Fleetwood Mac - The Dance (DVD)

...the live recording of the Fleetwood Mac reunion tour – should be it. If you were at the concert, I salute you and will be forever envious of you. If you possess the CD, fine – but you have not experienced the whole thing. This is the way to take the blindfold off.

I own both (the DVD and the CD). As far as I can tell, they are from the same recording venue. I enjoy both, but for different reasons. The CD is portable (at home, in the ...
...album by the members of Fleetwood Mac themselves. It is absolutely riveting). They split up with well known acrimony and prior to this tour had only performed once together – at Bill Clinton’s inauguration.

Stevie Nix is as beautiful as ever (maybe put on a little weight around the midriff) appearing in one of her black flowing ensembles.
Lindsey Buckingham proves time and again what a great guitarist he is. His characteristic ... more

If you watch one Video concert release, this – the live recording of the Fleetwood Mac reunion tour – should be it. If you were at the concert, I salute you and will be forever envious of you. If you possess the CD, fine – but you have not experienced the whole thing. This is the way to take the blindfold off.

I own both (the DVD and the CD). As far as I can tell, they are from the same recording venue. I enjoy both, but for different reasons. The CD is portable (at home, in the car) and salutes the music of a great group. The video is (in the main) a static medium but salutes this particular performance of the group.

For completeness I auditioned the DVD on a Pioneer DV717 player; the CD on a Pioneer CLD2850 laserdisc player both linked to a Yamaha DSF Home Cinema Amplifier. Let me say right away that the CD is by far the easier to play – put it in the slot and away you go. The CD is also recorded at a higher volume setting. The DVD has a copy of the video on each side (one in AC3; one in PCM stereo). It takes quite a bit of setting up and tweaking the system to get the sound output right. However it is worth the effort. Either way, the sound quality and the stereo engineering is superb. As far as I can tell, the DVD is not region coded – it is not so marked on the disc or the box. I bought my copy in the US. My player is multi-region enabled.

There are differences in the order and content of the discs (see below for details). I suspect that the DVD is a direct copy of the performance, filmed at Warner Bros Studios Burbank, which lasted for one and three quarter hours and features 22 songs. The track list of the CD is slightly different and has 17 songs.

The members of the band have probably weathered well, surprisingly well given their interpersonal histories. (If you haven’t seen ‘Classic Albums: Rumours’ – available on DVD, you really should. It is a frank and candid documentary account of the making of that album by the members of Fleetwood Mac themselves. It is absolutely riveting). They split up with well known acrimony and prior to this tour had only performed once together – at Bill Clinton’s inauguration.

Stevie Nix is as beautiful as ever (maybe put on a little weight around the midriff) appearing in one of her black flowing ensembles.
Lindsey Buckingham proves time and again what a great guitarist he is. His characteristic vocal style is also there, although ‘the chords’ do sound a bit tired towards the end of the show.
John McVie stands for the most part inconspicuous at the back (what is it with bass players? John Entwistle did the same with The Who) but creates a great driving bass sound.
Christine McVie looks as demure and homely as she usually does. She could as easily have come on stage straight from a WI meeting.
Mick Fleetwood is as wide-eyed, wide mouthed and as manic as ever; his strange elongated drum sticks flailing, and his odd little antics still directed at the other group members.

So why the video? It’s the little things that make the performance so real; little things that just cannot be appreciated from the CD. I’ll give you a few examples:

Mick’s hat falls off through the enthusiasm of his playing in ‘The Chain’
Lindsey performs ‘Big Love’ as a solo on a blacked out stage picked out by a single spotlight.
There is a great close up sequence of his finger action on the guitar on ‘Go Insane’
It is a delight to see the genuine reactions of the audience throughout the concert.
Stevie and Lindsey perform ‘Landslide’ as a duet. There is a very poignant moment (given their own personal history) at the end of the song where they kiss and embrace.
There is a cameo backing vocal from John on ‘Say You Love Me’. All five have lined up on the edge of the stage to sing this, with Lindsey playing banjo and Mick on a small drum set.
There is a triumphal entrance by the University of South California Trojan Marching Band (resplendent in red and gold uniforms and dark shades) midway through ‘Tusk’
They stay on to perform ‘Don’t Stop’ – conducted by their leader (a little man incongruously standing on a box somewhere at the back of the theatre). Towards the end of the track, the group leave the stage while the Marching Band play on.

This is such great sound, great visuals, thundering bass and rhythms and a tremendous ambiance. There is still perhaps a degree of coolness (and possible unresolved underlying hurt) between the members of the band – but despite that this is a bravura performance of their repertoire by Fleetwood Mac. Two new songs were introduced: ‘Temporary One’ and ‘Sweet Girl’. The arrangement of ‘Rhiannon’ is also different to the expected.

I was sorry to have missed this tour back in 1997. I really tried to get to Tampa in time. This video is my consolation. There is supposedly a new studio album in the making. Here’s hoping the rumoured event in 2003 does go ahead – you can back my ticket now.

PLAY LIST (DVD)
(* These tracks do not appear on the CD)

The Chain
Dreams
Everywhere
Gold Dust Woman *
I’m So Afraid
Temporary One
Bleed To Love Her
Gypsy *
Big Love
Go Insane *
Landslide
Say You Love Me
You Make Loving Fun
My Little Demon
Silver Springs
Over My Head *
Rhiannon
Sweet Girl
Go Your Own Way
Tusk
Don’t Stop
Songbird *

 

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