REVIEW Fleetwood Mac Live in Fresno December 6, 2018

Fleetwood Mac was in town with a new lineup. How did it stack up to the classics?
BY JOSHUA TEHEE FRESNOBEE
PHOTOS: CRAIG KOHLRUSS

Fleetwood Mac isn’t what it used to be; quite literally.

In April, the band fired its longtime guitarist and singer and announced it would be touring with a new lineup. So, Lindsey Buckingham was out (and not for the first time), to be replaced with Tom Petty’s ax-man Mike Campbell and Neil Finn of Crowded House.

Buckingham might take solace in knowing it took two men to replace him.

While hardcore fans might balk at the idea of a Fleetwood Mac without Buckingham, the crowd that packed into Save Mart Center Thursday night didn’t seem to mind as the band ran through two-plus hours of its biggest hits, plus a few choice surprises just for the tour.

REVIEW Fleetwood Mac Live in Denver December 3, 2018

FLEETWOOD MAC KEPT IT CLASSIC AT THE PEPSI CENTER
Kori Hazel 303 Magazine
photo by Bridget Burnett

Few bands have had as storied a past and embodied as many different sounds and textures as Fleetwood Mac. Over the course of their 50-year legacy, they’ve lost members, regained them, pivoted directions — rinse and repeat. Stopping by the Pepsi Center Monday night, the conditions were almost no different than they’ve ever been, except at this juncture in their career, they stepped into the fray without core member Lindsey Buckingham. Stevie Nicks and Buckingham were the catalysts that launched Fleetwood Mac onto the charts and led the band to create some of their most cherished songs, so the absence was particularly jarring. In his place, Mike Campbell — the former guitarist of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers — and Crowded House’s Neil Finn took the reins. In Buckingham’s void, two people were required.

Much like the music Fleetwood Mac makes, the feeling was complicated. It hovered somewhere between the deep dive into the nostalgia of their incredible discography, and the unwavering desire to relive it. Nevertheless, the night offered such nostalgia, surprises and despite the circumstances, wide-reaching delight.

REVIEW Fleetwood Mac Live in Las Vegas November 30, 2018

Fleetwood Mac delights Vegas audience at T-Mobile Arena
By Brock Radke - Las Vegas Sun

After Fleetwood Mac opened its T-Mobile Arena concert on Friday with the reliable, rollicking “The Chain” — a 1977 track from best-selling album “Rumours” that was used in the soundtrack for last year’s superhero epic “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” — singer Stevie Nicks reminded an already worked-up packed house that this was show 25 in the band’s “An Evening with Fleetwood Mac” tour. Then she suggested we all get this party started as the band rolled into 1987 hit “Little Lies.”

REVIEW Fleetwood Mac Phoenix, AZ November 28, 2018

Fleetwood Mac go their own way with new lineup in Phoenix concert, paying tribute to Tom Petty
Ed Masley, Arizona Republic
Photos: Cheryl Evans

Fleetwood Mac have always found a way to tour regardless of which members could agree to tolerate each other's company on stage enough to pull it off.

There was even a tour in the '90s where the only two members connecting the lineup onstage to the albums that are destined to remain their most successful efforts – "Fleetwood Mac" and "Rumours" – were drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie, the founding members whose names combined to give you Fleetwood Mac.

It's no surprise, then, to find them out touring without Lindsey Buckingham on what should've been titled the Buckingham Nix Tour (he'd have hated that).

Swapping out links in the chain that supposedly keeps together is what they do.

We've just been spoiled since the "Rumours" lineup reconvened in 1997 (with Christine McVie returning from a 16-year sabbatical for the On With the Show Tour in 2014).

So how was it?

REVIEW Fleetwood Mac Delivers Solid Performance in Oakland, CA

by Ted Asregadoo
Popdose.com

Fleetwood Mac delivers a solid performance at Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA

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If there’s one word that describes the members of Fleetwood Mac through the years, it’s this: drama. The band’s rise to superstardom has been chronicled many times, but the continued tension between band members (most notably Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham) has been a source of ongoing conflict since they joined the group in the mid-’70s. However, any sense of lingering acrimony between the players after Buckingham’s dismissal from the group in January (and subsequent lawsuit by Buckingham citing breach of contract) was absent on Sunday night in Oakland. Not that one would expect pros such Fleetwood Mac to air their dirty laundry in front of a paying audience, but it was pretty obvious a major component of the group was missing. To fill the gap, the current Buckingham-less Mac found replacements for Lindsey who both hit all the right notes and brought a heavier sound to songs that are more Adult Contemporary in flair. Mike Campbell and Neil Finn are from musical backgrounds that are quite different from one another. Campbell’s career is mostly known for being the lead guitarist and songwriter of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Finn’s success is more new wave, with stints fronting Split Enz and Crowded House. Finn ably sang Lindsey’s songs and played mostly rhythm guitar, while Campbell filled the guitarist role Buckingham used to play in the group. Their addition to the group, while kind of a puzzler on paper, worked well in practice. Finn could sing in Buckingham’s key, and Campbell provided a more raw lead guitar sound to Fleetwood Mac classics. Would I have like to hear Buckingham singing “Monday Morning,” “Go Your Own Way,” and “Second Hand News?” Well, duh. Yeah. Of course I would! But Finn sang the songs with such gusto that the choice to put him in front of classic heavy hitters was the right one. In short, not only could he handle the job, he excelled at it. Sure, there are going to be purists who long for Buckingham’s return to the fold, but Fleetwood Mac has weathered changes in their line-up — with Buckingham, Nicks, Christine McVie leaving at various times. This tour, however, there are no pretensions the group can produce new music that can match the heyday of their 1975-1987 output — so they stuck to the hits on Sunday night, with a few deep cuts thrown in for good measure.

REVIEW Fleetwood Mac Live in Oakland, CA November 25, 2018

REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac get bluesy with new members in Oakland
by Rick Starbuck
riffmagazine

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OAKLAND — During its heyday in the ‘70s and ‘80s, Fleetwood Mac was nearly as famous for drama as for music. Despite big egos, love triangles and a penchant for indulgence, the band managed to crank out hit after hit and establish itself as true rock-pop royalty.

Following a widely publicized split with vocalist-guitarist (and key songwriter) Lindsey Buckingham, the band returned to the Bay Area, playing shows in San Jose, Sacramento and Oakland’s Oracle Arena on Sunday. For a band with such big personalities, the remaining members and two big additions showed that they are, as ever, more than the sum of their parts.

Taking the stage to the familiar opening kick drum thump, the band ripped through “The Chain,” a fan favorite that showcased the signature three-part vocal harmonies that define the Fleetwood Mac sound. Newcomer Neil Finn (Crowded House) held down the Lindsey Buckingham parts, including the iconic “Running in the shadows” line, to good effect.

A flurry of hits came next, each featuring a different lead vocalist: “Little Lies,” with Christine McVie up front, was followed by “Dreams” (Stevie Nicks) and “Second Hand News,” off Rumors, with Finn singing lead. Finn matched the soaring intensity of the original vocals without turning to mimicry. His performances throughout the night were solid and almost craftsman-like. It was clear he’s aware of the role he is now playing in a much larger musical machine. “Say You Love Me,” the Christine McVie-penned tune from the band’s 1975’s eponymous record, rounded out the string of chart toppers.