REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac "THE MAC'S BACK" Brisbane, AU - NIGHT #1

The Mac's back
By: JOSHUA HOEY
Photo Gallery
WAToday

The BBC comedy The Mighty Boosh has a running joke about Fleetwood Mac's 1979 album Tusk.

And while the capacity Brisbane Entertainment Centre crowd last night was not treated to the full length of the album "in its entirety, with the pauses, as Lindsey Buckingham intended it to be heard", they did go wild for the album's title track.

The song's strange syncopations and tribal drum rhythms produced an impassioned and enthusiastic response among the crowd that was characteristic of last night's performance.

This reviewer has never seen a more rapturous Brisbane crowd.

Each song was followed by an almost overwhelming roar of applause, shouting, and cheering, and by the end of the night standing ovations had become commonplace.

Fleetwood Mac's Unleashed tour promised a two hour celebration of all the band's greatest hits.

It was exactly what fans were hoping for, and it was exactly what they got.

The band performed some of their lesser-known tracks, but classics like The Chain, Dreams, Rhiannon, Sara, Landslide, Go Your Own Way, Don't Stop and Everywhere dominated the set list.

Mick Fleetwood's recognition of Lindsey Buckingham as the band's "maestro" was apt - the lead guitarist's solo performance of Big Love roused the entire arena, impressive considering he performed it on a classical six-string guitar.

As is to be expected from a seasoned performer, Buckingham has consummate control of his craft, easily modulating between tender, mournful picking, and unimpeded, raw aggression.

But, the true star of the night was always going to be Stevie Nicks.

The band's frontwoman, dressed in her trademark shawls and gypsy dresses, enraptured fans with her performance.

Shouts of adoration and support for Nicks could be heard throughout the show.

At times Nicks slightly adapted the melodies of some tracks, but her iconic voice, with it's dark, melancholic timbre, was as powerful and compelling as ever.

Often revival tours have a certain haggard, worn atmosphere, but there was nothing of the sort at last nights performance.

And calling the tour a "revival" isn't really accurate anyway - Fleetwood Mac have never been in the need of rejuvenation.

They are, simply put, one of the greatest rock groups performing today.

PLATFORM SEATING OVER LAKE AT BOWL OF BROOKLANDS REVEALED

Gearing up for grandstand view
By MATT RILKOFF
Taranaki Daily News

THE six-year-olds of New Plymouth’s Frankley School had mixed opinions of the temporary seating platform installed for the first time over the Bowl of Brooklands lake yesterday.

Work on the much-debated platform began on Monday and should be mostly finished by today.

It adds more than 1000 premium-priced seats to the Bowl’s capacity and will be used at the weekend’s two Fleetwood Mac concerts.

Tickets on the platform cost $320 and Poppy Johnson, 6, reckoned it looked cool.

She particularly liked the light brown plastic seats, which have been used at various venues around the North Island before finding a home here.

Sophie Dempster, 6, also thought the platform looked ‘‘nice’’ but did not know who Fleetwood Mac was and neither did Harry Clegg, 6, who had other things on his mind anyway.

‘‘My friend Cooper is an alien and his parents are too and they have a spaceship under their trampoline,’’ he said, despite Sophia Longstaff, 6, telling him Cooper’s parents had just been joking.

Tina Johnson, mother of Poppy, said she was pleased with the look of the platform though suspected she was one of the few.

‘‘They think it’s against the whole spirit of the Bowl. I think it is a good way to stop the silly buggers jumping in the water and getting electrocuted,’’ she said.

Neale Kendall, the man overseeing the installation of the platform, said his company Acrow Ltd had put in temporary seating in all sorts of venues around the North Island.

However, putting them in over a lake was a first.

‘‘The boys brought up waders, had their tetanus shots, got the insect repellent and sunscreen. This is a job we didn’t want to take lightly.

‘‘We are the last link in the chain and if it doesn’t go right, unfortunately it’s my head on the block. Saying that, I’m very confident it will be OK,’’ he said.

Work on removing the platform will begin on Monday.

Brookland’s Zoo is closing at noon on Saturday and all of Sunday this weekend.

‘‘Pedestrian and vehicle traffic will be restricted before the concerts start so the zoo will be closed as well,’’ zoo spokeswoman Eve Cozzi said.

Public vehicles must be out of the zoo’s carpark by noon on Saturday to enable the Bowl’s setup to be finished by the time entry to the venue’s holding areas open at 5pm.

PHOTOS: Fleetwood Mac Live in Paris October 17, 2009

FLEETWOOD MAC LIVE IN PARIS

OCTOBER 17, 2009 - LE ZENITH

Photos by: Daniel Froidevaux

Gallery | Slideshow

LIGHT PANEL THICKNESS... AM I SEEING THINGS?

Has anyone else noticed that the panels that hang above the band during their shows in Australia are considerably thinner then the ones used in the US and presumably Europe?

Check the thickness of the panels in these shots taken in Brisbane last night (especially the first photo) to the ones used in the US (last photo). I'm sure they were downsized for transport purposes to Australia/New Zealand - trying to minimize expenses. Doesn't appear to change the effect they have.  Just something I noticed.... Or am I seeing things?

Photo by: helenamich

Photos by: BeechamMotors

US Version:

UP A SPOT IN NEW ZEALAND...

FLEETWOOD MAC'S "THE VERY BEST OF" is up a spot this week on New Zealand's Top 40 Albums Chart for the week ending December 14, 2009.

New Zealand Chart Run for the 2009 version.
NOV 16, 2009 - #9
NOV 23, 2009 - #7
NOV 30, 2009 - #7
DEC 7, 2009 - #12
DEC 14, 2009 - #11

62 Comments on this story and counting.... Fleetwood Mac in Perth

Fleetwood Mac don't disappoint at Members Equity Stadium concert

Tons of feedback/reviews on Jay Hanna's review of Fleetwood Mac in Perth this past Friday... 62 Comments and counting... and probably 98% positive...

Funniest concert synopsis? I walked out, bloody lip-syncers...

Check them out here

FLEETWOOD MAC CONCERT HAD A PROFOUND INFLUENCE ON ALICIA KEYS

"I wanted melodies that really soared, like the ones I heard at
that (Mac) show."

About two months before recording The Element of Freedom, Alicia Keys witnessed an event that would have a profound influence on her creative process: a Fleetwood Mac concert.

"It was my sister's birthday, and she wanted to see them," says Keys, 29, referring to longtime best friend Erika Rose. The R&B singer/songwriter knew of the veteran band but wasn't entirely familiar with its catalog. "So everyone was like, 'What? You don't know these songs?' "

Complete Article

I believe it was one of the Madison Square Garden shows in NYC last spring where Stevie dedicated Landslide to Alicia Keyes that night.

Eagles, Fleetwood Team Up

Stadiums could be in for a treat in 2010 with a monster co-bill that’s gearing up to take flight.

Sources close to Eagles and Fleetwood Mac have confirmed exclusively to Pollstar that they are routing a tour, as was previously reported to be under consideration on livedaily.com.

The bands have apparently been looking into a trek through arenas, baseball and football stadiums coast to coast.

-Joe Reinartz
Pollstar

(REVIEW) FLEETWOOD MAC - PERTH, AUSTRALIA

Fleetwood Mac Mesmerises
By Emilia Vranjes
inmycommunity
Full arsenal of Photos here: Gallery
Photos by: Will Russell

“SOMEONE loves you, Stevie. We all love Stevie.”

And with those words from Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham - in response to adoring chants for the supergroup's seductive songstress Stevie Nicks - the 12,000-strong crowd at ME Bank Stadium last Friday night erupted in unanimous delight.

Nicks was clearly everyone's darling, including one-time lover Buckingham, who declared his affection for the mystical frontwoman on numerous occasions, holding her hand and with a warm embrace during the beautiful Sara.

It was a stirring statement from a pair of musical legends who, along with original member Mick Fleetwood on drums/percussion and bassist John McVie, once gain showed how to put fractured relationships behind them to deliver their cross-generational fans an epic journey of lush soundscapes, phenomenal instrumentation and effortless charisma.

The two-and-a-half hour set - spanning 23 songs mainly from their decorated post-1975 back-catalogue - kicked off with Monday Morning from their breakthrough self-titled album of 75, before rocking out with The Chain from their opus, 1977's Rumours.

Two songs in and Nicks - who was rarely without her trademark tambourine - greeted the crowd, urging everyone to 'get this party started', before sinking her still sexy, husky vocals into the ethereal magic of Dreams.

It was then time for Buckingham to endear himself to the punters, acknowledging the Mac's “complex, convoluted past” while declaring that coming together created new possibilities, which paved the way for I Know I'm Not Wrong from the ambitious, quirky double album of 1979, Tusk.

There were anectodal interactions aplenty with Nicks reflecting on her time alongside Buckingham in the Fritz Raybyne Memorial Band in San Francisco in the late 60s, opening for the likes of Janis Joplin in front of 30,000 people and later, Jimi Hendrix before 70,000; “when you open for other bands, this is where you hone your skills”.

She then performed the hauntingly beautiful Gypsy, releasing her inner gypsy with her stage twirls and shortly after backed it up with Rhiannon, but not before one of many costume changes - albeit mainly of her essential accessories: gloves and shawls.

Matching Nicks in crowd favouritism was Buckingham, who mesmerised with his howling vocals and ferocious guitar playing on Tusk.

Followng Nicks' Sara, Buckingham backed up Tusk with the powerful acoustic guitar-driven Big Love, before Nicks and band returned with Landslide, a song dedicated to all of Perth.

It was then Buckingham's turn to shine again with Never Going Back Again, performed like a man possessed in what was among the night's highlights.

Nicks then introduced Storms from Tusk as a “dark stormy song about people having a dark stormy time” - fitting from a band which together has weathered many a storm.

She then donned a gold shawl for Gold Dust Woman before the boys rocked out with early 70s Mac number, Oh Well, defined with Buckingham's aggressive snarl.

Nicks later returned - this time draped in a white lace shawl - to add some '80s glam with the lush, synth-heavy Stand Back from her 1983 solo album The Wild Heart, before donning an all-black ensemble complete with matching top hat for a spirited performance of main set closer, Buckingham's much-loved Go Your Own Way.

The foursome emerged for the first encore in pairs - first Fleetwood and McVie, followed by Nicks and Buckingham holding hands - and launched into a fervent rendition of World Turning, marked by Fleetwood's extended primal drum solo.

The double encore - which also comprised long-time band absentee Christine McVie's Don't Stop - concluded with “our first lady and poet” Nicks leading the band for Silver Springs, her composition that was famously cut from the final release of Rumours.

It was then time to bid farewell, but not before Fleetwood urged the crowd to “be kind to each other in this crazy world”.

They were pertinent parting words from someone who has somehow managed to keep this legendary musical collective united (for the most part) through four decades of emotional highs and lows.

SOMEWHERE IN AUSTRALIA....

FLEETWOOD MAC PHOTOS

By: David Youdell

Gallery | Website | Slideshow