{"id":28420,"date":"2015-01-23T16:55:10","date_gmt":"2015-01-23T21:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/?p=28420"},"modified":"2019-10-28T23:40:10","modified_gmt":"2019-10-29T03:40:10","slug":"musical-interlude-fleetwood-mac-is-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2015\/01\/musical-interlude-fleetwood-mac-is-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Musical Interlude: Fleetwood Mac Is Back"},"content":{"rendered":"

I saw Fleetwood Mac at Madison Square Garden in October<\/a>. It was a great show, but I wasn’t thrilled with my seats. I was too far away from the stage. Over the past couple of years<\/a>, I’ve gotten very passionate<\/a> about being up close and personal<\/a> with performers<\/a>. When I realized Fleetwood Mac was performing at the Garden again last night, I started searching for two floor tickets on StubHub. They were all insanely expensive. Then I had a “Eureka!<\/a>” moment and looked for a single ticket instead, figuring those were harder for people to get rid of. Sure enough, I found a relative bargain that was technically in row 7, though due to a missing row I was really in the sixth row. Lesson learned! If you have to buy a resold ticket and don’t mind going to a show alone … go alone! It’s cheaper.<\/p>\n

When flying solo, you might also have some interesting conversations. Before the show, I was chatting with the man next to me: Had he seen the band before, how old was he when he first developed a crush on Stevie Nicks (because everyone — male and female — has had a crush on Stevie), the usual. He said to me, “You must have liked the band since you were a kid.” I started to answer, “Let’s see, I must have been 13 or 14 when Stevie put out Bella Donna<\/em><\/a> (her platinum-selling debut solo album) …” Because there is a law that, at a concert, there must always be some superfan near me who has every relevant date memorized, the guy in front of us whipped around and said sharply, “Bella Donna<\/em> was 1981! SO HOW OLD WERE YOU IN 1981?” I informed him that in 1981, I was … 13 going on 14. Nailed it!<\/p>\n

I was so excited about getting a floor seat that I didn’t think about which side of the stage it was on. If you go see the Mac, you want to get a stage-right ticket<\/a> — meaning that when you’re facing the stage, you should be on the left side. That’s where Christine McVie is set up with her keyboards. Stevie Nicks spent a lot of her time center and stage-right too. I was on the very end of the opposite side, which meant I got a lot of Lindsey Buckingham. I was as impressed by Lindsey (and his super-skinny jeans) as I was in October<\/a>, but I started to feel like his personal photographer after a while. Lindsey, I love you, but let’s be honest<\/a>. I’m there for the ladies.<\/p>\n

\"fleetwoodcaption1.\"<\/a>

Spent a lot of quality time with Lindsey last night. Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

This is one of my clearest shots of Stevie.<\/p>\n

\"stevie1caption\"<\/a>

Love a gal with a top hat! Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

My other decent photos are going in my Flickr album here<\/a>. My recording of the opening number, “The Chain,” was slightly disrupted by people walking by me to get to their seats. Another thing to keep in mind for Fleetwood Mac shows: they start promptly! Lights went out at 8:18 p.m. for an 8 p.m. show. I’ve gone to 8 p.m. shows that haven’t started until 10:30 p.m., which is why I was late to the October concert. But I’ve got 15 seconds of Stevie dancing wildly to “Gold Dust Woman” here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I’d already worn my most Stevie Nicks outfit to the October show<\/a>. I considered wearing my top hat<\/a>, but didn’t want to block anyone’s view for the sake of fashion. (I did see quite a few top hats in the audience though.) If I couldn’t do a Stevie from the top, I figured I’d start from the bottom: cool boots and a twirly skirt.<\/p>\n

\"fleetwoodoutfit2resize\"What Wendy Wore<\/strong>
\nTop:<\/strong> Giambattista Valli (purchased from Yoox.com in 2008; barely visible here<\/a>)<\/em>
\nSkirt:<\/strong> Atsuro Tayama (bought in Tokyo or Singapore in 2002)<\/em>
\nBoots:<\/strong> From Yoox.com in 2008 (seen here<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

I love that skirt and I need to wear it more often. You can see it has a few different fabrics in it; it’s also asymmetrical, which the photo doesn’t show. Now that I look at the picture, I don’t like that top with the skirt. I think I need something more nipped in at the waist or a belt.\u00a0 But I felt good last night, so who cares!<\/p>\n

Last week, Rolling Stone — which had Stevie on its cover<\/a> — posted a 1976 clip of Fleetwood Mac performing “Rhiannon,” along with 17 reasons<\/a> why that clip is the coolest thing in the universe. My favorite is #11: “Mick Fleetwood has a cowbell, but doesn’t bang it, because when you’re as cool as Mick Fleetwood, all you need is for the cowbell to sit there and listen to you<\/em>.” The whole band truly is cool though, and Stevie is so stunning and charismatic.<\/p>\n