FLEETWOOD MAC TRADES HITS FOR CASH

Minnpost.com
by: Britt Robson

Stevie Nicks stormed off the stage and permanently short-circuited the last Fleetwood Mac tour five years ago because of an argument with, who else?, her ex-lover and sparring partner, Lindsey Buckingham, with whom she swore she’d never play again.

But hey, there’s a new boxed-set edition of "Rumours," a DVD/CD combo, which includes previously unreleased songs from the sessions that were so good they had to be held 31 years for the rest of the world to catch up. And Nicks’ "Live in Chicago" DVD, originally scheduled for release last fall, has been pushed back to March 31. And tickets for Tuesday’s second stop on Fleetwood Mac’s "Unleashed: Hits Tour 2009" at the Xcel Energy Center go for a mere $149.50 (or $49.50 for nosebleeds), not counting service charge. Perhaps all of these things enabled Nicks to have a change of heart.

Unlike their last tour, which included songs from their then-current album that became a waste of everybody’s time, Fleetwood Mac is reportedly purveying nothing but the hits on this sojourn into the big arenas and increasingly unreliable memories of their aging fan base. Christine McVie once again has refused to come on board, having retired from the whole shebang years ago. But Nicks and Buckingham, who each turned 60 last year, plus bassist John McVie (63) and drummer Mick Fleetwood, who’s old enough for Medicare, will be around.

Bickering aside, both Nicks and Buckingham have proved to be in good voice recently, and it’s not as if the likes of "Rhiannon," "Going Out of My Head," "Go Your Own Way" (and all the other chestnuts that placed the band alongside the Eagles and Jackson Browne as the poster narcissists for the SoCal pop-rock of the 1970s) are that challenging on the larynx. If you’ve got the green, Fleetwood Mac will flip on the way-back machine. 

By the way, Buckingham’s latest collection, "Gift of Screws," is a pretty good record that can be had for a fraction of a ducat at the Xcel. But I don’t imagine that will dissuade thousands from flocking to the hockey palace for a mass, boisterous sing-along (such as this one) of the old stuff. All together now: "Don’t stop/thinking about tomorrow/yesterday’s gone/yesterday’s gone!"

Fleetwood Mac at the Xcel Energy Center, Tuesday, March 3, 8 p.m.; $49.50-$149.50.