REVIEW | PHOTOS: Fleetwood Mac Live in Tacoma 5/20

Fleetwood Mac Looks Back, Moves Forward at Tacoma Dome
By Corbin Reiff
Seattle Weekly
Photos by: Dana Nalbandian

Before the final song of the band’s two and a half hour long set at the Tacoma Dome on Monday night, Fleetwood Mac guitarist and latter-day creative force Lindsey Buckingham stepped to the microphone and proclaimed, “Sometimes it takes losing a set of illusions to move forward.” While he may have been referring to his oft-discussed and long dormant romantic relationship with his band mate Stevie Nicks, the same sentiment could be applied to expectations for the band’s performance that evening.

No this wasn’t the same powerhouse that dominated popular music in 1977 – the hair was a little grayer, the movements on stage a little more deliberate – but Fleetwood Mac still managed to deliver a solid set of timeless music that brought the thousands in attendance to their feet for nearly the duration of the show.

The night began with a touching gesture as Buckingham and Nicks took the stage hand-in-hand lending the crowd a visual cue that each was willing to put their respective feelings of acrimony behind them. If they were ready to forget their own personal histories however, they were just as quick to delve into their musical past opening the night with a one-two-three punch of songs off the astronomically successful album, Rumors; “Second Hand News,” the first track off the album followed by “The Chain” and then “Dreams.”

It was clear from the start that Buckingham was to be the focal point of the evening and his performance both vocally and on guitar was transcendent. Buckingham, who drummer Mick Fleetwood later referred to as, “Our inspiration and our mentor,” was given much of the burden of moving the show along and providing the necessary flourishes that kept the songs from drifting too far into stale renditions of over-played material. His solo on “I’m So Afraid” in particular stood out for both its intensity and technical wizardry.

However much Buckingham proved throughout the evening to have sidestepped the effect of passing years on his musical prowess, the same could not be said singer Stevie Nicks. It was evident early on that Nicks has lost a bit of her vocal top-range – the iconic falsetto on “Rhiannon” was noticeably absent. She was, however, still able to solidly belt out each number with a steadiness that proved admirable. Accompanied by Buckingham alone on acoustic guitar, Nick’s rendition of “Landslide” – always a crowd favorite – was delivered expertly and with a great deal of precision.

The rhythm section – the Fleetwood and Mac in Fleetwood Mac as it were – was, as expected, on point throughout the evening. John McVie’s bass proved to be the solid rock and foundation of each number. His technical ability combined with his comfortable setting near the rear of the stage rendered him almost an afterthought; something taken for granted. Mick Fleetwood on the other hand was a force that refused to be ignored and throughout the evening slammed all the power that his 6’5” frame could muster into each hit on the snare and kick on the bass.

Amid an evening soaked in nostalgia – Fleetwood himself was garbed in the same outfit he wore in the cover photo of Rumors, down to the balls dangling listlessly from his waistband – there were signals that the group intended to carry on. Selections from its latest offering, Extended Play, were interspersed amongst the old standbys in the setlist to great acclaim from the audience. Buckingham himself declared that there are, “a few chapters left to be written in the book of Fleetwood Mac.” If Monday’s performance proved anything, it was that while they may have lost a step or too in some regards, and may be more than a little too reliant on their back catalog, Fleetwood Mac still has it and aren’t quite ready to say goodbye just yet.

 Above photos by: artofwore | meegggyyyy 

 Above photos by: g_field206

 Above photos by: taybaycakes | maxgleibs

 Above photo by: DaniCanoelle

REVIEW | PHOTOS: Fleetwood Mac Live in Vancouver 5/19

Fleetwood Mac rekindles the classics in Vancouver
Fans jumped to their feet to sing along to every song at Rogers Arena
By Stuart Derdeyn
The Vancouver Sun
View Photo Gallery

A love-in. That was last night’s Fleetwood Mac concert.

From the moment Mick Fleetwood bounded onstage, dropped his giant, lanky self behind his kit and started the drum roll leading into Second Hand News, it was on your feet and sing along to every song at Rogers Arena. On the basis of three albums made in the seventies, the second configuration of what began as a very fine UK blues-rock group has built a timeless legacy.

The sheer number of people at the show who weren’t even born when Rumours ruled the world in 1977 but knew every word was testament to that.

The quartet of Fleetwood (65), bassist John McVie (67), eternally tanned guitarist Lindsey Buckingham (63) and Stevie Nicks (64) still bring it. Sure, it’s a shame that singer/keyboardist Christine McVie (69) is out of the lineup again but the band has plenty of material she wasn’t a key part of.

Some winning material from the recently released iTunes only EP titled, creatively, Extended Play, was thrown into the Fleetwood Mac (1975), Rumours and Tusk (1979) heavy set. Sad Angel is certainly the group’s best song in decades so here is hoping the future album contains more of the same.

If not, no matter.

As the fluid-voiced Buckingham, made abundantly clear, songs such as Not That Funny and Tusk have actually aged extremely well. What was panned critically at the time for failing to match the impossible-to-equal Rumours is a fine album. One that the group still wants to get a fairer shake based on Buckingham’s comments about “taking a good idea and grinding it into the ground before moving on.”

Tusk tunes such as Sisters of the Moon and Sara certainly gave Nicks, ample opportunity to show that she can still carry the body of the songs. With back up singers to clean up the high notes she can’t reach anymore and provide a tad of the warmth that was occasionally missing, the singer’s haunting way with a lyric rang true.

For his part, Buckingham proved why he has been such a critical component to the band’s success.

His fingerpicking all night was searing and hit show-stealing on his solo acoustic take of Big Love from Tango In the Night. It was obvious that Nicks’ tour de force Landslide would follow. It did and Never Going Back Again rounded out the strumming Buckingham/Knicks portion of the show.

Without You, a re-discovered tune from the duo’s pre-Mac days that is also on the new EP brought the full band back. Again, a bit of proof the old dog may have some new(er) tricks left in it.

Frankly, after hearing that heavy version of Gold Dust Woman it is hard to believe a Grunge era band didn’t get on the cover wagon. For the bass lines alone, the song burns.

After 20-plus tunes, nobody left last night unsatisfied. Unless, that is, you wanted to hear Oh Well or the Green Manalishi which this version of the band has probably never played. That was another time and predates the string of near perfect pop songs such as Go Your Own Way. But by all means go back and check out earlier ‘Mac too.

Given last night, the next album could prove well worth a listen too.

30 Minute Video of last nights show

Fleetwood Mac's classics please the masses in Vancouver
by STEVE NEWTON
Straight.com

"I don't believe Fleetwood Mac will ever tour again," drummer Mick Fleetwood told Playboy last year, dashing the concert hopes of diehard '70s soft-rock fans everywhere. But as seen at Rogers Arena last night, you can't believe everything you read in a girlie magazine.

Fleetwood took the stage—along with the current Fleetwood Mac lineup of singer Stevie Nicks, guitarist-vocalist Lindsay Buckingham, and bassist John McVie—and proceeded to show that a capering 65-year-old codger can still be a force of nature behind the kit. The foursome was supplemented by a second guitarist-vocalist, a keyboard-vocalist, and two backup vocalists, so there was plenty of younger vocal cords on hand to help Nicks (64) and Buckingham (63) hit those high notes.

The show kicked off with "Second Hand News", the perky opening track from the 1977 Rumours album, which has so far sold a paltry 45-million copies worldwide. That song is noted for containing some of the most memorable gibberish lyrics ever, which are tricky to decipher, but go something like: "Bow-bow-bow-bow/da-bas-bow-bow-bow-bow/da-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-da-bam-bam-bam-bam/do-doodle-doo."

After a couple more Rumours gems, "The Chain" and "Dreams", the band pulled out a new composition from Extended Play, the four-song EP it released on iTunes a few weeks back. "Sad Angel" is a jangly rocker slightly reminiscent of "Go Your Own Way", sans its melodic allure.

The group would showcase one other new tune, "Without You", a rerecording of a pre-Mac, Buckingham/Nicks demo that, as Nicks explained in a rambling introduction, resurfaced on YouTube recently. Unfortunately the song—based on a poem she wrote for Buckingham early on in their relationship—came off a little on the humdrum side.

Apart from the two middling new tunes, it was golden oldies all the way, which was what everyone had come for anyway. The band performed seven of Rumours' 11 deathless tracks, and four each from the 1975 Fleetwood Mac and '79 Tusk albums. Three tracks from the eighties went over extremely well, including the Nicks-sung "Gypsy" (from 1982's Mirage) and "Stand Back" (from her '83 solo album The Wild Heart). One of the night's biggest highlights was "Big Love", a track from 1987's Tango in the Night that boasted ace fingerpicking from Buckingham.

As crowdpleasing as the setlist was, it would have been nice if it had touched ever-so-briefly on the band's history prior to its multiplatinum success. It would have been cool to hear Fleetwood snapping off that triple-time intro to 1973's dreamy "Hypnotized" as an homage to former member Bob Welch, who died last summer.

Even better, they could have selected one tune from the group's late-'60s blues-rock era, when guitar legend Peter Green was in the fold. I can totally picture Buckingham singing lines like: "I can't help about the shape I'm in/I can't sing, I ain't pretty and my legs are thin/But don't ask me what I think of you/I might not give the answer that you want me to."

Oh well.

FAN PHOTOS

Rock band Fleetwood Mac played a local stop on their North American tour on Sunday night.

The core four of singer Stevie Nicks, guitarist/singer Lindsey Buckingham, bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood played in front of just under 16,000 fans at Rogers Arena.

Photos by Boaz Joseph / The Leader. - View Gallery

 It was an incredible show and experience tonight... I'm not just saying that, it truly was!  More about the Mick Fleetwood Meet and Greet where Lindsey was the added bonus for a few minutes, plus photos.

Calgary Flames trainer rescues Stevie Nicks

Calgary Flames trainer comes to the rescue of ailing Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks at Calgary show
BY ERIC FRANCIS
CALGARY SUN

Try as he might Schad Richea wasn’t able to save the Flames season.

However, the Flames assistant athletic therapist was able to make sure the show went on at the Dome Friday night.

In the midst of Fleetwood Mac’s stirring performance at the Saddledome leading lady Stevie Nicks paused between songs to explain a recent fall had left her hobbling to the point she wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to continue on as part of the iconic band’s latest tour.

The Calgary Sun May 20, 2013

“It was, like, really bad,” the 64-year-old Nicks told the sold out crowd of her knee injury.

“It was to the point we were going to have to start cancelling shows.”

She said Richea’s magic touch had helped to the point she wanted to dedicate the next song, Landslide, to Richea, adding, “I feel like a hockey player!”

Richea was given tickets to the show by Nicks and was shocked to hear his latest patient rain praise upon him for his efforts.

“I was flattered — I wasn’t expecting anything like that,” said Richea.

“She’s a very classy lady and I was happy to help spruce her up.”

Richea said he just happened to be at the Dome when a call came from someone asking if he could help the legendary singer.

“What I did was no different than what 140 other athletic therapists in Alberta would have done for her – I just happened,” said Richea, 39, a former Dinos and Toronto Blue Jays athletic therapist who has been with the Flames four years.

“I guess I had a small part in helping her out and she was really grateful and I appreciate that.”

Richea, a huge fan of live music, said the he thought the show was phenomenal.

“Everyone was standing — I haven’t seen anything like that at the Dome since Kipper’s last game,” said Richea, who also took Nicks up on her invitation to see her after the show to meet the rest of the band.

“Just a great show. She’s 64 and she’s the youngest in the group — incredible.”

The aging band is in the middle of a rigorous 48-date North American tour that features shows almost every second night over the course of three months.

To put that into perspective the Flames lineup of 20-and-30-something athletes also played 48 times in a three-month schedule with the help of a massive support staff that includes Richea and colleague Morris Boyer, who recently worked for Team Canada at the World Championships in Sweden.

The NHL team only travels for half its games unlike rock bands, which play all their gigs on the road.

“A lot of bands like Bon Jovi have chiropractors and physiotherapists travelling with them because the schedules and the job are demanding and they’re not athletes,” said Richea.

“One of the things I did say to her is that ‘you may have to find someone to work with you along the way.’”

After a one-month summer break Fleetwood Mac will resume rocking in Europe where they have another 19-city schedule set up.

Fleetwood Mac "The Soap Legends of Rock"

THE SOAP LEGENDS OF ROCK

By Barry Egan
Sunday Independent - Ireland
(Living section)

IT'S BEEN called rock's greatest real-life soap opera, a gothic romance with echoes of Dallas and The Borgias... Fleetwood Mac in their Seventies heyday were perhaps the most orgiastic, dysfunctional, and at that moment, the biggest-selling band in the world. Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham had a seven year relationship that had a bitter end: Buckingham calling her “a schizophrenic bitch” and, squeezing her against a car, said “Get that woman out of my life.”

Nicks wrote Dreams — “dreams of loneliness like a heartbeat drives you mad” — about the break-up with Buckingham. He wrote Go Your Own Way — “You can call it another lonely day/You can go your own way” — in response. The two songs, both classics in their own way, are from Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 masterpiece Rumours, which sold 30 million copies and was then the biggest selling album of all time.

A hint of the break-up to come was found on the previous Fleetwood Mac album, with Buckingham singing on Monday Morning: “First you love me, then you say it's wrong. I can't go on believing for long.” Nicks revealed in one interview that she only realised her love affair with Buckingham was truly and finally over when he had his first child with future wife Kristen Messner in 1998.

John McVie and Christine McVie's marriage of eight years fell apart around the time of Rumours; McVie would later have an alcoholinduced seizure. Founder Mick Fleetwood was divorcing too, and would not long after have a cocaine-fuelled affair with Nicks herself. The band that lays together stays together, it turned out.

It was alleged that there was a velvet bag of cocaine kept under the mixing desk with which the band would, when the need arose during recording, “refresh” themselves. Gramme upon gramme of white powder would be snorted then washed down with gallons of brandy and champagne. It was chaos and decadence on an imaginable scale.

In the mid-Eighties Nicks would eventually check herself into the Betty Ford Clinic for cocaine addiction. She almost met an unhappy end later when she developed a nearfatal dependency on Klonopin, a tranquilliser. A heroine to everyone from Courtney Love to PJ Harvey and our own Andrea Corr — who did a sublime cover of Dreams on The Corrs' album Talk on Corners — Nicks was the queen of the stoned age.

“I think the intriguing thing to a lot of people is that there's never been a period in rock as debauched as the period after Rumours,” Courtney Love said in 2003. “Nobody's touched it.”

“Two weeks’ worth of cocaine could have paid our rent for six months,” a long since cleaned-up and sober Nicks told Oprah Winfrey last month.

“It turned people into nutcases. Mick and I never would have had an affair had we not had a party and all been completely drunk, messed up and coked out. We ended up being the last two people at the party. So guess what? It’s not hard to figure out what happened — and what happened wasn’t a good thing. It was doomed. It was a doomed thing, caused a lot of pain for everybody, led to nothing. I’m like, ‘Gee, could you have just laid off the brandy and the coke and the pot for two days?’ I can remember thinking to myself at that point, ‘Wow. Who knew four years ago that I would even be a part of anything that was this stupid?’” (Mick Fleetwood reckoned the band spent roughly $8m on coke all told. That's a lot of stupidity.)

That stupidity lead to certain mythic rumours circulating about Nicks — chief among them that during their Seventies pomp her nose was so gone from white powder abuse that she employed a roadie to give her cocaine rectally.

“You know, I heard that too,” she said in 2001. “But of course that never, ever happened. That is an absurd statement. It's not true. Maybe that nasty rumour came from the fact that people knew I had such a big hole in my nose, which of course didn't stop me from doing cocaine one little bit.” Nicks will remain a rock goddess who has inspired everyone from Florence Welch and…you name it.

Chrissie McVie quit the band in 1998. “We all did everything we could do to try and talk her out of it,” Nicks — the Queen of Sobriety — told the Observer at her home in LA two months ago, “but you look in someone's eyes and you can tell they're finished. It's like when somebody breaks up with you and says: ‘We're done’.”

Or, she helpfully points out: “As Taylor Swift would say: ‘ We are never ever getting back together ever!' That's what Chris was saying… But I'd beg, borrow and scrape together $5m and give it to her in cash if she would come back. That's how much I miss her.” Proof of how much we have missed Nicks et al is surely in the fact that Fleetwood Mac's two shows in Dublin later this year sold out in minutes. Fleetwood Mac play the 02 in Dublin on September 20 and 21

REVIEW | PHOTOS: Fleetwood Mac Live in Calgary

FLEETWOOD MAC LIVE

May 17, 2013 - Scotiabank Saddledome

Calgary, Alberta Canada

Stevie told the audience in her dedication to Landslide tonight that she's been limping and the reason for that was she fell a couple of weeks ago and injured her right knee pretty bad to the point where she thought they might have to cancel or postpone shows. She had the Calgary Flames Physical Therapist do some work on her knee and said it was much better - she then dedicated Landslide to him.

Get well Stevie!

Ain’t no rumour: Stevie Nicks and Co. are still rock royalty after all these years

BY GERRY KROCHAK

CALGARY SUN

Photo by Mike Drew - Calgary Sun - View More Photos

Given Calgary’s spring and summer major concert schedule, you could be forgiven for wondering what year it is.

With Bob Seger, Bon Jovi and Motley Crue behind us, and Def Leppard (with Cheap Trick, no less), KISS, Rush and The Eagles ahead, it’s really no wonder that vinyl record sales are at a 15-year high — in Calgary and everywhere else.

Which brings us to last night: Back in 1977, Fleetwood Mac released a perfect record, and 36 years later, Rumours remains an undeniable and absolute pop-rock masterpiece. If there remained any question whether they could still pull it off live, the response last night was a resounding “yes.”

That second Lindsey Buckingham-Stevie Nicks effort, which followed Mac’s rich blues history with former leader Peter Green in the late ’60s, was, not surprisingly, the focal point of the evening.

Indeed, Buckingham’s vocals and otherworldly fretwork, and Nicks’ distinctive and still muscular pipes, fuelled the Rumours troika of Second Hand News, The Chain and Dreams to open the evening with a bang, and thunderous applause to match.

The 40- and 50-somethings were expected more than the healthy contingent of teens and 20-somethings, but all seemed in awe, in the presence of greatness even, by the time Nicks addressed the crowd for the first time. “Welcome Calgary,” she greeted the erupting throng. “It was a beautiful day here and thanks for spending tonight … with us.”

On an understated, but classy stage production, bathed in lights of greens, yellows, blues and purples and some video imagery, Nicks still demonstrates a mystical aura with her onstage demeanour.

While it’s true that the vocals and keyboard styling of Christine McVie are missed, musically, the band doesn’t miss much. Although a little more ragged and a little more raspy than in her glory days, the best thing you can say about Nicks in 2013 is that she still sounds like, well, Stevie Nicks.

Besides, two backup singers rounded out the sound (and hit the high notes she couldn’t) on Sad Angel (a new one from Extended Play) and a so-so interpretation of Rhiannon, in which she mumbled her way through the first verse before catching her groove.

Some nifty video images, including iconic footage of the USC Marching Band, accompanied a pair from ’79s Tusk: Buckingham handled lead through Not That Funny and the title cut from the late ’70s experiment which, depending on who you ask, either went very wrong or very right leading up to 1980.

Veteran sticksman Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie remained in the pocket, while Buckingham continued to lead the charge and Nicks picked up steam through stirring renditions of Sara, Big Love and, especially, Landslide.

The pace of the show never wavered and it was one of those nights where it felt like it was all unfolding too quickly. Gypsy, Gold Dust Woman, the outstanding Stevie Nicks solo cut, Stand Back, and, of course, main set closer Go Your Own Way were memorable snapshots during an evening many hoped would never end.

The encores were inevitable, but not obvious. World Turning preceded Don’t Stop — the Christine McVie lead that was missed the most — while Silver Springs and Say Goodbye rounded out a night that seemed over in a flash even though two hours had past.

No one ever retires from rock and roll — this much we know. And last night we were richer for it.

TALK ABOUT APPOSING VIEWS BETWEEN REVIEWS

Calgary Herald Review - online + Photo Gallery

Landslide / Never Going Back Again

Photo by Daniel Blais

 

Above Photos by: Stuart Gradon - Calgary Herald

 Above photos by Christopher Parent | Ernest Hon

 Above photos by Hollymariiie | Jody McPherson

 Above photos by snowronin

 Above photo by WBrett Wilson

  Above photo by Calon Cyca

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 Above photo by K_danforth

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Above photo by lastnameleslie

So what's really going on with Fleetwood Mac and former member Christine McVie?

Lindsey Buckingham Discusses Christine McVie's Status with

Christine at the Ivor Novella Awards 5/15/13

Fleetwood Mac
So what's really going on with Fleetwood Mac and former member Christine McVie?

The issue came to light earlier this year when drummer Mick Fleetwood very publicly reached out to McVie, who left the band in 1998 and subsequently moved back to England. Fleetwood's gesture resulted in McVie, formerly married to Fleetwood Mac bassist John McVie, visiting the drummer at his home in Maui and also flying to Los Angeles to join the other band members for a reunion dinner.

Guitarist Lindsey Buckingham tells Gary Graff of WCSX


But Buckingham he doesn't foresee McVie doing much else with the band, and certainly not becoming a full-fledged member again: