Fleetwood Mac Live in Sheffield: ARE YOU READY FOR SOME HANKY PANKY.... ??

Well Mick Fleetwood is!  About the midway point of this video.

Fleetwood Mac "World Turning" Live at Sheffield Arena November 2, 2009



Really nice collection of videos from this show can be found here

REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac Live in Sheffield November 2, 2009

FLEETWOOD MAC - SHEFFIELD ARENA SHEFFIELD, UK
NOVEMBER 2, 2009
Review by: Rob Peacock
DigYorshire.com

Watching Fleetwood Mac shouldn’t be such a strange proposition. After 40 years, you know the songs, you know the people, you know the whole back-story about the break-ups and divorces. A Fleetwood Mac gig should be a good –rockin’ trip down memory lane.

And yet, here am I watchin old familiar faces crank out old familiar songs and not knowing what to make of it all.

The reason for this, I think, makes itself clear about two-thirds of the way through the main set when they break into Oh Well, a classic from their original 60s incarnation - they’re still (at least) two separate bands. Fleetwood and McVie are British blues boys to their core, never happier than when they’re allowed to let rip on a proper R ‘n’ B (in the 60s sense) groove. Buckingham and Nicks, on the other hand, are just a pair of hippy, trippy Californian interlopers, even now, 35 years after joining.

To further complicate matters, there’s the tension still apparent between Buckingham and Nicks, long after their romantic break-up. How much of this is put on for the crowds it’s hard to tell. They walk on stage holding hands, glance provocatively at each other during songs and, at one point, hug each other with huge dramatic effect. It may be staged, but the psychobabble with which they introduce their songs suggests, shall we say, that both may have a few issues still to work through.

It’s a band split along multiple lines and pulling in different directions. So who wins out? Well, the rhythm section only get to properly show off their skills on the aforementioned Oh Well, which is unfortunate, because Fleetwood looks at mad for it as ever. And yet, even Nicks is sidelined somewhat tonight. She floats on and off stage to huge applause and swirls her gypsy dress through numbers like Rhiannon and Landslide, but never quite captures the moment.

Instead, for the most part, it’s the Lindsey Buckingham show. He wasn’t in the pantheon of all-time guitar greats last time I checked, but no-one seems to have told the man himself this. Every time he gets the opportunity he’s down to the front of the stage, milking solos for all they’re worth. At one point towards the end of I’m So Afraid you think he’s never going to stop. He’s up at the top of the fretboard squeezing every last whine out of his instrument, pained expression on his face, sweat leaking through his t-shirt. If it weren’t for the strange way he hobbles around the stage, you’d swear this was a sixteen year old throwing his best rock star poses in front of the bedroom mirror.

It’s a shame Christine McVie didn’t make it along for the reunion to add yet another dimension to the performance. In fact, she might have balanced out Buckingham’s massive ego. Nonetheless, the four-piece Mac leave the diehards happy and if nothing else, you’re watching a classic rock band in which, unlike some others (step forward, Rolling Stones), creative tensions are very much still alive.

REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac Live in Sheffield "The Night Belongs To The Pairing of Buckingham / Nicks""

Fleetwood Mac Live at Sheffield Arena
2nd November 2009
Contact Music
by: Will Orchard

As the first tour in their forty-year career without new material to offer, Fleetwood Mac's return to European shores is far from the formulaic reunions of late; saved the clumsy necessity of shoehorning new tracks into a set of, at times, 30 years familiarity, the quartet has succeeded in weaving a touching, cathartic set that does justice to the depth of their catalogue. Focussing almost solely on the band's output since their eponymous 1975 offering, their first with one-time lovers Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks at the helm, the evening's proceedings are led by the group's American contingent; the band's world-weary backbone of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie may be first to step out as the house lights dim, but the night belongs to the pairing of Buckingham/Nicks that's so long proven the fuel to the band's fire.

While the fist-raising likes of Second Hand News and I'm So Afraid - here an exhibition in Buckingham's distinctive finger-picked style - may have proven expectable highlights, it's the introspective subtleties of the band's set that provide the most gut-wrenching and emotive moments of the show; the hushed mid-set highlights of Landslide and Storms are poignant, affecting tributes to heartbreak and nostalgia. Indeed, Landslide's wistful melancholia has begun to develop a further dimension as Nicks enters her sixtieth year; the song's anxious consideration of ageing and growth - 'Can I handle the seasons of my life?' -coloured by Nicks' tumultuous experiences, yet tonight's evidence suggests she's ridden Fortune's wheel well enough. More than thirty years after much of tonight's set was originally committed to tape, it's a pleasant surprise that the band's offerings have loss none of their potency.

The relationship and tensions between the front pair, so long left unresolved, are still evident too tonight; the vitriolic Go Your Own Way, and specifically its infamous 'shacking up' line, sees Nicks turn her back on Buckingham, turning only to spit the lyrics back at him, while Sara concludes with the pair embracing, a brief respite to the conflicts that, though now more for effect, pepper the show. Nicks' bohemian tendencies are in full flow throughout, numerous changes from one velvet gown to another abound, and the sprawling disco of her own Stand Back contrasts with the brusque punk of Buckingham's offerings, yet the brief overlaps where the pair duet result in a sweet delight, nothing short of electrifying.

For an arena band, Fleetwood Mac are more than adept at fashioning a living-room mood; the stories and introductions they give to their tracks - most notably Nicks' reverentially-received tale of her years in beatnik San Francisco that heralds Gypsy - never stray into the forced sincerity of their peers, while the finale of Don't Stop and Fleetwood's parting messages for the crowd to 'look after yourselves, but most importantly each other', the band's trademark mix of AOR and refreshingly innocent hippiedom, leave the crowd grinning. Buckingham's closing offerings - 'We'll see you next time!' - will, one would hope, ring true in the not too distant future.

REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac Sheffield Arena November 2, 2009

FLEETWOOD MAC LIVE 
SHEFFIELD ARENA - November 2, 2009
By Leeroy
GigJunkie

Fleetwood Mac are one of those classic bands that thrived due to conflict. Much has been said of the marriages, divorces, flings, and admirations within the band but throughout the years the best songs have come from the worst of times. They still would be classed as one of the biggest bands to hit the planet, with Rumours still being one of the top ten selling albums EVER!

So when they announced a reunion the initial rumours (excuse the pun) were that they'd be headlining Glastonbury, this didn't happen much to my dismay. But when a small 6 date UK tour was announced, I was one of the first in line, even at the steep price of £75 for some of the best seats in the house. Although much the tour hasn't quite sold out, there weren't many seats left vacant in the gods at the back of the arena, something a slightly lower price tag would have solved.

The line up of the bands namesake, Mick Fleetwood, fans hero Lindsey Buckingham, almost ever present bassist John McVie, and pin-up and fashion icon for many Stevie Nicks, is the same as the 2004 tour and again missing Christine McVie since leaving the tense world of Mac. Fittingly all four members all came onto stage from seperate directions, leaving a certain doubt as to whether the tension in the band still exists. The first few tracks felt like the band were just getting warmed up, even the track that introduced me to Fleetwood Mac at a young age of Formula One watching, 'The Chain', was as powerful as on record, but felt like they'd not quite gelled everything together. Luckily that was a fear that was quickly resolved a chat to the crowd from Lindsey explaining that the band this time were determined "with no album to promote 'yet'", they were just going "to have fun and play all records that we love and hopefully so do you".

Continue to Gig Junkie for full review

REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac Live in Sheffield - November 2. 2009

Fleetwood Mac Live
Sheffield Arena 2/11/09
Sheffield Telegraph

YOU know a strike's making an impact when one of the world's most famous bands delays its show as a result.

On Monday, outside the Arena, a huge queue snakes around its walls as hundreds complain their tickets haven't arrived.

"The band are delaying their show ten minutes," shouts a member of staff, only to repeat her message ten minutes later.

But the wait's worth it.

Fleetwood Mac – despite vowing they would never play again – play a set of classics, including The Chain, Rhiannon, Go Your Own Way, Don't Stop, Say You Love Me and Sara.

And surprisingly, the band play arguably their biggest hit, The Chain, second.

Delivery is impeccable - the world's most famous bass line sounds bigger and more visceral than its does opening the BBC's F1 coverage.

The line-up includes Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Lesley Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.

Buckingham and Nicks take their perches at the front of the stage, exchanging glances, smiles and even a cuddle throughout the show.

And, remarkably, despite it being 41 years since the Grammy-winning Rumours was released, Nicks' trademark voice – both whisky-laden and ethereal, is superbly unchanged.

At several points throughout the show Nicks disappears behind the stage, emerging wearing a different shawl or a dress.

Her black and deep red floaty costumes reflect the dual-character of her voice – which is are at once other-worldy, earthy and dark.

Buckingham's on form too, elaborating – perhaps a little excessively – on the guitar solo to Go Insane.

He also shines as a soloist, playing intricate acoustic guitar on softer numbers as the band retreat to the back of the stage.

And then, following his lone performances, Buckingham stands at the front of the stage, lapping up the applause – rightly so.

REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac - Sheffield Arena - Sheffield, UK Nov 2, 2009

By Mike Russell
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.

REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac Live in Sheffield - November 2, 2009 - at Sheffield Arena

FLEETWOOD MAC LIVE IN SHEFFIELD

November 2, 2009

by: Steve Newson Dot Net

Am coming down from an awesome performance by Fleetwood Mac at Sheffield Arena. If you have a chance to go see them I most heartily recommend. Can't sleep yet so I thought I'd record a few thoughts for posterity. 

It was my first time at Sheffield Arena, what a great venue. I much prefer it to the NEC. I managed to trade my two tickets at the back of the arena for 1 ticket just 12 rows from the front plus cash. So had a fantastic view. The only marginal downside was being sat next to the scouser from hell. Clearly short of the odd marble he kept shouting at Lindsey Buckingham to play "Go your own way", which was the last song of the main set, so he kept it up most of the night.

Such minor annoyance could not detract though from the greatness of the Mac. Lindsey Buckingham really is a maestro. I can't think offhand of a better guitarist that I've seen live. Even when he went off into guitar solo heaven he held a meaningful tune that you could not help but tap, sway or dance along to. Contrast that with most solos that show off guitar competency but really aren't musical. Case in point Mick Fleetwood and his drum solo, ok so it proves he can play but I just wanted it to end and them to move onto a song. 

Stevie Nicks was fantastic, she's still got one hell of a voice and together with Buckingham they belted out all the great anthems. 

Mick Fleetwood and John McVie provide a solid backbone to the band and with supporting cast the delivery was faultless. The only missing member of what you might consider the classic Mac line up was Christie McVie. 

I don't know what's happened to the average British concert goer since I last went to a gig, but when did they start all sitting like lemons? You can't go to a live gig like this and not dance! What's the point of shelling out £60 for a ticket if you're not even going to try being moved by the music. If you just want to watch them play competently buy the DVD. Have we lost our soul or is it just good old British stoicism? Have to admit I got up and boogied. Showing my age I guess. 

An electrifying night that will live in my memory for some time to come. 

FLEETWOOD MAC - SHEFFIELD PREVIEW

PREVIEW
Fleetwood Mac
Rachel Jeffcoat
DigYorkshire.com

A truly legendary force will take to the stage in Sheffield next week as Fleetwood Mac bring their global tour, Unleashed, to the Arena. It coincides with the UK release of The Very Best Of Fleetwood Mac. Fittingly, it’s set to be a ‘Greatest Hits’ tour, with all the familiar chart-toppers sitting alongside a few fan album favourites.

Last year when the tour was first announced, rumours were abound of Sheryl Crow joining the group in place of Christine McVie. These proved to be unfounded, however, so fans will be treated with a classic lineup of Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Lindsey Buckingham.

There’s talk of the band heading back to the studio after this tour, but for now they’ll just be unleashing their considerable arsenal of crowdpleasers – the chances of hearing your favourites are higher than ever!

digyorkshire.com will be heading to Sheffield with our finest singing voices in tow. Check back next week for the review.