When I last left off I think we had just arrived in Green Bay…
Green Bay is very, very small. By the end of the first day off, after having taken a shuttle to the nearest mall, visited a few lovely bars and eaten lots of cheese, I felt I had experienced what Green Bay had to offer….that is, unless you are a football fan and then the possibilities for entertainment are limitless. I myself, am not a fan of the football. Sooo…I slept until 4PM the second day. Sleeping is an art in my opinion…and I am an artist. I paid for my art later that night when I was not able to fall asleep until 5AM, and I had a 6:30AM wake up call. I was a little wacky at load in that morning, to say the least.
I am now certain that my finger is broken. It’s been a few days and I can’t bend it. It’s still blue. It’s no longer swelled up like a sausage, but it’s still blue, and it still really hurts. It’s been splinted and taped to my other finger, but now my left hand is pretty useless and it’s hard to work with only one hand. Grrrr. This is no longer considered self-pity, this is just blatant whining. And if it doesn’t get better soon our Production Manager will most certainly force me to see a doctor. Double Grrrr.
Let’s see…what to tell you about the Green Bay show…
It poured rain in Green Bay. Poured. This does not feel like a summer tour. The enormous suitcase I have that is filled with tank tops and flip flops has not served me well. (In a few days I’ll be complaining about the heat….I’m reeeallly good at complaining, ask anyone that knows me.)
Landslide was dedicated to the Packers. A very delicate song to be dedicated to a bunch of guys that tackle each other and bang helmets together…but hey…football players have feelings too. There was a flight curfew in Green Bay so the second the show was over we were dragging band members out to their cars…there’s nothing like kicking people out of their very own concert.
Ten hour drive to the next city. Slept the whole way and woke up with just enough time to enjoy a morning bowl of Lucky Charms and a Red Bull before disembarking the bus.
Ahhh, Nashville. Last time we were in Nashville we stayed downtown and it was great. Fun city, lots to do. As you might have guessed, it’s all country, all the time, but it was still fun. This time around we stayed about 30 minutes from downtown and there was nothing to do. A bunch of the guys went to a sports bar to watch a big hockey game, but just like the football, I’m also not a fan of the hockey. Or sports in general, really. Water sports are good, with the exception of water ballet or synchronized swimming…let’s be honest, those are just silly. Anyway, we arrived in Nashville around 1:00PM so we really only had half a day off. I sat around writing the previous tour diary, checking e-mail and also dyed one of the lighting guys hair fire engine red…that’s my motto, when boredom strikes, dye your hair!
You know how I said it poured in Green Bay? Nashville made Green Bay look like a sorry drizzle. We had about 400 towels laid out on the floor backstage. The place flooded. I felt so sorry for people who had lawn seats in Nashville, they sat through a two and half hour storm. Talk about dedication. Stevie dedicated Landslide to all the songwriters from Nashville, past, present and future. Stevie’s family has some deep country music roots, so I think Nashville holds a special place for her.
For the 15 minutes or so before the show, after Mick is all dressed and ready to take the stage, he typically paces the hallway, stands around and chats, and uses our security guards (large) arms to warm up his hands. It’s just his way of getting ready for the show. Anyway, he was standing next to my road case, resting his arm on it, and when I went to get something out of it I nearly slammed his hand in the drawer. Can you even imagine if I had? Oh. My. God. “Fleetwood Mac tour canceled because ditzy girl breaks Mick Fleetwood’s hand”. He just looked at me like we had just avoided the biggest catastrophe ever. We were all silent for a minute, and then howled with laughter when I held up my wounded, bandaged, broken hand to Mick and he just said “Now you’re trying to break my hand too?”
Atlanta. Holy mother were you guys a good crowd! When the show started it looked there were a lot of empty seats and it was a little nerve racking. It was still light out and it just felt a little weird. By the third song, daylight had made it’s exit, the seats filled up and the show was awesome. When dedicating Landslide Stevie leaned down and asked a girl in the front row what her name was, “We would like to dedicate this song to Angela, from Atlanta Georgia”, the girl was already crying at this point, but as soon as Stevie said “It’s called Landslide”, the poor girl just started sobbing. It was so sweet. She cried through the whole song.
We also had a little problem with the security guards in Atlanta. Every day, our production manager has a meeting with all the house security. Security is told that people are allowed to stand up front the entire show. The only thing they are supposed to watch for is people climbing on to the stage. Apparently there were a few misinformed guards that kept telling people to sit down. Stevie came over to get her cape before Gold Dust Woman and she was piiiised. She turned around and barked at our security guard, “You go tell them to stop making people sit down…they’re ruining the show!!!!!” I believe the troublesome guards were switched out for people who had actually paid attention at the security meeting.
Lindsey’s wife came out for the Atlanta show, she was carrying a handful of pictures of little Stella for all of us women to fawn over. (Stella and the kids are at home with Grandma for the weekend…) But we all cooed over the pictures, snatching them out of each others hands. After the show someone handed me a few signs to give to the band, one of which said “Welcome to the room Stella” which I thought was very cute.
Okay, set list discussion. Don’t Let Me Down Again has in fact taken a permanent vacation, (insert expletive here), Goodbye Baby has been rehired, although I love the song, I kind of liked ending the show on a high note. Goodbye Baby is so sad! But I suppose it’s the logical follow-up to Songbird…I guess tradition is tradition. Destiny Rules got the boot, which I’m livid about. There are a few of us who have told Stevie we will not speak to her until they put it back in the set. (I think she knows that we work for her and that we have to speak to her, so she kind of called our bluff.) Say You Will is standing by for a permanent position, and all the other new ones look like they are here to stay, thank heavens. I’m loving Sara, and I’m loving I Know I’m Not Wrong. I adore Red Rover so much I just might marry it.
As part of my desperation to entertain you, and by request of a few fan club members I’ve put together a set list of my own. Not that my opinion matters to any of you, but this is what results from boredom. We play 24 songs now, and I couldn’t narrow it down that much, so I settled for 32. In no particular order:
Monday Morning (Okay, that one has to be the opener though.)
Blue Letter
Crystal
Landslide
Oh Well
Sara
Not That Funny
Never Going Back
Fireflies
Farmers Daughter
Can’t Go Back
That’s Alright
Empire State
Hold Me
Oh Diane
Eyes Of The World
Second Hand News
I Don’t Want To Know
Thrown Down
Red Rover
Steal Your Heart Away
Seven Wonders
Welcome To The Room Sara
Tusk
Over & Over
The Ledge
Think About Me
What Makes You Think You’re The One
Storms
When You Were Good
That’s Enough For Me
I Know I’m Not Wrong
Last but not least, I want to thank any and all of you who take the time to say hi or give me feedback on the tour reports. I really, really appreciate it, and if I’m ever short with any of you before or after the show, just know that it’s only because I’m usually a little busy and a lot sarcastic. (Not to mention a wee bit socially anxious, but that story is best saved for another day.)
Joking aside, thanks guys, I’m genuinely flattered.
Signing off. See ya’ll in West Palm.
CB
