REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac - Tour That's All About The Hits

Fleetwood Mac Live

Time Warner Cable Arena - Charlotte, NC
April 25, 2009

CreativeLoafing.com

by Jeff Hahne in Live Reviews

The Deal: Four-out-of-five original Fleetwood Mac members reunite for tour that’s all about the hits.

The Good: Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, though the romantic relationship ended years ago, proved that the friendship still lasts as they walked out on stage hand-in-hand. While the show started off slowly with “Monday Morning,” the crowd got up and moving for the second song, “The Chain.” Buckingham addressed the crowd about the new tour saying, “We decided to just go out and have fun. There’s no new album…yet, so we’re doing the stuff we love.” Though in a recent interview with MTV, Nicks was quoted as saying, “When he goes onstage and does his little speech where he says, ‘You know, everything is great and we’re just all grown up now and we’re having fun,’ I’m just standing on the other side of the stage and going [rolls her eyes], ‘Whatever!’ Right now, we’re trying to be a little more on the high road, but let us go in and do another album, and bang! Back down to the bad, low road go we.”

Regardless of any off-stage banter or possible in-fighting, none of it was apparent on Saturday night. Nicks’ voice was in good form, but she did change the vocal range at times to avoid hitting some of those high notes, such as on “Rhiannon.” The group reminisced about the old days as Nicks talked about joining the band and Buckingham talked about the recording of Rumours.

Throughout the night, Buckingham was clearly a focal point as Nicks would sometimes leave the stage and he was left to sing and show off his impressive finger-picking guitar work on songs like “Big Love,” “Never Going Back Again” and “I’m So Afraid.” He appeared truly appreciative of every ounce of applause that he received.

Nicks and Buckingham walked out hand-in-hand before each of the two encores as the band ended its regular set with “Go Your Own Way,” before encores of “World Turning” and “Don’t Stop” and a final encore of “Silver Springs.” At the end of “World Turning,” Mick Fleetwood went through a mad man’s ramble while hammering away on the drums.

The Bad: The only thing missing was Christine McVie.

The Verdict: A night packed full of greatest hits that left fans satisfied.

Setlist
Monday Morning
The Chain
Dreams
I Know I’m Not Wrong
Gypsy
Go Insane
Rhiannon
Second Hand News
Tusk
Sara
Big Love
Landslide
Never Going Back Again
Storms
Say You Love Me
Gold Dust Woman
Oh Well
I’m So Afraid
Stand Back
Go Your Own Way
Encore 1
World Turning
Don’t Stop
Encore 2
Silver Springs

REVIEW: FLEETWOOD MAC CHARLOTTE, NC

Fleetwood Mac feeds Charlotte fun, favorite songs

By Michael Persinger
charlotteobserver.com
Sunday, Apr. 26, 2009

How great would it be to reach a point in life where you only had to do things that were fun?

Fleetwood Mac, which has been around as a band since the 1960s and as a pop phenomenon since 1975, is there. The band shared the result with a crowd that reached the rafters of Time Warner Cable Arena on Saturday night.

There's no album to promote -- "yet," singer and lead guitarist Lindsey Buckingham told the crowd. That leaves the band's free to pursue its stated mission for the "Unleashed Tour 2009" -- have fun, and play the songs that are fun and important to them.

The show, two hours 25 minutes of non-stop music that paused only momentarily to set up two encores, does, sort of, support an album, though. "Rumours," the 1975 album that made Fleetwood Mac a big part of the pop soundtrack for a generation, is being re-released in conjunction with the tour. Of the 23 songs they played, seven were from that album, which has sold more than 19 million copies worldwide.

crowd sang along with "Rumours" staples such as "The Chain," "Second Hand News" and "Gold Dust Woman" sprinkled throughout the show. But that was not all Fleetwood Mac had to offer.

Buckingham's guitar riffs, Stevie Nicks' still-velvety voice and the bass of John McVie were all solid. British-born band founder Mick Fleetwood's percussion, showed off most impressively during the title track to 1979's "Tusk," kept the energy level high.

The passion for the work they shared was evident, notably in Fleetwood's wild-eyed looks on the big video screens and Buckingham's riff during "I'm So Afraid." But there are signs beyond Fleetwood's white beard and ponytail that they're getting older, too.

Nicks didn't quite hit the original highs in "Sara," and she and Buckingham couldn't generate the on-stage sexual tension they could when they were younger, during what Buckingham acknowledged was a "complex and convoluted emotional history."

Still, Nicks, at 60, can pull off wearing ankle boots with 6-inch heels without looking silly. And there was more than enough in the music to satisfy the big crowd and carry it to the end.

Buckingham's performance of "Big Love" celebrated a song he said explored both who he was and the power of change. It featured a brief embrace with Nicks near the end that drew a cheer. And the three-song span of "Go Your Own Way," "World Turning" (featuring a drum solo by Fleetwood, 61) and "Don't Stop" had the crowd on its feet.

If there's an album to be made at the end of this tour, it'll feature a group with plenty left to celebrate. If Saturday was an indication, it's still worth thinking about tomorrow for Fleetwood Mac fans.

Tomorrow could be fun, too.

Set list from Saturday's show in Charlotte: Monday Morning, The Chain, Dreams, I Know I'm Not Wrong, Gypsy, Go Insane, Rhiannon, Second Hand News, Tusk, Sara, Big Love, Landslide, Never Going Back Again, Storms, Say You Love Me, Gold Dust Woman, Oh Well, I'm So Afraid, Stand Back, Go Your Own Way, (first encore) World Turning, Don't Stop, (second encore) Silver Springs.

Michael Persinger is executive sports editor at The Observer. "Rumours" was one of the first two albums he owned as a kid. "Hotel California" by the Eagles was the other.