Stevie Nicks says solo career always came second to Fleetwood Mac

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Stevie Nicks says that her massive solo career always took second place in her heart to Fleetwood Mac. Nicks, who along with the Mac are out on the road for their sold-out first tour with the returning Christine McVie since 1998, explained why she even went solo in the first place, telling NPR: "When you're in a band with three great writers, you only get one third of the writer thing. So that's the whole reason that I did a solo career. And that's when I told Fleetwood Mac I was going to do that, they were of course terrified that I would do that record and then that I would quit. And I said to them, 'You guys. . .' I mean, I wanted to go around and hold each one of their hands and say, 'Listen, my loves. I am never going to leave you. I just need a vehicle. I can't, I have trunks of songs from 1973 that are never going to be heard. So the only reason I'm doing this solo thing is so that I can throw a few more songs out."

She went on to explain how she pitched it to her bandmates -- Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, and John and Christine McVie -- saying, "So while you guys take your extended vacations: Lindsey, while you lock yourself in the studio and make records that nobody's ever going to hear; John, you're going to go and get on your boat and sail, actually sail, from L.A. to Hawaii and back, and get lost out there, and we're going to lose you and not know where you are; Christine is going to go back to London and hang out with her friends. While you guys are doing that, I'll make a record, I'll put it out. I'll do a month of shows. And I'll be done, and I'll come back. It's never going to be in front. It's never going to be Fleetwood Mac. I'm the Learjet and they're the 738."

Stevie Nicks has been a solo superstar for over four decades now. We asked her how she feels about juggling two very high profile careers over the years: "A solo career and Fleetwood Mac are a really great thing to go back and forth to. Because, y'know, you can do your solo work and then you could do Fleetwood Mac, and then you can go back to your solo work and then you could do Fleetwood Mac. It really is kind of a blessing in many ways. You never get bored, so you can do your thing until you start to get bored and then you can go to the other thing. (Laughs) And then you can do that until you start to get bored and go back to the other thing. And it really makes for staying in a much more excited and uplifted humor for everything that you do when you're not just doing one thing."

Fleetwood Mac North American tour dates (subject to change):

March 1 - Austin, TX - Frank Erwin Center

March 3 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center

March 4 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center

March 7 - Charlotte, NC - Time Warner Cable Arena

March 8 - Knoxville, TN - Thompson-Boling Arena

March 11 - North Little Rock, AR - Verizon Arena

March 12 - Oklahoma City, OK - Chesapeake Energy Arena

March 15 - Charlottesville, VA - John Paul Jones Arena (JPJ Arena)

March 17 - Greensboro, NC - Greensboro Coliseum

March 18 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena

March 21 - Miami, FL - Time Warner Cable Arena

March 23 - Orlando, FL - Amway Center

March 25 - Atlanta, GA - Philips Arena

March 27 - St. Louis, MO - Scottrade Center

March 28 - Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center

March 31 - Wichita, KS - Intrust Bank Arena

April 1 - Denver, CO - Pepsi Center

April 4 - Vancouver, BC - Rogers Arena

April 6 - Bakersfield, CA - Rabobank Arena

April 7 - Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena

April 10 - Inglewood, CA - Forum
April 11 - Las Vegas, NV - MGM Grand Garden Arena
April 14 - Inglewood, CA - Forum

Fast Facts:

Stevie Nicks' latest solo set, 24 Carat Gold: Songs From The Vault, debuted on the Billboard 200 album charts at Number Seven and features newly recorded versions of lost and/or long bootlegged tracks. The set was co-produced by the Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart along with longtime guitarist Waddy Wachtel, and recorded in only three weeks.

Nicks said in a statement about the set, "I used to make cassettes of my songs and hand them out. But to know that these songs have finally been recorded with the same love they were originally created is joyous for me. I picked 12 songs from about 40 demos made from 1969 to 1987 and one each from 1994 and 1995. These songs are all about love and heartbreak -- how to pick up the pieces -- how to keep moving… I’m really chronicling love from the very beginning."

The deluxe tracklisting for Stevie Nicks' 24 Karat Gold - Songs From The Vault is: "If You Were My Love," "Mabel," "Normand," "Twisted," "24 Karat Gold," "Belle Fleur," "All The Beautiful Worlds," "Lady," "I Don’t Care," "Watch Chain," "Hard Advice," "Carousel," "Blue Water," "Cathouse Blues," "The Dealer," and "She Loves Him Still."

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

Out Now! Order from Stevienicksofficial.com

Christine McVie killed "You Make Loving Fun and took 14,000 Cleveland fans on a trip to "Everywhere"

Christine McVie's return lifts Fleetwood Mac back on its Hall of Fame pedestal 
by Chuck Yarborough
The Plain Dealer

View 25 Photos by Gus Chan at The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Mick Fleetwood said it best Wednesday night.

Rising his full 6-foot-5 frame from behind his massive DW drum set, he pointed to keyboardist-vocalist-songwriter Christine McVie, on tour with her Fleetwood Mac bandmates for the first time in 16 years.

"Making all this complete,'' the wild-eyed Fleetwood thundered to a sold-out Quicken Loans Arena as the spotlight shone on McVie. "Yes, indeed, our songbird has returned!''

It's so, so true.

Two years ago, Fleetwood Mac sans McVie cut a wide swath through the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band's expansive catalog, relying on vocals from Stevie Nicks, who never had much range to begin with and has lost much of that over time, and a valiant effort by guitarist-vocalist Lindsey Buckingham. It wasn't a marathon sonic waterboarding, but those limitations did make for some torturous moments over the course of more than 21/2 hours.

Wednesday night was a completely different experience.

With McVie back on keys, and her still-strong mezzo-soprano offering lead and harmony vocals, the night became a 160-minute prayer that the inevitable end would not happen.

Perhaps oddly, the greatest benefactors of McVie's presence - aside from those of us in the listening audience - were Nicks and Buckingham.

Gone was the pressure on Nicks to carry an entire night of songs, many of which are out of her throaty wheelhouse.

Gone was the need for Buckingham to fill gaps with guitar solos in a valiant but futile attempt to fool us into thinking something wasn't missing.

Instead, the two were able to focus on their strengths and the songs for which they are known.

For Nicks, that would be the ethereal "Rhiannon,'' the cosmic (although pitchy) "Sisters of the Moon,'' the wrenching "Landslide,'' the autobiographical "Gypsy'' and the even more autobiographical "Gold Dust Woman.''

Buckingham, a more than capable vocalist himself, could tackle "I Know I'm Not Wrong'' "Big Love,'' "Never Going Back Again'' and "I'm So Afraid'' (albeit with a bit too much FX on the last for my taste) and deliver the goods on the iconic "Tusk.''

But more than that, McVie's presence seemed to free him to be what he really is: one of the best - and most unique - guitarists in rock 'n' roll.

His Rick Turner Model 1 guitar alternately screamed, wailed, cried, crooned and wooed throughout the night, as he furiously attacked the strings with his finger-picking style.

To be fair, he did that last time, too, and just about as well. But in 2013, it seemed like he was trying to fill those voids created by McVie's absence. It ended up like rowing with only one oar, and all you do is go in circles.

McVie's presence was felt from the opening strains the show-starting with "The Chain,'' and just got stronger with every lead and harmony vocal she did.

She killed "You Make Loving Fun'' and took 14,000 of us with her on a trip to "Everywhere.'' "Say You Love Me'' turned into a tour de force of her voice and Buckingham's guitar work that would've made the night complete had it ended just there.

But it didn't. "Over My Head'' and "Little Lies'' were spectacular with her in the lead role, and her harmony vocals on other songs helped recreate the lush sound for which Fleetwood Mac is known.

And yet, as important as McVie's vocals were Wednesday night, there seemed to be a bigger thing at work. Every member of Fleetwood Mac, including bassist John McVie, her ex-husband, seemed content to have her back in the fold.

Fleetwood was right: The band is complete now. Life is good. For them, and for us.

Review: Fleetwood Mac Louisville, KY - February 17, 2015

Fleetwood Mac sparkles at KFC Yum! Center
by Jeffrey Lee Puckett
The Courier Journal

Photo: Marty Pearl
VIEW MORE PHOTOS AT THE COURIER JOURNAL

Fleetwood Mac last made new music together in 2003, but the band's heyday ended nearly 30 years ago with "Tango In the Night," its final multi-platinum album. That technically makes Fleetwood Mac a legacy act, largely living on reputation.

You wouldn't have thought so Tuesday night at the KFC Yum! Center, where the band performed with a passion that belied a setlist dating back to 1975. They brought new life to songs that are familiar — overly familiar in some cases — and obliterated any notions that they're simply cashing in on nostalgia.

Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie clearly have nothing against nostalgia as the show was top loaded with the band's finest material. It began with a run of "The Chain," "You Make Loving Fun," "Dreams," "Second Hand News" and "Rhiannon" — all major hits that remain staples of rock radio.

That's more classics in less than 20 minutes than many bands can muster in two hours, but Fleetwood Mac didn't coast. They delivered them all with a powerful conviction that made the music seem almost shockingly vital and alive.

It didn't hurt that Buckingham, Nicks and Christine McVie all sang as if time hasn't taken much of a toll. McVie, who came out of retirement for this tour, retains much of the honeyed warmth that gives her songs such tenderness. Nicks was in surprisingly supple form, her reedy vibrato in full effect, and Buckingham didn't hold anything back.

It's hard to overstate how much the return of McVie informed the concert. Fleetwood Mac has had a history of rotating members since forming in 1967, but this is the definitive lineup. It just makes sense in every way.

The dynamic of McVie's delicacy contrasted by Nicks' multicolored daydreaming and Buckingham's almost callous directness is what transformed Fleetwood Mac from a mildly successful band of journeymen into one of history's biggest acts. That combination still makes magic.

OVER MY HEAD
GO YOUR OWN WAY

Fleetwood Mac deal in poles: their songs are heavy and quick, rousing and sad, massive and massively vulnerable

Fleetwood Mac Live at Chicago’s Allstate Arena
February 14, 2015
by Sasha Geffen
Consequence of Sound

Photos by Amanda Koellner
View More at Consequence of Sound

Maybe Fleetwood Mac will still be doing what they do 20 years from now. It wouldn’t surprise me. They lived through peak self-destruction, through the decades when bands were losing members left and right to the side effects of 20th century music culture, lived through the years when fame sounded a lot like a death knell. They endured more fractures in public than many people have to deal with in private. But Fleetwood Mac were lucky. They made it out.

They know it, too, and they couldn’t be more grateful. Playing the 56th night of their On with the Show tour on Valentine’s Day at Chicago’s Allstate Arena, the band emerged to an audience of thousands on a stage decorated with bouquets of red roses. This is Fleetwood Mac’s first tour with Christine McVie since she quit the band in 1998, and her presence lent the concert the feel of a warm, comfortable family reunion with the most bohemian aunts and uncles you've got.

Full Review at Consequence of Sound + really amazing photos that you have to check out.

View Video and More Photos

Fleetwood Mac, the irrepressible pop-rock engine, rolled into Milwaukee Thursday with a huff and puff

Fleetwood Mac Live at BMO Harris Bradley Center - Milwaukee, WI
February 12, 2015
By Michael Muckian
Express Milwaukee

Photo: Danielle Dahl

Fleetwood Mac, the irrepressible pop-rock engine, rolled into Milwaukee Thursday with a huff and puff and as much energy as its aging members could muster. All things considered, that energy proved to be considerable.

Guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, who turns 66 on Oct. 3, is the band’s youngest member, and the numbers only go up from there. But none of that mattered to a mixed-age audience of the faithful, who all but filled the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Given that the band’s lineup also included stalwarts Mick Fleetwood on drums, John McVie on bass, vocalist Stevie Nicks on ribbon-bedecked tambourine, and for the first time in a long, long time, vocalist Christine McVie on keyboards, Fleetwood Mac’s most successful combination was back together again.

Given the age of its members, the band fairly well rocked the walls with a running list of favorite hits on the 54th concert of its current tour. The group played against a fairly engaging backdrop of downright inventive visual imagery that helped drive some the audience’s elder members to gyrate and throb as if on some virulent form of Ecstasy (or perhaps Metamucil).

Full review at Express Milwaukee


Fleetwood Mac turn back time in Milwaukee
February 12, 2015
by Daniel DeSlover
Examiner

On the road since August 2014, Fleetwood Mac pulled into Milwaukee’s BMO Harris Bradley Center on Feb. 12 for their “On with the Show” tour. Performing without an opening act, it was the 54th show on this extensive trek and featured the five core members who took the band to multiplatinum success with the chart-topping “Rumours” in 1977.

Christine McVie rejoined Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks on this tour for the first time since her retirement in 1998. Opening with “The Chain” seemed an appropriate start to the show and quickly brought fans to their feet. “You Make Loving Fun” followed as a de facto tribute to Christine’s return to the band.

Major vocal highlights of the show included Buckingham’s acoustic and cathartic “Big Love,” McVie’s beautifully harmonic “You Make Loving Fun,” and Nicks’ haunting breakup anthem “Silver Springs,” arguably her best performance of the night next to “Gold Dust Woman.”

Full Review + Photos at Examiner

Statement via @kfc_yumcenter The Fleetwood Mac show in Louisville, KY Tuesday is still on

This statement below from KFC Yum! Center, posted on facebook Monday evening is in reply to the many messages from fans inquiring whether the show in Louisville will proceed as scheduled on Tuesday night, despite the weather conditions in the area.

"At this time the Fleetwood Mac show is planned to proceed as scheduled. It is very unlikely that the event will be postponed or canceled. If that changes, we'll make the announcement via all of our social media channels as well as all TV stations and many radio stations."

- KFC Yum! Center (Facebook Post)

(9:30pm Monday, Feb 16, 2015)