REVIEW Fleetwood Mac Live in Birmingham, AL February 13, 2019

What happens when Fleetwood Mac says bye-bye Buckingham?
By Mary Colurso
AL.com

Photos: By Joe Songer

Fact: It takes two people to replace Lindsey Buckingham in Fleetwood Mac.

Opinion: Neil Finn of Crowded House and Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers did a fine job of it on Wednesday night at the BJCC’s Legacy Arena in Birmingham.

Confession: It’s difficult to evaluate the current incarnation of Fleetwood Mac without taking note of Buckingham’s absence. He made an indelible mark on the classic rock band during its heyday in the 1970s and ’80s, defining much of the music as a guitarist, songwriter and singer. That’s not to diminish the contributions of the other band members -- Fleetwood Mac made its fame as a complex and multi-faceted piece of machinery -- but to say that Buckingham mattered. He definitely mattered.

Now that Buckingham is absent from the roster -- he was fired by the other band members, filed a lawsuit, settled it and recently underwent emergency heart surgery -- Fleetwood Mac is a less thorny outfit. That can be regarded as a blessing or a curse, depending on your perspective. Creative tension fueled the band at its peak, and Buckingham was a key instigator of it.

At Wednesday’s performance, the four remaining principals -- singer Stevie Nicks, singer and keyboard player Christine McVie, bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood -- collaborated on stage in a polished, congenial, ultra-professional way. Nostalgia ran high during their 8:15 p.m. set, which featured 22 songs and lasted for more than two hours.

REVIEW Fleetwood Mac Live in Austin, TX February 9, 2019

Fleetwood Mac Goes a New Way at Frank Erwin Center
Slow start aside, don’t dream it’s over

The Austin Chronicle
By Doug Freeman | Photos David Brendan Hall

When Fleetwood Mac rolled through Austin in 2015, Lindsey Buckingham provided the spark for the now half-century-old institution. With the longtime guitarist now unceremoniously fired, the double-axe add of Crowded House’s Neil Finn and Tom Petty mainstay Mike Campbell has received mixed reviews.

As irreplaceable as Buckingham, 69, may be, Fleetwood Mac’s new lineup ultimately proved a worthy evolution over the two-and-a-quarter-hour, 22-song showing this past Saturday night – even after a far from stellar beginning.

Working through a heavy dose of Rumours to start, hits “The Chain,” “Dreams,” and “Second Hand News” all spun out lethargically. Granted, nearly every song from the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers struck familiar to the rafters-packed Erwin Center. Nevertheless, the kickoff run churned rote and uninspired.

The switch flipped six songs deep, as the core sextet – Mick Fleetwood, 71; John McVie, 73; Stevie Nicks, 70; Christine McVie, 75; Finn, 60; and Campbell, 69 – reclaimed founding F-Mac guitarist Peter Green’s “Black Magic Woman.” Nicks enchanted on lead with one hand gloved in lace and the other leather, but Campbell lit the fire as he worked the stage and guitar throughout the jam, ultimately pulling up next to Christine McVie’s keys, hat reverentially in hand.

REVIEW FLEETWOOD MAC LIVE IN AUSTIN FEBRUARY 9, 2019

Fleetwood Mac makes way without Buckingham at Erwin Center
By Peter Blackstock | Photos Photos: Ana Ramirez
Austin360

Last year’s trademark Fleetwood Mac drama that led up to the group’s current tour had already been plenty: the dismissal a year ago of guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, who then took legal action that was settled out of court. But the day before the tour pulled into Austin for Saturday’s Erwin Center show, word circulated that Buckingham had undergone emergency open heart surgery a week ago.

Buckingham’s reportedly recovering, though there’s concern about possibly permanent vocal cord damage. At 69, he’s the youngest of the five musicians who recorded the mid-1970s classic “Rumours” and “Fleetwood Mac,” which together sold more than 25 million copies and eventually put the band in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Recasting Fleetwood Mac without him was a challenge, though he’d been absent from the group for an extended stretch before, and Fleetwood Mac’s 52-year history is interwoven with significant lineup changes. Drummer Mick Fleetwood, bassist John McVie, keyboardist Christine McVie and singer Stevie Nicks welcomed Crowded House leader Neil Finn and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell into the fold for this tour, which began last fall and continues through September of this year.

How’d it work? Well, mixed results. There are moments when they clearly miss Buckingham. Finn’s a fine singer and did his best on indelible Buckingham imprints such as “Second Hand News” and “Monday Morning,” though it was hard not to think of them as a Buckingham cover band in those moments. Finn couldn’t hit Lindsey’s high notes on “World Turning” (a Buckingham/Christine McVie co-write), though he seemed fully up to speed on “The Chain” and “Go Your Own Way,” definitive Fleetwood Mac numbers that bookended the main set.

REVIEW Fleetwood Mac Dallas, TX February 7, 2019

Fleetwood Mac played a landslide of greatest hits at Dallas concert, sans mention of Lindsey Buckingham
Guidelive.com
By Tiney Ricciardi

Fleetwood Mac's split with Lindsey Buckingham marked one of the biggest breakups of 2018. But if the iconic rock band's longtime guitarist and vocalist was missed Thursday night at American Airlines Center in Dallas, it wasn't obvious. 

Fans packed the venue, floor to rafters, for a two-hour journey through a collection of Fleetwood Mac's greatest hits. Throughout the show, the group proved to be an indomitable and engaging force, despite missing one of its core members.

Guitarist Mike Campbell (Tom Petty's Heartbreakers) and vocalist Neil Finn (Crowded House) joined singer Stevie Nicks, keyboardist Christine McVie, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitar player John McVie, expertly filling in the musical spaces left behind by Buckingham, who is said to have left over creative differences. Only once did any of the members seem to acknowledge their former bandmate, though they stopped short of mentioning of him by name. 

"What a crazy, magical ride it is, this band Fleetwood Mac," said namesake drummer Fleetwood about halfway through Thursday's set, addressing the crowd before turning to Campbell and Finn. "We're absolutely overjoyed to welcome you to the band."

REVIEW Fleetwood Mac Live in Dallas, TX February 7, 2019

Yesterday’s Gone, But Fleetwood Mac is Still Here
CODY STARR | Photo: Mike Brooks
Dallas Observer

If you were to make a short list of bands that shaped music during the post-Vietnam era of the 1970s, Fleetwood Mac is arguably in the top five. While Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Eagles and a host of others were easily holding down the rock ‘n’ roll, Fleetwood Mac found massive success on the pop end of the spectrum.

Having just acquired the romantically involved duo of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood’s band hit pay dirt with their 1975 self-titled album and topped it with 1977’s Rumours, which is one of the best-selling records of all time. Despite the commercial success, the band’s 50-year history of strife and dysfunctional behavior has resulted in numerous lineup changes. That tradition continued last year when Buckingham was fired just before the group embarked on their tour. With big shoes to fill, Fleetwood and company went big by enlisting the help of Mike Campbell (lead guitar of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) and Neil Finn (lead vocals/guitar of Crowded House).

Thursday night, the newly revamped Fleetwood Mac lineup played to a sold-out American Airlines Center. Mac kicked off the show with longtime opener “The Chain.” Mick Fleetwood’s kick drum thumping in the darkness, joined by that signature guitar intro and reaching a crescendo with those big Fleetwood Mac harmonies belting, “Listen to the wind blow…” started the night off perfectly.

PHOTOS Fleetwood Mac Live in Houston February 5, 2019

Fleetwood Mac still casts a spell in Houston
By Joey Guerra

Fleetwood Mac's legacy is as much about music as it is drama. And they don't stop giving us what we want.
Houston Chronicle
Photos: Karen Warren

Lindsey Buckingham was fired from the band in early 2017 after Stevie Nicks issued an ultimatum -- it was her or him. Nicks is still with the band.

Buckingham was replaced by Mike Campbell of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Neil Finn of Crowded House. The current An Evening with Fleetwood Mac tour boasts more than 50 dates, including Tuesday's show at Toyota Center.

Nicks was last here in 2016 for a solo show. Fleetwood Mac's last local performance was earlier than that.

The current setlist includes everything you want to hear: "The Chain," "Dreams," "Don't Stop," "Gold Dust Woman."

Photos Fleetwood Mac Live in Sioux Falls, SD February 2, 2019

Fleetwood Mac Sioux Falls, SD February 2, 2019
(Rescheduled show from October 24, 2018)

Photos: Photos by Chad Mercurio via Denny Sanford Premier Center

 

INTERVIEW Christine McVie Attitude Magazine

FLEETWOOD MAC'S CHRISTINE MCVIE ON 'AMERICAN HORROR STORY', PLAYING WEMBLEY, AND POTENTIAL NEW MUSIC
"I don't see any reason why we can't do another tour and make another record."

With a 50-year legacy of friendship, fallouts and iconic folk-rock hits, the Fleetwood Mac story is as epic as they come in music.

Over the years band members Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks have married, divorced, made up, fallen out, and continued to release some of the most defining pop hits of the last century - and the drama hasn't waned now most of them are in their seventies.

Disagreements over current world tour 'An Evening with Fleetwood Mac' led to Buckingham's sacking from the group in April last year, with the guitarist and vocalist settling a lawsuit against his former bandmates in December.

Talk of that lawsuit is strictly off-limits as Attitude meets Christine McVie ahead of Fleetwood Mac's two planned dates at Wembley Stadium this June, but the British-born singer is a characteristically open book when it comes to discussing the legacy of a band that has defined her life since 1970.

Despite standing as the (relative) calm at the centre of the Fleetwood Mac storm, McVie has had plenty her own ups and downs during the course of her career, most notably retiring from the group in 1998 for 16 long years after developing a debilitating phobia of flying.

Since rejoining the group onstage at Wembley in 2014 McVie hasn't looked back however, and as the 75-year-old songstrees discusses eveything from Fleetwood Mac's unlikely inclusion in American Horror Story to why the popularity of her signature track 'Songbird' has been both a blessing and a curse, it's clear she's having the time of her life...

You've had a bit of a break from touring over the last few weeks - do you feel fully rested and recuperated?

REVIEW Fleetwood Mac Live in Denver January 31, 2019

Fleetwood Mac Brings Out the Worst in Denver at Pepsi Center Show
By Kyle Harris | Westword

The bickering started in the ticket line.

A fifty-something security guard attempted to persuade a crowd blocking the sidewalk to form an orderly line outside the Pepsi Center Thursday night ahead of the Fleetwood Mac concert.

A seventy-something man belted out, “I’m not moving again!”

“Don’t get fussy with me,” the security guard clapped back. Just as the older man started to lunge, his wife grabbed his arm.

Then two teens and their mom cut in line, ignoring the glares of everyone around them by staring at their phones like zombies.

Millennials, Gen-Xers and baby boomers had all bought tickets to see a band that has given the world brilliantly crafted, durable soft-rock soundtracks for breakups, hopes and sorrows. But last night made clear that fans of the band are just as unpredictable as Fleetwood Mac itself.

Still, despite five decades of operatic drama, with members sleeping with each other, marrying, divorcing, flaming out, returning and whatnot (a confusing saga that rivals the Trump White House in its indecipherable tangle of who’s in, who’s out and who’s suing or screwing whom) — the group managed to deliver a solid performance Thursday night.

REVIEW Fleetwood Mac Live at the Forum Los Angeles December 11, 2018

Fleetwood Mac Find Freedom in Buckingham Departure at the Forum
LINA LECARO | LA WEEKLY
Photos: Rich Fury

The year may be winding down but in Los Angeles, the live music offerings have been more abundant than ever, a true gift for concertgoers that reflects the seasonal merriment and giving vibes of December. Except, of course, nobody is giving away anything for free, which means that for fans on a budget, decisions have to be made (many of you probably already maxed out your plastic for those Stones at the Rose Bowl tickets, not to mention Christmas presents). Obviously the live music industry is thriving, though. How else could Nine Inch Nails sell out six nights at the Palladium (look for my review of Saturday’s show next week) and Fleetwood Mac fill three nights at the Forum, sans Lindsey Buckingham?

I had never seen Fleetwood Mac live, so the prospect of finally doing so at the urging of my 12-year-old daughter (“Children get older/I’m getting older too”) was exciting, but I was admittedly skeptical that I’d enjoy it as much without the dominant male voice of the group. For my daughter, it was “all about Stevie,” and I’m sure a lot of people — especially females — feel that way. Nicks’ bewitching persona and gorgeous gravelly vocals have always made her the focal point and the one we want to join in with for an enchanted sing-along. But true fans know that Buckingham is as important to the band’s sound as Stevie Nicks, the McVies and its namesake percussionist. Or is he?

REVIEW Fleetwood Mac Live in LA at The Forum December 11, 2018

5 impressions of the new version of Fleetwood Mac and its first concert at the Forum
By PETER LARSEN | LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS
Photos: Kelly A. Swift

Fleetwood Mac played the first of three shows at the Forum on Tuesday and yes, despite what you’ve thought or heard, it is still Fleetwood Mac even without Lindsey Buckingham, the longtime singer-guitarist was ousted earlier this year.

Is it the same band it was? No. And neither is it the same band it was before Buckingham and singer Stevie Nicks joined in the mid-’70s and – with members Christine McVie, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood – made Fleetwood Mac one of the biggest acts in the world.

The question you ask then is whether this version is good, and with the additions of Crowded House singer-guitarist Neil Finn on Buckingham’s vocals, and Mike Campbell, long a member of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers on Buckingham’s lead guitar licks, the answer is: absolutely.

In a set that packed 22 songs and one massive old-school drum solo into two hours and 45 minutes, the fans got almost all the hits they wanted and a few rarer numbers that probably wouldn’t have shown up if Buckingham was still in the band, while both Finn and Campbell got spotlight moments for their work in their longtime bands.

Here are five impressions that stick in the memory the morning after.

REVIEW Fleetwood Mac Live in Los Angeles December 11, 2018

Thinking through Fleetwood Mac's tour without Lindsey Buckingham
By MIKAEL WOOD | LA Times Photo: Luis Sinco

The idea of turnover is baked into Fleetwood Mac, the long-running British American band that arrived in its latest (and possibly strangest) iteration at the Forum on Tuesday for the first show in a three-night stand.

Formed as a crusty blues-revival outfit in London in the late 1960s, the group burned through a series of singers and guitarists before resettling years later in Los Angeles, where Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks helped transform Fleetwood Mac into a polished hit-making machine.

So in a sense it comes as no surprise — as secondhand news, if you will — that the band is on the road this year after it fired Buckingham (allegedly because he didn’t want to tour) and replaced him with a pair of skilled but distantly connected pros: Neil Finn of Crowded House and Mike Campbell of Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers.

For this famously mercenary group, no one — not even the architect of 1977’s gazillion-selling “Rumours” — is safe from elimination.

Yet Buckingham in recent years had taken to describing Fleetwood Mac as a kind of monument to durability. Having quit the band himself in the ’80s (only to return a decade later), he seemed to be putting across the idea that the members’ ability to “rise above the dysfunction,” as he put it to me in a 2017 interview, gave their music a “heroic” quality that distinguished the group from other classic-rock acts still doing business.