FANS ARE NOW RATING THE SHOWS AS WELL

1-5

5 BEING THE BEST

Rated "5" by Mac Comeau aka "MakeMeAMask"

What an amazing night it was ...

As soon as the man walked out onstage, walking slowly towards his guitar tech handing him a nylon-string acoustic, the crowd was roaring its approval. He smiled, seemingly embarrassed but ultimately reveling in all this huge mass of love in the room. As he approached the mic and re-adjusted it to his height, a lady fan yelled out: "LINDSEY!" to which he replied, in his lowest poem-reciting tone, "Yes?". End of conversation.

"Not Too Late" was absolutely sublime. You can tell it's already become second nature to him, like a song he's been performing since the TUSK days. His phrasing is carefully thought out and he clearly wants the message of the song not to get lost in the intensity of the fingerpicking. For his final "...they don't know what to say", Lindsey stretched the "say" for as long as he can hold the note. Very effective ... poingnant. I'm sitting in the second row, incredibly close... it's amazing. I hear a man behind me say: "Wow... pretty impressive. And all that with just ONE guitar!"

"Trouble" is very slow but played with such sensitivity that the song almost transforms itself into something completely different. Lindsey can't help but smile as people scream in recognition as he sings. The fingerpicking is at its most precise and every single note is met beautifully. His voice is sounding astonishingly good and the sound mix is incredibly powerful ... very loud and full.

"Never Going Back Again" recalls the unpredictability of the "LIVE" (1980) album. He's menacing at times and incredibly sarcastic as he sings "You don't know what it means to win". You can tell he's weighing every word and the emotions that were once so closely attached to them ... and those emotions are still all there, only transformed. When he reached the "come down and see me again" line, he stops playing his guitar and stretched the last note of "again" for a good 10 seconds. When he gets back to the chorus, he's strumming mightily and the build up to the climax is intense. He almost makes you believe he WON'T go back again next time Stevie or the Mac come a-calling. There's A WHOLE LOT of redemption expressed in this performance.

"Second Hand News" works surprisingly well. I say "surprisingly" because I've somehow grown tired of it. I don't see it as a necessity on the set list at all but understand the impact it clearly has on the audience. Stevie Nicks-wannabe sitting right in front of me gets up from her seat and shakes her big bonbon to the beat. Lindsey once again sounds great vocally but you can tell he's taking the easy way out in terms of singing the lower harmony in the final "I'm just second hand news... I'm just second hand news!" His final solo sounds wonderful though and he has great fun playing it for the crowd.

"Cast Away Dreams" comes off wonderfully. His introduction is probably my favorite of the evening. As he explains his imagery of dancing over these shattered dreams we've thrown down to the ground... I suddenly understand it all much better than I ever really did. Very effective and the crowd seems to love it as well, even though it ain't off Rumours. Go figure.

"Red Rover" has the typical "not A God... but many gods" introduction but people eat it up and love the whole cynical humour of it. Also - it all sounds and feels a hell of a lot less rehearsed and recited than I've come Lindsey to sound in his intros. He sounds like he's just having a chat with his audience ... very nice. The verses sound absolutely sublime ... the chorus sounds a wee bit messy. It isn't ... it's just a little tricky and the vocal effect on Brett and Neale's "Red Rover"s sounds a little disconcerting to most in the audience. You can tell it's flying above many of their heads but the cheers persist and the audience is definitely more willing than your average arena-crowd on the SYW tour(s). It's one of the highlights of the night for me and I am the only one up on my feet at the end of it! I applaud ridiculously hard, scream and yell: "God I love that song!" and I sit down I repeat the same thing only replacing "god" with the f*bomb. I'm not proud of myself but f*ck, I love that song - what can I say?

"It Was You" follows immediately without introduction and people love it. You get the sense that this would be a MONSTER were it given that full-on band FM treatment but it truly sounds wonderful and the tricky chorus (with its multi-layered harmonies) works incredibly well. His "love her and watch her grow"s are very stacatto and intense ... these kids are his biggest pride and joy - even way beyond his music at this point and his delivery here is a true testament to that. Wonderful.

"Big Love" is incredible. His vocals are better than I've ever heard them on this song since The Dance and he hits every single note wonderfully except the really high "looking out for lo-o-ove, yeah!" before the climax ... his voice cracks there but he uses it and seems to fuel the song's sentiment of desperation. Oh and he played the solo portion before the "I wake up, alone with all" part for an extra bar. The playing is absolutely flawless and impeccable.

"Go Insane" is incredible as well. The 'Sardonic World' poem has people cheering and whistling in the end. They seem to love it. I love it too ... he truly delivers it with actorly skill. It's a great poem too, really ... sounds like leftover lyrics from the actual "Go Insane" album. People seem thrilled that he's performing this song (like he wouldn't) and the reaction truly is remarkable. His voice is fantastic and though he's doing it a couple of keys lower than he was doing it on the OOTC and The Dance days - it sounds absolutely sincere and heartfelt. Fantastic.

"Under the Skin" comes out really loud and thick. Here I feel the sound mix could be a little more subtle ... it sounds almost like a 10-member band up there somehow ... and this is WITHOUT back-up vocals on top of it. Wow. Still, the song does wonderfully and I notice some young girls dancing their hearts out (!!!) as he sings. He introduces it as a song he wrote "for someone I've known for many, many years" that just couldn't seem to get "from point A to point B" in their life. "Long live the QUEEN!" he yells as the song winds down.

"World Turning" ... why is this on the set list? I love this song but it just seems sort of pointless. It sounds nice and the riffing is nice from Lindsey and Neale but it ultimately feels to me like a moment where I would've loved to hear something different. Anything from TUSK ... anything else from UTS or even a SYW song like "Peacekeeper" or "Steal Your Heart Away". Oh well ... still really nice and you can tell it's really because he loves the sentiment of the words: "maybe I'm wrong but who's to say what's right"... in fact, he always follows the line with a yelled-out "WHO?!!!" Who indeed. Certainly not me. The percussion solo is nice but ultimately has little to do with the actual beat of the song ... it feels a little out of place but if it means my boy Lindsey can catch his breath for awhile, I suppose I'm all for it.

"I'm So Afraid" ... sticking to the White Album. The new mellow, almost soul-ish arrangement on the verses benefits the song greatly - it gives it new life... something this song needed, in my honest opinion, as great as it is. Brett's keyboards on here are particularly great... I swear he helps give the song that old soul almost-Otis Redding vibe. Lindsey's vocals are remarkably contolled and felt. He tries a few times for the higher notes on "days when the rain and the sun are gone" and he hits them every time. Wonderful. And the solo is so heartfelt and so much more musical than the craziness that he sometimes indulged in on the SYW tour(s) that you can't help but want to rush the stage and hug the man. Really ... beautiful.

"I Know I'm Not Wrong" doesn't sound much like it did on TUSK anymore. It feels more like the standard pop-rock of Rumours and doesn't quite have that slight weirdness or edge that it does in its original form but - you know what? Doesn't matter. The energy is remarkable and he and the band treat the song like it's one of the all-time biggest hits ... and the audience is taken for the ride. Lindsey is all smiles and keeps giggling back and forth with Neale and Brett. I still don't get where the harmonica-like sound is coming from ... Brett seems busy on the bass here ... how can he play both instruments at once. I'm probably missing something. The song is stretched out in the end and when the band drops out towards the end it's very effective. Nice touch, boys.

"TUSK" starts out so wonderfully different (in terms of not starting the drum beat right away and plucking at the guitar strings) and I absolutely love it. The audience is thrilled and people are starting to get up and dance again. Lindsey does his gorilla dancing, the crowd goes apeshit and Brett's orchestra-in-a-keyboard is very effective. They screw up the finale a wee bit ... the percussionist rolls the finale but the band plays on... he's embarrassed and continues as he appologizes with his eyes at Brett. By the end of this, I rush the stage like a madman out on a bad man route and I stand dead center with his mic stand as he returns to perform...

"Go Your Own Way" ... is this a new song? I don't believe I've heard it before. No but, it does sound wonderful and even though he's performing it in a much lower key nowadays it still sends a chill. I stare at the lines in his face as the sweat drips from his every pore and I see how he still seems to get a kick out of performing his very own "Edge of Seventeen"-of sorts. We establish eye contact twice ... he seems a little disappointed there's not a beautiful woman waiting under my mane of hair but smiles nonetheless. Oh - I swear he slapped someone's hand away during his solo-ing with the crowd moment ... perhaps the person in question was going too far below the actual strings. Baby, I don't wanna know. When he throws his guitar down in classic Lindsey style he shakes hands ... he shakes mine ... and VERY FIRMLY might I add. It's a beautiful moment that I won't soon forget. I yell: Thank you! Thankfully, nobody has a Snoopy for him.

Comes back for more ...

"Holiday Road" has everybody dancing ... piling up at the front of the stage ... jumping and dancing badly. Man - it's true ... white people can't dance for sh*t, can they? I mean, I'm white so this goes for me too, I suppose but ... wow. Phenomenally bad dancing, my friends. The song sounds great but it's one of those rare moments where you feel the keyboard sound effects and Neale and Brett's backing vocals are doing more work than Lindsey. That's okay though ... he more than makes up for it with the over-the-top amusing barking a cappella finale. "I guess you could say we just shared an intimate moment there."

"Turn it On" has a few people returning to their seats. What is this song? Which album is it from? The new one? Hey - WE KNOW THIS SONG - who cares that the average joe is clueless? All I know is I'm thrilled to be hearing it and it sounds wonderful. I'm having trouble focussing cause I'm in such a Lindsey daze but his vocals sound superb and he really feels and means every word he sings. I just really don't think it belongs in the encore ... somewhere in the middle or final quarter of the regular set would be perfect. Just my opinion though ... a lot of people are still dancing. Badly. He introduces the band members at length here telling us how "this may sound like a joke but it really isn't... there was little camaraderie ever in Fleetwood Mac... and this tour and this band is really all about camaraderie". He also tells us how he met Neale during the "bad old Malibu days when we all got together to hurt ourselves". He introduces Brett as the guy who screams out his room n umber to the audience every night. Brett replies: "Room 7, room 7!!!" The man looks like he's about 30. He must be in his late 40s ... impressive.

"Show You How" ... two basses at once and Lindsey barely strumming his chords ... yet it sounds incredibly great. Again, I wonder about the song's position in the set list ... should it really be this late in the game? Most people are back in their seats and a song that should posess the same magic and energy as "Second Hand News" ends up feeling almost a little too tame. Wonderful arrangement, of course ... it just feels a wee bit anti-climatic. Oh ... also the only moment where Lindsey's vocal chords sound a bit tired.

"Shut Us Down" shuts down the show ... beautifully. His voice is back in full force and his guitar playing is absolutely breathtaking. My favorite Lindsey song these days ... thanks Lindsey!

Next for me is the Montreal show on Wednesday where I intend to give the man a copy of my band's album, "Are You On My Side?".

I love him more now than I ever have before ... what a show!

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