VIDEOS | PHOTOS: Fleetwood Mac Say Goodbye To North America - Sacramento

FLEETWOOD MAC LIVE IN 

SACRAMENTO, CA - SLEEP TRAIN ARENA

JULY 6, 2013

(Review to follow)

Well that's it!  Fleetwood Mac hit the stage for their last North America show last night at the Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, California.

Fleetwood Mac leave the North America stage after 3 months and 46 shows stretching across both the U.S. and Canada  feeling, I'm sure, a huge sense of accomplishment and gratitude to the over half a million or so fans that came out to see what many have said is their best tour ever!

With the right set list mix, that remained intact from day one and a well structured show along with the enthusiasm amongst the band to clearly be happy and excited to be performing together, they leave fans in North America satisfied, grateful, excited for the future and calling out for more!  The excitement and enthusiasm from fans of all ages seeing the band for the very first time, and from those that have seen the band multiple times was completely palpable. Dedicated fans traveled across the globe to catch this almost 3 hour show and to experience that ole Mac Magic that only rears its head once or twice a decade. 

From the opening song of the night, "Second Hand News" from "Rumours" to the last song of the night "Say Goodbye" the second to last song on their last studio release "Say You Will", fans were taken on a nostalgic trip back to simpler times, through the good and the bad, through the lives lived by the members of Fleetwood Mac. Along the way, we saw the band perform new music in the form of "Sad Angel" and "Without You" from the new "Extended Play" release, we saw the "Tusk" gems "Sisters of the Moon" brought back to life for the first time since the '82 Mirage Tour with great success plus "Not That Funny" for the first time since 1997. We witnessed Lindsey, a man of unbendable perseverance giving it his all ripping through guitar solo after guitar solo with precision, taking no breaks at all during the show. We were in awe as Stevie and the band developed and transformed "Gold Dust Woman" into this 10-12 minute show stopping stage piece that varied nightly proving that synergy still remains in this band when they are open to working together - producing perfect results. The song became fairly loose in the latter part of the tour to the point where you really never knew what Stevie was going to give each night.  That was exciting! The guarantees were that the song would be great, totally unpredictable and that the eerie and spooky element would be turned up to 10!  All this and you have the back bone of Fleetwood Mac, the steadfast John McVie and the ever entertaining Mick Fleetwood.  These four are still able to create that perfect storm on stage.

Above Photos: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty

This is not to say there weren't any bumps along the way.  Stevie suffered a reported leg injury in early May that almost sidelined the tour and its momentum, but with the help of a physical therapist in Calgary was able to soldier on. A couple of shows in June (Ft. Lauderdale and Montreal) were dropped from the itinerary to the disappointment of thousands. Nobody likes to see shows cancelled especially those that had bought tickets and I'm sure the band felt the wave of disappointment from the fans that had planned to attend.  Aside from these few exceptions, plus Lindsey breaking a nail on his right hand, this tour will likely go down as their most successful not just monetarily.

Big thanks to all the reviewers, photographers and to anyone that talked about the band during the tour.. and took the time to interacted with us here at Fleetwood Mac News - with comments on posts (good and bad), texts, Facebook and Twitter posts and comments... It's been great!... Thank you!

Next up - Ireland in September...

THE CHAIN

RHIANNON

BIG LOVE
LANDSLIDE
SARA
GO YOUR OWN WAY

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PETER GREEN'S LES PAUL

Discover the truth about the British blues legend and his mystical guitar 

Guitar and Bass

Photos | Video: Fleetwood Mac Live in San Diego

FLEETWOOD MAC LIVE

SAN DIEGO, CA - VIEJAS ARENA

JULY 5, 2013

Fleetwood Mac goes back & forth

Despite a few bumps, the veteran Anglo-American band played with purpose and passion Friday at SDSU,

By George Varga

UTSanDiego.com

Fleetwood Mac showed, and sometimes defied, its age during the legendary band’s generous Friday concert at San Diego State University’s Viejas Arena.

As a result, “Don’t Stop,” the group’s 1977 hit and second encore, took on new poignancy with its now-weathered refrain: Yesterday's gone. So did 1975’s rustic ballad, “Landslide,” whose wistful chorus – Children get older / I’m getting older, too – assumes a different resonance 38 years later.

Then again, for a band that was formed in London in 1967 and whose enduring core members first joined forces in Los Angeles in 1974, Fleetwood Mac’s longevity and renewed energy is worthy of celebration and reflection. Its 23-song SDSU show offered ample opportunity for both, with the band’s members (all now past 60) and their multigenerational audience forming an unusually large, boisterous mutual admiration society.

The evening began with an impressive salvo of “Second Hand News,” “The Chain” and “Dreams,” all from the band’s epic 1977 “Rumours,” one of rock’s most popular albums, then and now. The concert, a notable improvement over the band's mostly rote 2009 San Diego Sports Arena show, concluded with four encore selections. They included the bristling “World Turning,” the jaunty “Don’t Stop” (the only song by former singer and keyboardist Christine McVie, who quit the band in 1998), the country-tinged “Silver Springs” and the gentle acoustic ballad “Say Goodbye.”

In between came a mix of classics (“Rhiannon,” “Go Your Own Way”) and deep album cuts (“Eyes of the World,” "I'm So Afraid"), plus one new song (“Sad Angel,” excellent), and a recently unearthed older one (the Cat Stevens-flavored ballad “Without You,” so-so). Guitarist-singer Lindsey Buckingham and singer Stevie Nicks also did a few songs from their respective solo catalogs, a move that impeded the concert’s flow nearly as much as the four consecutive numbers from the band’s more experimental 1979 album, “Tusk.”

The absence of more new material did not appear to bother many in the enthusiastic SDSU audience. Nor did Buckingham seem concerned, as he noted in a U-T San Diego interview Thursday.

"Well, sure, of course you want to keep doing new material, if you can," he said in the interview. "But there is also, I would say, a point you get to where you do come to terms with the fact that you have this great body of work. And there's nothing wrong with going out and playing it. In a way, it can be a little freeing, because if you don’t feel you have to remake yourself every time (you tour), you can go put and deal with the (vintage) material in a slightly fresh way, every time.

"And that can be just as effective, once you come to terms with that, it kind of releases you and there's a point where you really need to come to that (realization). Because you have to understand that, probably, the audience is not really there to hear the new as much as to hear a reaffirmation of the body of work."

The underlying sentiments to parts of that body of work sometimes got jumbled during Friday's show. But that’s par for the course with this famously dysfunctional band, whose best songs from the mid-1970s were born from the crumbling love affairs between Nicks and Buckingham and between McVie and her-then husband, bassist John McVie.

Given this context, it kind of made sense that Nicks’ declaration early Friday night – “This party starts now!” – came just before “Dreams,” her wrenching 1977 song about the then-imploding relationship between her and Buckingham. The swirls and twirls that were once Nicks’ trademarks remain, but came only intermittently (and slower). During “Go Your Own Way” she playfully chased Buckingham, but not too fast, across part of the stage.

Nicks, 65, and Buckingham, 63, briefly held hands and embraced on stage several times. They also engaged in some between-songs banter that prompted Nicks to liken them to George Burns and Gracie Allen.

“Can’t we be someone younger?” Buckingham playfully responded.

Older and wiser, the two are keenly aware that their romance, while now decades in the past, still carries a special allure for fans. This holds especially true for those who might use “Rumours” as an emotional barometer of their own lives.

Bassist McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood, the band’s two remaining charter members still on board, were rock-solid throughout. The sound was enhanced by several instrumentalists and backing singers, including Lori Nicks (Stevie's sister), who gave added dimension to the music. Kudos, too, to the band's audio engineers, who achieved impressive warmth and a clear, crisp sound balance in the usually echo-heavy arena. (The secret, as in most sprawling venues of this size, is simple: The lower and more defined the volume, the less muddled the sound.)

Buckingham played guitar with finesse and ferocity. Refusing to rest on his laurels, he often sang with such passion that it almost seemed as if his career prospects depended on it. The 1975 song "I'm So Afraid" featured his most extended solo of the night, and he made every note count as he expertly built up the intensity. (The same song also featured intricate unison lines by Buckingham and second guitarist Neil Haywood that evoked the work of the English band Wishbone Ash.)

Nicks sounded more constricted, her trademark tremolo less tremulous, her lower vocal range somewhat diminished. But she is still a commanding presence and the sheer force of her personality usually made up for her technical shortcomings. In a few instances, her struggle to hit the notes of her youth lent added depth to the songs. In others, she simply fell (and sounded) a bit flat.

After the fourth and final encore, “Say Goodbye,” Nicks thanked the audience for making her and the band’s dreams come true over the past four decades. She also urged fans to listen to the band’s vintage songs in the future as if they were hearing them for the very first time.

It was sage advice at a nostalgia-fueled concert that could serve as a preview of the band's valediction (Buckingham's reference to "new chapters in the Fleetwood Mac" notwithstanding). No fewer than 15 of the 23 selections came from the first three albums he and Nicks made with the band: 1975’s “Fleetwood Mac”; 1977’s “Rumours”; and 1979’s “Tusk.”

But the high-tech stage production was very much of the moment. And Fleetwood Mac's best songs, like the group itself, both define and transcend their time. Don't stop, indeed.

 

SAD ANGEL

LANDSLIDE: 
Dedicated to San Diego and a few of Stevie's friends at the show.

SISTERS OF THE MOON:
Wow! They nailed this one!

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BIG LOVE

Review: Fleetwood Mac "one of the all-time greatest band’s stroll down memory lane" Los Angeles

FLEETWOOD MAC LIVE

LOS ANGELES, CA - STAPLES CENTER

JULY 3, 2013

BY WESLEY HODGES
Consequence of Sound

Photo by Chris Pizzello

When you’ve been doing whatever it is you do for four-plus decades – ‘work’ can get routine and the difficult can be made to look easy. For Fleetwood Mac in 2013, even after playing over 35 shows (including several major festival appearances) to date, there appears to be a new life force propelling the legendary band. While the relatively dull and demographically broad crowd could have used some of the aforementioned life force at Los Angeles’ Staples Center on Wednesday night – Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, and John McVie delivered nearly three straight hours of material from a majority of the band’s catalog (despite unfortunately ignoring the bluesy Peter Green years – but that was to be expected). And despite the absence of Christine McVie, fans ponying up are getting their money’s worth and a nice stroll down memory lane.

After a roaring ovation as the band took to the stage in the dark, the impressive lighting rig sprang to life and “Second Hand News” began an early run of major hits that included “The Chain” (replete with McVie’s bass-solo-you-know-by-heart) and “Dreams”. Anyone (Everyone?) who knows the catalog is adequately familiar with the truism that reads like a twisted tale of Shakespearean proportions. The lines just kept coming – whether it was Buckingham singing “the sound of your loneliness like a heartbeat,” during “Dreams”, Nicks’ dramatic delivery of the “So I’ll begin not to love you/ Turn around, you’ll see me runnin” verse during “Silver Springs” or “Been down one time/ Been down two times/ I’m never going back again” during “Never Going Back Again”, the tales of heartache and busted relationships rolled out in relentless form. Nicks would later dedicate “Landslide” to her father before delivering in inspiring form to pin drop silence in the Staples Center.

One of the major musical highlights during the set was the experimental foray out of the poppier realm of the catalog during the Fleetwood-steered “Tusk”, during which Nicks spun and floated around with a tambourine accented by her signature scarves while the band roared through a fierce rendition of the 1979 classic. A montage of the USC marching band playing the song and a PA blaring the marching band’s trademark brass was an essential kicker. Had school been in session, it would’ve been likely to see the modern Trojan Marching Band roll onto the stage but this production element did the trick. Buckingham’s worldly and tribal “Big Love” was the only selection from the 1987 mega success Tango In The Night and featured some aggressive strumming by the lead axe wielder. The set ended with the synth-infused “Stand Back” off Nicks’ 1987 LP, The Wild Heart, before an expectedly well-received and fierce run through of “Go Your Own Way”.

The night’s encore included the lengthiest drum solo I’ve heard since I last caught Widespread Panic, arriving during “World Turning” which sparked some last-minute energy for the thick layer of pop sheen that followed during “Don’t Stop”. Because that wasn’t enough, the veterans shuffled back out for another encore, toning things down with “Silver Springs” and a Buckingham-Nicks sign-off with “Say Goodbye”.  The more melodic finale closed the night’s multi-faceted run through one of the all-time greatest band’s stroll down memory lane, and in the town that helped inspire and propel them during their almost unrivaled run of mainstream success. One can only hope such fortune strikes today’s crop of talent.

Setlist:

Photot by Kevin Winter

Second Hand News
The Chain
Dreams
Sad Angel
Rhiannon
Not That Funny
Tusk
Sisters of the Moon
Sara
Big Love
Landslide
Never Going Back Again
Without You
Gypsy
Eyes of the World
Gold Dust Woman
I’m So Afraid
Stand Back (Stevie Nicks song)
Go Your Own Way
Encore:
World Turning (Drum Solo)
Don’t Stop
Encore 2:
Silver Springs
Say Goodbye

Original Review with Photos

LANDSLIDE:
Dedicated to Nigel Lythgoe of So You Think You Can Dance also to Margi Kent, Chris (Nicks), Dave (Stewart), Pat (?) and all their LA Friends at the show + Lindsey and Stevie's families and to the LA audience.

GO YOUR OWN WAY
Video below is interesting because of the perspective you get by sitting on the extreme side of the stage... which a lot of people have done during this tour...

Fleetwood Mac Headed For 3rd Auckland, New Zealand Sell-Out

The Live Nation pre-sale tickets for the 3rd show December 4th in Auckland, NZ went on sale Friday, July 5th in New Zealand (It's now Saturday AM there) and it looks like those tickets are pretty much already sold out - after just one day! That's amazing!  

The general on sale tickets go on sale Monday the 8th and it's likely within minutes the show will be completely sold out!

The two shows added for Perth and Brisbane are also on pre-sale through Live Nation... Tickets are still available for those dates.

Don't miss this show....  Get your tickets at Live Nation.  Sign up to "My Live Nation" to get in on the pre-sale.  

Stevie Nicks hangs up her tambourine | Lindsey Buckingham Goes His Own Way - Saturday!

Fleetwood Mac's North American Tour is coming to an end over this holiday long weekend in the U.S. with a pair of California shows beginning with tonight's show in San Diego and ending with Saturdays Sacramento show in northern California... It's been an awesome tour and fun following their every move... and especially exciting to see them so excited to be out on the road together again!  Time sure flies when you're having fun... it seems like the tour just started!

Tickets are available for both shows although the San Diego show is pretty much sold out, with only extreme side of the stage tickets available... In Sacramento there are a few at the back of the house and again on the extreme side.  Go if you can... It's an awesome show, and I think one of their best tours since I don't know maybe The Dance?  Ticketmaster   

The band take a well deserved long break - reconvening in Dublin, Ireland on September 20th.

THE CHAIN... "Keep us together"

STAND BACK AND GO YOUR OWN WAY