Fleetwood Mac are set to wow close to 100,000 fans in Dunedin and Auckland

Rock supergroup Fleetwood Mac are set to wow close to 100,000 fans in Dunedin and Auckland this week at the end of their 15-month On With The Show world tour.

The American band will blast out a 23-song set including hits such as Dreams, Go Your Own Way and Tusk at Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium on Wednesday, and again at gigs at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland on Saturday and Sunday.

Almost half of the 66,000-strong Auckland audience over the two nights will come from out of town, said Mt Smart's director of external relations Paul Brewer. Saturday's concert is sold out but a few tickets are still available for Sunday.

"The influx of fans will mean a significant boost for the local economy," he said.

Fleetwood Mac founding member Mick Fleetwood has said the shows will not be the band's last Downunder.

"This is not goodbye," Fleetwood told the 702 ABC Sydney breakfast show during the band's current tour of Australia. "Stevie [Nicks] mentioned it to me the other night, saying 'this can't be the goodbye tour because no one said that it was'."

NZHerald

Reviews Fleetwood Mac Live in Brisbane, AU Nov. 10, 2015

Review: Fleetwood Mac, Brisbane Entertainment Centre, November 10, 2015
Noel Mengel
The Courier-Mail

Photo: Marc Robertson

WELCOME back Chrissie.

Not that Fleetwood Mac didn’t play great shows in Christine McVie’s years out of the band. But her return for this tour brings so many big songs back to the party — from You Make Loving Fun to Say You Love Me and Everywhere.

Naturally this first Brisbane Entertainment Centre show last night was sold out — there are a few tickets left for a second tomorrow night.

You know what you are going to get, two-and-a-half hours, mostly of hits, plus some album favourites like Gold Dust Woman.

Yet the addition of Christine’s songs, lead vocals and harmonies lifts the night to another level from their tours without her.

Mick Fleetwood and John McVie remain a powerhouse rhythm section, Lindsey Buckingham ensures the energy levels never flag despite this being show No 114 of a world tour, and Nicks’ voice remains a thing of crystalline wonder, from Dreams to Rhiannon, Sara and Landslide.

It’s a beautiful and tasteful visual production, but with this many big songs, they could play by torchlight and still hold our attention.

As Buckingham reminds the audience they put all their personal dramas out there in their songs. It sure beats singing about moon, June and the lesser concerns which can fill the charts for a week and are just as soon forgotten.

It is a long concert, close to three hours on stage, and at one point they even have a false start to Tusk, which not only shows they are human but only seems to fire up Buckingham further.

After such a long time on the road, you might imagine a band going through the motions. But not at this show, and on stage it’s Buckingham who stokes the intensity with some searing lead work and his virtuoso solo turn on Big Love.

Fleetwood grins from ear to ear during his party piece on World Turning, and by the time the 10,000 plus crowd is singing along with Don’t Stop, it doesn’t feel like this is goodbye.

The old hurts might be way in the past but they still have something to say: the word is that a new album is already recorded and set for release in 2016.

Review: Fleetwood Mac, Brisbane Entertainment Centre, November 10, 2015

by: Simon Holt

Sydney Morning Herald

About 30 seconds into a song called Tusk, Fleetwood Mac stumbled. Like someone who'd lost their place on a page in a book, the band stopped.

"We're going to say we're not perfect, and we're going to start that one again, OK?" lead guitarist Lindsey Buckhingham said.

Until then, a full house at Boondall wanted badly for the show to be great. But it wasn't. It was pedestrian at worst, ordinary at best.

One of the world's greatest bands seemed to be going through the motions, playing like it was the 114th concert on a long two-year roadtrip.

Chart-toppers Rhiannon, Everywhere and Dreams had all been rolled out, and it was Fleetwood Mac. They had to be brilliant, right?

There was nothing horrible about the first few songs – it was certainly no Meat Loaf moment.

There was just no sparkle – at least not until the second the band hiccupped.

When the group hit silence – a musical brick wall – something magic happened.

It was like they'd been given a wake-up call, a nudge to say they were slightly off their game, an embarrassing kick in the guts.

Full Review at Sydney Morning Herald

Review Fleetwood Mac Live in Geelong, AU November 7, 2015

Fleetwood Mac’s Geelong Day on the Green a night to remember
by: Mandy Squires
Geelongadvertiser

Photos: PETER RISTEVSKI
View Gallery

FOR those lucky enough to snare a seat or piece of grass on the Mt Duneed Estate knoll on Saturday evening, the Fleetwood Mac show was an affair to remember.

Performing much-loved hits from the Rumours and Tusk albums, Stevie Nicks and the band appeared barely to have aged, delivering an energetic performance that had the 18,000-strong crowd on its feet, singing and dancing for the whole show.

Between songs, the ethereal Nicks also managed to deliver some poignant stories and words of wisdom to aspiring young artists in the audience, encouraging them to believe in, and back, themselves, “find their gypsy” and pursue their dreams single-mindedly.

Clear skies made for a perfect, if slightly chilly, night of entertainment, and Nicks commented more than once that she was cold. But most audience members were snug in beanies and blankets, and warmed by the concert’s generous spirit.

Organisation on the night by Day on the Green was — for the most part — excellent, with plenty of food and drink outlets, toilets and free tap-water stations throughout the venue.

Entry to the picturesque venue was seamless and there was plenty of security and help on hand to direct festival-goers.

Promoter Michael Newton said the event had been “absolutely incredible.”

“It was an 18,000 person love-in,” he said.

He said a lack of available taxis had caused some headaches at the end of the night, with organisers arranging five shuttle buses to drop people in Geelong.

He said patrons had been warned via email not to rely on taxis.

Review Fleetwood Mac Live in Melbourne, Australia November 2, 2015

FLEETWOOD MAC ★★★1/2
Rod Laver Arena, November 2
Sydney Morning Herald

Photo: Pat Scala

Like superheroes. Five mysterious individuals with unique powers, reunited against incredible odds to save the free world one more time. Like Kiss with better tunes, Fleetwood Mac is a band inseparable from its own mythology.

There's mad uncle Mick Fleetwood in his eccentric country gentleman's attire, biting bearded lips with bug-eyes rolling. He's an inseparable bloc with his "truly dearest friend" John McVie, quietly plucking bass in the shadow of a flat golfer's cap.

Messianic ringleader Lindsey Buckingham and witch-fairy Stevie Nicks are another unit: eternal king and queen of the Heartbreak High prom, playing up the sexual tension through misty eyes in the whispers of Landslide then re-enacting the finger-pointing rage in Go Your Own Way.

Then there's Christine McVie, returned at last to quietly steal the show with You Make Loving Fun and the gentle coda of Songbird, as if the 22 songs preceding hadn't already made their case for one of the most fertile hit factories of the modern age.

Sure, some of the moves may have felt a little stilted. Tusk wasn't quite the climactic eruption with its marching band horns caged inside a synthesiser. Nicks did duck out of few high notes in Dreams and elsewhere.

But from Buckingham's psychobabbling song introductions and anguished six-string pyrotechnics to Fleetwood's nutty crowd-baiting drum solo, to nearly every damn track plus B-sides of that album, Rumours, the world felt as harmonious as it'll ever be.

Review: Fleetwood Mac Live in Perth, Australia - October 30th

Mac make loving them fun, even in the rain
The West Australian

Thunder only happens when it rains, according to Stevie Nicks, whose legendary band Fleetwood Mac turned on a dream gig in the wet last night.

Playing to 25,000 adoring fans at Domain Stadium, the megastars promised a party in the rain. “My limousine driver told me it never rains in Perth,” Nicks said. “We bring the rain.”

The mighty Mac also brought the hits, plus an old friend in Christine McVie, much missed on the past two Perth visits.

The English singer, songwriter and pianist retreated from the spotlight after the band’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 1998.

Fleetwood Mac were to visit in 2013 but cancelled after bassist John McVie was diagnosed with cancer. During the delay while McVie had treatment, drummer Mick Fleetwood convinced McVie’s former wife to rejoin the band. Christine McVie’s return meant Fleetwood Mac’s three great songwriters — the others being American ex-lovers Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, who joined the English blues band in 1974 —were back in the saddle for the band’s first Aussie tour since 2009.

After hitting the stage with The Chain, the Rumours rocker credited to the whole band, the trio shared the songs.

Other Rumours favourites — McVie’s You Make Loving Fun, Nicks’ Dreams and Buckingham’s Second Hand News — came in quick succession.

Classic pop hits —Landslide, Everywhere, Little Lies — rained down on fans as the Mac clung tight to their golden era.

The famous five, plus extra musicians and singers, delivered a marathon set at the fifth of 13 scheduled Australian dates for their On With the Show world tour. Classic songs, classic line-up and still plenty of drama.

Truly classic.

THE CHAIN

Fleetwood Mac Announce "TUSK" 5CD / 1 DVD 5.1 Surround Mix / 2 Vinyl Reissue - Avail. December 4th

Tusk (Deluxe Edition 5CD/1DVD-A/2 Vinyl)

Fleetwood Mac builds on its formidable legacy as one of rock’s most legendary acts as they re-visit

their most ambitious album with deluxe and expanded editions of TUSK.

Originally released in 1979, the Grammy® Award-nominated, double-album sold more than four million copies worldwide, and reached number 1 in the UK album charts, and included hits like “Sara,” “Think About Me,” and the title track.

The announcement comes as the band – Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Lindsey Buckingham  Stevie Nicks and now of course Christine McVie,  – continues it’s acclaimed, “On With The Show” world tour which recently including 6 sold out shows at London’s 02 Arena.

To follow the historic, global success of 1977’s Grammy-Award winning Rumours, Fleetwood Mac chose to take a more experimental approach on Tusk. The most famous example has to be the unexpected and beloved inclusion of the University of Southern California’s marching band on the title track.

TUSK will be available on December 4 

This DELUXE EDITION delves deep into the vaults with five CDs including the remastered original album, an alternate version of the complete album made up of session outtakes, most of which have never been released, as well as an additional selection of singles, demos and remixes, including an outtake of “Think About Me,” an early version of “That’s Enough For Me” called “Out On The Road,” plus several incarnations of “I Know I’m Not Wrong.”

Also included are two discs loaded with 22 unreleased performances from the band’s 1979 Tusk tour with selections from concerts in London, Tucson, and St. Louis. It includes live versions of album tracks like “Sara, “Over And Over” and “Save Me A Place,” as well as favorites like “Landslide,” “You Make Loving Fun,” “Rhiannon,” “Don’t Stop” and “Go Your Own Way.”

Completing  the Deluxe Edition is a 5.1 surround mix of Tusk on DVD-Audio and vinyl of the original album on 2-LPs. 

The collection comes housed in an elegant box reminiscent of the acclaimed Rumours Deluxe Edition with a booklet that has extended liner notes that feature new interviews with all the band members. 

TUSK will also be available as a single disc of the original album remastered this year by Lindsey Buckingham.

The 3 cd digi-pack expanded edition includes the remastered original album, an alternate version of the complete album made up of session outtakes, most of which have never been released, as well as an additional selection of singles, demos and remixes, including an outtake of “Think About Me,” an early version of “That’s Enough For Me” called “Out On The Road,” plus several incarnations of “I Know I’m Not Wrong.

"Sara" Live in Tucson, AZ 8/28/80

US - Amazon Pre-Order

TUSK: DELUXE EDITION

TUSK: (Expanded 3CD Digi-pack)

TUSK: (1CD Jewel Case - 2015 Remaster)


THE DELUXE EDITION:
Disc One: Original Album Remastered

01. “Over & Over”
02. “The Ledge”
03. “Think About Me”
04. “Save Me A Place”
05. “Sara”
06. “What Makes You Think You’re The One”
07. “Storms”
08. “That’s All For Everyone”
09. “Not That Funny”
10. “Sisters Of The Moon”
11. “Angel”
12. “That’s Enough For Me”
13. “Brown Eyes”
14. “Never Make Me Cry”
15. “I Know I’m Not Wrong”
16. “Honey Hi”
17. “Beautiful Child”
18. “Walk A Thin Line”
19. “Tusk”
20. “Never Forget”

Disc Two: Singles, Outtakes, Sessions

01. “Think About Me” (Single Remix)
02. “That’s All for Everyone” (Remix)
03. “Sisters of the Moon” (Remix)
04. “Not That Funny” (Single Remix)
05. “Sara” (Single Edit)
06. “Walk a Thin Line” (Song #3 – 03/13/79)
07. “Honey Hi” (Alternate Version – 10/18/78)
08. “Storms” (Alternate Version – 11/30/78)
09. “Save Me a Place” (2nd Version -10/10/78) *
10. “Never Make Me Cry” (Version – 04/17/79)
11. “Out On The Road” (aka “That’s Enough For Me” – Demo – 12/19/78) *
12. “I Know I’m Not Wrong” – Lindsey’s Song #1 (Demo)
13. “I Know I’m Not Wrong” (10/10/78 Version) *
14. “I Know I’m Not Wrong” (11/3/78 Version) *
15. “I Know I’m Not Wrong” (4/25/79 Version) *
16. “I Know I’m Not Wrong” (8/13/79 Version) *
17. “I Know I’m Not Wrong” (1/23/79 Version) *
18. “Tusk” (Demo – 01/15/79) *
19. “Tusk” “Stage Riff” (Demo – 01/30/79) *
20. “Tusk” (Outtake Track – 02/01/79) *
21. “Tusk” (Outtake Mix – 01/23/79) *
22. “Tusk” (USC Version – 06/04/79) *

Disc Three: The Alternate Tusk

01. “Over & Over” (04/02/79) *
02. “The Ledge” (03/13/79)
03. “Think About Me” (02/18/79) *
04. “Save Me a Place” (10/18/78) *
05. “Sara” (03/10/79)
06. “What Makes You Think You’re the One” (02/24/79) *
07. “Storms” (06/02/79) *
08. “That’s All for Everyone” (10/20/78) *
09. “Not That Funny” (05/19/79) *
10. “Sisters of the Moon” (11/12/78)
11. “Angel” (04/02/79) *
12. “That’s Enough for Me” (09/29/78) *
13. “Brown Eyes” (with Lindsey & Peter Green, 09/20/78) *
14. “Never Make Me Cry” (02/08/79) *
15. “I Know I’m Not Wrong” (11/02/78) *
16. “Honey Hi” (10/11/78) *
17. “Beautiful Child” (10/09/78) *
18. “Walk a Thin Line” (04/06/79) *
19. “Tusk” (07/19/79) *
20. “Never Forget” (06/29/78) *

Disc Four: Tusk Tour Live 1

01. Intro (Wembley, 06/26/80) *
02. “Say You Love Me” (Wembley, 06/26/80) *
03. “The Chain” (Wembley, 06/20/80) *
04. “Don’t Stop” (Wembley, 06/27/80) *
05. “Dreams” (Wembley, 06/20/80) *
06. “Oh Well” (Wembley, 06/20/80) *
07. “Rhiannon” (Tuscon, 08/28/80) *
08. “Over and Over” (St. Louis, 11/05/79) *
09. “That’s Enough for Me” (Wembley, 06/21/80) *
10. “Sara” (Tuscon, 08/28/80) *
11. “Not That Funny” (St. Louis, 11/05/79) *
12. “Tusk” (St. Louis, 11/05/79) *

Disc Five: Tusk Tour Live 2

01. “Save Me a Place” (St. Louis, 11/05/79) *
02. “Landslide” (Omaha, 08/21/80) *
03. “What Makes You Think You’re the One” (St. Louis, 11/05/79) *
04. “Angel” (St. Louis, 11/05/79) *
05. “You Make Loving Fun” (Wembley, 06/20/80) *
06. “I’m So Afraid” (St. Louis, 11/05/79) *
07. “World Turning” (Wembley, 06/22/80) *
08. “Go Your Own Way” (Wembley, 06/22/80) *
09. “Sisters of the Moon” (Wembley, 06/22/80) *
10. “Songbird” (Wembley, 06/27/80) *

* Previously Unreleased

Review | Photos: Fleetwood Mac Live in Adelaide, AU October 28, 2015

Fleetwood Mac family finally felt complete
by Nathan Davies
The Advertiser

Photos Simon Cross - VIEW GALLERY

FEW bands have been through as much as Fleetwood Mac and lived to tell the tale.

They took the ’70s ethos of sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll to its limit, with the sex and the drugs threatening to end the rock ’n’ roll on more than one occasion.

Perhaps that’s why Wednesday night’s show at Coopers Stadium had such a feel-good vibe – the Mac are like a dysfunctional family who’ve had some therapy, buried the hatchet and turned up for Christmas lunch with smiles on their faces. And the family finally felt complete, with songwriter/keyboardist/vocalist Christine McVie back where she belongs after 16 years away from the band.

“This is quite an auspicious occasion,” McVie told the full stadium. “I haven’t been to Adelaide for 30 years.”

The crowd welcomed her with open arms – her voice and her songs are a vital piece of the Fleetwood Mac puzzle.

McVie looked effortlessly cool behind the keys, standing at the right hand of former husband and bass player John McVie who was, together with mercurial drummer Mick Fleetwood, rocking the “Morris dancers on acid” look. Stevie Nicks was front and centre, the eternal waif, and next to her was guitarist and vocalist – and former lover – Lindsey Buckingham, looking youthful and handsome in jeans and a sports coat.

The night began with The Chain, the stomping country rock anthem from Rumours, and from there on it was just a cavalcade of hits – Dreams, Rhiannon, Everywhere, a brilliant rendition of Tusk complete with a big-screen remix of the iconic marching band film clip, Sara and Say You Love Me, a song that showed off the McVie-Nicks-Buckingham harmony machine to full effect.

After that the band went off for a well-deserved breather while Buckingham laid down a truly beautiful solo version of Big Love. His guitar playing is a breathtaking mix of folk-styled fingerpicking and rock riffing, and his voice cut through the warm night as a full moon rose over the stands.

The band came back on for Landslide, and we got the first of Mick’s drum solos on Think About Me, before Nicks told the story of the inspiration behind Gypsy (it’s about an expensive San Francisco dress salon, Janis Joplin, and the moment she knew she was going to be a famous singer). I’m So Afraid saw Buckingham wowing with his guitar antics once more before the main set closed with a rousing rendition of Go Your Own Way that had the crowd on its feet and singing along (and one lady in the front row filming on an iPad. Get a phone, lady!)

There was an encore – that’s a given – and it started with World Turning complete with a five-minute Fleetwood drum solo/comedy routine, followed by Don’t Stop and Silver Springs. The night wound up, fittingly, with Christine McVie on a grand piano singing Songbird, accompanied by Buckingham on an acoustic guitar.

The applause was heartfelt, and the band genuinely seemed to appreciate it. The final word went to Fleetwood, the giant ringmaster, who thanked the fans for their support over almost five decades and implored everyone “in this seemingly crazy world that we live in” to “take such very good care of one another”. Yeah, Mick!

Review: Theaureview.com

Review & Photos: 4kq.com

Fleetwood Mac: Supergroup being pretty low-key ahead of their Adelaide concert

THE members of legendary supergroup Fleetwood Mac are being pretty low- key during their Adelaide stay.

AdelaideNow

Heading out of the band’s city hotel yesterday wearing jeans and a T-shirt Lindsey Buckingham, greeted our shutterbug telling him to stay put because “there will be a raft of people for you to photograph’’.

He wasn’t telling Little Lies eitherbecause soon after appeared Christine McVie, who is back with Mac after 16 years, with an entourage. Like Lindsey, she was casually dressed and looking relaxed as she left to take in some city sights.

Mick Fleetwood was even more chilled out, rocking a beanie.

Fleetwood Mac is performing at Coopers Stadium on Wednesday night and there are Rumours the band will be at the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

“Fleetwood Mac has been invited and inundated with requests to attend Cup Carnival events,” a source close to the band tells Confidential.

Fleetwood Mac Start Australian Tour In Sydney With A Few Rarities

by PAUL CASHMERE
Noise11

Fleetwood Mac kicked off the first shows for their Australian tour in Sydney last night (22-10-15) with two rare songs added to the setlist.

‘Bleed To Love Her’ from the 1997 album ‘The Dance’ was performed for the first time since 1997 and for the first time ever outside North America.

Christine McVie’s ‘Think About Me’ from the 1980 ‘Tusk’ album was performed for the first time in 35 years. It was only the 16th time Fleetwood Mac had ever performed the song. It had previously never been performed live outside of the USA.

Fleetwood Mac will perform again in Sydney on Saturday night.

Fleetwood Mac setlist

The Chain (from Rumours, 1977)
You Make Loving Fun (from Rumours, 1977)
Dreams (from Rumours, 1977)
Second Hand News (from Rumours, 1977)
Rhiannon (from Fleetwood Mac, 1975)
Everywhere (from Tango In The Night, 1987)
Bleed To Love Her (from The Dance, 1997)
Tusk (from Tusk, 1979)
Sara (from Tusk, 1979)
Say You Love Me (from Fleetwood Mac, 1975)
Big Love (from Tango In The Night, 1987)
Landslide (from Fleetwood Mac, 1975)
Never Going Back Again (from Rumours, 1977)
Think About Me (from Tusk, 1979)
Gypsy (from Mirage, 1982)
Little Lies (from Tango In The Night, 1987)
Gold Dust Woman (from Rumours, 1977)
I’m So Afraid (from Fleetwood Mac, 1975)
Go Your Own Way (from Rumours, 1977)

World Turning (from Fleetwood Mac, 1975)
Don’t Stop (from Rumours, 1977)
Silver Springs (b-side Go Your Own Way, 1977)

Songbird (from Rumours, 1977)

Reviews: Fleetwood Mac Sydney, Australia October 22nd

Fleetwood Mac fans cheer, laugh, cry and show love for the band on their Australian tour
by Kathy McCabe
The Daily Telegraph

IF you could harness all the energy devoted to singing Fleetwood Mac songs in loungerooms, cars and bars over the past 40 years, it would create a mighty bang.

The audience at the opening Australian concert by the legendary band at Sydney’s Allphones Arena brought an energy powered by all those moments, whether a solo karaoke of their favourite song, perhaps Go Your Own Way, or the more universally sung-to-the-rafters Don’t Stop.

Their myth is rooted in the reality of their drug-fuelled romantic entanglements and bust-ups as documented so honestly and historically on the greatest breakup album of all time Rumours.

Full Review and photos at The Daily Telegraph

Fleetwood Mac review: too long, sometimes listless, but hey, Christine McVie
by Bernard Zuel
The Sydney Morning Herald
Allphones Arena, October 22

The executive summary would be accurate but also not ever enough: too long and inconsistent of energy; some good sections and a virtual Classic Hits radio playlist; another "seriously, what the ... ?" moment with a drum solo and Christine McVie. Yes folks, it's worth an exclamation mark, Christine McVie!

The return, after 16 years, of the longest songwriting contributor in the band was always going to be more than just another body to accommodate onstage and a few more songs to add to the setlist. McVie's songs, from You Make Loving Fun - appearing two songs in, between Lindsey Buckingham's The Chain and Stevie Nick's Dreams, in the democratic/pragmatic structure long necessary in this complex band - to the show's closer, Songbird, with her at piano and only Buckingham on guitar accompanying her, are not just standards.

They, and she, are also the temperamental, lyrical and melodic balancing point between the very yin and definitely yang of the band's dominant forces, Nicks and Buckingham. That fractious pair these days make a deliberate, almost ostentatious, point of acknowledging each other, even singing to each other. But the more comfortable and frequent interactions are between Nicks and McVie, and Buckingham and McVie.

Full Review at Sydney Morning Herald

Drummer Mick Fleetwood opens up about Fleetwood Mac's longevity

Back Stage With Fleetwood Mac

Mick Fleetwood Interview: This may be John McVie's final tour

Fleetwood Mac’s John McVie: This might be my final tour
By Annette Sharp
The Daily Telegraph

TWO years after pulling the pin on their 2013 Australian tour following bass player John McVie’s cancer diagnosis, Fleetwood Mac’s most famous and most successful line-up landed in Sydney this week ahead of what McVie has indicated might be his last tour with the band that bears his name.

Founding member Mick Fleetwood, 68, was respectful when he spoke of McVie’s recent health crisis during a sound check at Allphones Arena yesterday.

“I raised a toast the other night with Christine (McVie). He’s well as well, absolutely (in) tip top health and that’s pivotal. And outside of it, it’s great to be here and playing.

“It’s a revisitation,” Fleetwood enthused of his 69-year-old creative partner with whom he founded the band in 1963.

“John’s very practical. He didn’t get into it (cancer talk) one way or the other. I’m an old drama queen but John just said, ‘OK, let’s get it fixed’ and that was that. Never heard any more about it and it was fixed, and we’ve been on the road ever since.”

In May, McVie said his playing days would soon be at an end: “How much longer can the Mac be a working band? Not much longer, for me anyway. It’s not the music. It’s the peripherals, the travelling. Mick will go on until they put him up against a wall and shoot him.”

The return to the line-up of McVie’s ex-wife, singer and keyboardist Christine, 72, who parted ways with Fleetwood Mac in 1998 and was retired from the music business, has been described by guitarist Lindsey Buckingham as “really beautiful”. Buckingham also quit the band for 16 years from 1987 to 2003.

“(Christine) just sort of woke up and said, ‘I’m not done. I want to be more alive’,” Fleetwood said.

Fleetwood acknowledges relations within the band, which includes three

ex- couples — Buckingham, 66, and singer/songwriter Stevie Nicks, 67, the McVies and Fleetwood and Nicks — are still fiery 40 years after the most famous Mac five first collaborated in 1975.

“I don’t think Lindsey and Stevie will ever not be able to suppress various emotive buttons that exist. One lives in hope, as I think they do,” he said of the former lovers, who started working together at 16.

“Having Chris back is hugely amazing. I think Stevie’s loving it and Chris is, too.

Touring the world was “sort of” easier today, added Fleetwood, whose battle with cocaine addiction is the stuff of rock legend. (He once estimated that, laid end to end, the cocaine he consumed during his life would stretch seven miles).

‘‘Those, looking back on it, were sort of a bit harder. Harder to juggle feeling good and being professional. Those days are long gone.’’

Fleetwood says this time there will be only just the occasional “little jug” of wine during this tour.

The band plays Allphones Arena on October 22, 24 and 25.