Christmas in April!

The Forum

  Last Christmas, my fiancée gave me two tickets to Fleetwood Mac, who would be coming to town an impossibly long four months from then. Well, last weekend, those four months were finally up, and boy was the wait worth it!

  We drove downtown early to beat the traffic and had dinner before making our way over to The Forum. Getting into the parking lot was fairly easy and quick, so we had a little extra time for souvenir browsing. She picked up a t-shirt with the lyrics to "Songbird" and I picked out a shirt that boldly proclaimed "Tusk You," after the band's song "Tusk."
  I had read that seating in the arena was a bit cramped, and if I'm to be honest, it was. Maybe for shorter folks, there's enough knee room, but for me, it was akin to riding coach on an airplane. There wasn't too long to think about it, though, because soon, the lights went down, and the familiar heavy bass drum hits started thumping.
  Fleetwood Mac had taken the stage, and the crowd was roaring as the band went into their opening song, "The Chain."



  I was amazed at how close they sounded to their 1997 live performance (above). It was incredible to see the whole original lineup of the group, and they were really on their game.

  Sorry for the shitty cell phone pics- real cameras weren't allowed inside. Too bad, because I really wanted ONE good pic of the group.
  It would be impossible to pick a favorite song, or favorite moment from the concert. The whole thing was pretty fantastic. During "Landslide," they lit the massive ceiling up with hundreds of lights, which was pretty impressive, and really suited the song:

  When the band finished their set, I think about two hours later, they left the stage, and the entire audience turned on the lights on their phones, mimicking the old tradition of waving lighters in the air. A couple minutes later, the band retook the stage for their encore, where they played their signature song "Don't Stop" and ended with "Songbird." It was a beautifully bare, intimate version with Christine at the piano, playing and singing, and Lindsey backing her up on acoustic guitar.

  And so it was time to go, and we ran into the only real stressful part of the night: trying to navigate out of the parking lot. Nobody was directing traffic, and so it was basically a mad dash to the exits. People were forcing their way, cutting people off, and generally being rude. One guy even drove around the line, over some sandbags, and went down the wrong way of a street blocked off by construction barriers. Classic LA driving!

  It was an incredible evening, and I felt really blessed to be able to go see such a legendary band. They're still touring, so if you get a chance to go see them, DO!