Mc back in the Mac Rockers’ blossom on star return

by Ed Power

Irish Independent Oct 18, 2014
Weekend Review Magazine

Irish Independent
Weekend Review Magazine

When Christine McVie rejoined Fleetwood Mac for the first time since the late 1990s, it was a reminder a great band is more than the sum of its parts, writes Ed Power.

In September 2013, Fleetwood Mac gathered backstage at Dublin’s O2 arena. Several hours later the multimillion-selling soft rockers were to perform the first of two sold-out shows at the 14,000 capacity venue. But Ireland wasn’t on their minds at that moment. Instead, the group were tentatively renewing acquaintances with Christine McVie, the dulcet-voiced keyboard player who had authored some of their biggest hits before leaving the band — fleeing it, really — in 1997.

Nerves were in the air. McVie had barely spoken to the rest of the lineup in the intervening decade and a half. Now, after a gruelling divorce and a spell of depression, she was contemplating a comeback. She’d flown to Dublin to rehearse, with a view to joining Fleetwood Mac on stage in London later in the tour. Deep within the concrete labyrinth that constitutes the O2’s backstage area, the tension was palpable: would the old chemistry still endure? What of old enmities? Fleetwood Mac’s history was notoriously fractious. Was the band broken, impossible to repair?

Fleetwood Mac reunites in Toronto tonight, Mick talks about his photography

TORONTO CONCERT

Toronto Sun

As legendary band Fleetwood Mac reunites in Toronto tonight, Mick talks about his photography.

This is a bunch of people trying to make it work. This is for sure a special moment for this band....

Two weeks ago, in a phone interview from New York, Mick Fleetwood could not hide his disappointment. The dismay was not with the Fleetwood Mac reunion show there. These have been hugely gratifying love-fests, (the first full-member tour by the band since 1997 hits Toronto Saturday night). Rather, Fleetwood-the-nature photographer was chagrined at being as yet unable to capture on film the anticipated glory of leaves changing colour. “I went running through Central Park and the leaves haven't changed at all,” the 67-year-old Fleetwood Mac drummer complained. “Maybe one or two trees. I know it happens very quickly, almost overnight. Boom. It is beautiful and I hope to get some shots up there in Canada.” Fleetwood, who lives on the island of Maui these days, is using the tour partly as a coming-out party for gallery showings of his hand-painted original photos, including one at Toronto's Liss Gallery.

“I've had these shows in Maui for years, some hotels have them in their lobbies, and people there have a fond level of appreciation. The outside world really doesn't know much about it,” said Fleetwood.

“So this is me, putting my nuts on the line. It's exciting. I suppose there'll be some reviews. And I'll know if everybody thinks it's just a bunch of s--- or not. I'm hoping that's not the case.”

In an ironic way, his photography is tied into the history of Fleetwood Mac.

“I got my first nonsnap camera in 1968 just after the band had formed. I do remember that John McVie had a very grand camera. John is quietly a very good photographer. And the urge to get a decent camera was based on if-he's-got-oneI-want-one, more than art at the time.”

Interestingly, Fleetwood doesn't exhibit behind-the-scenes pictures of the band itself.

“That is funny, and I've never thought much about that. Stevie (Nicks) has ... a Polaroid show in New York while we're here ... And that is very much her road stuff she took. Mine is very detached from anything to do with what I do.”

Over time, photography began to gratify Fleetwood in ways music didn't.

“...I've been in a band for nearly 50 years, surrounded by incredibly talented people — part of the support team, by nature of my being a percussionist.

“Photography is the nearest thing to me writing a song and taking responsibility. I don't get that in Fleetwood Mac. I was not the songwriter. I was the band gatekeeper.”

Gatekeeper/peacemaker/negotiator is a role Fleetwood takes seriously.

He was not usually directly involved in the various feuds, romantic entanglements and complications that have plagued the band over the years. And he was instrumental in luring Christine McVie back into the fold, after 17 years away. Fleetwood, who is releasing a new autobiography entitled Play On (October 28th), doesn't necessarily feel past bad blood is best forgotten. “Getting older puts things in perspective that were not in perspective. That's a better approach than shoving it all under the matt ... “Y'know what? Look at us. A bunch of crazy people, often quite dysfunctional, horribly in love, which led to things that have sometimes been hard to handle.

“It's not just business. This is a bunch of people trying to make it work. This is for sure a special moment for this band...”

Audio Interview: Lindsey Buckingham joins Andy Greenwald to discuss 40 years of Fleetwood Mac

Andy Greenwald - Lindsey Buckingham
Lindsey Buckingham joins Andy Greenwald to discuss 40 years of Fleetwood Mac, his insatiable solo career, and the band's current world tour.

Interview conducted post Madison Square Garden shows Oct 6/7th, 2014

Mick Fleetwood hopes Stevie Nicks will find time to contribute to new Fleetwood Mac music

Mick Fleetwood says new Fleetwood Mac music 'profound,' hopes Nicks contributes
By Nick Patch - Canadian Press

TORONTO - Mick Fleetwood says he hopes Stevie Nicks will ultimately find time to contribute to the new music Fleetwood Mac is recording — which could ultimately form the band's first album in nearly 30 years with its entire principal lineup intact.

Chris Young,The Canadian Press

The newly reformed rock titans — who welcomed keyboardist Christine McVie back into the fold for a tour that hits Toronto on Saturday and other Canadian cities in the coming months — went into the studio "many months ago now" to work on new material, Fleetwood said.

Lindsey Buckingham has called the new material "profound," an adjective that Fleetwood agreed with enthusiastically.

"It is profound. It's great," said the 67-year-old drummer Thursday in an interview in Toronto. "The four of us went in ... and had a lot of fun — for Chris, just reconnecting, playing music, with no particular thought in mind.

"I hope it becomes part of something that will make sense. But (bassist) John (McVie), Lindsey and me and Chris, we were all participating. So it's exciting."

The band's last album of new material was 2003's "Say You Will," but the last to feature the band's most successful five-piece lineup was 1987's "Tango in the Night."

Asked whether Nicks would eventually be involved in the recording, Fleetwood replied: "We hope so."

"Right now we've got this tour to do and it's very time-consuming so we'll see," he added. "It will come out one way or another."

Mick Fleetwood Talks Fleetwood Mac Tour, His New Book And Photography Exhibit

Mick Fleetwood is in Toronto ahead of Fleetwood Mac's show on Saturday night. He spent some time today at the Liss Gallery for interviews to promote his REFLECTIONS: THE MICK FLEETWOOD COLLECTION. This is an exhibition of original photographs taken by Mick himself.  The exhibit runs until October 31st.  So if you are in the area of 140 Yorkville Avenue, Toronto... Check it out!

CANADA AM 

In Canada, Mick will be on CTV's Canada AM on Friday October 16th where the rock legend opens up about Stevie, the tour, his art and everything in between. Tune in at 8:30ET.

 Photos by: Liss Gallery, Courtney Miceli, Kevin Sweet, Genevieve Peters

Mick Fleetwood Talks Fleetwood Mac Tour, His New Book And Photography Exhibit
By Sarah Kurchak
Huffington Post Canada

"I'm what is known as a very busy bee," Mick Fleetwood says as he ponders his multidisciplinary schedule over the phone from New York City.

In the few short breaks that Fleetwood Mac's current tour – which features the newly returned and much-missed vocalist and keyboardist Christine McVie – offers, the drummer and backbone of the legendary rock group will be keeping his dance card full with a series of book store appearances to promote his recently released autobiography, "Play On."

And when he’s not doing that, he’ll be exhibiting his photography in a series of gallery shows across the continent. "Reflections: The Mick Fleetwood Collection" is currently showing at Toronto’s Liss Gallery. Fleetwood will be appearing at a private reception for collectors on October 17, the night before Fleetwood Mac’s Air Canada Centre show.

It would be a punishing schedule for a musician half his age, but the 67-year old Fleetwood isn't daunted by the prospect. Other than the current cold he's nursing, he figures he's in great shape.

"Outside of today, I think I'm blessed with being fairly fit and I take care of myself. And I don't like hanging around. I’m not good with it. I'm always twiddling my thumbs. So, in, theory I got what I asked for."

Besides, the work is keeping him happy as well as busy. Having the beloved McVie back with the group after a 15-year absence is as magical for Fleetwood and his bandmates as it is for their fans.

According to Mick, the tour is going "brilliantly. Totally Brilliantly. And with huge amounts of emotional gratitude. It's pretty amazing, the whole accumulation of all of these things that one could have never imagined a year and a half ago. It's been going just beyond anything one could have really wished for. The audience, you can tell, feel like a huge extended version of the way we're all functioning. Which is a state of just really genuine excitement as to what really is all happened here.”

Fleetwood is also thrilled to be taking his photography on the road with him. He's been taking pictures for decades. In fact, he was first turned onto the art form by fellow Fleetwood Mac member John McVie when the pair shared a house together in England. But it's only within the past few years that he's felt confident and accomplished enough to show his work.

"It took me a while to say 'I'm OK at doing this,'" he admits. But he was also like that when he started drumming. "Which is all probably to do with childhood and not being confident about presenting things. I was terrible at school, so I found things that I loved to do and started one step at a time. And that’s how I've approached this."

At one point, Fleetwood wasn't even particularly confident talking about his musical skills. "And then I realized that I was actually pretty good at drumming," he laughs.

He started showing his photography in his adopted home of Maui, and then branched out with a show in LA. Now he's jumping in with his current gallery tour, which he says will hit "about 10 or 12" different cities along the way.

The primary focus of his work, which blends more traditional photography with textural hand-painted enhancements, is nature. He’s willing to entertain the notion there’s a touch of environmental activism in his work, influenced by his life and friends in Maui.

"There’s a lot of work done on the island to keep it beautiful. And it really affected me. I do my best to go and surround myself with people who, quite frankly, were far more aware of ecology and all of those things while I was rocking and rolling my life out here."

There's also a deeply personal aspect to many of the photos, which he shot in England before his mother permanently left her home to join him in Maui.

"It was memories of something my mother was moving away from, at the grand old age of 90," he recalls. His mother is now 97, and can't see as well as she used to, but she still proudly displays some of his photos in her new home.

While the musician is touched by the response his work has received so far, from both his mom and others, he doesn't expect – or want – people to like his work just because of who he is in the musical world. He’s actually welcoming the fresh and unbiased response that comes with starting from scratch in a new medium.

"We know people love our music and we never take it for granted, but the risk factor with presenting something personal that you've done really put your nuts on the line, and I enjoy that part of it," he says. "The whole artistic creative process is about that, it’s about sharing and getting something out in the open. And the person who's presenting it, it actually gives them a new perspective on a lot of things. That you can function in a different world is exciting."

Fleetwood expects that his bandmate Stevie Nicks will get a similar level of enjoyment out of her 24 Karat Gold exhibit of Polaroid self-portraits, which will also be running during their tour.

"In the old days, me and Stevie were Polaroid freaks and she got really, really good at doing these time delay, funky, personal shots," he recalls. "And we would sometimes spend hours setting up a room with what she was going to wear or photographing a pair of ballet shoes. Back then it was weird, fun stuff we did on the road and now, to see it coming out so beautifully presented is so cool. I think she's going to have a lot of fun with it, as am I, to sort of be in another world. It’s a really nice thing."

Fleetwood says he's trying to talk Nicks into showing her paintings in the future. He'd also like to see some of McVie’s old shots from their roommate days in a gallery at some point.

And when he's not busy trying to talk his colleagues into joining him in the art world, he’ll be continuing to work on his own gallery shows. The current tour is, he's hoping, is only the beginning.

"I didn't know there would be such enthusiasm to tell you the truth. It's quite flattering. So we're just getting our feet wet, to see how it goes and apparently it’s going incredibly well.”

'Reflections: The Mick Fleetwood Collection' is at the Liss Gallery in Toronto until October 31. For more information, visit www.lissgallery.com

Review | Photos | Video: Fleetwood Mac Live in Philadephia, PA October 15, 2014

Fleetwood Mac Live in Philadephia, PA
October 15, 2014
Wells Fargo Center

 Photos by Lori M. Nichols - View Gallery

Fleetwood Mac at Wells Fargo Center: What you missed
by Lori M. Nichols - South Jersey Times

PHILADELPHIA — Fleetwood Mac returned to Philadelphia Wednesday night, touring together as a full band for the first time in 16 years.

Christine McVie re-joined band mates Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks for their On With The Show tour.

The crowd at the Wells Fargo Center was excited to hear the multi-Grammy Award®-winning band perform together once again, and while nearly everyone was standing as the band took the stage, Christine McVie received a special welcome from not only the concert-goers, but each band member throughout the night.

WHAT YOU MISSED

• Singer-songwriter and vocalist Christine McVie's return to Fleetwood Mac after retiring from the band following The Dance tour in the late '90s. The crowd gave her an overwhelming welcome when she performed the second song of the show, "You Make Loving Fun," and despite a 15-year absence from the stage, her warm vocals really shined in "Little Lies." 

• The distinctive voice of Stevie Nicks isn't what it used to be, but that's not to say it's a bad thing; it's just different. At 66 years old, she stills delivers powerful performances in "Seven Wonders," "Gold Dust Woman" and "Silver Springs." The simplicity of "Landslide," with Nicks joined onstage by guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, was almost haunting with her raspy voice.

• While it was definitely Christine McVie's night, guitarist Lindsey Buckingham stole the show. His solos, "Big Love" and "Never Going Back Again," were full of energy, and it was entrancing to watch his finger-picking throughout the night. But Buckingham seemed to mesmerize the crowd with his guitar solo in the 9-minute long "I'm So Afraid" and belted out the lyrics with such a strong voice you couldn't help but stop and just take it all in. 

• The band paid homage to McVie's return by beginning the show with "The Chain," a rousing song about unbreakable bonds that would've had the crowd quickly on their feet if they hadn't been already.

NOTES AND MUSINGS

• Stevie Nicks definitely got into character during "Gold Dust Woman," seemingly in a trance as she slowly danced across the stage. At the end of the song, she raised her arms like a bird spreading its wings, showing her silhouette through her shimmering gold shawl as the spotlight shone down on her at center-stage.

• While it would be nearly impossible to replicate the high-intensity, full-volumed "Tusk" without the benefit of the USC Marching Band playing alongside Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham led the group in a pretty energizing version of the song. The group wasn't remiss about tipping their caps to the marching band however, as videos of the tuba-carrying and trumpet-toting collegiate band played on the large screen behind them.

• Drummer Mick Fleetwood couldn't stop smiling all night long, and seemed as happy to be onstage as a kid in a candy store. He really impressed concert-goers as he performed the majority of his drum solo during "World Turning" with his eyes closed.

• The entire band put their all into "Go Your Own Way," the last song before a duo of encores. Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks really worked the stage, and the crowd absolutely loved it.

Concert review: Fleetwood Mac wows boomers in marathon Philly show with Christie McVie
by Ed Condran
Mcall.com

After kicking off a two-and-half-hour tour de force of a concert aptly with "The Chain"’ a song about unbreakable bonds, Lindsey Buckingham beamed and looked to his right.

“And now the beautiful Christine is back,” the vocalist-guitarist said just before Fleetwood Mac delivered “You Make Loving Fun.”

The capacity crowd at the Wells Fargo Center Monday night roared as the band kicked into the tune’s opening notes. The classic configuration of Fleetwood Mac, which will return to the South Philly venue Oct. 29, was back performing in the area for the first time since it played what was known as the Tweeter Center in Camden in September of 1997.

Vocally McVie and her counterpart, the beguiling Stevie Nicks, have to dial it down. The former is 71 and the latter is 66. What they lack in range, they make up for in character. Fleetwood Mac still has it. It’s just different than it was in ‘97 and especially than it was during the summer of ‘77 when the band’s breakthrough album, "Rumours," was ubiquitous.

Fleetwood Mac wowed the enthusiastic crowd with cuts from the emotional "Rumours,"the second biggest selling album of all-time, and a plethora of other hits.

"Go Your Own Way," "Rhiannon" and "Landslide" sated the boomers.

Buckingham, the young buck in the band at a mere 65, stole the show. The thin as a rail fingerpicker riveted the crowd with an emotional "Big Love." His fiery solo and his electric play in general impressed.

“I think he’s been off stage for 30 seconds tonight,” drummer Mick Fleetwood declared.

That’s not much of an exaggeration as the rest of the veteran group took considerable time off during the marathon show. But Buckingham looked like an old school punk pogoing across the stage and grunting, groaning and screaming throughout the night.

McVie, who was MIA since ‘97 due to her fear of flying, was rough around the edges vocally but she’s been out of the game for nearly 20-years.

Nicks and her unique husky voice and subtle gestures made songs such as "Seven Wonders" and "Gold Dust Woman" haunting and compelling. Whenever Nicks would spin like she did a generation ago, fans shrieked.

Fleetwood made like it was 1977 with a wild drum solo.

But it was the hits and the charm of the band that made the night. Nicks, who has always been a great storyteller, often stopped to drop anecdotes. “In the beginning Lindsey and I lived in San Francisco and there was this amazing store (the Velvet Underground) which had incredible clothes and all of the rock and roll women with money shopped there like Janis Joplin and Grace Slick. I remember thinking that when I make it, I’ll shop at that store and I did. If you do believe in your dreams, they can come true.”

The wild success of Fleetwood Mac enables Nicks to shop anywhere and it also gave the band considerable creative freedom to craft some of the most enduring songs from a generation ago.

"We’ve started a new and poetic chapter with Christine,” Buckingham said. “It’ll bear much fruit.”