[The Nicks Fix]

Say You Will Rehearsal Story
May 3, 2001

Below is the experiences of a fan who won tickets from a radio station to the Say You Will Rehersal. If you want to be surprised at the concert set list when you see the show, STOP NOW!

 

from Dustin D.
I had the chance to see Fleetwood Mac do a dress rehearsal, here is my story!

Thursday, April 24th:
I heard that ARROW 93.1 in Los Angeles would be giving away tickets to the dress rehearsal the next day. I really didn't think much of it, but I thought I'd give it a chance. I was unsuccessful at winning the FM concert tickets they were giving away last month, so I didn't have my hopes set too high for winning these tickets. I read on ARROW's website that the morning DJ Uncle Joe Bensen would be playing a montage of FM songs at 9:15AM.

Friday, April 25th:
In the morning as I was driving to school I stopped listening to SYW and put the radio on ARROW to listen. First Joe plays "Never Goin' Back Again" and I thought to myself "Wow, I like that song!" After he played it he said the band should play it live on this tour. Then he plays the montage of the four songs, which were only about 2 second clips. At this point I was driving around on the streets of my school's campus, quickly writing down the songs with abbreviations like "YMLF," "Hold," "GDW" and "Rhi." Then I grab my cell phone (I had already put ARROW's contest line in my phone book) and started calling.

The first 3 or 4 times I tried it was busy. I wasn't too pleased having to call a radio station for a contest on a cell phone because they aren't known as being quite as successful. However, my 4th or 5th try got through and it started ringing! Even at this point I got very excited because I had never gotten it to ring before! I've never won a radio contest in my life!

Then Uncle Joe Bensen answers the phone! I tell him one by one the songs in the montage: You Make Lovin' Fun, Hold Me, Gold Dust Woman and Rhiannon. I GOT IT RIGHT! While speaking to him I was extremely nervous, my hands were shaking and my voice was shaky.

He tells me "You're good!" and I say "Well, I'm a big fan!" He said that the first guy that called didn't have a clue as to what the songs were. When I hung up with him I was freaking out, pounding on my steering wheel in the parking lot at school! Finally about an hour and a half later the promotions department at ARROW calls me back with the details, making it completely official, in my head that I had won!

I went to work after I talked to the woman from ARROW and asked a friend if he wanted to go. He didn't even hesitate and couldn't stop talking about it all day!

On April 27th:
My friend and I met up and I drove to the hotel where all of the contest winners had to meet. A bus was to pick us up and take us to the location of the dress rehearsal. We met up with some other great FM fans, all which were very friendly and excited to be there! None of us really knew what to expect of the night's events.

The bus arrived and we piled in with our purple wristbands that would allow us to get into the studio. The rehearsal was held at Culver Studios in Culver City, California. When we got out of the bus, we practically ran to the studio where it was being held at. They let us in without frisking us or checking bags, even though they said no cameras or recorders allowed.

Much to our surprise there were 500+ people there, most of who were already there and seated! The stress-factor started to sink in and I was worrying about where we were going to sit. First we found seats in the back section up a ramp, but then some friends we met up with flagged us down to the first section. My friend and I found seats in front of our friends and settled down.

We were sitting on a riser of only 2 rows, each with 7 seats. The row of people in front of me was sitting in seats on the floor. It was an ideal place to sit because I felt like I was above the entire audience. And there were only about 13 rows of people between me and the stage.

Shortly after 8PM the band walked onto the stage!

They had two back ground things that played the videos for a few of their songs, such as "Gypsy." When I saw the clips of the video during the song, it made me misty-eyed seeing a young Stevie twirling as she was singing it at that moment. They also had what looked like some of Stevie's paintings on the back drop, and during "What's the World Coming To" it had different images of hands.

At one point during the middle of the set, a long, square cloth was lowered over the stage on which their images were projected onto in black and white as they were singing.

Stevie wore black platform boots and a black dress. She did her usual change of shawls for different songs such as "Rhiannon" and "Gold Dust Woman."

Also, during "Gypsy" Stevie grabbed the ribbons tied onto her microphone and playfully held one just above her mouth. Kinda cute! She totally rocked out during "Stand Back."

Lindsey wailed on the guitar all night! At one point he even broke a guitar string, but kept on playing like there was no tomorrow!

As rumored, they did play "Beautiful Child," which I thought translated very well live. It was definitely beautiful to watch Stevie sing it, as well as "Goodbye Baby." "Goodbye Baby" was actually their second encore. After they finished "Don't Stop," the band left the stage and the audience began to head for the door. Then suddenly the band came back on stage and Stevie introduced "Goodbye Baby" as a "sweet little song." I was mesmerized by this performance! Just watching Stevie sing it, with that voice, was simply wonderful. I was especially happy to hear them perform that and "Running Through the Garden."

During "World Turning" Mick stepped out and did his drum solo with the vest. He kept asking the audience "Are ya with me?!" and then "Are ya still with me?!" He also grunted other unintelligible sounds as well!

After 2 and half hours, the show was over. Apparently people with orange wristbands were allowed to get in line to take pictures with the band in groups of six. So our little group got in line to see if we could get to do it, but we were unsuccessful! However, as we were walking out I spotted Lindsey sort of walking toward us! But security guards wouldn't let anyone get close to him.

At this point we decided to exit the studio and find our bus. As we were walking past other studios, some people were starring into another one that had lights flashing around. We peeked in and a man said that it was the stage set up for the Eagles' upcoming tour! The back drop had an image from the cover of HOTEL CALIFORNIA!

Finally we caught our bus, went back to the hotel and then went home! It was an awesome experience that I'll never forget! I had never seen Fleetwood Mac live before, and it was cool to see them do a dress rehearsal. Not a lot of fans get this kind of opportunity. I am sincerely grateful for having the chance to be apart of it!

Thank you Fleetwood Mac and thank you ARROW! I had a blast!


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