Review: Fleetwood Mac Live in Tacoma "A Romantic Journey Down Musical Memory Lane"

Photo John Lill

Fleetwood Mac is Back and Better Than Ever at T-Dome
by Greg Roth
Photo John Lill
Seattle Music Insider

It was interesting that Mick Fleetwood waited until the completion of Fleetwood Mac’s brilliant, Tacoma Dome performance to proclaim, “The Mac was back!” It was as if Fleetwood was spiking a metaphorical football in the end zone after scoring a game winning touch down. He let the legendary group’s music and highly energized performance do the talking first.

Longtime fans know that the band was formed in 1967 by Peter Green and the group’s lone original member Mick Fleetwood, later to be joined by then husband and wife, John and Christine McVie. But it wasn’t until when the singer and songwriting duo of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined that group that Fleetwood Mac went from just the critics darlings, to critic darlings and mega-hit makers.

The house lights went down and the subtle sound of Mick Fleetwood’s chimes came up through the speakers and the band launched into the haunting and romantic angst ridden “The Chain.” Juxtaposed by the band’s second number “You Make Loving Fun” sung by the prodigal sister, McVie, the endless stream of hits just kept on coming one after another over the course of the next couple hours.

Fleetwood Mac was in vintage form. Stevie Nicks one of a kind vocal delivery coupled with Buckingham’s heart felt free-fingered guitar styling, brought greater energy and intensity to the bands overall sound. Of course McVie and Fleetwood, (who may be one of rock’s best rhythm sections next to the likes of Cream’s Ginger Baker / Jack Bruce  and Led Zeppelins’ John Bonham / John Paul Jones), provided a solid foundation for the band who was also backed by an additional guitarist, keyboardist, percussionist and 3 piece vocal section.

Nicks, wearing her trademark black flowing dress, effortlessly glided across the stage and commanded attention with her bewitching style while performing “Rhiannon” and “Gold Dust Woman.” Buckingham poured every ounce of his soul into each solo like a man possessed on tracks like “Big Love.”

Continue to the full review (plus 17 photos) at Seattle Music Insider

Review: Fleetwood Mac Live in Sacramento, CA November 24, 2014

Fleetwood Mac Live in Sacramento 
Sleep Train Arena 
November 24, 2014
Photo by Paul Kitagaki Jr.

View Gallery (15 Photos)

With Christine McVie back, Fleetwood Mac feels complete
By Carla Meyer
Sacbee.com

Fleetwood Mac played without an asterisk Monday during a sold-out show at Sacramento's Sleep Train Arena.

The superstar band offered all its hits and all its lead singers, with Christine McVie having returned to the road after a 16-year absence.

McVie was elegant and unassuming Monday, just as she was during the band's "Rumours" heyday. Chic in black jeans and a leather jacket, the 71-year-old singer/keyboard player seemed happy to be back, whether she was in the spotlight or assuming a utility role by playing accordion on "Tusk," the still-wild-and-weird title single from Fleetwood Mac's 1979 album.

McVie was not so unassuming that you did not notice, when the band kicked into the McVie-led "You Make Loving Fun" as its second song of the night, that an intact Mac beats the four-fifths crew that toured in her absence.

The band's 1970s and '80s success lay in its musical diversity. In how it made room for McVie's graceful melodies, Stevie Nicks' airy poetry and Lindsey Buckingham's more coiled, intense songwriting, then joined those styles in a signature sound cemented by three-part harmonies.

Mac minus McVie still entertained in concert, with Nicks tapping her distinctive, raspy vocals, witchy-woman vibe and giant-rock-star stage presence, Buckingham quick-picking his guitar and exploiting his own considerable charisma, and Mick Fleetwood going mad on drums.

But those shows never felt like complete Mac. Not like the Mac that killed it Monday night on the band's McVie-led 1987 hit "Little Lies." A harmony bonanza, the song sounds edgier live than on record.

No one looked happier to see McVie than Buckingham, the band's creative engine and biggest champion. McVie's return, Buckingham said, marked a new period for the band that appeared likely to be "poetic" and "prolific."

For a 65-year-old to be mapping out a rock 'n' roll future with a 71-year-old (and with Nicks, 66, Mick Fleetwood, 67, and bassist John McVie, who turns 69 Wednesday) is inspiring. It also speaks to why the group endures, 37 years after "Rumours" and its surrounding excess and romantic strife. It's through Buckingham's sheer will.

Christine McVie's road rustiness showed at times Monday, especially during the ballad "Songbird," during which she clearly had trouble hitting notes. But even at these moments, the band was better with her than without her. The notes might not all still be there, but the reassuring, husky quality of her voice is.

McVie seemed shy as she thanked her bandmates and fans for their support. Nicks was not shy at any point. Not when turning "Gold Dust Woman" into a welcome bit of performance art involving a sparkly shawl, or when regaling the audience with a story from her days as a Bay Area rock baby.

She was in a band with Buckingham that once opened for acts such as Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. After Nicks discovered all the famous San Francisco rock women shopped at a boutique called Velvet Underground (which Nicks name checks in "Gypsy"), she visited the store.

She couldn't afford anything in it, Nicks told the crowd. But she had an epiphany while there, that one day she would be famous and play for big crowds. It happened, Nicks said, gesturing toward the 15,000 people watching her in Sleep Train Arena.

You gotta love Nicks for barely bothering with the "humble" part of humble bragging. But why bother with humility? Nicks has been an icon for decades.

"Icon" gets used too often. But add up Nicks' one-of-a-kind, nasal-yet-pleasant singing voice, shawls, scarves, all-summer-long boots and the creation, last year, of an "American Horror Story: Coven" witch character who worshipped the singer, and there it is: icon.

Now that you know to whom the term legitimately can be applied, don't go calling Taylor Swift an icon.

BIG LOVE
LANDSLIDE

Article: How Stevie Nicks Created A Coven Of Gold Dust Women

Photo illustration by Troy Dunham

by Jessica Goodman
Huffington Post

Sitting in a suite at the top of one of the fanciest hotels in Manhattan, Stevie Nicks plays with a diamond-encrusted silver moon necklace. The charm was given to her by the father of a young woman named Sara, who Nicks met through the Make-A-Wish foundation in 2005. Sara died in 2008 of a rare type of cancer and Nicks dedicated her 2011 album “In Your Dreams” to her. “I need to wear this because it’s the 32 diamonds of the 32 shows she came to,” Nicks said, pressing her fingertips to the moon. “If you flip it, it’s a gold moon. It’s whatever you want it to be.”

It had been a month since Nicks released her most recent album, “24 Karat Gold: Songs From The Vault,” comprised of unrecorded songs written between 1969 and 1995. “To me, these songs are the pieces of jewelry you put away in your special jewelry box and save and will someday give to your daughters,” she said, “or your fairy goddaughters or your nieces or the people you love that you will leave your jewelry to.”

At 66, Nicks is in the midst of some of the busiest years of her life. In the last 42 months, she released “In Your Dreams” and a documentary about its creation, toured endlessly with Fleetwood Mac, welcomed keyboardist and vocalist Christine McVie back to the band, appeared on both NBC’s “The Voice” and FX’s “American Horror Story: Coven,” debuted “24 Karat Gold” and opened a well-received exhibit of Polaroid self-portraits at the Morrison Hotel Gallery. With just a few days to spare in between show dates, Nicks came to New York to promote the record. She booked an appearance on "The Tonight Show," a “Today” show spot and multiple interviews.

“I don’t want this record to die,” she said, leaning back in a massive armchair draped in a bath towel to calm her dust allergy. “These old hotels,” she said before arranging herself. The sun had set hours ago, but ombre sunglasses sat low on her nose. “When I made this record I didn’t know it was going to be what I consider one of the best record I’ve ever made. I was just doing it to fulfill an obligation to my record company.”

Full article/interview at Huffington Post

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

Out Now! Order from Stevienicksofficial.com

Kanab designer weaves web of threads for rock legend Stevie Nicks

by Todd Tanner
Fox 13 Salt Lake City

“This is supposed to represent raven feathers, and this is supposed to look like jagged, irregular, shiny, sparkly, sleek, raven feathers and tail,” said Crickets Meyeres, pointing out the details of an elaborately crafted, handmade shawl.

The beautiful black piece, which graces a mannequin in her Kanab, Utah home, is actually a replication of the original shawl she knitted for Stevie Nicks.

Last September, Meyeres learned of a competition hosted by talenthouse.com, which called upon it’s regular readers and visitors to submit designs for a “show-stopping” shawl for Nicks.

Meyeres couldn’t resist the chance at dressing the rock icon. Soon, a design was flowing from her mind through her fingertips.

“I was absolutely obsessed, and when I was finished I was both excited and terrified about winning, but I didn’t think it would,” she said.

Meyeres says her design was inspired by the ravens that live year-round in the harsh red rock wilderness near her home.

“They are ever-present” she said, “just like Stevie”.

“I wanted to give her something back of me, not just ‘OK this is Stevie Nicks’ style, I’m going to make something her style and regurgitate it to her’. I wanted to give her a gift from Utah,” she said.

Meyeres’ Native American ancestry also played a part in the design, showing up in a subtle tribal pattern amongst the more than 3,000 stitches which make up the shawl.

In a brief statement announcing the winner of the talenthouse.com contest, Nicks noted the tribal element as a primary reason she chose Meyeres as the winner, awarding her a $2,000 prize.

The contest rules stated Nicks would provide the winner with a single photo of herself wearing the shawl, for the designer’s portfolio, and then return it. But it now appears she’s taken a shine to the piece custom-created for her 5’1″ frame.

Meyere explains, “I sent a note along saying Stevie could keep this if she wanted. She did like it. Her representatives asked if she could keep it, but I didn’t know she was going to wear it on stage every night during her concert tour with Fleetwood Mac. She wears it during the song ‘Rhiannon’ which is a huge classic hit. She spreads it out like ravens wings and I feel like she understands the same things I understand about the raven.”

Selling hand-made creations online has been Meyeres’ full time job since 2007. Click here to see more of her items.

Fleetwood Mac is currently enjoying a wave of rave reviews for their “On With The Show” world tour which kicked off in September.

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

Out Now! Order from Stevienicksofficial.com

Review: Fleetwood Mac Live in Portland "I Know I'm Not Wrong easily the most amusing song of the night visually"

Live Review: Fleetwood Mac at Moda Center
Portland, Oregon - November 22, 2014
by Michael Mannheimer
Willamette Week

Growing up, I hated Fleetwood Mac. Maybe part of the problem was I usually lumped them in with the Eagles, a band that is truly terrible, or with my general distaste for classic rock dinosaurs, borne from a childhood spent listening to Phil Collins and Sting greatest hit tapes on every single family roadtrip. Nirvana and Pearl Jam and Hole hit right when I got my first Discman, and soon after, my older next-door neighbor was giving me Radiohead and Built to Spill albums. Fleetwood Mac weren’t just uncool: They were the bloated, overwrought excess of everything a young indie-rock fan and Spin subscriber stood against. But then in college, a close friend lent me a copy of Tusk, saying it was their White Album and also the one where the band’s drug use was a little too intense. I grew older, went through a few breakups, and grew to truly love my former enemies.

Fleetwood Mac have been touring a lot the past few years (including an appearance at the Moda Center just last year), but the big news here is the return of Christine McVie after a 16-year absence. Though billed as the “On with the Show” tour, there was nothing resigned about the performance Saturday night, except the few moments when the New Age-y visuals recalled a Cialis commercial. Snark aside, this really was a wonderful show. The whole band seemed genuinely stoked to have McVie back in the fold, as most of the pre-song banter featured Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham or even Mick Fleetwood gushing about being able to play with her again. Fleetwood Mac has played most of these songs hundreds of times but they were still loose and nimble onstage, occasionally stretching out a song but never indulging in that classic rock trope of just jamming forever, man.

The hits from Rumours—”Dreams,” “Go Your Own Way,” “Gold Dust Woman”—naturally got the biggest responses, and the band smiled its way through through every moment. They were augmented by three backup singers and two sidemen on guitar and keyboards, but the mix was always light, centering on Nicks’ husky voice, Buckingham’s exciting guitar playing and the subtle backbone of the rhythm section, which just kept on beating amidst a sea of 20,000 people singing along to every single word.

But for me, the real pleasure was when the band dived deeper into their back catalogue, dusting off gems like “Tusk” and Tango in the Night’s “Little Lies” and “Big Love,” which Buckingham performed solo while showing off his incredible fingerpicked guitar playing. I nearly died when he played “I Know I’m Not Wrong,” my favorite song off Tusk and easily the most amusing song of the night visually, with his dismembered floating head projected on the screen behind the band mouthing the words through a sea of colorful clouds. Buckingham really is an amazing performer—at 65 years old, rocking skinny jeans and a tight black v-neck, he seems much younger than most of his contemporaries. Though not usually recognized as a guitar hero, his solos were revelatory, never overshadowing the song but pushing each hit to new heights.

During the encore, I realized this might be the first show I’ve ever seen without an opening band. I mean, who could realistically open for Fleetwood Mac? When Mick launched into a call-and-response drum solo during “World Turning,” I initially wanted to hate on the showmanship, but I actually found it rather endearing, just like when he came out front to play a smaller kit during a nice late set stretch of songs that included “Over My Head.” Sure, it was a little cheesy. But sometimes, we have to know when we are wrong, and just embrace the kitsch.  

I Know I'm Not Wrong (Edmonton, AB Canada - Nov 15, 2014)

Review: Fleetwood Mac jammed together as if no time had passed

Fleetwood Mac Takes Flight Into a New Frontier
by Sarah Toce
The Seattle Lesbian

Photo: Stephanie Brusig

Rock legends Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood jammed together as if no time had passed during their jaunt to Tacoma, Washington on November 20, 2014.

Nicks had an unusually intimate moment with the nearly sold-out crowd before belting out one of her most recognizable tunes.  The 66-year-old shared that prior to her 40-year career with Fleetwood Mac she dreamed of going into the rock n’ roll clothing paradise known as the Velvet Underground and purchasing her “rock n’roll clothes.” When Fleetwood Mac took off, she returned to the place she loved.

“So I’m back, to the velvet underground…back to the floor that I love. To a room with some lace and paper flowers,” Nicks playfully recalled. Then she sped off into the song as only she could.

Full review with photos at The Seattle Lesbian