Fleetwood Mac Opens Tour With Massive Set List Shake-Up

Fleetwood Mac debuts new members, pays tribute to Tom Petty during tour launch in Tulsa
By Jimmie Tramel Tulsa World
Photo Gallery Here
Below Photos by: Raphael Pour-Hashemi

   

One year and one day after the loss of gone-too-soon Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac launched a new North American tour and unveiled a new roster at Tulsa’s BOK Center.

The additions, who came aboard following the departure of Lindsey Buckingham, are Mike Campbell, former guitarist of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Neil Finn, vocalist for Crowded House and Split Enz.

“I can’t tell you how much it means to us that you are all here tonight to share this with us,” Campbell told a sold-out crowd.

Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood was asked in a pre-concert interview if the set list would include any Crowded House or Petty songs, or whether there might be a tribute to Petty.

“I can attest that there will be,” Fleetwood said.

Fleetwood didn’t want to cite specific songs — why ruin the surprise? — but answers came when the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band, no stranger to personnel changes, began a new chapter Wednesday night.

The Petty tribute, an emotional highlight of the show, came during the encore. The first song of the encore was Petty’s “Free Fallin’” with vocals provided by Stevie Nicks, a longtime Petty friend. Images of Petty were shown on a screen behind the stage as Fleetwood Mac performed the song. Judging by the number of mobile phones held high, it was the most video-ed moment of the night.

Two songs from Finn’s ouevre were on the set list, including “I Got You” (the highest-charting Split Enz single in the U.S.) and “Don’t Dream It’s Over” (Crowded House’s biggest hit, it went to No. 2 in 1986). Nicks contributed vocal help on both songs.

Immediately before Finn sang “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” Fleetwood said this: “Many years ago I heard this beautiful song and, for me, it opened many doors in my heart, so this all eventually led to this lovely gentleman sharing the stage with us in Fleetwood Mac, so make him really welcome as he sings this most beautiful song.”

The new kids and the Fleetwood Mac vets — Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie and Nicks — played for almost two and a half hours and, perhaps feeling adventuresome in the wake of a lineup change, detoured to some interesting places.

Almost half (11 of 24 songs) of the set was mined from a self-titled 1975 album and the 1977 juggernaut “Rumours.”

But the first hint Fleetwood Mac was going to dig deep came six songs into the show, when Nicks handled vocal chores on “Black Magic Woman.” Written by former member Peter Green, “Black Magic Woman” was recorded by Fleetwood Mac in the twilight of the 1960s. The song became a hit for Santana in 1970.

Also on the set list: “Tell Me All the Things You Do” from the 1970 album “Kiln House,” the Bob Welch-penned “Hypnotized” from the 1973 album “Mystery to Me” and “Oh Well,” which was sang Wednesday night by Campbell and was originally recorded by Fleetwood Mac in 1969. (For context’s sake, consider that Nicks and Buckingham didn’t record with the band until 1975.)

Buckingham and Fleetwood Mac parted company in April. Do you really want a band with so many great songs to call it quits just because a key member is no longer part of the squad? Of course not.

Wanting to forge ahead, Fleetwood Mac took the hydra approach (lose one head; two will take its place) and announced a new tour.

At 8:14 p.m. Wednesday, when the new incarnation of the band took the stage, Fleetwood flashed a smile that was captured on the video screen. He and his band mates opened with “The Chain,” which has history as a show-starter and gave curious audience members a chance to immediately hear Finn at the microphone. The song didn’t match completely the version stuck in your brain from decades of hearing it, but Finn sounded like a natural fit in songs like “Go Your Own Way” and “Second Hand News.”

Introducing himself, Finn said, “My name is Neil and it’s a huge honor to be with you tonight with this magnificent band.”

A New Zealander, Finn also said this: “I would like to do a big shout-out to another fellow countryman who works just down the road, Mr. Steven Adams for the Oklahoma (City) Thunder. (He’s) the toughest guy in the league. I’m not even in the toughest person in Fleetwood Mac. I think that’s Stevie.”

Early in the show, Campbell looked at his new band mates and smiled. Nobody seemed to have more fun than Fleetwood, especially during a drum solo bookend-ed by the start and finish of “World Turning.” He introduced the rest of the band afterward and said it was a joy and privilege to welcome the new members.

Sometimes the whole cheer-for-an-encore thing feels too staged or expected, but the audience reaction (mobile phones illuminated, continuous roaring) suggested the crowd absolutely wanted more Fleetwood Mac, and that’s what they got when the anticipated Petty tribute arrived and was followed by two other songs — “Don’t Stop” and “All Over Again,” a song that Christine McVie said was about change.

A big change happened in the ranks of Fleetwood Mac. But here's the takeaway: The tour launch didn’t feel like you were watching/hearing something less than Fleetwood Mac.

Set List:

• The Chain (Rumours 1977)
• Little Lies  (Tango In the Night 1987)
• Dreams (Rumours 1977)
• Secondhand News (Fleetwood Mac 1975) (w/ Neil Finn on lead)
• Say You Love Me (Rumours 1977)
• Black Magic Woman (English Rose/The Pious Bird of Good Omen 1969) (Stevie on lead)
• I Got You (Split Enz)
• Everywhere (Tango In The Night 1987)
• Rhiannon (Fleetwood Mac 1975)
• Tell Me All Things You Do (Kiln House 1970)
• Storms (Tusk 1979)
• World Turning (Fleetwood Mac 1975
• Band intros
• Hypnotized (Mystery To Me 1973) (Neil on lead)
• Oh Well (Then Play On 1969) (Mike on lead)
• Don't Dream It's Over (Crowded House) (Stevie and Neil on lead)
• Landslide (Fleetwood Mac 1975)
• Isn't It Midnight (Tango in The Night 1987)
• Monday Morning (Fleetwood Mac 1975)
• You Make Loving Fun (Rumours 1977)
• Gold Dust Woman (Rumours 1977)
• Go Your Own Way (Rumours 1977)
• Free Fallin’ (Tom Petty cover)
• Don’t Stop (Rumours 1977)
• All Over Again (Time 1995)

VIDEO Lindsey Buckingham performing Trouble and Soul Drifter on Jimmy Kimmel Live

Lindsey performing on Jimmy Kimmel Live Monday October 1st.

 Trouble

Soul Driver

Lindsey Buckingham Scheduled To Perform on Jimmy Kimmel Oct 1st

TONIGHT, October 1st -- Lindsey with his full band will be performing on
Jimmy Kimmel Live. Tune in at 11:35 | 10:35c.

Photos: Lindsey Buckingham

Lindsey Buckingham performed at Silverlake Conservatory Sept 29, 2018

Lindsey performed along with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and KD Lang in Silverlake, CA on Saturday night at the Silverlake Conservatory. The annual fundraiser to raise money for the non profit music school was started by Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The evening honored record executive, Mo Ostin who was the head of Warner/Reprise Records for many years.

Photos: Marc Patrick

Fleetwood Mac 50 Years – Don't Stop CD & LP Collections Available November 16

Fleetwood Mac 50 Years – Don't Stop CD & LP Collection

Release Date
Fri, 11/16/2018

Pre-Order from Amazon

3CD | 1CD | 5LP

FLEETWOOD MAC 50 YEARS - DON'T STOP
3-CD And 5-LP Collections Celebrate The Legendary Band's 50th Anniversary
With 50 Songs Spanning Their Entire Career Available From Warner Bros. Records On November 16.

LOS ANGELES - Fleetwood Mac will celebrate a half century of music this fall with a new 50-song collection that is the first to explore the group's entire career, from its early days playing the blues, to its global success as one of the most-enduring and best-selling bands in rock history. 50 YEARS-DON'T STOP will be available as both a 50-track, 3-CD set ($34.98) and 5-LP vinyl set ($99.98) on November 16. A 20-track single CD version ($18.98) will also be available on the same day. Both versions will be available on digital download and streaming services as well.

The new compilation touches on every era in the band's rich history and offers a deep dive into Fleetwood Mac's expansive catalog by bringing together essential tracks released between 1968 and 2013. 50 YEARS-DON'T STOP also highlights the talented musicians who have recorded under the Fleetwood Mac banner over the years, including Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, Jeremey Spencer, John McVie, Danny Kirwan, Christine McVie, Bob Welch, Bob Weston, Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Billy Burnette, Rick Vito, Dave Mason, and Bekka Bramlett. The collection also features rare photos from the band's career along with new liner notes by veteran music writer David Wild.

The first disc revisits Fleetwood Mac's early years as a blues-rock combo, a six-year period that began in 1968 with the band's self-titled debut and ended in 1974 with its ninth studio album, Heroes Are Hard To Find. Many of the songs featured here were Top Ten hits in the U.K., including "Man Of The World," "Oh Well - Pt. 1," "The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown)," and the #1 hit, "Albatross."

The second disc focuses on Fleetwood Mac's most commercially successful period with music from a trio of multi-platinum releases - Fleetwood Mac (1975), Rumours (1977), and Tusk (1979) - plus the acclaimed concert album Live (1980). Together they've sold millions of copies worldwide, with Rumours alone selling more than 40 million copies. Several of the band's most beloved tracks come from these albums including "Rhiannon," "Say You Love Me," "Go Your Own Way," "Don't Stop," "You Make Loving Fun," and the #1 single "Dreams."

The final disc explores songs the band released between 1982 and 2013, including major U.S. hits like, "Hold Me" (#4), "Gypsy" (#12), "Big Love" (#5), "Little Lies" (#4), and "Everywhere" (#14). Also featured are several rarities ("Paper Doll" and "As Long As You Follow"); a live version of "Silver Springs" from the multi-platinum concert album, The Dance (1997); and "Sad Angel" from the band's most recent release, Extended Play (2013).

Fleetwood Mac kicks off a North American tour in October that will travel through 50+ cities, ending in Spring of 2019. Produced by Live Nation, the tour will feature the line-up of Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Stevie Nicks, and Christine McVie along with newcomers Mike Campbell and Neil Finn.
 

50 YEARS-DON'T STOP

3-CD Track Listing

Disc One
1. "Shake Your Moneymaker"
2. "Black Magic Woman"
3. "Need Your Love So Bad"
4. "Albatross"
5. "Man Of The World"
6. "Oh Well - Pt. I"
7. "Rattlesnake Shake"
8. "The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown)"
9. "Tell Me All The Things You Do"
10. "Station Man - Single Version
11. "Sands Of Time" - Single Version
12. "Spare Me A Little Of Your Love"
13. "Sentimental Lady" - Single Version
14. "Did You Ever Love Me"
15. "Emerald Eyes"
16. "Hypnotized"
17. "Heroes Are Hard To Find" - Single Version

Disc Two
1. "Monday Morning"
2. "Over My Head" - Single Version
3. "Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win)" - Single Version
4. "Say You Love Me" - Single Version
5. "Landslide"
6. "Go Your Own Way"
7. "Dreams"
8. "Second Hand News"
9. "Don't Stop"
10. "The Chain"
11. "You Make Loving Fun"
12. "Tusk"
13. "Sara" - Single Version
14. "Think About Me" - Single Version
15. "Fireflies" - Single Version
16. "Never Going Back Again" - Live

Disc Three
1. "Hold Me"
2. "Gypsy"
3. "Love In Store"
4. "Oh Diane"
5. "Big Love"
6. "Seven Wonders"
7. "Little Lies"
8. "Everywhere"
9. "As Long As You Follow"
10. "Save Me" - Single Version
11. "Love Shines"
12. "Paper Doll"
13. "I Do" - Edit
14. "Silver Springs" - Live-Edit
15. "Peacekeeper"
16. "Say You Will"
17. "Sad Angel"

50 YEARS- DON'T STOP

1-CD Track Listing

1.    "Don't Stop"
2.    "Go Your Own Way"
3.    "Dreams"
4.    "The Chain"
5.    "Landslide"
6.    "Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win)" - Single Version
7.    "Everywhere"
8.    "Little Lies"
9.    "Never Going Back Again" - Live
10.  "Tusk"
11.  "Sara" - Single Version
12.  "Gypsy"
13.  "Hold Me"
14.  "Big Love"
15.  "Seven Wonders"
16.  "Save Me"
17.  "Peacekeeper"
18.  "Albatross"
19.  "Man Of The World"
20.  "Oh Well - Pt. I"

Mick Fleetwood Talks Moving Forward Without Lindsey Buckingham

Mick Fleetwood Talks Moving Forward Without Lindsey Buckingham, Working a Tom Petty Tune Into Fleetwood Mac's Setlist

By Gary Graff
Billboard
BILLBOARD

"Change is not an unfamiliar thing in Fleetwood Mac," drummer and co-founder Mick Fleetwood tells Billboard as the group gears up for the Oct. 3 launch of its An Evening with Fleetwood Mac tour.

But even by Mac standards -- 18 members, not counting touring adjuncts, over its 51 years -- the latest shift is a doozy.

You'd have to be living under a rock to not know that Lindsey Buckingham is out of the group again, due to disagreements over the timing of the upcoming tour and other issues. Joining Fleetwood, bassist John McVie, singer Stevie Nicks and signer-keyboardist Christine McVie now is the eyebrow-raising duo of Split Enz/Crowded House veteran Neil Finn and Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell in his first public endeavor since Tom Petty's death last Oct. 2.

It's as dramatic a move as any in Fleetwood Mac's storied career -- perhaps even greater than Buckingham's last departure, in 1987, which brought Billy Burnette and Rick Vito into the band. The schism still rankles, of course, but as the Mac makes ready to hit the road in North America -- with dates booked into early April -- Fleetwood is accentuating the positive and predicting plenty of, er, future games for what he promises is not a one-off but rather the new lineup of his band.

All parties, including Lindsey, were talking during the past couple of years about a definite tour for 2018. The events that transpired probably weren't the way you envisioned commemorating the 50th anniversary of Fleetwood Mac's first two albums.

No, it's fair to say that it wasn't. Having said that, the reality was, in simple language, we weren't happy, and the details of that are part of the fabric, almost, of the story of Fleetwood Mac. We weren't expecting this time, but it also does not seem surprising. Every man and woman in Fleetwood Mac wish Lindsey well in any ventures he's doing and also have a huge respect for what he did with Fleetwood Mac; Having said that, it wasn't working for us and we made the decision as a band to continue, and that's what we've done with open heart. We've found two unbelievably talented gentlemen that have more than their own story to tell -- which, by the way, is what's made this work. They're stylists, and they have their own integrity as artists, which I think was a huge help in what we're doing.

And it's not the first time you've been to this rodeo, as it were.

That's right. If you look at the track record of this crazy outfit known as Fleetwood Mac over the last 50-odd years, change is not an unfamiliar thing. We don't look at it in a flippant way or in a light way. This is a huge change. But we went into it with spirit and knew that it was really, really good and had to feel right. And now we are able to say that and feel that and, now, play that. That's how we got where we are. It's a big decision and it had to be right, and with Mike and Neil that spirit has been ignited in a way that made this really make sense.

A lot of bands crumble when the first change happens. What is it about Fleetwood Mac that's allowed you to stay the course through some truly seismic shifts?

I don't actually know. Sometimes me and John McVie sit there with tongue in cheek and go, "What is that?" For sure it's part of the story. I think it's stubbornness...and the love of what we do. Being the rhythm section of Fleetwood Mac, the reality is we don't function unless we're in a band. I'm not being sort of flip; I think that may very well having something to do with it. We want to play, and if we're going to play there has to be a band around us. We're not all 18 years old, but we're certainly not too ancient to be doing what we're doing -- which, by the way, I believe we do better now than when we were 18 years old.

So how do you make a big change like this work?

I think one of the reasons we've survived is that we welcome people for who they are, not have them feel they need to be a karaoke copycat or anything. Anyone who's come into this band has been free to be who they are and they've been accepted as such and they've not been trained to, "You've got to do this, you've got to do that," and it's the same now. For sure there are moments in time where certain lineups of Fleetwood Mac have prevailed at a much larger sort of proportion than other moments in our band's history, but I can't think of another band that has done it like we have.

Does that track record for change in a way make it easier for Neil and Mike to step in than maybe it was for Lindsey and Stevie back in 1975?

You are completely correct, absolutely. I think one of the amazing things is both Mike and Neil have their own credibility in their own right from their careers, but they were thrilled to be playing songs that are not their songs. The amount of absolute pleasure they're having in playing these songs energizes the rest of us, and of course their own styles have affected some of the things we're doing, which is invigorating. They have huge deference to what we're doing and huge respect for this long story which is Fleetwood Mac, but they bring their own substance and we're having fun reinterpreting a couple things here and there which I think is going to be different and fun for our audience, too.

You've indicated that having Neil and Mike in the band has really opened up the setlist possibilities. What can we expect from the shows?

It has opened up musical sort of variances. We're over 50 years old, so we're quietly having fun delving into some stuff that we haven't done for 45 years. That's been really exciting and adventurous to be able to do that and put a great set together where I think there will be some surprises. I won't give you the song titles, but we also have two really talented gentlemen who have their own story to tell, and Fleetwood Mac is more than loving being able to pay a tribute to from whence these two gentlemen have come. You'll be hearing a couple things they're connected to from their history. And the bulk of these songs are going to be focused on what people know and love and expect. We're not going to walk on a stage and not play "Dreams" or "You Make Loving Fun" or "Landslide," so all of that is part and parcel of what we're doing.

There's also a certain intertwining of a big Fleetwood Mac's tenure with what Mike did with the Heartbreakers, too?

Stevie, of course, is well versed with Mike and Tom Petty, and that's a lot of fun to be able to do that. It is hugely appropriate that we're doing a Tom Petty and Mike Campbell song on stage, a Heartbreakers song. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to do it, but we said, "You've got to do it!" I won't tell you the song, but we love it and we are doing it.

What's it like for you and John to play some of the really old stuff again? Will you see ghosts when you start rolling them out?

It is amazing and we are playing a few very old songs and we pay kudos to Peter Green, who started this band; People think it's me and John, but it's Peter Green, and when Peter left we carried on. So there will be those, as you said, ghosts or reappearances of a type of energy we've been connected to. It's a lot of fun going back, and how cool is it that we're playing "Oh Well" and Mike's kicking the hell out of it -- and, coincidentally, Tom Petty used to do "Oh Well" in his show. So all of this funny, connective stuff has been sort of a reminder of from whence we have come.

Everything happened so quickly here. Have you had time to consider what the future holds?

Well, this IS the new lineup of Fleetwood Mac. (Finn and Campbell) are not just passing through. I look forward to making music with Mike and Neil; I think we all do. It isn't right now, but this is a highly creative bunch of people that still have a lot in that bag, in that mojo bag, that I would love to see, and I think we will see some of that over the next couple years or so. We're on the first level now with touring, and my vision and hope, knowing the creativity that's alive not only with the songwriting talents of Stevie and Chris but with both Neil and Mike is we have a lot to look forward to. That's what makes a band a real band.

So onward...and upward?

I hope so. It's all very different, and once you've got the notion to go forward and with your head held high, this is what it's about. We have a vibrant band and we're really excited about what we're doing and have unbelievably good feelings about Mike and Neil being part of Fleetwood Mac. So onward we go.