Soundstage Stories

[ramattack22]

To follow the Rumors section I'd like to hear stories about this show from the people who were there. There are threads on this but too many with different stories in each thread so I (and I may be wrong) feel like this deserves it's own topic.

There's so much to know about a single show. I still know nothing about the "technical difficulties" in Peacekeeper and very little about the final two encores (SMAP, and BTLH). Why was Big Love only played once (in other words did LB comment on it because obviously the first take was good enough for him to not play it again)? Where does the organ in GYOW come from (live, or dubbed)? The samples in Murrow???

Any stories are welcome as is any info.

[Erin]

The final encores were a gift to us, because people kept shouting out requests, obviously he had already scripted which songs were going to be performed. I don't believe these were taped. BTLH and SMAP were picked because he could remember how to play them! I remember a fair amount of requests for Holiday Road, and I always thought he brought it back for his 2006 solo tour because of this (or maybe Brett remembered).

I don't remember the Peacekeeper technical difficulties, hopefully someone else will. Big Love was only played once because it hurts his hand, or something a long those lines. I remember he shook his hand out after it was finished and said something like "we don't need to do that one again."

I think for GYOW and Murrow the organ and and the sampling were all dubbed on Brett's keyboard, but I could be wrong. I don't pay much attention to that type of thing.

[michelej1]

This was my review from back then:

Lindsey came out in his uniform, the black jeans, white t-shirt, and necklace, only it was topped with a leather jacket. There were screens surrounding the stage and they showed various visuals during the songs. Sometimes they showed the woods, other times they just showed Lindsey's name, there was one picture of him that they used on the screen. It was gorgeous, but it was from 1990 or so, when his hairline was from much further down.

At one point, someone called him to the side of the stage to adjust his make up. He shook his head and said, "TV!" As if he hasn't been known to wear make up when he's NOT on tv. He wiped his head with a towel and someone did ask him to throw it, but he said he would wait until the end when the show got more "tasteless." He then mimicked wiping his under arm with the towel, before tossing it aside with a laugh.

Lindsey was loose, self-effacing and quite funny throughout. After he finished the first song he said that he felt much safer with the audience there. He said it was going much better than it had that afternoon at rehearsal. He said that he heard other acts that did Soundstage had done as many as 30 songs, but since he didn't have time to prepare that many he was only going to do about 14. He said that 14 was in keeping with the amount of time they had on the show, which is only going to be an hour long. The Channel 11 people said that the show would be in HDTV with 5.1 Dolby sound, but they didn't mention when it would be aired.

After "Big Love" Lindsey flexed his fingers and said, "I don't think we'll be doing THAT one twice." To introduce "Big Love" he said it was written when he was a lonely man living on a hill in a house. Now, he still lives on the same hill, but he's in a new house with his new family and the song has an entirely different meaning.

Later he looked out in the audience and said his mother-in-law was there [wonder how old his mother-in-law is] and his "beautiful wife". They were sitting up in the balcony, which consisted of just one row of seats. He named some other people as being present like Matt and Rinelle [sp].

For "Go Insane" Lindsey did his little poem. In fact he recited it twice.

Boy, when he sang "Trouble" that had to be my favorite part. Lindsey has knocked this song himself as being the "obligatory" single, but it was gorgeous, not fluffy at all. He now sings, "come and keep your daddy warm." Believe me, he started out apologizing about the monotony of having to do some of the songs twice, but when it came to "Trouble" he could have done that five times and I wouldn't have minded. Someone in the audience yelled out that he should do it a third time and he laughed and said that he probably WOULD have to do "Rover" three times, because he doesn't think he can play and sing at the same time, "although that wasn't a problem in the studio."

He did "Peacekeeper," but they had to stop it because there was something wrong with Neale's instrument. Lindsey said, "Nellie!" Neale said, "I don't know what happened. It was ok when I bought it." So, Lindsey talked about having to do the intro twice and trying to remember what he said before [like he hasn't said the same thing 300 times]. He asked Neale to refresh his memory about what he'd been talking about and Neale said, "An Englishman and a Scotsman walked into a bar . . ." Lindsey started saying that, repeating after Neale, before reverting back to his real "Peacekeeper" opening. Lindsey told the audience that that instrumental mistake didn't count against his having to do the song another 2 times.

Poor Brett was sitting at the keyboard for Peacekeeper, but he had a guitar in his lap. He would stop playing one and start with the other. He was something.

Lindsey said that sometimes the equipment works against you and said that in FM's last 3 shows, he's been out of tune 50% of the time and there's just nothing you can do about it. Actually, to me when they have technical difficulties on stage during the regular tour, Stevie (or Chris) chats with the audience about it, but Lindsey puts up a wall and kind of removes himself or gets anxious. The glitches throw him off. But during the Soundstage taping, he couldn't have been more laid back.

He did "Red Rover." To me, I think they audited the voices a little electronically or maybe all 3 men were just singing very deeply when they got to the chorus, but it sounded good.

Actually, nothing sounded bad to me except the opening "Someone's got to change your mind" and "I'm Waiting." I flinched when we had to listen to THOSE a second time. Everything else I lapped up with a ladle.

So, Lindsey goes off stage again and returns and says that in many ways, musically and otherwise, this is the best time of his life. It just worked out that they asked them to do Soundstage when FM was in Chicago anyway. He repeated that they're on tour and that things have come full circle now. The band has re-invented itself in a way. He says their new mantra is "We're adults now. We can work out our differences. In keeping with that theme, I've invited someone to share the spotlight with me briefly. I'm known her a very long time, since I was about 17 [usually he says 16, but I guess he wanted to be on the EO17, this time]." Stevie comes out, to much applause.

He extended his hand as she passed and she clasped it briefly on her way to her mike.

While Lindsey was extremely loose for the taping, she was very formal. More reserved than she is on the SYW tour. She looked great. I only saw her when she came on stage. I was sitting to the side and her back was to me the rest of the time. I could see her red nails because she kept her arms behind her back most of the time. I could see the black jewelry adorning her hands and arms. But I couldn't see her expressions. I could see Lindsey's though. Obviously, when he had to sing THEIR songs twice, I didn't mind at all.

They did Never Going Back Again. I love this, but he's what I love about it. For a duet, I don't know why they didn't choose "Second Hand News" that showcases their harmony best. The band was not on stage for the songs with Stevie and maybe he thought it was easier to do NGBA by themselves. I don't know . . . Stevie has very little to do with this songs. She didn't even have a tambourine to keep her hands busy, so she hit them against her leg instead. She was wearing the black button down top and then her kind of flowing, layered black skirt underneath it, top layer is patterned velvet and the bottom sheer -- the usual Stevie garb. She had on her heels.

After NGBA Stevie and Lindsey had this big, low-voiced talk about whether they needed to do it again. "What do you think?" "I don't know what do you think" "I don't know, what do YOU think." Sometimes I think they pretend to talk to each other just for show. It reminds me of Siskel and Ebert. Ebert and Roeper really DO talk to each other as the credits roll, but Ebert and Siskel would only pretend to have a conversation. What Siskel would really be saying was "and blah and blah and blah . . ." as he gestured with his hand. Well, I think Stevie and Lindsey sometimes pretend to be more engaged in conversation when they actually are (i.e. when they are talking during Landslide on tour).

At any rate, Lindsey laughed and said they WOULD do it a second time.

When they paused between songs, someone screamed out for them to do "Frozen Love." Lindsey raised his brow. Stevie started singing, "you may not be . . ." the audience went wild. She only did the first 2 sentence and then she said, "that's all I remember." I'm not sure if Lindsey remembered ANY of it, but he said, "those songs had some great two part harmony though."

Then they did that, ah, acorn, "Say Goodbye." Lindsey carefully navigated the chords to put his right arm around Stevie at the end of the song. Then he kissed her. After the second performance of "Say Goodbye," they moved towards each other and he reached down to kiss her again for a long moment and then he kissed her again. Very sweet and I loved it, because I get tired of the perfunctory forehead temple kiss we get on the tour. I liked the more intimate stuff. As he released her, he said, "Stevie Nicks!" As she was leaving the stage, she stopped to stand behind him, her hands on his shoulder (their Landslide pose). As she stepped down off the stage, there was a big bodyguard waiting for her, but she did sign a couple of autographs.

After the break, Lindsey comes back on stage with Taku and Neale and says he's ready to go, "but we seemed to have lost our keyboard player." Brett finally comes out. During a break, Lindsey walks over to him with his hands on his hips as if to scold Brett for the absence. Brett said, "Sorry, I ate some bad chili." Then, he pretends that he didn't know his mike was on when he said that.

Lindsey has a long speech for Murrow about people purporting to report the news. What's interesting for Murrow and Rover is how they break down the choruses, with Lindsey singing parts that are barely audible on the CD, as Neale and Brett sing the rest. For Murrow, he did an extended guitar riff which was closest to what he does with "I'm So Afraid" on stage. When he said that he was going to do two of the ruder songs, I thought that "Come" would be one of them, but he apparently meant "Murrow" and "GYOW." They had to do Murrow again because Taku's drum went out. Lindsey said he didn't even notice, "all I could hear was the guitar."

He did a blistering GYOW. Twice. The second time he went over to salute each player, like he would do to FM on tour. This is the only song where he did his stage histrionics, raising the guitar over his head, etc.

After "Down on Rodeo" (beautiful) he introduces the band. He says that as a percussionist Taku is the best listenener he knows. He says that Neale was with him for the 1993 OOTC tour. He says that other than those 3 a lot of other people from the SYW tour have volunteered their time to support him as well. Lindsey told us earlier (when people were screaming out song requests for him) that after he finished the set proper, he would do some more stuff for us. He said he just wanted to be sure they had the material for the taping.

So, when he finished the set he said that there were a lot of things they couldn't do because they didn't have the arrangements with them, but since he heard someone say "Bleed to Love Her," he would do that. He did. Someone said that we should thank Kristen for letting us have him for so long. He shielded his eyes so he could look up past the stage lights to where Kristen was sitting and said, "did you hear that."

He then said he could only stay for about 5 more minutes because his wife was leaving tomorrow "and I . . . I need to be with her." So, he could only do one more thing.

Someone screamed "Miranda." He tried to get Miranda started, but couldn't. I really think that if the audience had just set there waiting, he WOULD have done Miranda, but then someone screamed "Save Me a Place" which was easier, so that's what he ended with. Neale and Brett accompanied him and I think they improvised quite well.

Lindsey is incredible. His fieriness is one thing, but he's just as effective in a different way when his talent is on casual display, not to mention his personal appeal. I enjoyed the audience interaction that we got. Michele

[Nico]

Love it! So detailed, Michele! Thank you!

Erin, thanks for sharing yours as well. I looooovvvee reading reviews because I can experience it all vicariously through you all. Even if it's a few years after the fact.

[ramattack22]

Probably my favorite post of all time.

[Erin]

Thanks for finding your review Michele. I'd forgotten so much, but not the chili remark! My most obnoxious moment was shouting out "eyeliner" when he was getting his makeup done. I don't think he heard me, but those in my section thought it was pretty funny. My friend and I were in the back of the side section. I couldn't afford the more expensive tickets. However during Steal Your Heart Away I can clearly see myself, which was odd because they acted like those of us that far back wouldn't be seen, but the camera actually stayed put for a few seconds, and man I looked intense!

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by Erin

Thanks for finding your review Michele. I'd forgotten so much, but not the chili remark! My most obnoxious moment was shouting out "eyeliner" when he was getting his makeup done.

Oh, that's hilarious! Michele

[lbfan]

The crowd was very upbeat considering how it was filmed. Every song, except 'Big Lve' was performed twice. I loved that fact, but the reaction may have been subdued after the second perfomance.
Unlike Lindsey's 1992 Center Stage, the crowd in the front 15 rows stood the entire time (at the urging of some hard-core Ledgies).
After making a sizable "donation" to the Chicago PBS station and arriving 8 hours before the start of the filming, the last-minute ticket give-aways of the first three rows to "lucky fan club members" was extremely frustrating. Clearly, the bigger fans were not in the first three rows (especially the bald guy that they eventually moved).
There was some silent "dead time" between the different songs while guitars were switched out and the hard core fans screamed out the different songs they would love to hear (I screamed out 'Soul Drifter' and drew a smile/smirk from Lindsey). Someone yelled out 'Holiday Road' and Neale Heywood played a few chords and Lindsey and Neale chuckled as if Neale had tried to convince Lindsey to rehearse and play the song, but it obviously did not make the pre-performance cut.
A few audience requests did get played - 'Save Me a Place' and 'Bleed To Love Her' but they did not make the DVD.
Clearly, the show was an "acoustic" type of show, until he got to 'Murrow' and 'GYOW" which Lindsey introduced as "a couple of rude tunes."
I love the DVD, but it doesn't quite capture the magic of being there in person that night!

[CADreaming]

Originally Posted by michelej1

Then they did that, ah, acorn, "Say Goodbye." Lindsey carefully navigated the chords to put his right arm around Stevie at the end of the song. Then he kissed her. After the second performance of "Say Goodbye," they moved towards each other and he reached down to kiss her again for a long moment and then he kissed her again. Very sweet and I loved it, because I get tired of the perfunctory forehead temple kiss we get on the tour. I liked the more intimate stuff. As he released her, he said, "Stevie Nicks!" As she was leaving the stage, she stopped to stand behind him, her hands on his shoulder (their Landslide pose). As she stepped down off the stage, there was a big bodyguard waiting for her, but she did sign a couple of autographs.

Well, it's too bad those moments weren't edited in the final version - I would take the kisses or the standing behind pose over them discussing doing the song over any day....although it still looks intimate even knowing now what they were actually saying.

[Sahara]

Great thread I've been meaning to ask Ledgies if they've been to any official tapings. Really enjoyed getting a new perspective on a great show, thanks for sharing