I felt bad for missing Scott's last performance in the Bay area (for a couple of months, anyway) last night, but I bought tickets several months ago to see Fleetwood Mac at the San Jose Arena, so they took precedence.

My rationalization for paying exorbitant amounts of money for shows like this is that they're bands that I love, and have loved for most of my adult life, and they're getting older and I'm getting older and this may be the last chance I have to see them live. And Fleetwood Mac is one band I've loved since I saw them the summer I was 16.

And I'm glad I saw them, really I am. It's too bad they don't have quite the ... something I can't seem to describe, but which totally pulls you into the concert experience, even from seats as far away from the stage as you can get; an exchange of energy and enthusiasm from perfomer to audience and back again ... of other groups that have been around as long as they have. I mean, they were fine and entertaining and I had a good time, but they weren't as extraordinary as I'd hoped they'd be, given their history and popularity. As Jish states,

The tunes were memorable, the atmosphere, lighting, and stage presence was great ... but Fleetwood Mac's music is the type that I would prefer listening to in my car or home, as opposed to being blasted out of loudspeakers at a good old-fashioned rock show.

Stevie Nicks was great - and I loved that they did one of her solo songs. Lindsay Buckingham, who I was really looking forward to seeing, was somewhat disappointing. He had a lot of energy and performed well, but it seemed many of the numbers were just his opportunity to simply "go off" on his guitar, banging on it and flinging it around. I don't particularly enjoy that kind of performance, since it's not so much about entertaining the audience as it is about entertaining himself.

Mick Fleetwood and John McVie were marvelous, naturally.

In any case, it was a nice night spent with good friends, I'll be breaking out my Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac cds tonight.

Btw, does anyone know what happened to Christie McVie?