Stevie Nicks: "I am drawn back again and again to the woozy narcotic of her sound"

Not Fade Away 1979: Sara, Fleetwood Mac

Richard E. Aaron

by Teddy Jamieson

Herald Scotland

Wait a minute baby

Stay with me awhile

This is where things get seriously biographical. In 1979 I turn 16. I'm obsessed by Marvel comics, Michael Moorcock fantasy books and Jenny Agutter. My musical tastes are .. umm indiscriminate. I like almost everything. But then there's so much to like.

Even in retrospect 1979 shapes up as one of the truly great years in pop history. The length of the list of other contenders below this isn't only down to nostalgia (although I'll accept it might be a factor - one that's likely to continue over the next few weeks/years). In 1979 we've got American punk, British post-punk, high-end disco, lovers' rock, the best of what was known as new wave, the last truly great single by Motown's greatest artist and the first great single by the star who would become the brightest talent of the decade to come (no, it's not Michael). We've got Bowie and Kate Bush, Chrissie Hynde (one of my favourite voices in pop) and Debbie Harry, weird synthy one-hit wonders from M and Flying Lizards and itchy electronica from Cabaret Voltaire and the Human League.

We are beyond punk by now. Suddenly all the rules and restrictions - necessary as they may have felt at the time - are gone. It feels like anything is possible.

And yet here I am choosing chiffon-draped, cocaine-fuelled soft rock. What gives?

Blame the 16-year-old me. The boy whose favourite comic was Master of Kung Fu. The writer of said comic, Doug Moench, was obsessed by Fleetwood Mac. He seemed to have his characters listen to Rumours every month. And I was soon indoctrinated. So much so that I rushed out to buy the Tusk double album as soon it came out and played it again and again and again and ...

I still like a lot of the album. There are tracks like Save Me A Place where the (undoubtedly expensively produced) DIY feel of the music and the lachrymose luminosity of the harmonies gets me every time. (On the basis of absolutely no evidence whatsoever I always want to say alt-country starts here).

But, really, what I tuned in to were the Stevie Nicks songs. And Sara more than the rest. I've written before in this place about how Nicks should be the antithesis of everything I like in pop. But I just can't help myself. I am drawn back again and again to the woozy narcotic of her sound, what the music critic Simon Reynolds once called her "grain-of-the-voice viscosity".

Check out the full article at Herald Scotland

Reviews: Fleetwood Mac Live in Birmingham "Big personalities and classic songs give fans an evening of pure energy"

Fleetwood Mac Live in Birmingham
Sunday, September 29, 2013 - LG Arena
by Enda Mullen
Birmingham Post

Big personalities and classic songs give fans an evening of pure energy

Fleetwood Mac might be middle of the road musically speaking but the soap opera that’s the story of the band is about as rock ‘n’ roll as it gets.

It’s a saga characterised by battles and broken relationships and the kind of hard living that would put even the most notorious rock star to shame.

The hell-raising might be no more but the love/hate relationship of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham lives on in many of the songs.

And what songs they are too, with the band producing a soundtrack for a whole generation.

This was a concert of epic proportions, 23 songs in total and not far short of three hours from start to finish, with the band on fire as they plundered the riches of their amazing back catalogue.

There was room for a new song in the shape of Sad Angel, which sounded good but didn’t really get the crowd to their feet in the way The Chain, Rhiannon, Tusk and Landslide did.

Given the big personalities and talents of Nicks and Buckingham it would be easy to overlook founder members Mick Fleetwood and John McVie who give the band its beating heart and clearly still relish playing live.

Other musical highlights included Sara, Big Love, Gypsy, Gold Dust Woman and Don’t Stop, although Say Goodbye, while an appropriate song to end on, didn’t offer the kind of rousing finale the show deserved.

After an evening of pure energy and exemplary musicianship that would put many bands half their age to shame Fleetwood Mac signed off with a lingering farewell that made one wonder whether it may be the last time they take to the stage.

Fleetwood Mac, at LG Arena, Birmingham

By Steve Adams 

Birmingham Mail

Rocks greatest soap opera goes on and on...

Forget Downton Abbey, if you wanted Sunday night drama then the LG Arena was the place to be this weekend, as Fleetwood Mac offered another episode in rock’s longest-running soap opera.

The Anglo-US act will forever be remembered for Rumours, one of the greatest and biggest-selling albums of all time, which was inspired by the band members’ dissolving relationships - and for some reason they feel compelled to milk the melodrama at every opportunity.

Singer Stevie Nicks and guitarist-singer Lindsey Buckingham – whose break-up provided by many of the songs on that album - arrived on stage holding hands, turned to face each other during several poignant numbers and even shared a hug during Sara.

It was frankly overkill – as were some of the extended introductions – and detracted from an otherwise excellent show. 

Sara itself was a highlight, and while Nicks can no longer hit the high notes on tunes such as Rhiannon (Buckingham largely did that for her), she remains a captivating performer with a great set of pipes, gloriously exemplified on Landslide, Silver Springs and new – but old – song Without You.

That said, Buckingham was the undoubted star of the show, and while he remains a frustratingly pompous figure – he’s as aware of his talent as we are – there’s no escaping the brilliance of his guitar playing, notably during an extraordinary acoustic rendering of Big Love and electric wig-outs on I’m So Afraid and Go Your Own Way.

The band did just that on this gig – there was no room for a Christine McVie guest slot, as at the London shows – and with material as strong as Tusk, Second Hand News, The Chain and Don’t Stop, come the end no one in the packed house was quite ready for them to Say Goodbye.

Above Photos by Della Wilson (Thanks Della!)

DON'T STOP

GOLD DUST WOMAN

WORLD TURNING (Micks Drum Solo)

Plus... Say Goodbye | Go Your Own Way | The Chain

Review: Fleetwood Mac Live in London Sept 27 - Uncut

Fleetwood Mac Live in London

September 27, 2013 - The O2 Arena

Uncut Magazine

by Michael Bonner

“Life is good,” reflects Mick Fleetwood. We are over two hours into Fleetwood Mac’s third and final show at the O2, and it has fallen to Fleetwood to introduce his fellow bandmates on stage.

While Fleetwood was talking for the most part about the enduring friendships that exist between the various members of Fleetwood Mac, he could just as easily be surveying the last, remarkable 12 months in the band’s career. This sprawling world tour has been a tremendous success – “We’re doing the best business we’ve done in 20 years,” Lindsey Buckingham recently told Rolling Stone. The 35th anniversary of Rumours earlier this year provided a useful reminder of the band's most successful and notorious period, while the Extended Play EP showcased a clutch of new songs that seem redolent of the Rumours-era sound. Elsewhere, there are the broader cultural threads that have pillowed Fleetwood Mac’s 2013 – the revival of the soft rock aesthetic, and the kind of West Coast vibes evoked on Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories and Haim’s Days Are Gone.

But in many respects Fleetwood Mac are actually a more interesting proposition away from the Rumours material. The reissue a few months ago of the band’s 1969 album, Then Play On was a terrific reminder of the magical guitar interplay between Peter Green and Danny Kirwan. Indeed, while it’s nice enough to watch Christine McVie join her old band for “Don’t Stop”, it would have been more remarkable if Green had strolled on stage to play “The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Prong Crown)”. Tonight, the band’s decision to foreground songs from Tusk is sort-of brave – a great chunk of the audience seem bewildered by this – while the weird tensions between Buckingham's songs and Nicks' is actually quite compelling. To some extent, Buckingham and Nicks might as well be in different bands. Buckingham (who, I should point out, plays without a plectrum) seems to think he’s in some early 80s New Wave band for great chunks of the set, throwing punk rock shapes or shredding; at one point, during the extended coda for "I'm So Afraid", he seems to think he's in the middle of some wonderful, digressive Crazy Horse jam. His introduction to the Tusk section of the show involves a lecture in the merits of art against commerce; he clearly still has an almost neurotic attachment to that particular material, as his need to explain – or, perhaps, defend – it suggests. Later, his acoustic treatment of “Big Love” displays his extraordinary fretwork skills (incidentally, those solo albums are amazing). He and Nicks are gracious with each other – if, say, she’s singing a song, she’ll step back a little from the mic to let him play a solo – it’s slightly formal, a little awkward, you might say. Nicks, meanwhile, doesn’t entirely seem comfortable during the faster Buckingham numbers – she totters visibly during “Not That Funny”. Sounding a little like Edie Falco in The Sopranos when she speaks, and dressed as if she’s going for dinner with Big Edie and Little Edie at Grey Gardens, she seems clearly more comfortable with the soft focus Laurel Canyon Goth of “Rhiannon” and “Gypsy” than Buckingham’s angrier compositions. Her attempt to explain the provenance of the Extended Play track “Without You”, originally written by Nicks in the early Seventies, lasts longer than the song itself.

Fleetwood Mac Review: Stevie Nicks has, gratifyingly, lost none of her hippy charm, she’s all drippy scarves, butterfly gestures

Fleetwood Mac joined by Christine McVie 02 Arena, final night
by: festivals, food, over forties

One of my earliest music memories is Peter Green singing Need Your Love so Bad, and his composition Green Manalishi (with the two prong crown), which to my pre-teen brain sounded bewilderingly mystical. Strange to now see Fleetwood Mac, in its present form, live in 2013, over 30 years later.

own

Mick Fleetwood and John McVie command the audience’s attention as the band opens with Second Hand News. This position is swiftly usurped by flamboyant performers Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. Nicks and Buckingham: the two former lovers hold the audience’s attention throughout the performance, their body language indicating that drama, tension and chemistry are alive and well. We can only watch and make of it what we will. Lindsey periodically moves to the front of the stage, crouching down with his guitar, to the obvious delight of the fans clustered at his feet.

Stevie Nicks has, gratifyingly, lost none of her hippy charm, she’s all drippy scarves, butterfly gestures and long hair (at 65 – yes, it still looks great). A tanned Lindsey Buckingham looks as if he’s been whisked straight from a California health spa.

Continue to the full review with some great photos

UK and Ireland Send Fleetwood Mac Albums Back Up The Charts

Ireland - September 26, 2013

The after effects of Fleetwood Mac's two shows in Dublin September 20th and 21st are being felt on the Top 100 Albums Chart in Ireland.  Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" moves up the chart this week to No.27 from No.87. "Greatest Hits" moves down to No.83 from No.76 last week and surprisingly "The Dance" re-enters the chart at No.94 in only it's 8th week on the chart.

Top 100 Albums Chart

# 27 (87)  Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
# 83 (76)  Fleetwood Mac - Greatest Hits
# 94 (R/E) Fleetwood Mac - The Dance

UK - October 5, 2013

With 3 shows last week in London leading up to today's UK Chart Update (dated October 5th), Fleetwood Mac have three albums within the Top 100 - two of these are re-entries.

Fleetwood Mac's 4CD Box Set "25 Years - The Chain" re-enters the chart this week at No.22.  "Rumours" moves up to No.53 from No.74 and "The Very Best Of" re-enters the chart at No.87.  On the Digital Top 40 Albums Chart "Rumours" moves up to No.31 from No.78 last week.  On the Catalogue Albums Chart "Rumours" is top 5 sitting at No.5

Top 100 Albums Chart
# 22 (R/E) Fleetwood Mac - 25 Years The Chain [box set]
# 53 (74)   Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
# 87 (R/E) Fleetwood Mac - The Very Best Of

Top 40 Digital Albums Chart
# 31 (78) Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

Top 40 Catalogue Albums Chart
# 5 Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

Scotland  - Oct 5, 2013
In Scotland, "25 Years - The Chain" is back in the Top 40 at No.16 this week while "The Dance" continues to be popular in it's 31st week on the chart moving down to No.18 from No.14 last week.

Top 40 Albums Chart
# 16 (R/E) Fleetwood Mac - 25 Years The Chain [box set]
# 18 (14)   Fleetwood Mac - The Dance

U.S.A. - October 5, 2013
Fleetwood Mac's Starbucks exclusive Opus Collection in it's 3rd week on the US Top 200 moves down to No.125 from No.79 last week. On the Top 200 Current albums chart which are new releases, the album is sitting at No.119.

Top 200 Albums Chart
# 125 (79) Fleetwood Mac - Opus Collection
# 184 (145) Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

Top 200 Current Albums Chart
# 119 (79) Fleetwood Mac - Opus Collection

Australia - September 30, 2013
Top 100 Albums Chart
# 14 (7)     Fleetwood Mac - 25 Years The Chain [box set]
# 78 (71)   Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
# 85 (R/E) Fleetwood Mac - The Very Best Of

Top 50 Catalogue Albums Chart
#  1 (1)  Fleetwood Mac - 25 Years The Chain [box set]
# 19 (11) Fleetwood Mac - Greatest Hits
# 20 (26) Fleetwood Mac - The Very Best Of
# 36 (34) Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

Top 50 Digital Albums Chart
# 33 (22) Fleetwood Mac - Greatest Hits

Top 40 DVD Chart
# 7 (7) Fleetwood Mac - The Dance

New Zealand - Sept 30, 2013
Top 40 Albums Chart
# 5 (5) Fleetwood Mac - 25 Years The Chain

Fleetwood Mac: "If We Were 20 Yrs Old, We'd Wanna Join Our Band!"

This week's NME Digital edition is available... In it Mick Fleetwood and Stevie Nicks speak about Christine's return.

This link at NME has the interview video that provided the text version of the article... If you've seen the video, you've read the article... Nothing new.  If you want the digital version of the mag.. Check out NME