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A Revitalized Fleetwood Mac Delivers an Engaging Performance at the Q
Concert Review By Matt Wardlaw
Clevescene.com
More Photos HERE
Photos by Scott Sandberg
While it might not have happened in the way some fans were hoping for, in the world of Fleetwood Mac, the way the celebration of their 50th anniversary has played out makes perfect sense for a band that across its history has had many a member shuffle in and out the door, while dealing with enough interpersonal conflict along the way to shatter five bands. In the end, when you look back at how the group has progressed through each modification, it’s been the music that has held it all together, locked in place by deep-rooted friendships and relationships.
So when it was announced that longtime singer-guitarist Lindsey Buckingham would not be taking part in the celebratory trek, even as much of a shock as it was, it made sense that drummer Mick Fleetwood, a founding member of the group, wouldn’t allow the Mac ship to be steered in the wrong direction. For guitar work, it made good sense to grab Mike Campbell, a man who had recently been left without a band in the wake of the unexpected death of Tom Petty. The longtime Heartbreakers guitarist has ties to the Fleetwood Mac camp that starting with Stevie Nicks, go back for decades. It was easy to see that he’d bring the right vibe to the group. The band’s next choice, singer-songwriter Neil Finn, of Crowded House fame, was a bit more surprising on paper, but for longtime fans of Finn’s work, it was easy to see how he too, would fit well into the framework.
As they rolled through the opening moments of “The Chain” last night at the Q, it was quickly apparent just how well matched Finn and Campbell are for this band. Finn sang the classic lyrics, “And if you don’t love me now/You will never love me again,” with the same emphatic spirit that Buckingham had put into those words for so many years and Nicks trained that same intense gaze on Finn, once fueled by the prior history between her and Buckingham and perhaps now, still driven by the lingering memories. Watching the pair in that moment, you believed.
Campbell stood stage left, off in his own musical universe a bit, casually playing the classic riffs in a way that was faithfully close to the originals, while adding his own sound into the mix, In the way that he did with the Heartbreakers, he could just stand there and slay you with his guitar work, without having to be the star. He’s a hell of a guitar player and would demonstrate that often throughout the night, but it’s the humble style in which he carries himself that makes him so endearing to the fans. In fact, during “Little Lies,” he walked over to the side of the stage to acknowledge a group of fans, tipping his hat to them and then flicked a guitar pick into the masses. It was a quick but important added personal touch that demonstrates that he recognizes the connection between the music that has given him a career and how that ties back directly to the fans who have supported him through all of the decades.
So close to Halloween, it perhaps made perfect sense that there was also some Fleetwood Mac cosplay happening, with a good number of fans dressed as Nicks that could be spotted in the concourses and inside the arena. But this is hardly a new thing and the Cult of Stevie needs no excuse to dress up and honor their favorite witch — we’ve seen the same dedicated outfits at other Mac shows previously and in one case at a solo Nicks show in Youngstown on St. Patrick’s Day a few years ago, they worked in a bit of Irish flair. Nicks would not disappoint, extending her arms wide during “Rhiannon,” while later dissolving (thanks to some clever lighting) into a cloud of gold dust at the end of “Gold Dust Woman.” She had visible joy, harmonizing with Finn on a Mac rendition of the Split Enz favorite “I Got You,” playfully wagging her finger at Finn, while later pretending to push him back with her hand. Finn told the story of writing the song “in a small flat in Sydney,” not aware that Nicks was “learning the harmony on the other side of the world as she watched it on MTV.”
