Reviews: Fleetwood Mac Live in Calgary Nov 14, 2014

Friday night's Fleetwood Mac show proves long-lived band as good as they ever were
By Gerry Krochak
Calgary Sun
Attendance – 13,500 (SOLD-OUT)
4 stars (out of five)

Photo Mike Drew
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It’s easier to go back if you never really left in the first place.

Appearing as one of the last bastions of the classic rock era, the otherworldly lineup that created one of the great records in rock-and-roll history is back and fully intact.

Unlike the last Fleetwood Mac visit to Calgary just under two years ago, the classic MK II incarnation of singer-keyboardist Christine McVie, bassist (and ex-husband John McVie), singer-guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, (ex-wife and) singer Stevie Nicks, and drummer and band namesake, Mick Fleetwood, delivered a familiar and welcome 24-song hit-heavy setlist to a delirious sold-out gathering of boomers and beyond at the Scotiabank Saddledome last night.

Calgary Sun November 15, 2014

On a frigid early winter’s night, and from the opening strains of The Chain (which featured some outstanding fretwork courtesy of Buckingham) and You Make Loving Fun, it became abundantly clear just what kind of night would be in store.

The latter was a Christine vocal lead which received long, loud applause from the second she opened her mouth. ‘Welcome back, Christine,” Nicks smiled at the song’s conclusion. “She’s not telling us where she’s been for the past 16 years!”

It was only the front-end of what has always promised to be a timeless walk down rock-and-roll memory lane with an act as storied for its inter-band romantic dalliances as its classic material. And that’s no knock on the muse that made Fleetwood Mac relatable to, well, anyone who has ever loved or lost another human being. Yes, that would be all of us.

On a modest, but well lit and extra large stage, the incomparable Nicks took the lead for Dreams (a song she penned for that landmark ’77 album, Rumours), before Buckingham shone vocally and musically on Second Hand News.

While many long-time fans may have experienced this before, younger fans and the uninitiated had a look of disbelief while singing and swaying to Rhiannon (another Nicks trademark) and Everywhere, which again featured McVie in her full return to glory . . . heck, even better than you remembered from a band you may have been born into.

The chemistry, tension and otherworldly talent of these five individuals feeding off each other seemed uncanny in the mid-70s, and it remains unchanged nearly four decades later. Each is captivating in their own right — and for different reasons. But together, man, it is still something magical . . . indescribable, even.

While the applause that the returning McVie received was warm and sincere, and it’s clear that Nicks still thrills fans when she sweeps across the stage, it’s Buckingham that was and is the glue. He led his band of merry men and women through I Know I’m Not Wrong, the experimental title track from ‘79s Tusk, Sisters Of The Moon, Say You Love Me and, especially, Big Love.

The group collectively poured it on with Seven Wonders (another Nicks vocal highlight), Landslide, Gypsy, Little Lies, Gold Dust Woman (Nicks’ tour de force during a Friday evening filled with highlights) and main set closer, Go Your Own Way.

On a night which many in attendance wished would never end, the group sent the crowd to the exits with World Turning, Silver Springs and a stunning version of Don’t Stop which had every man, woman, boy and girl singing, clapping and dancing.

Maybe Fleetwood Mac will be back again one day . . . but could it possibly be this great?​

(The review below is so not on point!  I've seen multiple shows and he makes it sound like the band went to sleep up on stage... The above review is way more representative to what you will experience. Of course they acknowledged Christine! And not at the end of the show, but both Stevie and Lindsey during their early song intros talk about her return. But everyone has their opinion.)

Fleetwood Mac have added 4 NEW UK Tour Dates.

As expected, new dates are popping up in the UK for Fleetwood Mac's highly anticipated return in 2015.  They've added an additional show in Birmingham on June 9th. A second show in Glasgow on June 17th and two additional shows in London June 22nd and June 24th.

All tickets are on sale now at Ticketmaster, Live Nation or AXS (London).

MAY 2015
May 27 - The O2, London
May 28 - The O2, London

JUNE 2015
June 01 - Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam
June 04 - Lanxess Arena, Cologne
June 06 - Sportspaleis, Antwerp
June 08 - Genting Arena, Birmingham
June 09 - Genting Arena, Birmingham (new)
June 12 - Manchester Arena, Manchester
June 16 - SSE Hydro, Glasgow
June 17 - SSE Hydro, Glasgow (new)
June 20 - 3Arena, Dublin
June 22 - The O2, London (new)
June 24 - The O2, London (new)
June 30 - First Direct Arena, Leeds

Stevie Nicks Talks Challenges of Promoting Solo Album While on Tour with Fleetwood Mac

Stevie Nicks Talks Challenges of Promoting Solo Album While on Tour with Fleetwood Mac: "I Don't Wanna Tick Anybody Off"

ABC News Radio

Stevie Nicks has an new solo album -- 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault -- of which she's

justifiably proud.  She hasn't been able to spend much time promoting it, though, because her day job as the lead singer of Fleetwood Mac, currently out on a massive world tour, is keeping her pretty busy.  Last week, during a break in the tour, she appeared on The Tonight Show to perform "Lady," one of the new songs, but she says it's unlikely you'll see her do that onstage with the band.  Why?  It's complicated, says Stevie.

"I don't even know if the people in Fleetwood Mac have even heard this record.  Honestly.  We don't talk about it a lot," Stevie tells ABC News Radio. "It's like, y'know....it's not their thing.  So I don't push it on them, and I just let it go.  I don't wanna tick anybody off, and I don't wanna make people think that I'm not focused on Fleetwood Mac, because I totally am...but in my own time, then I can do anything I want, and I can promote this record."

As for the possibility of her taking time out during a Mac performance to spotlight a tune from 24 Karat Gold, Stevie says, "Could Christine [McVie] play 'Lady' and me sing it, and she sing a harmony?  Absolutely.  Will that happen?  Probably not, but maybe."  Noting that she really wanted her bandmate to hear the record, she laughs, "I put it on her iPod. I bought her an iPod and then put it on the iPod!"

24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault, which debuted in the top 10 when it was released in September, is a collection of songs that Stevie wrote mostly between 1967 and 1989, with a few from the '90s thrown in.  But Stevie explains that these songs aren't a bunch of rejects that weren't good enough to be included on albums: they just never made it for a variety of reasons.

"These weren't songs that weren't the 'better' songs.  Some of them were recorded by Fleetwood Mac and I didn't like it," she tells ABC News Radio. "You'll get three-fourths of the way into recording a song and you'll just go, 'I don't like the way it's coming out, so I'm pulling it.'  Same with my own producers: 'I don't like what you've done with the song, so I'm pulling it.'"  Or, 'There's too many fast songs,' 'Too many mid-tempo songs,' 'Too many ballads -- a ballad has to go.'  So, that's what happened to these songs.  These songs should have all been on records already."

As Stevie continues to eke out time to promote 24 Karat Gold, she says she is truly enjoying the Mac tour, since it's the first one to feature Christine McVie in 16 years.  "She's so excited and she gets, just, like sixteen-thousand people on their feet screaming several times a night," laughs Stevie. "And it's pretty spectacular.  So she's getting, like, spoon fed this amazing reaction of people being so happy that she's back that she's just thrilled, you know?  She just feels like she won the lottery!  So, it's pretty great to watch and I think it's really fantastic.  Everybody's in really good shape."

They'll have to be, considering the Fleetwood Mac world tour will stretch far into 2015.  That's why Stevie says she can't say right now if she'll join the rest of the band in the studio to record a new album, as Mick Fleetwood says he hopes she will in his new autobiography.

"I don't know, because nothing can be done on that until we're done, and we have another seventy shows until this American tour is done, then we have Australia, then we have Europe.  This isn't gonna be done until this time next year," Stevie tells ABC News Radio about the prospect of a new Mac album. "So, I don't know how I'm gonna feel in a year."

"I don't know whether I'm gonna wanna go back to my own thing or whether I'm gonna wanna sign up for another year of making a record," she adds. "I don't really know what I'm gonna wanna do then." 

Fleetwood Mac is currently on tour in Canada. They'll return to the U.S. next week but have dates scheduled in North America through March.

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

Out Now! Order from Stevienicksofficial.com

Review: Fleetwood Mac Live in Saskatoon Nov 12, 2014

New prolific, profound chapter for Mac
By Cam Fuller, The StarPhoenix
Photos by Gord Waldner - View Gallery

About 10,000 people showed up to watch iconic Fleetwood Mac perform in Saskatoon at SaskTel Centre, November 12, 2014

Not that they needed it but Fleetwood Mac got a kind of do-over after their last appearance here only 18 months ago.

That show, in the same venue, was a full-on, fully fulfilling rock show that found the legendary band still playing with commitment and zeal. But it did come with an asterisk in the form of the absent Christine McVie. At the time, it was too much to hope that she'd rejoin her band mates.

But clearly, fear of flying can be beaten, and it was the band's best-loved lineup that inhabited SaskTel Centre on Wednesday: McVie, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie.

The set list was extensive and, if you think about the millions those songs have earned their creators, expensive - 20 plus massive hits that have become part of the cultural fabric without going out of style.

The Chain opened the show fittingly, since the links are again joined. The sound was full and percussive with forceful vocals by Buckingham (and he was just warming up). The big thrill here though was that iconic bass riff by John near the end. The strings sounded thick as fingers, the fathoms deep notes thumping in your chest.

The fans were sure to welcome Christine back with warm applause when she started singing You Make Loving Fun. Later she expresses her thanks for "a rare chance to do this twice."

With the missing link back, Stevie Nicks seemed more relaxed and into it.

"We don't get to do snow very often so this is pretty cool," she said after doing Dreams.

Review - The StarPhoenix Nov 13, 2014

After a stirring, fast Second Hand News it was clear this band was in fantastic form. Almost every song was made to be special - Tusk was almost scary and positively demented. Frequent nature scenes on the huge backdrop added mood to songs like Rhiannon. Not to be overlooked were the two backing players and three backup singers. Even the ballads had guts and drive.

This was no nostalgia act, Buckingham hinted, saying a new, prolific and profound chapter has begun. It's a big claim but hard to dispute.

Mac is back.

The band has seen its share of drama but that's what you get with strong personalities. The payoff comes when everyone is pulling in the same direction. The concert seemed to concentrate that passion and let it fly, whether it was Fleetwood's god of thunder drumming on Gold Dust Woman or Buckingham's furious strumming on the very cool I Know I'm Not Wrong. And with post-deadline landmarks still to pass, whether it was Go Your Own Way or Don't Stop, the well travelled road of this band seems to extend into the horizon.

Fleetwood Mac Never Sounded Better

Fleetwood Mac Live in Winnipeg
MTS Centre - November 10, 2014

by Scott Taylor
mytoba.ca

Concert reviews never seem to capture the quality of a rock show. They don’t capture the intensity or the response of the crowd. Concert reviews are often beautifully written and sometimes technically snobby, but they never seem to grab your ass like the band does.

Monday night at MTS Centre, Fleetwood Mac returned to Winnipeg and had about as much fun as any group of 20-year-old rock stars could possibly have. Considering that Lindsay Buckingham is 65, Stevie Nicks is 67, Mick Fleetwood is 68, John McVie is 69 and that hot blonde keyboardist/songbird, Christine McVie, is 71 says, quite clearly, that you are NEVER too old.

I’ve been to dozens of rock shows, but few have been as technically sound or as joyfully performed as Fleetwood Mac’s return to the ‘Peg as the original band on Monday night. They weren’t perfect, but they were damn close and the full house — and it was jam-packed to the rafters — nearly wet its collective self.

Now, I know this sounds a little hyperbolic, but hang with me for a second. These people are not young. They started touring a month ago and they are on tour until February. There are 68 dates in the On With the Show Tour. If they were going to take a night off, a Monday night in Winnipeg would be a good choice. Like, who’d ever know, right? Play a few hits and get on the bus. The rubes in central Canada would never suspect anything.

But they didn’t take the night off. They played for 2 ½ hours and they nailed it. From the opening song, The Chain, until an absolute killer rendition of Don’t Stop, they tore the roof off the place.

I know, it surprised me, too. In fact, the people around me were generally jaw-dropped. Fleetwood Mac has been doing this together for 40 years, it can’t be new or fun or shockingly good. But it was. It was 10 times better than I expected and 100 times better than my 29-year-old companion expected.

Continue to the full review

Say You Love Me
Rhiannon

Everywhere
Gypsy
You Make Loving Fun
Don't Stop

Review: 'Last night belonged without question to Christine McVie'

Fleetwood Mac proves triumphant at MTS Centre
Winnipeg, MB - November 10, 2014
By Nigel Moore
Metro

The chain has kept them together, after all these years. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees Fleetwood Mac – the classic 1970s lineup of five – thrilled many baby boomers on a date night yesterday, as the band’s On With The Show tour triumphantly landed at the MTS Centre for a 2½-hour concert.

The mischievous 6’6” drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and his band co-founder, bassist John McVie (hence the Mac’s name), Lindsey Buckingham (guitars and vocals) and Stevie Nicks (vocals), who both joined back in ’75, and the returning songbird, Christine McVie (keyboards and vocals): five distinct personalities who have somehow stayed together and made it work, going on almost four decades. Buckingham came back after quitting for several years in the late ‘80s, but last night belonged without question to Christine McVie, who is touring for the first time in 16 years after a hiatus brought on by her fear of flying.

Photos: David Lipnowski
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Fleetwood Mac opened with “The Chain” from Rumours (1977), silencing any doubts they’re still a ferocious rock band. The follow-up song was Christine McVie’s “You Make Loving Fun”, which got a roar of approval from the audience to welcome her back. “Thank you for giving me a second chance; you don’t often get that,” she said before “Everywhere” from 1987’s Tango in the Night. Still sounds great, by the way.

Many came to see Stevie Nicks, whose sexy, raspy voice on “Dreams”, followed shortly by “Rhiannon”, doesn’t quite soar as it once did, but has gained a smoky quality that she makes work. Nicks can still twirl the heck out of a shawl and, at times, when she was dancing she looked eerily like her 20-something self, shimmying under her black top hat.

Buckingham led the band in an explosive “Tusk”, the title track from their 1979 double LP, which sounded surprisingly current and vital, then a heavy version of “Sisters of the Moon” from the same album – a damn cool song that Nicks really sold on vocals.

Mid-way through their set, the Mac stripped it down for a few self-indulgent acoustic numbers that slowed things down a bit too much. Nicks took the stage for a truly gorgeous “Landslide”…she is “getting older too,” but the gypsy hasn’t lost any of her mystery, nor magic. There were a few other, shall we say, less-than-exhilarating parts of the show. The worst offender was Buckingham, whose solos – one in particular that seemed to go on forever (another beer, anyone?) – were clearly appreciated most by the notoriously egotistical guitarist himself. But still, seeing him sing “Go Your Own Way”, the mother of all bitter break-up songs, with Nicks some 37 years after their split is still a blast.

Fleetwood left his gigantic drum kit in the back of the stage for a smaller one up front. Watching him play in person, you can see he’s a fluid, effortlessly powerful drummer. His trademark fills put the punctuations on his status as one of rock’s greatest drummers. Later for the encore, his extended drum solo within “World Turning” from Fleetwood Mac (1975) was both awe-inspiring and hilarious, as only Fleetwood himself can be.

Meanwhile, apart from a couple of short bass breaks, John McVie hung back near the drums and made almost no impression on stage. He could have been mistaken for a session player, which is probably just as he likes it.