(REVIEW) FLEETWOOD MAC - GLASGOW

FLEETWOOD MAC REVIEW
SECC, Glasgow, Thu 22 Oct 2009
by: Amber Baxter
List.co.uk

Most bands go through their fair share of drama. Some have inter-band relationships of a non-platonic nature, a few manage to forge successful careers at the top of the charts, even fewer manage to amass a back catalogue that spans decades.

Fleetwood Mac have done all this and more. Their personal history is as compelling as it comes, and alongside this they have scored hit after hit. They’re a songwriting arms factory that has produced lethal pop weapons such as 'Gypsy', 'Second Hand News' and 'Gold Dust Woman' - and they’re back.

It’s in the pursuit of showcasing these classic songs that four-fifths of the most commercially successful combination of Fleetwood Mac take to the stage at the SECC.

Without Christine McVie, vocal duties are left to Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham meaning McVie’s musical contributions are omitted, so no 'Little Lies', no 'Songbird' and no 'Everywhere', this doesn’t put a damper on the evening though, as there’s still plenty to keep everyone happy.

Early renditions of 'Monday Morning' and 'The Chain' from their second and most tempestuously recorded album Rumours, along with Buckingham’s words on the making of the album itself, warms up the sold out arena crowd nicely. ‘We were going through such emotional turmoil,’ Buckingham recounts. Thankfully, going by tonight’s onstage comradeship, with Buckingham and Nicks holding hands and singing to each other, all this seems to be in the past.

Highlights include Buckingham’s solo acoustic rendition of 'Big Love' which showcases his technical ability as a guitarist, Nicks' faultless performance of 'Landslide' and pre-encore set finisher 'Go Your Own Way', which easily commands the biggest applause of the night.

After thanking the rest of the band, Mick Fleetwood delivers one of the most confusing drum solos ever in encore opener 'Worlds Turning' by shouting in a Scottish accent and (what sounds like) rapping in a Jamaican accent.

Closing the set with a few too many words, Fleetwood thanks the crowd, which is a sweet, if slightly drawn out touch.

He can be forgiven though - if I’d been feeding and nurturing the cash cow that is Fleetwood Mac so successfully for forty years, I’d be looking to milk it too.

PHOTOS: Fleetwood Mac M.E.N. Arena Manchester October 27, 2009

FLEETWOOD MAC LIVE

MANCHESTER, UK - October 27, 2009

Photos by: Pastapaul

Silver Springs was dropped as the final encore (for those keeping track)

THE VERY BEST OF ALBUM REVIEW - FLEETWOOD MAC

The Very Best Of

Fleetwood Mac

Album Review

Fleetwood Mac are, and have always been, a bit screwed up. Like a tawdry soap opera dynasty, their story is one of intrigue, hedonism, depression and addiction. And of music - this particular family's golden, if schizophrenic, child.

Formed more than thirty years ago and frequently described in their seventies and eighties heyday as the world's biggest group, Fleetwood Mac have enjoyed global album sales in excess of 100 million and registered more than 30 hit singles in the UK, more in the US.

Full Review at Allgigs.co.uk

Fleetwood Mac - Don't Stop BBC One Documentary & Johnnie Walker's Sounds Of The 70's

All you BBCer's in the UK - keep your eyes peeled for late this Sunday night on BBC One a Fleetwood Mac Documentary called "Don't Stop" will be on... Not sure if this is a new doc on the band, or a rebranding of something old... In any case, here are the details:

Fleetwood Mac - Don't Stop
NEXT ON:
Sunday, 22:20 on BBC One (except Northern Ireland)

Fleetwood Mac, one of the biggest-selling bands of all time, are back on the road again. Their story, told in their own words, is an epic tale of love and confrontation, of success and loss.

Few bands have undergone such radical musical and personal change. The band evolved from the 60s British blues boom to perfect a US West Coast sound that saw them sell 40 million copies of the album Rumours.

However, behind the scenes relationships were turbulent. The band went through multiple line-ups with six different lead guitarists. While working on Rumours, the two couples at the heart of the band separated, yet this heartache inspired the perfect pop record.

BROADCASTS
Sun 1 Nov 200922:20BBC One (except Northern Ireland)
Sun 1 Nov 200922:50BBC One (Northern Ireland only)

Elsewhere...
Johnnie Walker's Sounds Of The 70's

On BBC Radio 2's Johnnie Walker's Sounds Of The 70's - Fleetwood Mac's Mick Fleetwood and Lindsey Buckingham join Johnnie Walker to discuss the stories behind their incredible 70s back catalogue, which includes the hits Go Your Own Way, Dreams, The Chain and Rhiannon.

Mick and Lindsay have reunited with Stevie Nicks and John McVie for Fleetwood Mac's first live tour in five years and have released a remastered collection of their greatest hits.

Next on: Sunday, November 1st - 15:00 on BBC Radio 2

REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac - Dublin "This was what we expected and so much more"

Fleetwood Fans in Awe as Stevie & Co Regroup
By Juno McEnroe
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Examiner.ie

Photo by Andrew Carson

THIS was what we expected and so much more.

With a throw of her slight arm over the microphone stand, a sullen Stevie Nicks took us into The Chain, Fleetwood Mac’s second melody of the night. A sunken O2 arena quickly perked up as a crescendo of cheers rushed over the north Dublin venue.

This was every party song played to its full.

Mick Fleetwood himself barely opened his eyes, tapping cymbals and booting the bass drum into the night.

Back on the road again for the first time in six years, this self-confessed old-time group took time out of their well publicised set to tell Dublin of their tales of mixing with the likes of other bands such as Velvet Underground.

This concert was so much more than just a medley of greatest hits, it was an opportunity for the original 1960s group to settle scores. Despite the fact that group founder Peter Green separately played an arresting set at the weekend in Cork, Fleetwood Mac were not for falling. The band played out the iconic group tune, Dreams, and a slower than usual Rhiannon.

But it was guitarist Lindsey Buckingham’s gripping guitar solo during I’m So Afraid that pushed Irish fans up off their seats to a standing ovation.

As the 60-year-old guitarist blitzed his way along his fretboard, the awestruck crowd shouted for more.

A briefly excited Stevie Nicks brought listeners back to the all-known Go Your Own Way as Fleetwood Mac moved to the end of their set.

In between songs, Lindsay and Stevie satisfied hardcore fans with talk of what the band did before the infamous splits began.

This was more than just a play list.

And an enthusiastic Mick Fleetwood said before courting Stevie off stage: "We’ll see you next time."

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Tuesday, October 27, 2009

REVIEW: FLEETOOD MAC in DUBLIN Reviewed by: The Irish Times

Fleetwood Mac
02 Dublin
October 24/25, 2009
Irishtimes
by: SEÁN FLYNN

Fleetwood Mac are back on the road, 32 years after the generation-defining Rumours album. This time around, there is no new album to plug and no new songs to roll out. Yesterday’s gone, but those golden sun-drenched songs roll on forever.

Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, whose combustible relationship sparked Rumours , emerge hand-in-hand and in warm spirits. Heathcliff and Cathy are chilling out.

Wrapped in her familiar shawls, Nicks is still playing the beguiling gypsy queen. Now 61, she meanders across the stage in long, flowing, chiffon dresses. For those of a certain vintage, it’s as if that fabled footage of Nicks belting out Rhiannon in 1976 has come to life.

Buckingham, with that familiar icy stare, is her counterpoint, all darkness and danger.

The set opens with Monday Morning , from the band’s eponymous second (white) album. The second song, The Chain , is the first of seven from Rumours . What is striking is how time and familiarity have not aged the power and beauty of these songs.

A blistering performance of Go Your Own Way is a real highlight. The song is Buckingham’s finest hour; his defiant guitar driving it forward with relish. Buckingham is very much the first among equals, dominating the stage with two underrated songs, Big Love and Tusk , commanding a standing ovation on each occasion.

Nicks is strongest on Dreams and Sara , two soft rock classics. Stand Back , one of her solo hits, has aged much less well.

There is an extraordinary synergy between the band and the middle-aged audience when Nicks sings that poignant, familiar line from Landslide – “And I’m getting older too”. It’s a terrific performance of a great song.

The concert did not work on all levels. Fleetwood Mac has always been a tapestry of different colours, so the absence of Christine McVie, who has retired from public performance, was keenly felt. Buckingham and Nicks dominated the vocal duties but McVie’s unplayed piano and echoey vocal style were conspicuous by their absence. McVie’s best songs – Songbird and You Make Loving Fun – are part of the Fleetwood Mac canon. The band did pay tribute to one former troubled member when Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood rolled out Peter Green’s Oh Well . It was good to see his contribution acknowledged.

The gig was also a reminder that Fleetwood – the mainstay of the band since the Peter Green era, is one of rock’s finest drummers – even if the solo on World Turning veered close to Spinal Tap country.

Fleetwood Mac also encored with the old foot-stomping Bill Clinton favourite, Don’t Stop . The final song was Nicks’s glorious Silver Springs , tossed away as a B-side back in the day, but given its due recognition here.

At the end, the band lingered on stage, revelling in the warm embrace of the crowd long after the music had stopped.