PHOTOS Fleetwood Mac Live in Columbus, OH November 7, 2018

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REVIEW Fleetwood Mac Live in Columbus, OH November 7, 2018

Concert review: Fleetwood Mac brought Nationwide Arena back to the ‘80s
By Claire Kudika
Photo by Casey Cascaldo
The Lantern

Fleetwood Mac performed at Nationwide Arena Wednesday night with the same energy I imagine they had back in their glory days in the 1980s.

A lot of the show was reminiscent of the era when the band skyrocketed to fame: the cheesy and cliche visual graphics, ranging from horses galloping along the ocean coast to a black and white rose losing its petals; the band member’s attire; and the rush from one song to the next. However, all of it fit Fleetwood Mac’s folky and kitschy brand so well, nobody minded at all.

Opening with classic hit “The Chain,” Fleetwood Mac gripped the room and did not let go until the lights went off for good.

The crowd was screaming every word and dancing for over two hours while the band was on stage.

Although Stevie Nicks is arguably the most well known member of the band, all the members of Fleetwood Mac engaged with the audience equally.

That being said, most of the high points of the show did involve Nicks. While bassist John McVie was performing “Don’t Dream It’s Over” alone on stage, Nicks came back up to finish the song as a duet, and the crowd immediately became re-engaged.

Nicks herself admitted that the hauntingly beautiful duet of “Don’t Dream It’s Over” would be a tough song to follow, but as the renowned “white witch,” she managed to do it. After thanking the crowd for following the band for so many years, she launched into “Landslide.”

Only Nicks and guitarist Neil Finn were on stage to perform “Landslide.” The stage was dark and the crowd was hushed. The intimacy of a gigantic arena like Nationwide rivaled some of the smallest venues I’ve ever been in. It was bone chilling, and haunting and everything you would expect Fleetwood Mac to bring to the table.

More highlights of Nicks’ vocals came in the form of “Rhiannon,” “Everywhere” and “Gypsy.” But my favorite moment was when Nicks finally did her signature shawl twirl during “Gypsy.”

However, Nicks was not the sole singer on stage. Christine McVie had her fair share of mic time as the primary singer, and brought the same high-paced energy as Nicks, with hits like “You Make Loving Fun,” “Isn’t it Midnight” and “Little Lies.” Guitarist Mike Campbell was also solo on vocals during early Fleetwood Mac-era song “Oh Well.”

Drummer Mick Fleetwood even had a 10-minute solo while the rest of the band was offstage.

The show was ultimately a group performance, and the ease which with they played and shared the stage together made it obvious that this was a veteran group of performers. They were not onstage to be cool or to convince the crowd to like them; they were onstage because it’s what they love to do.

The band left the stage for the final time with a simple bow—it was more of a whimper than a bang. Compared to concerts by more modern musicians, it was a very quiet farewell. Again, it seemed very fitting for the band.

Even though they have not evolved with concert fads in the form of seamless graphics and flashy costumes, the members of Fleetwood Mac don’t really need modern visual spectacles to still put on an exciting and emotional show.

REVIEW Fleetwood Mac: Legendary rock band stays with tried and true. Columbus, OH Nov 7, 2018

Concert review | Fleetwood Mac: Legendary rock band stays with tried and true
By Julia Oller
The Columbus Dispatch

Lindsey Buckingham may have gone his own way, but the guitarist’s absence didn’t stop Fleetwood Mac’s other members from carrying on as if he never existed in the first place.

He got the sack in April, before the band’s “An Evening With Fleetwood Mac” tour began in October — reportedly due to differing opinions on the set list — and two last-minute additions filled his spot during Wednesday’s packed show at Nationwide Arena.

Neil Finn, wiry lead singer of 1980s Australian rock band Crowded House, took the lead on classics such as “Go Your Own Way” and “Second Hand News” with the pure voice of a Westminster Abbey choir boy.

Guitarist Mike Campbell covered soloing duty, flexing his skill particularly on early Fleetwood Mac singles “Tell Me All the Things You Do” and “Oh Well,” written by early members Danny Kirwan and Peter Green.

Aside from those and another one-off single or two, the 11-person configuration stuck to songs sure to please the (mostly) above-50 crowd.

Stevie Nicks — whom drummer Mick Fleetwood introduced as “our eternal romantic” — didn’t attempt to reach the high notes on “Rhiannon,” the fifth single off the group’s self-titled 1975 album, but her lower register resonated clear and full.

Standout hit “Landslide,” which she sang to Finn’s acoustic strumming, saw her voice warmed up enough to elicit tears from the woman next to me.

If Nicks is a black-clad, whirling dervish of a moon, Mick Fleetwood and his yellow drum kit were the evening’s sunshine.

Sweating profusely in an outfit akin to a Revolutionary War uniform, the band’s sole original member took a minutes-long interlude during “World Turning” to charm the crowd with his British accent and oddball facial expressions.

“You should never leave a drummer alone. You know why?” he asked while pounding solo onstage. “Because he’s going to unleash the hounds!”

Substantially less sanguine keyboardist Christine McVie scratched somewhat when reaching for top notes on a perky “You Make Loving Fun” and too-mellow “Say You Love Me,” but she committed to staying true to each track as recorded.

McVie’s former husband (and longtime bass player) John McVie stayed quiet behind her, unleashing his loudest contribution on opening song “The Chain,” which could have been ripped straight off 1977′s “Rumours” record.

Rarely, in fact, did the group reimagine any of its hits.

A Nicks-led rendition of “Black Magic Woman” gave a feminist twist to the lyrics, and a blues-leaning bent to the music.

She also led first encore track “Free Fallin,’” a touching, if uninteresting, tribute to Tom Petty.

Otherwise, Fleetwood Mac’s members leaned into nostalgia, right down to the ceaseless bickering that left it one man down.

BLACK MAGIC WOMAN
TELL ME LIES
DRUM SOLO
DON'T STOP

FLEETWOOD MAC STILL GOING THEIR OWN WAY, 51 YEARS ON...

STILL GOING THEIR OWN WAY, 
The Mail On Sunday (Nov 11, 2018)
Toronto Review 11.05.18

After 51 years, Fleetwood Mac are still pop’s biggest soap opera. The latest episode finds one of the main characters, Lindsey Buckingham, being sacked by the others (among them an ex of his). He responds by suing them for $14 million, the amount he says he would have made from this tour, which I caught in Canada (it arrives at Wembley Stadium on June 16 next year).

On stage, Buckingham isn’t mentioned, but he does receive a compliment: two men are required to replace him. His role as the band’s only male singer goes to Neil Finn from Crowded House. In a blatant bid to add some youthful energy, Fleetwood Mac have sent for a 60-year-old.

Finn might be the oldest new recruit ever to join a great group, were it not for Buckingham’s other successor – Mike Campbell, ace guitarist with Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers, at 68. The $14 million question is whether all this makes Fleetwood Mac a different band. The answer is yes and no.

They still play almost all the hits you’re hoping for, though personally I miss the beautiful shimmer of Sara. They still have Stevie Nicks (now 70) dancing with her scarf, Christine McVie (75) relishing her comeback from retirement in rural Kent, and John McVie hiding under a white cap. They still find room for a drum solo by Mick Fleetwood that is so reliably awful that everyone else abandons the stage.

But some things have changed. Tusk Finn brings an airier voice than Buckingham, and a far warmer presence: he looks thrilled to be there. Campbell nails the solos without hogging the limelight, as Buckingham tended to do. The one song he brings from the Heartbreakers, Free Fallin’, slots right in, with Nicks lending a woozy sadness to her friend Tom Petty’s lines. The song Finn brings from Crowded House, Don’t Dream It’s Over, is less of a fit but more of a treat. ‘This is a song of unity,’ Finn says, and he shows it with a meltingly simple rendition, just him and his acoustic guitar and 18,000 people singing ‘Hey now, hey now’. It’s the highlight of the night, which is saying something. Just behind are several tracks from Rumours, Fleetwood Mac’s masterpiece, currently spending its 756th week in the UK album chart. Dreams, Go Your Own Way and Don’t Stop can make you swoon while also impressing you all over again with their meticulous carpentry. ‘Yesterday’s gone,’ we all yell. Not yet it hasn’t.

REVIEW Lindsey Buckingham Live in Austin, TX Nov 5, 2018

Lindsey Buckingham goes his own way with Paramount performance
By Peter Blackstock
Austin360

Photo Suzanne Cordeiro
VIEW THE PHOTO GALLERY 

“We are here for a couple of reasons,” Lindsey Buckingham announced a couple of songs into his performance Monday night at the Paramount Theatre, quickly addressing the 800-pound gorilla in the room. After the obligatory but kind assurance that one reason was because “we love Austin,” he got to the point: “Another is that we’re not out with Fleetwood Mac. So I guess we don’t love them.”

The masterful guitarist, songwriter and producer’s dismissal from that Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band earlier this year inevitably is a big part of the context for his current tour. Bitterness turned into litigation last month when Buckingham filed suit against his former bandmates, who are also on tour right now with new members Mike Campbell and Neil Finn and will play Austin’s Erwin Center in February.

Still, the music was far too good on Monday for the melodrama to be the only focus of the night. Buckingham was always the strongest creative force in Fleetwood Mac, and as such, he’s the musician most worth hearing on his own. A nearly two-hour set with plenty of highlights and an adept four-piece backing band testified to that.

Buckingham smartly honed in on his 1992 masterpiece “Out of the Cradle,” playing six songs from that album (even while skipping its best single, “Countdown”). Exquisite mood pieces “Street of Dreams” and “Surrender the Rain” showcased the more delicate side of Buckingham’s artistry, and the sweetly swinging “Soul Drifter” sounded so enchanting that it was hard to believe it didn’t become a massive hit 25 years ago.

“Trouble,” the lone song played from Buckingham’s 1981 solo debut “Law & Order,” remains the only top-10 single he’s ever had on his own. But he’s released six solo studio albums, and he drew from each of them on this night, with three standouts from 2006′s “Under the Skin” suggesting it may be the second-best album of his career.

REVIEW The musical soap opera known as Fleetwood Mac rolled into Toronto Nov 5, 2018

Fleetwood Mac Toronto 2018 Review
BY T-MAK
TMAKWORLD.COM

The musical soap opera known as Fleetwood Mac rolled into Toronto yet again for another tour but this time without its most important member Lindsey Buckingham whom they fired earlier this year.

Let us begin by saying we are huge Fleetwood Mac fans. We flew out to New Jersey to see the show from front row center and do a VIP meet and greet with Mick Fleetwood. We flew to London’s O2 arena to see them front row again, we saw them at an invite only party at CES in Las Vegas, and the list goes on. Please click on one of the links above to understand the type of coverage we provide.

Also please note that we paid for the ticket for tonight’s show (and every single other Fleetwood Mac show we ever wrote about, except for the invite only show mentioned above) – no free reviewer tickets here to sway our observations. In fact I think all music reviews should state if the ticket was bought or given for free from the promoter or the band.

News broke that Lindsey Buckingham is no longer part of Fleetwood Mac earlier this year, and this tour was announced right after that. While logic would dictate that this tour would not sell many tickets or that perhaps they would be discounted to something reasonable like $100, neither assumption proved to be true. It seems that many people had no idea that Buckingham would not be there and thus jumped in eagerly and it also seems that the band name is much bigger than the individual artists.

There is a trend in that most classic era rock bands tour these days without the golden era vocalists ( some quick example of bands we have seen recently – Yes without Anderson, Journey without Perry, Styx without DeYoung, Foreigner without Gramm, and even AC/DC without Johnson). For whatever reason  (9 times out of 10 it is because of $$$), the lead singer (and usually main songwriter), is not there. However Fleewood Mac without Buckingham is a much larger shock than anything above because he is also the main guitarist and the creative genius of everything the band made when they ruled the airwaves.

The really good news is that Buckingham is doing his own local show on Friday November 16th in a much more intimate setting in Kitchener’s Centre In The Square. As at the time of this writing a 20th row ticket in the small theater setting will cost about $80 to see the solo Buckingham show. On the other hand, tickets were still available for Fleetwood Mac at the Scotiabank Arena on the night of the show, and a lovely seat in the back of the 300 sections (i.e. where you so high up and so far back that feel you are watching people watching a concert) was selling for $211.25. Clearly the Kitchener show is a much better choice and yet it is not even sold out yet – the power of the band name proven once again.

Enough preamble… I am sure you know where we are going with this article.

Continue on to the full review