By Mike Russell
Sheffield Telegraph
Sheffield Telegraph
GREATEST hits they promised and greatest hits they delivered - Fleetwood Mac were back last night, thrilling a packed Sheffield Arena.
Five years after they insisted they were calling it a day for good, Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Lindsey Buckingham are on tour again playing songs "just for fun" - and fun it most certainly was.
This was a debut appearance in these parts for the band's most famous incarnation, the one which gave the world the mega-selling Rumours, and they came armed with a fantasy setlist designed to thrill any fan.
Bland it wasn't. Freed from its usual F1 home The Chain roared out of the starting blocks, second song in, with power to spare, while a fierce percussion-led Tusk banished any thought that the Mac are simply gentle easy-listening.
Buckingham in particular seemed determined to prove the band aren't ready for their pipe and slippers just yet, giving many of the rockers like Go Insane the big solo guitar god treatment.
With Christine McVie opting out of the current reunion, there's more focus on Nicks, whose voice remains strangely ethereal and other-worldly.
You can't go far wrong with a songbook like the Mac's - highlights included Say You Love Me, Sara, Rhiannon, Gold Dust Woman and the mighty Go Your Own Way.
There was even a nod to the original Peter Green-led version of the band, with a punchy version of Oh Well, which was one of the highlights of the night.
While McVie and Fleetwood remain as tight a rhythm section as ever, it's Buckingham and Nicks who now dominate the band, and they had plenty of references to the band's often tumultous past - a living soap opera as famous as any in pop.
Any flabby moments were soon swept away by yet another big tune. Everyone was up and bopping to encore Don't Stop - and on this form no-one will want them to.
They were absolutely brilliant. Stevie just doesn't age -her voice was amazing!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely fantastic, Stevie was superb so was Lindsey better than any of todays groups by far
ReplyDeleteMy first Mac concert and they really were outstanding. Stevie and Lindsey may have been the ones in the spotlight for the majority of the gig but its the magic the whole group make together that makes them what they are. Having said that, listening to her sing live was something I won't forget, there is something about her voice and her whole persona that stays with you. The energy from them all throughout a 2hr+ set defied their years. As a veteran of many Springsteen concerts I'm used to value for money and they were worth every penny and more. If you can make one of their gigs go - you won't be disappointed.
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