Stevie Nicks & Lindsey Buckingham The Next 2 Weeks Ahead...

The next two weeks are jammed packed with tour dates for both Lindsey and Stevie covering a large swath of US states from the mid-west, to the deep south with 5 of the dates below overlapping one another. A fans dream or nightmare... Tickets are still available for most of these dates.

July 24th - Stevie Nicks (Nashville, TN)
July 26th - Lindsey Buckingham (Birmingham, AL)
July 27th - Stevie Nicks (Washington, DC)
July 27th - Lindsey Buckingham (Franklin, TN) Sold Out
July 28th - Stevie Nicks (Pittsburgh, PA)
July 28th - Lindsey Buckingham (Atlanta, GA)
July 29th - Lindsey Buckingham (Spartanburgh, SC)
July 30th - Stevie Nicks (Milwaukee, WI)
July 31st - Lindsey Buckingham (Charlotte, NC)
Aug 1st - Stevie Nicks (Greensboro, NC)
Aug 1st - Lindsey Buckingham (Willmington, NC)
Aug 2nd - Lindsey Buckingham (Carrboro, NC)
Aug 3rd - Stevie Nicks (Orlando, FL)
Aug 3rd - Lindsey Buckingham (Kernersville, NC)
Aug 4th - Stevie Nicks (Sunrise, FL)
Aug 4th - Lindsey Buckingham (North Charleston, SC)

Link To Buy Tickets

Lindsey Buckingham Live in Orange, TX August 19th 

Tickets go on-sale Thursday, July 26th 

Things I've learned from Stevie Nicks

by Brandi L. Neal
What I Say

Some day Stevie Nicks is going to hire me to ghost write her autobiography – just as soon as I convince her we are perfect for each other. I just saw Stevie in concert again last night in Boston and I am, as usual, amazed at the talent and dedication of this woman. Even as she enters her mid-sixties, she is sexier, more passionate and more talented than performers one-third her age. And, she’s done it all without ever cashing in on her position as a sex symbol. As the woman who penned some of rock ‘n’ roll’s most recognizable songs like “Landslide” and “Gold Dust Woman,” Stevie has earned her position in music history as the only woman to successfully lead a band while simultaneously piloting an equally successful solo career.

I have been enthralled with this gypsy woman ever since I awoke to “Sometimes It’s a Bitch” blaring from my clock radio when I was 13. As a woman and a writer myself, I see Stevie as a role model. She struggled for years cleaning houses and waiting tables before joining the British blues band Fleetwood Mac with then boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham when she was 27, basically turning it on its ear. The group was looking for a guitar player, not a female lead singer and songwriter and only took her because Lindsey refused to join without his musical and life partner. The band figured that if she sucked they could simply sack her. 

At first no one took her very seriously and she had to work twice as hard to prove her worth as critics dismissed her as flaky and her voice as too raucous. During her second album with Fleetwood Mac, Stevie finally earned the respect she deserved when she penned the band’s only number one single, to date “Dreams,” and has since become the most successful and most beloved member of the seventies super group, much to the chagrin of former boyfriend Buckingham.

Though successful and talented beyond comprehension, Stevie is far from perfect. Like every human being she is beautifully flawed, and she’s honest about it. As a nonfiction writer I appreciate when someone can take themselves to task just as much as they take everyone else. Stevie spent decades addicted to cocaine and tranquilizers. She had affairs and ruptured breast implants, and she’ll tell you about all of it. She’ll tell you all of the dirty details, her role in the chaos and how she dug herself out of hell with her bare hands and a little help from her friends. She takes all of the pain she’s walked through and turns it into teachable moments and visceral songwriting, and as a result she is a better artist, a better woman and a better mentor for the next generation of female musicians. In the fifteen years I have seen her in concert, I have never seen Stevie not completely covered from neck to feet, barely even a wrist showing, and I can’t imagine a more appealing or enchanting woman who oozes the natural allure that emanates from Stevie.

After getting her head straight, Stevie started visiting wounded soldiers at Walter Reed hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. Most of these men weren’t even born when she was at the height of her fame snorting a hole through her nose the size of a quarter. Sure maybe they remember their parents rocking out to “Rhiannon,” but these wounded warriors have no idea who Stevie Nicks is, and that’s just fine with her. She brings them iPods loaded with her favorite music. She sits with them. She listens to them. She becomes their mother, sister and friend.

Photo by Pattie D.

After she first began visiting Walter Reed in 2007, Stevie wrote a poem turned song called “Soldier’s Angel” that appears on her most recent album, “In Your Dreams.” At the July 10, 2012 concert in Boston she gave a lengthy introduction to the song that included an onstage appearance by Vincent Mannion, a soldier with Traumatic Brain Injury whom she met during some of her first visits to Walter Reed. Mannion and his family walked onto the stage and embraced Nicks, and amid tears Mannion told the crowd that Stevie was his best friend. 

I have my own issues with war and the military because my father suffered severe post-traumatic stress disorder upon returning from Vietnam and died of alcoholism in 2008. What I can appreciate is Stevie’s commitment to fighting for the best care for these wounded soldiers without taking a stance on the war. No matter my opinion on combat, Americans returning from the trenches deserve the best care available and instead often receive worse care than stray animals, as was the case with my dad, and when he died and was buried in Arizona, I had my own white-winged-dove experience mirroring “The Edge of Seventeen.”

One of the things I love about Stevie is that she’s real. Despite not living in the real world (as Tom Petty likes to remind her), she continues to make new music  four decades into her career because that’s all she’s ever wanted to do. She doesn’t need the money or fame. She doesn’t care if she sells a single record. She does it because she loves it, and when you see her onstage, it’s obvious. She has given up everything for her art -- love, family and a good portion of her sanity -- but she’s not bitter. It would be easy for a woman to get angry about not being able to have it all the way a man can. Her male band mates have young children, an option she gave up a long time ago, because unlike men, women don’t have fifty or sixty years to decide that they’re going to have a family when they get around to it, and few men can withstand being with a powerful women who is always on the road and is more successful than he will ever be. Most men just aren’t this secure. For many women at the top, it’s one thing or the other. 

Despite all of her sacrifices, its clear Stevie has made the right choice. The world is a better place because she’s in it. She’s found out how to navigate and succeed in a man’s world on her terms, as a woman, and she’s an angel to people like Vincent Mannion and his family, and to little girls like me, who can see by her example that it’s okay to make mistakes, it’s better to keep your clothes on, and if you want something badly enough, there is no other option except to go out and get it. 

-- Brandi Neal

Brandi Neal is a professional writer based in Toledo, Ohio. Her writing has appeared in Portland Magazine, Port City Life Magazine, MovieMaker Magazine, Teaching Tolerance Magazine, The Takoma Voice, The Silver Spring Voice, The Community Leader, The Coastal Journal, The Journal Tribune, Mainebiz, Freshly Hatched and the six weekly newspapers of Mainely Media. She was also a fiction editor for the inaugural issue of the literary review, The New Guard and she was the co-editor of the Winter 2011 Edition of Stonecoast Lines. 

Brandineal.com

Reprinted with permission

US Albums Sales Update: Fleetwood Mac | Stevie Nicks + International Charts

AUSTRALIA
July 23, 2012

TOP 100 ALBUMS CHART
# 56 (54) Fleetwood Mac - The Very Best Of

TOP 50 CATALOGUE ALBUMS CHART
# 8 (8) Fleetwood Mac - The Very Best Of
#14 (19) Fleetwood Mac - Greatest Hits

TOP 40 DVD CHART
# 18 (25) Fleetwood Mac - The Dance

IRELAND
July 19, 2012

TOP 100 ALBUMS CHART
# 65 (76) Fleetwood Mac - The Very Best Of
# 98 (87) Fleetwood Mac - Greatest Hits

UK
July 28, 2012

The big story here is that Fleetwood Mac's re-issued "25 Years - The Chain" maintains it's position within the Top 40 Albums Chart in the UK - 6 weeks after it's release.  The 4 CD Box Set continues to be discounted at Amazon and HMV among other retailers.  Currently at Amazon the package is priced at £9.00 and at HMV you can grab 2 For £15.00.

TOP 100 ALBUMS CHART
# 39 (38) Fleetwood Mac - 25 Years - The Chain (4cd Boxset)

TOP 40 CATALOGUE CHART
# 14 Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

USA - Week ending July 15th, Billboard Chart July 28, 2012

Fleetwood Mac's Greatest Hits in it's 3rd week back on Billboards Top 200 albums chart drops down to #185 this week from #91 last week.  Sales for the week ending July 15th were 2,816 units, down 50% from the previous week of 5,612.  Total US album sales since November, 1991 = 4,571,094.

On the Top 200 Catalogue Albums Chart, Fleetwood Mac have 4 albums in the top half beginning with Greatest Hits at #40 down from #9 last week.  The Very Best Of is perched at #56, up from #59 last week.  Rumours moves down to #61 from #40 last week and Fleetwood Mac moves down to #103 from #50 last week.  The Very Best Of sold 2,394 copies vs 2,533 the previous week for an accumulated total in the US since 2002 of 1,497,624.  Rumours sold 2,293 vs 2,889 the previous week for an accumulated total in the US since November, 1991 of 2,973,327. The self titled 1975 Fleetwood Mac album sold 1,932 vs 2,658 the previous week for a total of 857,565 since November, 1991.

On the Top 200 Catalogue Physical Albums Chart Fleetwood Mac's Very Best Of is at #15 this week, down one place from last week.  Physical sales = 2,394.  Fleetwood Mac is at #56 down from #16 the previous week with physical album sales of 1,761 vs 2,488 the previous week.  Stevie Nicks' Bella Donna moves up to #152 on the Physical Album Sales Chart from #158 last week with 1,134 in sales vs 1,163 last week.  Total album sales in the US since November, 1991 = 868,135.  Stevie's Crystal Visions re-enters the Physical Album Sales chart with 1,002 sold for the week vs 995 the previous week.  Total albums sales in the US for Crystal Visions since it's release in 2007 = 394,476.  February, 2011 was the last update on sales for Crystal Visions which at the time was sitting at 348,000 units sold.

On the Top 200 Digital Catalogue Songs Chart last week Landslide sold 5,585 digital units vs 5,033 the previous week. In the last two weeks the song has moved 10,618 digital copies.  Total to date digital sales = 894,947.

BILLBOARD TOP 200 ALBUMS CHART
# 185 (91)  Fleetwood Mac - Greatest Hits (34th week)

TOP 200 CATALOGUE ALBUMS CHART
# 40   (9)   Fleetwood Mac - Greatest Hits
# 56 (59)   Fleetwood Mac - The Very Best Of
# 61 (40)   Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
# 103 (50) Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac

TOP 200 CATALOGUE PHYSICAL ALBUMS CHART
# 15  (14)    Fleetwood Mac - The Very Best Of
# 56  (16)    Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac
# 152 (158) Stevie Nicks - Bella Donna
# 186 (R/E) Stevie Nicks -  Crystal Vision... The Very Best Of

Groupon: See Stevie Nicks with Rod Stewart in Greensboro for $25! Charlotte / Raleigh-Durham, You in?

Charlotte / Raleigh-Durham GROUPON Deal

$25 or $50 to see Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks Live in Greensboro, NC at Greensboro Coliseum... up to 57% off the original ticket price.

Raleigh-Durham
Charlotte

or buy tickets at Ticketmaster

Review/Pics/Vids: Stevie Nicks with Rod Stewart - Cleveland

Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks at Quicken Loans Arena
by Jeff Niesel - Cleveland Scene

Photo by Joe Kleon
Full Gallery of Images

OK, we get it. Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks are both classic rockers. But their differences are more striking than their similarities, something that was certainly true last night at Quicken Loans Arena, the first stop of the summer installment of their “Heart and Soul” co-headlining tour. Even when they performed together during the middle of Stewart’s set, each appeared a bit out of sorts. Nicks wore sunglasses as she and Stewart sang his “Young Turks,” and Stewart, who didn’t seem to know the words, sang only a few verses with Nicks on her “Leather and Lace.” Still, the two seemed to really appreciate each other (Stewart referred to Nicks as his “dear friend”) despite their differences and each delivered a strong performance.

Nicks opened the show with a 90-minute set that benefited from the fact that she had such a strong backing band. Led by guitarist Waddy Wachtel, the ensemble confidently blazed through Fleetwood Mac tunes such as “Dreams,” “Gold Dust Woman” and “Rhiannon.” Nicks’ raspy voice has held up well and she appeared genuinely engaged while singing “Stand Back” and “Edge of Seventeen,” hits from her solo career. A beautiful acoustic version of the Fleetwood Mac tune “Landslide” brought the set to a close. While they’ve become one of her defining traits, the wardrobe changes detracted from the overall performance. Between each song, Nicks would duck into a white tent to change shawls and dresses, but each outfit had a similar Goth-inspired look that made the singer look as if she were stuck in the ’70s.

Photo by: Mike (@fmacnicks1)
For more pics visit Mikes Twitter feed

Continue to the full review at the original site

(unconfirmed) 
The In's and Outs of Stevie's Setlist:
Rock and Roll
Secret Love
Dreams
Moonlight (A Vampire's Dream)
Gold Dust Woman
Soldier's Angel
Stand Back
For What It's Worth
Rhiannon
Edge of Seventeen


Encore:

Photo by:  Marie Lombardo (@mariietard)

Landslide

What's Missing?
(Did Annabel Lee really disappear from the set)

Enchanted
Leather and Lace (performed during Rod's set)
Annabel Lee
Ghosts Are Gone
Love Is

Songs with Rod:
Young Turks
Leather and Lace

Minor but noticeable differences during the two song set with Rod vs last year:
1. Stevie wore her shades during her performace.
2. Stevie kept her dress on from her set whereas last year she changed into a different outfit that included pants or leggings
3. Stevie kept her hair straight vs changing it and adding waves for Rods set.


Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks team up for a crowd-pleasing tour opener at The Q in Cleveland, despite rough edges


Full Review at Cleveland.com | Photo Gallery (10 photos)

Michael Shelley Interview with Fleetwood Mac "Rumours" Producer Ken Caillat! on WFMU [Podcast]

Michael Shelley Radio Show 

July 14, 2012 - WFMU 91.1 FM

Interview with Fleetwood Mac "Rumours" Producer Ken Caillat!

Michael Shelley's playlist, including the interview, includes the Fleetwood mac tunes listed below, most of which can only be found on the reissued and remastered Rumours and Tusk double CD's that were released in 2004.  Re-listen to the show HERE.

4 or 5 Left Over Christine McVie Solo Tunes from
 In The Meantime

A REALLY interesting portion of the interview is when Michael Shelley mentions Fleetwood Mac getting back together in 2013 and asks Ken if they will make a new album and if they were would he be interested in being a part of that.. Ken said, yes he would and that he called Mick Fleetwood, then Ken backed-up abit and said he was talking to Christine a few months ago, she called him to say she enjoyed his book and how he portrayed her in it and that it put passion back in the music for her.  Ken said he then asked Christine why she wasn't playing anymore and she said she gets bored, her hands play the same things etc.  He then went on to tell Michael that he produced Christine's last solo album (In The Meantime) back in 2005 and that he still has the tracks from that, and that there are 4 or 5 tracks off the album that were never used... So when he was talking to Mick, Ken suggested that the band replace the parts on the tracks with Bass parts by John, Guitar by Lindsey and Drums with Mick... and get Stevie and Lindsey on the background tracks... and that would be the first Fleetwood Mac group song(s)!  Christine would love to do it said Ken... Mick said it was a good idea, but the problem is getting everyone to agree to it, and Ken just left it at that...

How exciting would that be??  This is the perfect solution as far as I'm concerned... I've always thought that if Fleetwood Mac were to record again, there's no reason why Christine couldn't participate in the album. SOMEONE... make this happen!!!

These are the tracks featured in the interview:
Fleetwood Mac Second Hand News (rough mix version)

Fleetwood Mac Think About Me (rough mix)
Fleetwood Mac Blue Letter
Fleetwood Mac Cant Walk Out Of Here (rough version of The Ledge)
Fleetwood Mac Don't Stop (rough mix version)
Fleetwood Mac You Make Loving Fun (rough mix)
Ken Caillat INTERVIEW
Fleetwood Mac Go Your Own Way (rough mix)

"Making Rumours" is available, among other places, on AMAZON and visit Rumours The Book on Facebook or the website makingrumours