment coming from the audience! Lol! It's probably not that loud to her, but the videographer sure picked it up! That's one of the worst, off key audience participations I've ever heard!

That wasn't you Nancy, was it?