REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac Live in St. Paul "Who sits still at such a show?"

Blogger Review of St. Paul Show
Information Access Avenger

My first visit to the University of Minnesota as a perspective student eleven years ago was the day after a Fleetwood Mac concert. 

Guess what. Guess who I saw last night …… Lindsey, Stevie, Mick and John. 

Totally blew me away. Teri and I walked, skipped, jumped and ran our way into the arena as Tusk was playing; unbelievable. Don’t Stop, Gold Dust Wom[y]n, Landslide, and Silver Springs were just a few songs played. Mick totally knocked my socks off with his loony, tripped out drumming tactics and little red shoes. Lindsey’s voice, incredible. John rocked it. And Stevie, amazing. A full set and two encores later even for an arena show, I was was not let down, not even a little bit. 

The house was packed, mostly with…..the Minnesota nice who sit real still in their seats. WHO SITS STILL AT SUCH A SHOW?

REVIEW - LINDSEY HAS THE ENERGY OF A PUNK ROCKER HALF HIS AGE

By JON BREAM, Star Tribune

Fleetwood Mac outdoes itself

Stevie Nicks, in concert with Fleetwood Mac at the Xcel Energy Center Tuesday night, can still shake a mean tambourine and bewitch with her husky, emotional voice. Lindsey Buckingham had the energy of a punk rocker half his age.

Soap operas are addictive, aren’t they? Eventually we come back for a peek even if the cast of a long-running soap has changed, because the story lines remain the same.

That’s true of rock’s longest-running soap opera, Fleet wood Mac. The romantic tension between Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, lead singers for about 34 years, never goes away, even though these high school sweethearts broke up in the 1970s. They walked onstage Tuesday at the Xcel Energy Center hand in hand — in the darkness.

Then for the next 2¼ hours, they put on one of those rare shows in which it was about the individuals of the band rather than the sum of the parts. Even though the 42-year-old band has had more different lead guitarists than Spinal Tap had drummers, Fleet wood Mac has always been about being greater than the sum of its parts. That was certainly true when Buckingham Nicks, a former duo, joined in the mid-’70s, sharing vocals and writing duties with keyboardist Christine McVie (who retired in 1998).

While the rhythm section of drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie was rock solid all night, the rest of Tuesday’s concert felt like the Stevie Nicks Show or the Lindsey Buckingham Show. Not that it was a competition.

Buckingham was terrific all night, reminding the 12,000 concert-goers just what a monster talent he is. As for Nicks, her husky, nasal voice was not in top form, though she probably could have won a Stevie Nicks sound-alike contest. At 60, she can still shake a mean tambourine, strut in platform boots and rock layers and layers of gauzy fabrics and shawls. But she didn’t do any of her famous witchy/dervish dancing in circles. More important, her vocalizing was not particularly passionate, save for the end of “Rhiannon,” “Sara” and “Storms,” a seldom-performed tune that she said was too emotionally dark live. However, she was focused, emotive and mesmerizing on this gem.

Eighteen of the 23 songs came from the band’s 1970s blockbusters “Fleetwood Mac,” “Rumours” and “Tusk.” Buckingham and Nicks did a couple solo hits and the band dusted off 1969’s “Oh Well,” a wonderful workout for Buckingham’s tortured guitar. All night long, the 59-year-old played aggressively and expressively. Same could be said of his singing; he seemed as amped as a punk-rocker half his age. The Lindsey Buckingham Show indeed.

From time to time, he exchanged glances with Nicks, especially when they harmonized on hits. Not that they seemed cold, indifferent or even angry. For the encore, they came out smiling, hand in hand. Buckingham kissed her hand and walked away to wail again on his guitar.

REVIEW: Stevie Nicks Rediscovers Her Inner Shawl

Twincities.com

By Ross Raihala

Throughout Fleetwood Mac's long and stormy history, Lindsey Buckingham has traditionally filled the role of the reluctant one. Tours and recording sessions, particularly since the classic lineup's mid-'90s reunion, have taken place at his whim, and he's a guy who has grown more and more fond of the word "no" when it comes to all things Fleetwood Mac.

So why, then, was Buckingham the only one who looked like he was having any fun Tuesday night when Fleetwood Mac played the Xcel Energy Center? Throughout the 135-minute show, Buckingham performed like a man possessed, barking out his lyrics, sprinting across the stage and shredding his six-string with an energy unseen from the guy in decades. At the end of his solo tear through the overheated 1987 hit "Big Love," he even hugged his guitar and took a deep bow.

The problem, though, is that there are three other members of Fleetwood Mac. Goofball drummer Mick Fleetwood has long since toned down his behind-the-kit antics — save for a manic solo during the encore — while bassist John McVie spent most of the night lurking in the shadows.

That left only Stevie Nicks to stand up to Buckingham. And, well, she mostly stood back. Without longtime foil/rival Christine McVie on hand — she left the group a decade ago — Nicks mostly allowed herself to get swallowed up by Buckingham's often hammy antics. (Seriously, it was a crime how he stepped all over her during "Never Going Back Again.")

And while Nicks remains bewitchingly foxy at 60, her voice tended to drift, particularly during disappointing runs through "Gypsy" and "Dreams." Thankfully, she eventually rediscovered her inner shawl, giving "Gold Dust Woman" a much-needed boost. Even better was "Landslide," a song she wrote more than 35 years ago that takes on deeper significance each time she coos, "I'm getting older, too."

With no new album in stores, the band is billing this tour as a greatest-hits outing. And they weren't kidding, with nearly half the songs coming from their two most enduring albums, their 1975 self-titled breakthrough and 1977's bazillion-selling "Rumours."

From there, they threw in a solo hit each from Buckingham ("Go Insane") and Nicks ("Stand Back") alongside a few classic album cuts (including the rarely performed "Tusk"-era track "Storms") to come up with an evening of songs familiar to pretty much anyone over the age of 40. And the crowd of about 12,000 consisted almost entirely of folks of that demographic, many of whom left the gig energized by Buckingham's endless enthusiasm.