The Dance is a live album that was recorded for an MTV special in California and released in August 1997. For the first time in ten years we saw the return of the classic line-up of Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, although unfortunately it marked the last time that Christine would tour or record with the band. On the plus side, Stevie and Lindsey were to rejoin for at least one more studio album.
The concert is available in its 22 track entirety on DVD, with the CD version being cut to 17 tracks - missing are Gold dust woman, Gypsy, Go insane (a Lindsey Buckingham solo album track that would eventually appear on the 2-disc version of The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac), Over my head and Songbird (which was the show closer). The running order has been changed slightly on a couple of tracks too - most notably Rhiannon. The album reached #15 in the UK and #1 in the US.
On with the show then, and it starts with a rousing performance of The Chain, with great harmonies from Lindsey, Stevie and Christine that are faultless throughout the concert. If you watch the DVD then you can see that the band are at so much more ease with each other, especially the interaction between Stevie and Lindsey. At the end of the song Stevie welcomes everybody before breaking into a stunning performance of Dreams, in which Lindsey's added vocals give the song new meaning. They'll never top the version on Rumours but this is decent enough.
Christine thanks everybody for coming and says "Welcome to our little soiree" before introducing Everywhere, which is one of only two songs here from Tango in the night. This is a brilliant version with Christine's perfect vocal. On the DVD she is mostly stood behind the keyboard and letting Stevie and Lindsey hog the limelight, but she manages to shine just as much throughout. They've changed the chorus slightly and it really works with the others putting their own spin on it. A definite highlight for me.
Gold dust woman should have been next but is replaced by a great take on Rhiannon (which is track 17 on the DVD), this is presumably to spread the Stevie Nicks vocals out a bit. It has a harder, more rockier feel and this leads us into I'm so afraid, always a crowd pleaser and one that is heavy on the guitars. In fact it is seven and a half minutes of ace guitar work, heartbreaking vocals by Lindsey and a lot more guitar brilliance at the end. It's very atmospheric and one I would love to hear in the flesh - if I ever get to see them now. The finish is phenomenal, and the crowd go wild.
A brand new song follows called Temporary one, written by Christine and her husband Eddy Quintela and sung mainly by Christine. Stevie and Lindsey join in the chorus though and provide a feel-good performance of a positive sounding song that has the makings of being an anthem. Shame it was never released in any other form as I love it. Bleed to love her follows, which Lindsey explains was intended for a solo album and that him and Mick working on the track together was how the whole reunion idea came about. It was to eventually end up on the band's 2003 album Say you will, and this is a heartfelt version that doesn't sound too different to that.
The version of Big love on here was actually included on the 2002 Very best of album in place of the original, and I can sort of see why as it's a great performance. The intro is a lot faster and it's sung as more of a rock song, and more heartfelt. Stevie then sounds amazing on Landslide and gives such a tender, but powerful, vocal that it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end when I hear it. You could hear a pin drop in the crowd, until the end when they go absolutely wild. Then you have to watch the DVD to see Lindsey kiss Stevie on the lips, which is a great moment.
Christine brings ex-husband John McVie out to the front now where he shares the backing vocal (apparantly for the first time ever) with the rest of the band on an energetic performance of Say you love me. "It's a new take on a very old song" as Christine so beautifully puts it. Lindsey then takes a minute, amid Mick's tomfoolery, to introduce a new track of his called My little demon, which opens with demonic noises and Lindsey's vocals lead to another anthemic catchy little number that also should be more famous than it is.
Stevie delivers another flawless vocal on the gorgeous Silver springs, with great harmonies from Christine and Lindsey on the chorus. It's unbelievable that not many people would have known this at the time as it is just incredible, or as Stevie puts it "Silver springs is a great old song". A rocking performance of You make loving fun moves from it's original place after Say you love me, but you hardly notice the join. Then a new Stevie Nicks song called Sweet girl follows. It's quite an upbeat track with a positive feel which would have sounded great on one of her solo albums, although it sounds great sung live on here.
The big anthemic rock numbers are saved for the end, and Go your own way is the last one before the encore. Stevie bounces well off Lindsey here, despite being the subject of the song when it was written twenty years previously. It's a powerful hard rock performance and the guitars smash it.
Tusk brings the band back onto the stage, together with the USC Trojan Marching Band, who add a whole new dimension to the track. I would have loved to have been there for this as it's magnificent - although you need to watch the DVD to get the full effect. Mick's drumming is spot-on, as is John's bass and Lindsey's guitar. The whole thing continues on the CD closer, Don't stop, which Christine says "They've never done with a brass section before, so this should be interesting". Interesting doesn't even begin to cover it, the whole thing is a masterpiece of epic proportions. Again you really need to see it on the DVD to get a proper feel of how it comes together on the stage, but the harmonies on the chorus along with the brass band give a whole new feeling of positivity to the song, which I would rate as my favourite from the whole show. On the DVD everybody leaves the stage now, leaving Christine on her own to do a solo of Songbird, but this is left off the CD.
Well, what an album! There are definite highs, but the whole thing uplifts you like no other Fleetwood Mac album does - especially the last two tracks. I don't give enough credit to Mick's drumming skills, as they makes some of the tracks sound so much better, John's bass playing is also out of this world, and Lindsey and Stevie just own the stage most of the time. Christine hides behind her microphone a lot but her presence is definitely felt and it would have been a much less special event without her. I would definitely recommend buying the DVD as well though, as it will make you listen to the album in a whole new light.
