Friends of mine went to a Faith Hill/Tim McGraw show at Staples Center.Said they couldn't understand a word either singer sang.Said show was loud and sound was boomy/terrible.I would have thought Faith Hill would not have a loud show...Fleetwood Mac has always had good sound when I have seen them.I guess they have a great sound man/equipment and go the extra mile for their fan's...I wouldn't go to the Staples Center to see anyone.I like smaller venues.Hollywood Bowl is great...
Fleetwood Mac Staples LA
This was my first arena concert in over 2 decades - I just don't do 'em. But, I'm a big Lindsey Buckingham fan, my wife know the tunes, and...off we go. A few thoughts:
The sound was surprisingly good (or, at least, not that bad). Loud, but not crushing. The wall behind the band was damped from floor to (maybe 100+') ceiling. I was expecting much, much worse.
This is a hits show. They covered almost all of them and threw in some Stevie Nicks and LB solo stuff as well. They even threw in a Peter Green chestnut for the old timers. In all, hard to complain about the set list.
There were 2 issues, however. The format largely took the guitar out of LB's hands. Even his 2 extended solos were shorter than those on the last Mac live record. For the audience as a whole (was anyone under 40? or 50? - for the record, I'm not either), this may have been a good call but I found it a little disappointing. He did get to show off a bit, though. I've never seen a right handed lead guitarist get more from a guitar with his right hand than does LB.
The other issue was pace. LB's songs and Nicks' songs are just so different that it was like 2 shows. I preferred the LB show, but I understand why some would go the other way. She can still sing and the tunes are hummable. The problem was the order of the songs. 1 or 2 from LB then 1 or 2 from Stevie. There was no continuity.
The band just tore through "Second Hand News" and "Tusk" and had the roof rattling. Then, they dialed it way back for a couple of Stevie's mid-tempo jobs. I think they would have been better served to do a mini-set (6 or 7 straight) by each. Just MHO.
BTW, the wife LOVED it!
Definitely worth catching despite the caveats above.
Marty
The sound was surprisingly good (or, at least, not that bad). Loud, but not crushing. The wall behind the band was damped from floor to (maybe 100+') ceiling. I was expecting much, much worse.
This is a hits show. They covered almost all of them and threw in some Stevie Nicks and LB solo stuff as well. They even threw in a Peter Green chestnut for the old timers. In all, hard to complain about the set list.
There were 2 issues, however. The format largely took the guitar out of LB's hands. Even his 2 extended solos were shorter than those on the last Mac live record. For the audience as a whole (was anyone under 40? or 50? - for the record, I'm not either), this may have been a good call but I found it a little disappointing. He did get to show off a bit, though. I've never seen a right handed lead guitarist get more from a guitar with his right hand than does LB.
The other issue was pace. LB's songs and Nicks' songs are just so different that it was like 2 shows. I preferred the LB show, but I understand why some would go the other way. She can still sing and the tunes are hummable. The problem was the order of the songs. 1 or 2 from LB then 1 or 2 from Stevie. There was no continuity.
The band just tore through "Second Hand News" and "Tusk" and had the roof rattling. Then, they dialed it way back for a couple of Stevie's mid-tempo jobs. I think they would have been better served to do a mini-set (6 or 7 straight) by each. Just MHO.
BTW, the wife LOVED it!
Definitely worth catching despite the caveats above.
Marty
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