NEW PLYMOUTH NEW ZEALAND FLEETWOOD MAC CONFIRMED

BOWL OF BROOKLANDS - DECEMBER 19TH

Stuff.co.nz

By FELICITY ROOKES - Taranaki Daily News

A Fleetwood Mac concert for New Plymouth was confirmed yesterday and for the first time at the Bowl of Brooklands fans will be close enough to see the perspiration on the performers' faces.

The veteran British band is hitting Taranaki on December 19 and the TSB Bowl of Brooklands is the only venue in New Zealand it will play.

And the controversial 1000-seat lake platform will be ready in time for the concert.

Confirming the gig yesterday, New Plymouth District Council manager of business developments and events Garry Sharpe-Young said Fleetwood Mac was the concert of the year.

"They are one of the top 10 selling bands in the world," he said.

"Fleetwood Mac covers a broad range of people, everyone knows their songs."

Mr Sharpe-Young says securing the band is a major coup for New Plymouth.

"This is an A-list band and we are the only place in New Zealand that has them.

"All the major centres wanted Fleetwood Mac and I think it has a lot to do with the venue."

He says you have to be able to offer something different, something unique and that's what the Bowl is.

As with Cliff Richard and The Shadows, the new platform seating over the lake was a deciding factor for Fleetwood Mac.

"Artists like to get intimate with the audience," Mr Sharpe-Young said.

"We have taken note of what artists have said and are maximising the venue."

People on platform seating must be aware that if they wish to dance they must stand next to their seat and not all go to the front.

The platform has been designed to be removed so cannot bear too much weight all on one side.

Mr Sharpe-Young says extra flights will be put on to New Plymouth to meet the demand of out-of-town concert goers.

Fleetwood Mac has not performed in New Zealand since 1980 when it played in Auckland and Wellington, attracting more than 80,000 people.

Singer Stevie Nicks performed at the Bowl in March 2006 in a double billing with John Farnham.

Fleetwood Mac is in its golden years, performing for more than 40 years. The band is touring the world with New Zealand one of the final stops.

It is made up of Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, drummer Mick Fleetwood and the bass player John McVie, for whom, together, the band is named.

There is no new album to promote but at a concert at Madison Square Gardens in March guitarist Buckingham hinted there might be one in the works.

Fleetwood Mac has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide and its 1977 album Rumours stayed at number one on the US charts for 31 weeks.

But what Fleetwood Mac fans want is the oldies, Dreams, Don't Stop, Go Your Own Way, Gypsy, Little Lies, Landslide and Rhiannon to name a few.

Word is that during the tour the band is sticking closely to its 1975 self-titled album, the first to feature the Buckingham-Nicks combo, and its follow-up two years later, Rumours, one of the biggest-selling albums of all time.

TICKET SALE DATES

TSB CUSTOMERS TO GET FIRST TICKETS

FIRST dibs on tickets to Fleetwood Mac's December concert will go to TSB Bank customers.

Online ticket sales will be available to TSB Bank customers from Friday, September 4 until Tuesday, September 8.

Public sales will open on Wednesday, September 9.

TSB Bank customers can only purchase tickets online at tsbbank.co.nz/fleetwoodmac. The password needed to complete the purchase is `expect more'.