by M. Toomey

Some friends and I went to the show at the Boston Garden last nite.  We had incredible seats.  1st row balcony at about mid arena, on Lindsey's side of the stage.  Great view of the stage.  We were the most raucous fans in that area and I'm guessing that has to do with us being about half the age of most regular fans, as me and my friends are all 25.  Most of the my group knew each and every song and my one buddy who is more of a casual fan got into the songs he never ever heard before.  Thats says something about a band their age, that they can still rock and keep it fresh to catch the attention of the younger audience like that. 

Lindsey was dead on all nite.  He seems to be playing the guitar better than at any point in his long career.  His guitar was the loudest instrument on the stage and it simply stood out as one of the best guitars I've ever heard live!  His vocals were pretty good too, better than the shows I saw on his last 2 solo tours recently.  Stevie looked and sounded incredible as usual.  She shyed away from some of the standard high notes in the classics, but then surprised us with high and extended notes on new parts of those same classics.  Mick and John were perfect as usual.  The best rhythm section in all of music in my opinion.  The backup band was great just like they always are.  Brett on keyboards, guitar and vocal ; Neale on guitar and vocal ; Mick's backup percussionist ; and Stevie's back-up singers.

Here's a rundown on my thoughts on each song:

Monday Morning

Great song choice to open the set.  Nice to see a bit of a change up top here.  Stevie and Lindsey sounded incredible harmonizing throughout the song.  This song got the crowd into the show immediately.  Lindsey's solo in the middle of the song was purely electrifying.  Really sounded good and crisp. 

The Chain

From the opening drum kicks to the last note, the whole band was on the mark.  I couldn't hear Stevie's vocals as well as I wanted to as it seemed Lindsey's mic was up a bit louder.   John's bass solo got the audience on its feet and then came Lindsey's solo.  It started with a crack like the amp was up too much but went real smooth after that.  Another classic LB solo!

Dreams

Stevie never misses a beat with their only No. 1 song.  She sounded great here.  I personally will never get sick of hearing this classic.

I Know I'm Not Wrong

Good Tusk selection for Lindsey but I wish he would've went in another direction with his Tusk choice.  Maybe "What Makes You Think You're The One" would've worked here too.  But nonetheless, a great song and wonderfully done.

Gypsy

Stevie once again was amazing throughout.  She introduced the song saying that it was about a "what if I never became famous" kind of situation.  Lindsey's fast-paced solo at the end was more spiced up than on previous tours as he added a little more "calypso" style picking right at the end.  Amazing.

Go Insane (Full Band)

his song sounds better done with Fleetwood Mac than it did on Lindsey's last solo tour promoting Gift of Screws.  John and Mick add something very special to the song.  My buddy who's the casual Fleetwood fan didn't know this Lindsey solo song but he got into it bigtime.  He was up on his feet singing and clapping throughout!

Rhiannon

Once again....Stevie was great on this classic.  The 2nd part of the song after it breaks down is what gets me everytime.  Stevie is just so magical with the end part.  The way she extends her voice to capture the intensity of the song is awesome.  It might not be 1976 but Stevie and the Mac can still rock this song!

Second Hand News

It does seem a bit odd that Lindsey feels the need to introduce this song since it's a staple for them in their live shows.  Done very well....Stevie and Lindsey still get very into the song even after all these years.

Tusk

I found it odd that they performed this song the way Lindsey does on his solo tours.  More laidback and ethereal in the beginning before the drum and bass parts kick in.  Lindsey must've really pressed for this particular version.  The end of the song has always seemed very repetitive to me and even though it is a great beat...it just needs to end before it does.

Sara

When I saw Fleetwood Mac back on the Say You Will tour in '03, this song wasn't in the set list yet.  So it was great to finally get to hear it live.  Stevie sings this song with so much emotion its unreal.  Stevie and Lindsey's interaction towards the end of the song is great (even though it is most likely staged at this point in their careers/relationship).  Just something for the fans to go wild about!  which of course we all did...

Big Love

Lindsey's fingers move so furiously on this song it blows my mind.  He may not have the vocal punch that he did on this song when we first got a taste of it on The Dance back in 1997 but it still has a kick to it.  He extends the solo in the middle to show off his incredible finger picking skills and man does he show it off!  Amazing standing ovation after this song.

Landslide

Once again, beautifully done by Stevie (and Lindsey).  Stevie played with the end a bit extending the usual lyrics and it sounded amazing.

Never Going Back Again

Like on a few of the other songs, I couldn't really hear Stevie when her and Lindsey were harmonizing.  Lindsey vocals were simply overpowering hers, which could def. be a first!  Nice job done by Lindsey though as he never misses a beat with this one.

Storms

I knew this song was coming, as I am a regular on this site.  But it still blew me away from the opening notes.  The intensity of the words sung by Stevie could knock you off your seat.  It would be intersting too see what was going through Lindsey's mind as Stevie sings "I knew from the start...I'd be the broken hearted" and other amazing verses from the song.   Simply incredible and she seems alot more comfortable singing this as some earlier fan reviews say.

Say You Love Me

I think the band did this song great justice with the performance.  Stevie and Lindsey sung wonderfully on their respective verses.  I think Stevie actually sounded better on her parts than did Lindsey.  Lindsey's solo was blasting and its great to hear them perform this song in its original form (as I thought they were going to play it like they did back on The Dance).

Gold Dust Woman

Incredible.  The vocals by Stevie on this song are so far from how a 60 yr old should sound!  Stevie was dead on target for the entire song.  The Stevie-wail that leads into the ending was awesome.  She held it soo much longer than any other live version I've ever heard.

Oh Well

Welcome back old school Mac!  It's almost like we're back in 1979 on the Tusk Tour, the last time we heard this incarnation of the Mac jam this classic!  Lindsey gets very very into the song and the riffs are amazing.  His solo's are mind boggling.  Mick and John play like its still 1969 with the original Mac on this tune.  You could see John's fingers moving along the bass a hundred miles an hour during Lindsey's solos (when they showed him on the mega screen).  Great jam!

I'm So Afraid

Just like with Tusk, Lindsey had the band playing this the same way as he did on his solo tours.  A little more laidback in the beginning but man oh man does it ever build up.  I'm not sure which live version I like the best (1997, 2003, or this one).  Mick's pounding drums guiding Lindsey's searing solo will knock you out cold!  By the end of the song when he is bleeding the neck of the guitar, the hair on my arm was beyound standing up straight.  The whole place went nuts when this song was finished.  By far, the  loudest ovation of the entire evening.  Lindsey basked in every second of the ovation (and he most certainly had to catch his breath after what he just had done for 7 or 8 minutes!!!)

Stand Back

Great to see Stevie still kicking but on her song.  100% great energy from her....awesome classic spins included.  It was sweet to see Lindsey get the 2nd half of the guitar solo.  As that usually belonged to Carlos Rios, the 2nd guitarist who for whatever reason did not come along for this tour.

Go Your Own Way

The entire place was on it's feet singing and dancing for this one..  Stevie looked stunning in her top hat...like it was the 70's all over again!  Lindsey's solo at the end was sooooo incredible.  His energy is mind boggling for a near 60 yr old.  He seemed to spice up the solo more than he did on his recent solo tours and more than the Mac did back in 03-04.  AMAZING

Encores:

World Turning

Nice too see Mick still getting his drum solo!  I was hoping he would do the regular drum solo instead of the electronic vest he had last time out!  His solo was absolutely jamming.  Incredible for a man his age to keep it going like that.  The recorded Lindsey voice (that they did the same way during his solo shows) went over real well, especially with Mick layin down the beats behind it!   The crowd went wild for this too!

Don't Stop

Stevie and Lindsey were incredible, as usual, for this one.  Lindsey's solo were electrifying and lit up the whole place!  I loved Brett's piano jam at the end of the song!!  A great sing a long jam!

Silver Springs

After another round of encore applause and craziness.  They came back out for one more.  Stevie sounded better this time around than when doing the song back in 2003 (which explains why it was dropped back then and hopefully not going to be dropped this time around).  Stevie was incredibly intense at the end of the song.  Hitting the notes like she did back on The Dance in 1997!  Increbible for a woman who will be 61 in a few months.  If I sang with that kind of vocal energy, I would pass out after one rendition of Silver Springs and I'm only 25!!  WOW

I hope they come around for a 2nd leg and then again WHEN they record a new album.  As Lindsey alluded to in the show,,,they have no new material to promote  YET!

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