Review: Fleetwood Mac Live in Glasgow "Nicks is indeed a songwriter of rare distinction; she was always so much more than just the pretty girl with the nice voice"

By Extremelisteningmode

That the story of Fleetwood Mac is a movie begging to be made is not in question. Absconding guitar players, cocaine addictions, mental breakdowns, obsessive creative geniuses, intraband/extra-marital affairs, violence, excess, recrimination, huge success and massive hanging clacker balls seem to be elements that perfectly fit the silver screen. And what’s more, that’s only some of the tale. It really has been a unique, astonishing journey. But while the legend has played a part in tempting 12,000 people to Glasgow’s newest venue, it’s what we’re actually here to witness that’s really important. Are Fleetwood Mac purely about the past or do they have anything to offer in the present?

Those au fait with the Glasgow music scene will be aware of The Hydro’s unloved and much-maligned older brother, the SECC. It appears that the new venue was designed as a sort of antidote, with the starting place being a list of the many faults of the original and the simple premise of ‘fix this’. To be fair, the new building is attractive, if a tad garishly lit in the colours of the electricity supplier who sponsor it. Facilities are excellent, with plenty of bars, toilets and food outlets – who even seem to serve edible food. The seats are comfortable and roomy. It’s almost revolutionary.

The new surroundings seem to have amplified the big-match feel that a superstar band brings to any city. And Fleetwood Mac are certainly that, one of the 70s and 80s rock Royal Family who can genuinely claim to be better known than many Prime Ministers. When they emerge to blast into the perfect pop of ‘Second Hand News’, the place goes slightly mental. That qualifier is removed when the snaking opening guitar lines of ‘The Chain’ begins to wind out, and by the chorus the crowd are in danger of losing their shit. By the bass breakdown, they have. The sound is pristine and the venue seems to have been built with acoustics as well as aesthetics in mind.

Stevie Nicks takes over for ‘Dreams’, and it occurs that her role as an icon in modern music is criminally underplayed. The amount of women in the audience –  of all ages – bedecked in lacy shawls or trademark hats is a visual clue, but then there’s the reverence with which the song is received. It’s like a rock version of ‘I Will Survive’ to Glasgow’s female populace.  And, as the various songs she’s written through the years appear, you’re reminded that Nicks is indeed a songwriter of rare distinction; she was always so much more than just the pretty girl with the nice voice.

Continue to the full review

Fleetwood Mac Live in Glasgow
Photos by Stacey Auld - Music Box Unwinds
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Fleetwood Mac star Lindsey Buckingham shares birthday celebrations with sell-out Glasgow crowd

THE singer's legendary band enjoy a memorable gig with a thrilling set in-front of 13,000 fans at the newly-opened Hydro.
By Dailyrecord.co.uk

FLEETWOOD Mac main man Lindsey Buckingham had a birthday party to remember last night in front of 13,000 fans at a sold-out Hydro.

The legendary band produced a thrilling set that covered their entire 46-year career. And they were sensational from start to finish.

The heavy desert rock of The Chain, with perfect harmonies and Lindsey’s six-string fireworks, was an early highlight.

He was the star of the show, with his presence and outrageous guitar skills.

But Stevie Nicks was a joy to watch, and listen to, throughout. Whether on fragile ballads (Without You) or full-on rockers (Gold Dust Woman) she still has one of the finest voices in music.

Anthems like Go Your Own Way and Rhiannon went down a storm, but Lindsay’s solo acoustic version of Big Love really stood out too. Even now, when Fleetwood Mac are on form like this, no one can touch them.

Photos: Fleetwood Mac Live in Manchester... These are a MUST to check out! 138 Beautiful front row shots

The Lee Family Photo Album
Fleetwood Mac Live in Manchester at Phones 4U Arena
(138 Photos)

Really great shots from the show... Check out Stevie during Gold Dust Woman.  Some really cool images. Also, there's one shot of the group during the Meet and Greet with Mick up on stage... Unless you were there or at any of the other Meet and Greets, you likely haven't seen any photos as they didn't allow those attending to take pics.  This is a rare glimpse of what the experience was like with Mick up on the Fleetwood Mac stage...

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Review: Fleetwood Mac in Glasgow ★★★★ Stars "Buckingham, the birthday boy was treated to an impromptu 'Happy Birthday' & projectile undies"

by Fiona Shepherd
The Scotsman

Photo Ross Gilmore

Rod Stewart’s mini-residency has dominated a packed opening week at the Hydro but this visit from American MOR legends Fleetwood Mac was no less prestigious – and a touch more consistent in terms of musical quality.

Fleetwood Mac - SSE Hydro, Glasgow

It was difficult to argue with the opening salvo of classics from the mega-selling Rumours album, which has lately had the dubious distinction of a Glee makeover. The veteran four-piece delivered decidedly non-jazz hands renditions of Second Hand News and The Chain, still a sublime showcase of their natural harmonies, John McVie’s magnificent rumbling bass and Lindsey Buckingham’s blistering guitar playing, followed by Stevie Nicks’ musically smooth yet lyrically barbed Dreams.

Their quartet of tracks from Tusk was a mixed bag – Not That Funny was not that loveable – but it was Mick Fleetwood’s time to shine on the irresistible tribal throb of the title track.

Much of the performance played on the chemistry between former partners Nicks, our lady of the gothic shawls, and Buckingham, the birthday boy who was treated to an impromptu rendition of Happy Birthday by the crowd (“Don’t remind me,” he deadpanned) and some projectile undies.

The pair walked onstage hand-in-hand, slow-danced briefly to Sara and tried to outdo each other with the overwrought melodrama of Gold Dust Woman and I’m So Afraid. Buckingham’s Sad Angel bustled along with more momentum than melody, while Nicks described the winsome Without You as “the nicest thing I ever wrote about he and I”. But it was the bitter songs they wrote about each other – Go Your Own Way and Don’t Stop – and the intimate, healing finale of Say Goodbye which won the day.

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Here’s how to win from K-EARTH 101:

1.  Listen for us to “Shut Down” a song as the cue to call.  Listen to a sample of what it sounds like HERE.

2.  When you hear the cue to call, be the 9th caller to 1-800-232-KRTH (5784).

3.  You’ll win a copy of Fleetwood Mac’s The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac and be in the running for the grand prize, two tickets to see Fleetwood Mac perform on December 30th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, a 2-night stay at the MGM Grand and round-trip airfare for two!

Fleetwood Mac, with decades of music and multiple Grammys, is sure to make their New Year’s Performance at MGM Grand an unforgettable party.  A special New Year’s Performance by legendary rock group Fleetwood Mac is sure to blow us all away live at MGM Grand.

To purchase tickets to the show click here.

Review: Fleetwood Mac Live in Glasgow... ★★★★ Stars

Fleetwood Mac Live in Glasgow, Scotland
October 3, 2013 - SSE Hydro - Four Stars
Herald Scotland

Photo: Ross Gilmore

THERE was big love in Glasgow for legendary rock band Fleetwood Mac last night as they took to the new SSE Hydro for a sell-out show.

Singer Stevie Nicks wowed the crowd as she joined fellow members Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie in the Glasgow leg of their world tour.

Without a new album to promote, the set-list was built around their hits which include Dreams, Don’t Stop and Go Your Own Way.

Such was the demand for tickets, they were being sold online for up to 10 times their face value.

The band are celebrating the 36th anniversary of the release of classic album Rumours.

MICK Fleetwood starts it off. Looking for all the world like a gnomish 1920s saloon barman, mouth working wildly in surprise or delight or both, there it is: a crash, a thud and Second Hand News. Opening the two-and-a-half hour set comes the whirlwind trio of Second Hand News, The Chain - John McVie delighting on the bass - and Dreams.

The whirlwind continues for the next hour, Rumours classics followed by a dabble around Tusk and Sisters of the Moon, performed for the first time in 33 years. Slipped in, almost so as you wouldn't notice, is new song Sad Angel.

Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham rotate round and out like cuckoos from the eponymous clocks, singing Landslide, a poingancy added by the truth of the line "I'm getting older", and Big Love before a neat and delicate Never Going Back Again.

The rotating is interspersed by an intimate bonhomie between the two who hold hands, hug and share coy little glances. She tells a lengthy tale of the band forming that culminates in the double entendre (from Buckingham to Fleetwood): "If you take me, you gotta take my girlfriend too."

Buckingham is slick in leather jacket and jeans; Nicks rambles charmingly before songs, claiming she has a glut of anecdotes to excise before travelling to Continental Europe where her tales of times gone by will be not understood.

Every track is a reminder of just how lithe and skillful Buckingham is on the guitar; Nicks's voice still powerful, although some of the top notes elude her; McVie and Fleetwood - dressed identically, bar Fleetwood's scarlet shoes - own their respective parts. The four come together most powerfully on Gold Dust Woman.

Occasionally the songs, and not only Nicks, ramble. There is a little midway slump, a little self-indulgence. But the whole excels in a way that only such a band with such a backstory can.