FLEETWOOD MAC LIVE
HOUSTON, TX - TOYOTA CENTER
JUNE 5, 2013
Fleetwood Mac brings music, memories to Houston
by Joey Guerra
Chron.com
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| Photo by Brian Townley |
Somewhere amid the first few songs of Fleetwood Mac’s more than two-hour set Wednesday at Toyota Center, Lindsey Buckingham explained what he called an “axiom” of the music business.
“If it works, run it into the ground and move on,” he said
It was his way of saying that the Mac was most certainly not doing that and a proper introduction to “Sad Angel,” a feisty song from a new EP released in April.
But really, what fans came for were the classics, the unspoken stories, the still-potent chemistry between Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. That’s not running anything into the ground. It’s simply honoring the work.
“Every time we come back together, it’s different,” Buckingham said. “You’d think after this long there would be nothing left to discover. It appears that there are still quite a few chapters left in the book of Fleetwood Mac.”
Indeed, there’s still something exciting about all of these songs. A trio from 1977′s “Rumours” album — “Second Hand News, “The Chain,” “Dreams” — set a celebratory, sensual tone. People crowded around the lip of the stage and stayed there, dancing and singing to every chorus, guitar lick and drum solo. ”Rhiannon” was the final push to get the lower and upper levels out of their seats.
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| Photo by Alexa |
Nicks flowed in her signature scarves and sparkle and told the crowd she’d lived in Texas for five years. (El
Paso, to be exact, when she was a girl.) Buckingham was chatty and excitable, stomping his feet and bending his knees like a kid after hammering into any number of songs.
There was an extended, excellent tribute to the band’s originally misunderstood “Tusk” album that included “Not That Funny,” the thundering title track and Nicks warbling on “Sisters of the Moon.” Much has been made about the change in her vocals, the lowering of keys, the weather of age. But she sounded nothing less than sweet and sincere throughout the evening.
And when she glided over to Buckingham during a heartfelt “Sara,” took his mic for the final line and gave him a hug, there was some bit of unspoken magic between them.
Buckingham was reliably excellent on “Big Love;” “Landslide” is still a deceptively sweet tearjerker; and Nicks did the spin during “Gypsy.” (You know the one.) “Without You,” a lost song from the Buckingham Nicks era, was another highlight. And Nicks was bathed in yellow light and one of many shawls during “Gold Dust Woman.”
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