I’m writing this post for my mom. It’s not my general way to write post-show and this is late even by post-show standards. I’m supposed to be the cheerleader that convinces you to go to the show. That said, after talking to my mom yesterday about my experience at the Dreamforce concert with Beck opening for Fleetwood Mac, she was fairly insistent that I write about it and I guess I’m humoring her (though auto-correct changed that to ‘honoring’ and maybe I should have left that correction).
So, let’s just start with Fleetwood Mac, specifically Stevie Nicks. I have a handful of albums that I remember as firsts. I don’t know which were really first but in my mind, there’s Linda Ronstadt’s Greatest Hits, the soundtrack to Grease, Tom Petty’s first album (first album I purchased for myself from Downtown Records and also relevant for this post IMO) and Fleetwood Mac ‘Rumors’. I remember hanging out in my friend, Jen’s, bedroom. She lived up the road from my house and was one of the few kids in our semi-rural neighborhood. She had one of those stereos that had a microphone and an auxiliary jack. We would take turns singing along with Stevie Nicks. I’m sure we were terrible but we loved it and we loved Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac and Rumors. We also loved The Sugarhill Gang but that’s a different story.
Getting to see Stevie Nicks live was like a dream. It could have been better. If I had realized that there were going to be entry restrictions that had no basis in reality, I would have gotten there earlier and made sure my friends didn’t go capitalize on the free food after Beck finished his set. Lessons learned and all that… let’s see if I actually learn this one.
The beginning of my dream was where I finally got to see Beck. He lives in SF. Everyone I know has seen him and yet… not me. Well, no more! He opened with ‘Loser’ which was a little bit of a bummer cause I was still struggling to figure out how to get down to the field and herding my cats who wanted free beer and free food. Priorities people!
And to that end, some of my peeps weren’t up for the pit so I took off. I had people following me but when I turned around, they were all gone. So I found a place on the wrong side of the pit to watch Beck and was thoroughly enjoying when John walked up behind me and tapped me in the shoulder. I do not know how he found me; it’s a huge event and yet suddenly there he was. We were perfectly content til this Giant came and stood right in front of us, blocking our view of the stage. Nonetheless, we were being entertained by Beck. I actually had not realized how much Beck I know. I feel like he hit them all except his new single ‘Saw Lightning’ that I’ve been thoroughly enjoying. Im sure there were others that were missed but I didn’t notice, so happy was I with my show!
Waiting for Fleetwood Mac, we debated trying to get into the not Mac-capacity pit. Don’t believe the signs. We can clearly see the pit is not full! However we felt we had a good spot on the rail so we decided to stick with it. This may not have been the right choice but we were surrounded by people who actually were there to see Fleetwood Mac, not the DF-ers who just wanted to talk through the entire show and get drunk on the free beer. Even the drunks near us were there to see the show. We sang along to *every* song!
They opened with ‘The Chain’ and then they played every freaking hit that I knew with the exception of ‘Tusk’. Stevie commanded the stage and the crowd went wild with every single little spin she executed. She held us in the palm of her hand, being the witch she is. She was everything I had hoped for and more. While she no longer has the range that she once had, she knows her limits and has adapted and it is beautiful.
I feel strongly that Christine McVie made some pact with the devil. She sounds exactly the same as she did on the ‘Rumors’ album and she looks pretty much exactly the same too. Mick Fleetwood clearly has all the right drugs! He must be at least 20 years older than me and that man *never* stopped. Okay, he may have taken a short break but then he was dancing around the stage with a drum and I can’t figure out where he could have gotten that energy, other than drugs.
The fact that Lindsay Buckingham had to be replaced with two people (Niel Finn and Mike Campbell of the Heartbreakers) was not lost on me. It was delightful to hear Niel Finn and Stevie Nicks sing Crowded House’s hit, but I’m thinking Niel Finn should give up on ‘Secondhand ‘News’. While we all still sang along, I was strongly feeling the lack of Lindsay on that one.
Rhett Miller — If you don’t know Rhett Miller, you should. He’s the lead singer for the Old 97’s. He also has his own solo career and writes poetry, etc, etc., a regular renaissance man. If that’s not enough for you… He’s as cute as a button and has the prettiest eyes, the best butt wiggle and a fabulous windmill arm. You should really come see him!
Charley Crockett — It’s more likely that you don’t know Charley Crockett. He’s a little newer to the scene, but he, too, is fabulous and pretty. Charley is a little more country (and bluesy) than Rhett, but he and his band are fantastic. I mean who isn’t impressed with a piano player who can play the trumpet simultaneously and can also play the accordion. (One of my biggest regrets is not having my Uncle Joe or my Pop-Pop teach me to play the accordion.) Plus Charley has a couple dance steps that I suspect he’ll dust off for us. There’s also 
Texas Musicians — Both of these fellas have Texas roots and so Andee would support you attending this show as well!
It’s my birthday (well, the day after my birthday). *And* I don’t really drink anymore, so you won’t have to buy me a drink or anything. You can just come and see a fabulous show and that’s your gift to me (as long as you don’t talk during the music). If we are really lucky, some of the LOLMs will be there too and so we might get to hang out with those fabulous ‘ladies’ as well!
