Fleetwood Mac fans vent disappointment after Manchester Arena gig is cancelled

BY EMILY HEWARD
Manchester Evening News

The news has come as even more of a blow as it is Christine McVie's first tour in 16 years with the band.

Gutted Fleetwood Mac fans have vented their disappointment at tonight’s cancelled Manchester Arena show.

Promoters announced earlier today that their On With The Show tour could not go on after all due to a band member falling ill.

It is the second date the 60s and 70s rock legends have had to call off on the UK leg of their tour after dropping out of their Birmingham gig at the last minute on Tuesday.

But while the Genting Arena show has been rescheduled for July 7, it is understood promoters have failed to find another Manchester date to fit the band’s tour schedule.

The news is especially disappointing as it is Christine McVie’s first tour in 16 years with ex-husband John McVie and bandmates Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham.

Christine is the songwriter and voice behind some of the band’s most enduring hits, including Don’t Stop, Little Lies and You Make Loving Fun.

The band’s second show in Manchester on July 1 is set to go ahead as planned but is already sold out, leaving fans with no option than to pay ramped-up resale prices or barter with touts to get their hands on tickets.

Among those hit hardest by the news was Hannah Owen, who wrote on Facebook: “Absolutely gutting. My dear dad bought tickets for my mum and him to go for Christmas. He has sadly passed away and poor mum was so keen to go as it’s what he wanted.

“No reschedule and no tickets left for 1st July show. Such a shame.”

Fans had been due to travel from far and wide for the Manchester gig and some had already arrived in the city before hearing the news.

Among them was Jeroen van Drunen, who flew in from Hungary yesterday just to see them perform.

Fran Haselden had also planned to travel across England for the show. She wrote on the MEN’s website: “I’m so gutted. I’ve been waiting for this since the tickets were released with anticipation.

“We were heading up from the south east this afternoon. We’ve lost a day of pay each to be able to drive up, and it was our last chance. I am so gutted, I cannot believe they are not rescheduling it.”

Amongst the disappointment was also sympathy and concern for the afflicted band member, whose identity has not been revealed.

Smalley (@nicksmallshaw) tweeted: “Hoping for a swift recovery, but no rescheduled gig is devastating. Can’t see me ever getting tickets again.”

Kay and Geoff Harrison wrote on Facebook: “Absolutely gutted, but do hope whichever band member is ill gets well soon!!! Sob sob!”

A few fans remained upbeat enough to see the punny side, with some questioning whether it was just rumours and others hoping the news was ‘lies, sweet little lies’. If only...

Fleetwood Mac have cancelled their Manchester show tonight (June 12) due to illness.

We are very sorry to announce that tonight’s Fleetwood Mac ‘On With The Show’ tour date in Manchester has been cancelled due to illness.

 Refunds for tonight’s cancelled date in Manchester are available from the point of purchase. Please contact your ticket seller directly for further information. 

The 1 July show will go ahead as planned.

Manchester Arena

Review Fleetwood Mac Live in Birmingham - June 8th

Review: Fleetwood Mac at Genting Arena, Birmingham
BY ENDAMULLEN
Birmingham Mail

Birmingham marked a homecoming of sorts for Fleetwood Mac as they played their 88th date on a world tour that started out in the US in September 2014.

This tour sees the welcome return of singer-songwriter and keyboard player Christine McVie, the former Bearwood native making a big deal of the fact she was back in her old stomping ground.

"Well, hello Birmingham,"she said, as she stepped up to the mic to sing the smash hit Everywhere.

"This is my old stomping ground, many many years ago I used to go to art college here.

"It's fantastic to be back playing with Stevie, John, Lindsey and Mick."

Clearly the band really are firing on all cylinders with her back on board.

Always a slick, polished and consummate live act, there's no doubting there's a special synergy with McVie, her former husband John, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood reunited.

Arguably that synergy is as much about the musical bonds that hold them together as the broken relationships that drove them apart in their turbulent history - some which was alluded to by Buckingham during one of his many song introductions.

This Genting gig did not disappoint with the hits coming thick and fast, from the Formula One anthem The Chain, which got the evening off to a rousing start, John McVie's thundering baseline almost shaking the arena walls.

You Make Loving Fun, Dreams, Second Hand News and Rhiannon were next, the last of these demonstrating Nicks' voice is as rich and warm as ever.

I Know I'm Not Wrong, Tusk, Sisters of the Moon and Say You Love Me followed before an acoustic interlude featuring Nicks and Buckingham, with blistering versions of Big Love, Landslide and Never Going Back Again.

Next it was Gypsy, McVie's voice shining on Little Lies, Gold Dust Woman and I'm So Afraid featured some fine musicianship before Buckingham virtually raised the roof with Go Your Own Way.

That was the final song two hours in but it wasn't long before the return of The Mac for a singalong encore performance of World Turning featuring the requisite Mick Fleetwood drum solo and Don't Stop.

Despite their decades in the business and those previous 87 tour dates, Fleetwood Mac have still very much got it.

Will this be their last tour as some are saying? Who knows - but let's hope not.

Review Fleetwood Mac Live in Antwerp, BE - June 6th

Hitmachine Fleetwood Mac in het Sportpaleis: Eindelijk weer compleet
DeMorgen

Tijd heelt alle wonden. Niemand die een paar jaar geleden nog had durven dromen dat de klassieke bezetting van Fleetwood Mac ooit weer samen op tournee zou gaan, maar kijk: Christine McVie is terug, en in een tot aan de nok gevuld Sportpaleis zette de legendarische band zaterdagavond een fenomenale greatest hits-show neer.

Full review with photos at DeMorgen

Fleetwood Mac @ Sportpaleis: more craftsmanship than inspiration
by Dirk Steenhaut
Focus.be

Well half years after his last Belgian passage, even Fleetwood Mac failed again to fill in the Sportpaleis. With the attraction: singer Christine McVie, who, after 17 years of absence, was finally returned to the old nest. For the rest, we noted however few surprises.

Full Review at Focus.be

Photo Galleries:

(19 Photos)
Proximus Go For Music

(12 Photos)
Front View Magazine

Tonights Fleetwood Mac concert in Birmingham has been postponed to July 7th

Fleetwood Mac have re-scheduled tonight’s show at Birmingham's Genting Arena due to artist illness.

"We are very sorry to announce that due to illness the Fleetwood Mac concert at Birmingham Genting Arena this evening will not take place and has been re-scheduled for Tuesday 7th July 2015.

All tickets remain valid for the re-scheduled performance. For refunds please visit your point of purchase."

– STATEMENT FROM THE GENTING ARENA

Q&A: Lindsey Buckingham on Fleetwood Mac's new fans and next album

Lindsey Buckingham, the Fleetwood Mac guitarist on why the band’s relationships are always a work in progress

I’ve noticed that the band seems to be connecting with a new, younger audience. True?

“We’ve gotten a multigenerational response. You’ve got people who were young adults when we first hit the market way back when, and then you’ve got young people who’ve just been introduced to our work. You can hear our approach in a lot of younger groups who are coming along now and have obviously listened to our music. Everyone seems to be appreciating the body of work.”

American Airlines Magazine - June, 2015

Fleetwood Mac is famous for how the relationships of the band members influenced the music. What is the dynamic now?

“When Stevie [Nicks] and I joined ­Fleetwood Mac, it didn’t look like we would all fit well together. But it ended up being this synergy created from the divergent sensibilities and different tastes and outlooks on how to approach creativity — how to approach life in general. It was greater than the sum of its parts. Now, you’d think all these years later that somehow we would have figured out our drill. That we know how to be on the same page or deal with a certain amount of chaos within the ranks. But on some strange level — and it’s kind of refreshing — the interaction between the members is still a work in progress.”

What does that stem from?

“A lot of it stems from the fact that there were these two couples that broke up. Things have settled down pretty well. But it is somehow reflective of the fact that we don’t all want the same things at the same time for the same reasons. So you’ve got elements of that, and it makes it that much more special when we do come together. And people do seem to buy into the subtext behind the scenes as much as they buy into the music.”

I’ve heard a new album may be on the horizon after this tour. Any truth to that?

“I think so. Christine [McVie] gave me some very rough stuff, of her just playing the piano and singing into a microphone. I took it home and, as I’ve always done, took some liberties with it. At some point, I sent it over to her before she came over to L.A. [before the tour]. Then we all spent about two months at ­Village Studios, which is where we cut Tusk, and we cut all these great new songs. It was really a transcendent experience.”

Fleetwood Mac’s worldwide tour includes a trip through the U.K. this month, with four nights in London.

June 16 - SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland

June 20, July 10-11 - 3 Arena, Dublin

June 22, 24, 26, 27 - O2 Arena, London