Fleetwood Mac’s Oct. 6 concert was a robust recitation of familiar tunes from the group’s commercial glory days

New Old Time Rock ‘n’ Roll

By Jim Fusilli
The Wall Street Journal
October 14, 2014

Veteran rock artists are left with two honorable choices on how to extend their concert careers: play old music with renewed vigor, or perform new music with a sprinkling of old hits in the mix. Last week Fleetwood Mac took the first approach at Madison Square Garden, while Robert Plant—who could have filled an arena—took the second approach at a much more intimate venue, Brooklyn Bowl.

Fleetwood Mac’s Oct. 6 concert was a robust recitation of familiar tunes from the group’s commercial glory days of 1975-87. Mick Fleetwood on drums and John McVie on bass remain the supple spine of their namesake band, founded in 1967. With Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks out front and the return of Christine McVie after a 16-year absence, the lineup from the act’s years of pop stardom was together again.

Playing material it hadn’t touched since her departure, the core quintet, backed by five musicians and singers, appeared energized. In a phone conversation on Friday, Mr. Buckingham, who at 65 is the youngest member of Fleetwood Mac, said working again with Ms. McVie has revitalized the band.

At the Garden, Ms. McVie’s songs retained their feathery center, and her burnished-by-the-blues voice was flawless on a dreamy “Over My Head.” Mr. Buckingham’s guitar snaked around her as she sang “You Make Loving Fun,” a bit of mid-1970s funk.

A fan favorite, Ms. Nicks seemed by turns delighted and detached, but her “Seven Wonders” was a highlight. Her compositions “Rhiannon” and “Gold Dust Woman” provided the springboard for some of the evening’s best instrumental exchanges, in which Mr. McVie was a revelation. A busy bassist who never intrudes, throughout the evening he provided buoyant support for the vocalists. In “I’m So Afraid,” the lone song in the set that nodded toward the group’s early days as a blues-based dynamo, he and Mr. Fleetwood rumbled in tandem, reviving one of rock’s sweetest sounds while Mr. Buckingham soloed furiously.

From the Garden stage, Mr. Buckingham spoke of Fleetwood Mac as a “band that continues to evolve.” There wasn’t much evolution on display during the 24-song performance, but he was looking ahead. He and Ms. McVie have recorded new material; when the tour concludes at the end of March 2015, he expects Ms. Nicks will bring songs to the studio and a new Fleetwood Mac album will emerge. Then, he added, the band can think about performing its latest songs in concert. Though the rabid audience at Madison Square Garden would probably disagree, Fleetwood Mac could use a touch of the new to avoid the perception that mining the past is all it can do.

REVIEWS: Stevie Nicks 24 Karat Gold "A beguiling collection of songs"

Stevie Nicks: 24 Karat Gold - Songs From The Vault
by Brian Boyd
Irish Times
★★★★ out of 5 stars

A selection of old demos, some stretching back to the 1960s, the eighth studio album by one of the voices of Fleetwood Mac is one of the best things she has ever done. With perspective, she sings these songs with a lovelorn resignation, imbuing them with a rare sense of pathos and philosophical regret. Lady is a rueful, self-doubting ballad while Starshine is turbo-charged FM rock. Nicks’ voice is always a thing of wonder; from easy-listening Laurel Canyon-type stylings to fuzzed-out rock and electrified folk, she can handle anything. On the standout Blue Water, she sounds as forlorn as early Gram Parsons, while I Don’t Care is blues rock perfection. Contemporary retrospection this may be, but she gets to the emotional core of almost everything here. A beguiling collection of songs.

Stevie Nicks 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music
★★★★ 1/2 stars out of 5

With the subtitle "Songs from the Vault," you'd be forgiven if you thought 24 Karat Gold was an archival collection of unreleased material and, in a way, you'd be right. 24 Karat Gold does indeed unearth songs Nicks wrote during her heyday -- the earliest dates from 1969, the latest from 1995, with most coming from her late-'70s/early-'80s peak; the ringer is a cover of Vanessa Carlton's 2011 tune "Carousel," which could easily be mistaken for Stevie -- but these aren't the original demos, they're new versions recorded with producer Dave Stewart. Running away from his ornate track record -- his production for Stevie's 2011 record In Your Dreams was typically florid -- Stewart pays respect to Nicks' original songs and period style by keeping things relatively simple while drafting in sympathetic supporting players including guitarists Waddy Wachtel and Davey Johnstone and Heartbreakers Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell. It's certainly not an exacting re-creation of Sound City but Stewart adheres to the slick, hazy feel of supremely well-appointed professional studios, so 24 Karat Gold has a tactile allure. Sonically, it's bewitching -- the best-sounding record she's made since 1983's The Wild Heart but, substance-wise, it's her best since that album, too. If there aren't many remnants of the flinty, sexy rocker of "Stand Back" (the opening "Starshine" is an exception to the rule), there's enough seductive, shimmering soft rock and the emphasis on Laurel Canyon hippie folk-rock feels right and natural. Retrospectively, it's a surprise that Nicks sat on these songs for years, but that only indicates just how purple a patch she had during Fleetwood Mac's glory days. It's a good thing she dug through her back pages and finished these songs, as she's wound up with one of her strongest albums.

Album review: 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault by Stevie Nicks
Yorkshireeveningpost
by James Nuttall

Fleetwood Mac may have just started a mammoth tour of the United States, their first with songbird Christine McVie in 17 years, but Stevie Nicks has still managed to release a new solo album, this month.

24 Karat Gold: Songs From the Vault, is a collection of 14 songs from Nicks’ enormous back catalogue of demos that never made it onto her records- songs which were written between 1969 and 1995.

Recorded over a three-month period, Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart was once again on production duties. After producing her last album, In Your Dreams, which was something of a let-down both musically and lyrically compared to 2001’s Trouble in Shangri-La, 24 Karat Gold makes much more of a statement than both of the aforementioned releases.

This may be, in part, due to Nicks herself also producing the record, with the help of long-time collaborator Waddy Watchel, who featured heavily on her early solo albums.

The reason this record has much more of an impact than her more recent albums, is possibly because each of the 14 tracks follow the same theme. In the liner notes, Nicks states: “ Each song is a lifetime. Each song has a soul. Each song has a purpose. Each song is a love story… They represent my life behind the scenes, the secrets, the broken hearts, the broken hearted and the survivors.”

Kicking off with the Rolling Stones-esque Starshine, Nicks’ unmistakeable nasal voice remains as constant as her chiffon scarves and platform boots.

Next up is The Dealer, which was demoed for both her first solo album, Bella Donna, and her third, Rock A Little. Finally making it onto 24 Karat Gold, it is very similar to the superior first version, demoed for Bella Donna.

Other fine up-tempo tracks include I Don’t Care, the token snarling ‘rock-out’ moment, which features at least once on most of Nicks’ solo records; and Cathouse Blues, more honky tonk in flavour.

That being said, this album’s finest moments take shape in the form of its darkest tracks. The title track begins with a pounding bassline, and goes into a haunting piano rhythm and jarring guitar part from Mr Watchell, as Ms Nicks sings about the chains of love.

Mabel Normand is another highlight on the record. Originally demoed for the Rock A Little album in 1985 – a time when Nicks was paying the price for her years of cocaine abuse – it documents the life of the silent film actress it is named after, who had the same substance battle several decades before. It becomes clear that Nicks is writing about Normand and herself in the song, as she sings: “She did her work, but her heart was quietly crying. I guess she even felt guilty about even dying.”

Gorgeously simple ballads, such as If You Were My Love and Hard Advice, nicely juxtapose the rockier material on the album.

24 Karat Gold is probably the most consistently fine selection of Nicks’ self-penned material since her 1983 album, The Wild Heart. A fine selection of similar yet different songs, each holding their own within this album, which is not something that could be said for Nicks’ last solo effort.

This is a real insight into the last 45 years of the life of one of the most unique and mystical talents there has ever been. Nicks has held nothing back, this time.

Check out more reviews on 24 Karat Gold HERE

STEVIE NICKS "24 KARAT GOLD - SONGS FROM THE VAULT"

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February 14, 2015 - Allstate Arena

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January 31, 2015 - First Niagara Center

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FLEETWOOD MAC: ON WITH THE SHOW - VIP PACKAGES

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Mick Fleetwood VIP Meet & Greet Package $750

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Check the Tour Dates Page for Live Nation Pre-sale codes

Christine McVie gives a Perfect performance as band's classic line-up plays together for first time in 16 years

Return of the (Fleetwood) Mac! Christine McVie gives a Perfect performance as band's classic line-up plays together for first time in 16 years on Today show

By Mike Larkin
The Daily Mail

It has been 16 years since they played together as a band.

And it was like break never happened as Christine McVie and the rest of the most famous iteration of Fleetwood Mac appeared on the Today show on Thursday.

And the English-American group, who have sold more than 100 million albums, thrilled the fans with a performance of hits Little Lies, Gypsy, Go Your Own Way, and The Chain.

And Christine, 71, said a new piece of jewellery was a symbol of her intention to remain with the band for the foreseeable future.

She said: 'Stevie bought me a bracelet not long ago, it was a chain, it broke, I had someone tie it on. It means the chain is never going to break again.'

Stevie Nicks returns to bleak times despite Fleetwood Mac reunion

Lost in music
Stevie Nicks returns to bleak times despite reunion

DECADES AFTER DRUG addictions and turbulent love affairs scarred Fleetwood Mac, the reconciled band is back together on the road. But on a new album, Stevie Nicks is reviving some of those tortured times.

“Remember how it was/ Before our infamous past had begun/ You have to let him go,” Nicks, in her famously rugged contralto voice, sings of the advice offered by a friend — fellow rocker Tom Petty — about one of her failed relationships.

“He says don’t think twice/ Turn off the radio/It was finished long ago/Go write some real songs,” she sings as a simple acoustic melody gives way to a powerful rock refrain in classic Fleetwood Mac fashion.

The song, Hard Advice, is among 17 previously unreleased tracks on the now 66-year- old Nicks’ album 24 Karat Gold - Songs from the Vault, which was released last Tuesday.

Nicks said in a statement that the songs were each “a love story” and that they “represent my life, the secrets, the broken hearts.”

For her first album in three years, Nicks has not produced fresh songs or repackaged her old work but instead has returned to tracks she wrote over the years but never released.

Even though the songs lingered on the back burner for so long, Nicks recorded them in a mere 15 days with studio musicians in Nashville.

Fleetwood Mac’s acclaimed 1977 album Rumours took months to record as domestic disputes fractured the British-American group and contributed to the tensions inside the music.

Nicks was in a stormy onoff relationship with fellow singer and guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. Keyboardist and singer Christine McVie and bassist John McVie had divorced and drummer Mick Fleetwood was struggling to keep together.

Nicks, whose lovers have also included Fleetwood and Eagles singer Don Henley, later in her career became notorious for ingesting cocaine in amounts so massive that doctors warned her that she risked a brain hemorrhage.

Another track off the new album, Lady, relates Nicks’ doubts as she and Buckingham, both impoverished, first moved to Los Angeles to make it in the music business and found that their relationship was already in trouble.

Nicks said that the song, which she wrote in 1971 and was her first on piano, has “really stayed in my head all these years.”

“I know that things are going to change/ But how to change them isn’t clear,” Nicks sings on the ballad.

Despite the past acrimony, the band has returned to the road with a tour of North American arenas that started in Minneapolis on September 30.

The tour marks the first time in two decades that Fleetwood Mac has its full line-up including Christine McVie, who quit the band in 1998 to retire to the English countryside but — now age 71 — said she had grown unhappy with the quiet life.

To the delight of Fleetwood Mac’s fans, McVie is singing her own songs once again with the 1977 track You Make Loving Fun second on the setlist Monday at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

The full line-up had an earlier reunion in January 1993 when they performed for the inauguration ball of president Bill Clinton, who had adopted the Fleetwood Mac song Don’t Stop (Thinking About Tomorrow) for his campaign.

But for all of the emotional intensity in her songs, Nicks said that she does not plan to go all- out and dish on her former lovers in a memoir.

“The world is not ready for my memoir, I guarantee you. All of the men I hung out with are on their third wives by now and the wives are all under 30,” Nicks told Billboard magazine.

“I have a certain loyalty to these people that I love because I do love them, and I will always love them. I cannot throw any of them under the bus until I absolutely know that they will not care,” she said.

STEVIE NICKS "24 KARAT GOLD - SONGS FROM THE VAULT"

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