(REVIEW) FLEETWOOD MAC - TULSA, OK 5/3/09

Fleetwood Mac rocks BOK
By SARAH HART

World Assistant Scene Editor

TulsaWorld.com

In their hit song "The Chain," Fleetwood Mac says they'll never break the chain. It seems they've made the chain even stronger. 

And after Sunday night, thousands of fans are forever added as links. 

Fleetwood Mac roared into the BOK Center to a huge crowd that was at once young, old, rock 'n' roll and classic, heavy metal and soft rock. The crowd roared back, from the opening "Monday Morning" to the second-encore closer "Silver Spring." 

Fleetwood Mac formed in the 1960s, and has often had its own internal soap opera. But its solidarity, strength and storytelling remain as polished and relevant today as when their album "Rumours" topped the charts. 

"Our band has always had a complex and convoluted, emotional-ness to it," guitarist Lindsey Buckingham said. "But that has always worked in our favor. We take breaks, but every time we get back together, we get a sense of forward motion." 

Buckingham said band decided that since they aren't touring in support of an album, "Yet," he said to cheers of those hopeful for a new Fleetwood Mac venture, "We thought 'Let's just go out there and have fun and do the songs that we love ... and hopefully they'll be the ones you love, too.' " 

Oddly enough, the next song was "I Know I'm Not Wrong," from their album "Tusk," a song not as well-known as some of their other hits. Still, the audience grooved, and when Buckingham ground his guitar, going into one of many solos of the evening, he hopped like Chuck Berry across the stage. 

Afterward, he grabbed his back as if aching, grinned to the audience hopped some more, growling "Oh yeah!" into the microphone. 

The show's spotlight went back and forth between Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, who got the audience going when she told the story of the song "Gypsy." 

"I met Lindsey when I was a senior and he was a junior," she said. "I met him one day and didn't see him again for two years. Then, out of the blue he called me one day and asked if I wanted to be in his band. I was like, 'yeah,' and I didn't even know what kind of band it was." 

"He later told me it was a hard-rock band. And that moment catapulted me into the greatest musical time of all time, 1965-1970 in San Francisco ... where I'm back to the velvet underground" (the first line of the song "Gypsy"). 

The crowd went crazy for Nicks, who was looking as beautiful as ever, her waist-length honey-blond hair swaying, her arms wrapped in a sparkly black shawl. Meanwhile, on a screen behind the band, a sentimental song became even more so as snapshots of the band in their younger days went by. 

Nicks was equally bewitching on "Rhiannon." She turned her back to the audience and went into her patented trancelike dance, swaying her hips, shawl floating through the air. She was as cool and enigmatic as ever. 

It's hard to find a highlight on a greatest hits tour that features songs that you know by heart, but one of the most electrifying was "Gold Dust Woman." Nicks disappeared off the stage often. Before that particular song, Nicks sang former band member Christine McVie's part in "Say You Love Me," which was weird coming from Nicks, but a nice homage to McVie. 

Then Nicks darted off stage, and the band started the haunting beginning of "Gold Dust Woman." 

On the screens, chunks of gold confetti fell and there was Nicks, gold shawl wrapped around a black cat suit under a flowing red dress. She nailed the song, hitting notes she often leaves up to her backup singers. She was brooding, mysterious and moody, and it was downright spooky in parts. 

Buckingham's guitar work was as impressive throughout the show. He's one of the most underrated guitarists in history, inventive and clean, charismatic and cool. 

He sang some of his well-known songs, "Big Love" and "Never Going Back Again," and the whole band joined in on "Second Hand News." 

Nicks also dazzled with a song from her solo career, "Stand Back." 

Some of the most touching moments were Nicks' "Sara" and "Landslide." During "Sara," Buckingham backed up Nicks, and she later went to him for a lengthy embrace, a tender moment between the former lovers. 

"I don't personally know anyone in Oklahoma," Nicks said to the frenzied crowd before playing "Landslide." "So I'm just going to dedicate this to all you Oklahomans. We love you." 

The band actually had to wait for the audience to stop cheering so they could close the song. It was beautiful, awe-inspiring, and makes you understand why many bands have covered it. 

Fleetwood Mac did two encores. When Nicks and Buckingham walked on stage for the first encore, they held hands. The band closed the first encore with the song that makes many think of Bill Clinton's first campaign for president, "Don't Stop." For their first encore song, drummer Mick Fleetwood had a rousing drum session that bumped the BOK Center and got everyone on their toes. Then he introduced the backup band, which includes Lori Nicks, Stevie's sister-in-law. Then he introduced Buckingham, Nicks ("Our first lady," he called her) and bassist John McVie. 

The BOK Center was close to a full house Sunday night, and Fleetwood Mac, whose fame has spanned 40-plus years, still has the chops to amaze and captivate any audience from start to finish.