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Thursday, October 29, 2009
REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac - Manchester, UK October 27, 2009
FLEETWOOD MAC at MEN Arena 27/10/09
It's a funny thing about Fleetwood Mac, when I hear them I'm instantly transported to a fantasy 1970s that most likely never even existed and it's all what I imagine it was like based on stuff I've seen on TV. I'm pretty sure I'm to young to actually remember Rumours when it was originally released, so just why it has such an effect is beyond me. But I like it.
I'm not a huge Fleetwood Mac fan, and I'd never seen them live before but when I heard they were touring again I decided to get myself some tickets and check it out. The current line up is the same as the Rumours line up, but sadly minus Christine McVie and they're not promoting any new material so I knew it would basically be a greatest hits package, which suited me.
Continue to The Morningstar for the full review/pictures
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac Live in Manchester "The Guardian"
Fleetwood Mac Live
Manchester Arena - October 27, 2009
By Dave Simpson
"This band have a complex emotional history," begins guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, hinting at Fleetwood Mac's rollercoaster of bedhopping, cocaine, mental illness and religious cults, which is almost as famous as their music. While the antics (and some members) have been lost to the years, the music, particularly 1977's mega-selling Rumours, still defines AOR cool and inspires current acts, not least Bat for Lashes.
Without a new album to promote, the Mac are choosing songs for "fun": nothing from 2003's underwhelming Say You Will, but rather a fantasy setlist from their ravishing back catalogue. After a tumultuous The Chain, a hallucinatory Dreams and a wistful Gypsy, the band charge into Rhiannon, Sara and a drumming-led Tusk. It feels like seeing off an army only to face bigger cannons coming over the hill.
The songs don't sound exactly as they did. With leather-jacketed Buckingham – the band's Clash fan – seemingly on a mission to prove the band remain relevant, the AOR sheen has been stripped away to reveal the emotional turmoil and even anger that inspired them. The delicate counterpoint is the ethereal Stevie Nicks, whose dulcet tones cast a spell. The hug between her and lost-love Buckingham might be scripted, but it nonetheless seems as poignant as Landslide's lyrics about "getting older".
In two and a half hours, there isn't a dull moment. Highlights are a dark Gold Dust Woman and a Buckingham guitar rampage, delivered to a standing ovation. Fans of the Mac's 1960s blues-rock incarnation are sent into raptures when the band pile into Oh Well, so electrifying it could power a small town. As an exultant Mick Fleetwood puts it: "The Mac are back!"
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