Fleetwood Mac lives up to expectations, new lineup, same thrill

The whole room swooned — it’s Stevie
Karl Puschmann
The New Zealand Herald
August 30, 2019
Photo: Qudos Bank Arena

Fleetwood Mac lives up to expectations, new lineup, same thrill

There’s charisma, there’s star power and then there’s Stevie Nicks. Dear gawd she’s cool. She didn’t even have to do anything other than walk onto the stage at Sydney’s Qudos Banks Arena for me to feel it in every fibre of my deeply uncool bones.

I’d been pretty excited to see Fleetwood Mac live, despite not being a purist. I don’t know the deep cuts,

heck, I don’t even really know the mid cuts, but I really love the band’s hits. And that’s what I was there for.

So I applauded with appropriate enthusiasm when new guitarist, and ex-Tom Petty’s Heartbreaker, Mike Campbell walked on stage clad in the rockstar attire of a zebra print jacket, crimson shades and wide-rimmed hat. I gave Neil Finn a hometown holla as he took up his new residence at the front of the stage, and the longstanding duo of bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood got a cheer.

But then Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks walked out and the whole room swooned and I felt something like a cosmic gut punch. It was powerful and visceral and stopped me in my claps. Feeling the collective energy of 21,000 people all simultaneously in total awe and slightly gobsmacked is a trip, man.

FLEETWOOD MAC Brisbane "It’s a night full of hits, a subtle sidestep around Tusk"

Fleetwood Mac - Brisbane Entertainment Centre
August 20, 2019
by Lauren Baxter
Photos Bianca Holderness
The Music

Walking into Brisbane’s Entertainment Centre, what looks like netball training is just wrapping up. Teens in lycra stream out of the adjacent sports complex and we overhear one ask another, “Who’s playing tonight?” 

“Dunno, some old-school band,” they reply. 

There’s a completely different vibe in the room by the time we take our seats, a wholesome group nearby welcoming us to their “concert family”, forewarning there will be plenty of dancing. No complaints here, it’s Fleetwood Mac after all – shawls and twirling are a given. We overhear parents congratulating one another for bringing their kids and raising them right and bets are made as to what the opening track will be. “You can Go Your Own Way home because it won't be The Chain...” It's The Chain.

And what a way to start. Lindsey Buckingham’s absence doesn’t seem to phase the crowd (another overheard moment: “I can live without Lindsey but I can’t live without Christine”) and his replacements, the beloved (adopted) Australian Neil Finn and Heartbreaker Mike Campbell, slot into the mix effortlessly. 

REVIEW Fleetwood Mac Brisbane "It’s rare for such a historical band to only sound better as the years go on"

Fleetwood Mac – Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Written by Jack Gobbe
Photo by Mitch Lowe
SaveTonight
CLICK THROUGH FOR PHOTO GALLERY

It’s rare for such a historical band to only sound better as the years go on. But if any band could, it would be Fleetwood Mac. Over fifty-two years, Fleetwood Mac has undergone various transformations, as members come and go. Recent years have found the most iconic lineup of Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Stevie Nicks, Christina McVie and Lindsey Buckingham tour for the masses, although heightened disagreements between Nicks and Buckingham saw the latter depart the band last year.

And thus formed what almost seems like a rock super-group at this point, as the addition of Crowded House frontman Neil Finn and former guitarist of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Mike Campbell allows for a breath of fresh air into the iconic lineup. Regardless of who’s playing what, Fleetwood Mac have undeniably stood the test of time, punters young and old uniting at Brisbane Entertainment Centre to catch one of the most important bands

The night was dominated by ‘Rumours’, the album that broke the band in more ways than one. As fractured relationships within the band reached their breaking point, the band’s eleventh album was a turning point in their career. As such, it was only fitting for the record to have a significant presence throughout the night, particularly as the relationship between Nicks and Buckingham has recently reached another point of conflict.

‘The Chain’ opened the night, the grand scale of the track showcasing how tight this new iteration of Fleetwood Mac is. As the track built up to its sweeping climax, you couldn’t help but sit back and prepare for a night of rock mastery. Just two songs later, ‘Dreams’sent the audience into a frenzy. The hypnotic guitar licks echoed through the venue, forcing hips to sway and hands to rise. Nicks’ everlasting vocal capacity carried the chorus to a triumphant peak, allowing the audience to revel in what is arguably one of the biggest songs to come out of the 1970s.

Despite kicking things off with many of their greatest hits, Fleetwood Mac surged through their two hour set with a repertoire of songs that never failed to amaze the crowd – a testament to their powerful discography. Deeper cuts such as ‘Black Magic Woman’ and ‘Oh Well’allowed the band to exhibit the wildly different sounds that come from a band with such longevity. While ‘Black Magic Woman’found Nicks crooning along with the bluesy cut, ‘Oh Well’saw Campbell deliver frolicking guitar-led song that wouldn’t sound out of place as the theme song for a Western.

And then there were the covers, a surprisingly vital part of the night. It’s not every night that a band’s biggest singalong is a cover, although that is exactly what happened when Finn performed his beloved Crowded House track ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’. Similarly, Tom Petty was honoured in the encore as the band covered ‘Free Fallin’, a moving tribute that sees Nicks and Finn trading perfect harmonies while Campbell honours his late frontman with dazzling guitar work.

‘Don’t Stop’seems only fitting as a closer, the title reflecting many fans’ feelings towards the night. Fleetwood Mac hasn’t stopped for fifty-two years, and by the looks of it, they won’t be stopping anytime soon.

Who would have thought that we'd still be seeing Fleetwood Mac in 2019?

Seeing Fleetwood Mac in 2019 is a strange experience — but they’ve always been a strange band

By Dan Condon
ABC.net.au
Photos Robbie Smith

 If their songs weren't so strong, endurance may be Fleetwood Mac's greatest legacy

Thirty minutes into Fleetwood Mac's set at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre this week, Stevie Nicks admitted that she didn’t realise 'Black Magic Woman' was a Fleetwood Mac song until well after she’d joined the band.

It's an astounding admission. Sure, the song had been popularised by Santana's 1970 cover, but to not know the extent of your new band's catalogue – especially the hits – before joining is almost unthinkable.

But this says more about the strange and complex entity that is Fleetwood Mac than it does Nicks' own knowledge gaps. This is a band whose history is confusing, whose music is wildly diverse, and who continue to keep us guessing.

Who would have thought that we'd still be seeing Fleetwood Mac in 2019? Moreover, who'd have thought that Neil Finn and Tom Petty collaborator Mike Campbell would join the band?

You don't get a timeline like this without a strange history.

That's why the prospect of seeing this wildly new incarnation of one of the history's most celebrated rock bands doesn't seem completely unfaithful. Consistency is not Fleetwood Mac's strong-point. When their line-up has remained staid, their very existence has been precarious, reportedly fraught with infighting and ill-feelings.

If nothing else, you have to respect the band's endurance. That they are still touring in any form feels almost miraculous.

But are they any good?

REVIEW Fleetwood Mac Brisbane August 20, 2019

STILL GOING THEIR OWN WAY
Andrew McMillen
The Australian

Since it began as a British rock band in 1967, Fleetwood Mac has undergone 19 iterations while steadily adding Americans and, most recently, a New Zealander to its line-up. Its only remaining founding member is drummer Mick Fleetwood, who recently described each version of the group as “incredibly different musical episodes in this Shakespearean play we blundered into”.

Whether at work, at play, at each others’ throats or at risk of dying young from excessive drug consumption, this group of artists has produced some of the finest songs in popular music, which is why tickets to these tours continue to sell at premium prices, and why audiences continue to show up by the tens of thousands.

Few albums in rock ’n’ roll history have sold more copies — or prompted more commentary about the unique interpersonal dynamics that surrounded its creation — than 1977’s Rumours. Towards the end of the year of its release, the group — Fleetwood, singer Stevie Nicks, singer-guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, singerkeyboardist Christine McVie and bassist John McVie — visited Australia for a tour named Rockarena, on a bill that also featured Santana and Little River Band.

REVIEW Fleetwood Mac Live in Brisbane August 20, 2019

A crowded house for Fleetwood Mac’s Brisbane return
Lydia Lynch
BrisbaneTimes.com

The first few songs of Fleetwood Mac’s Brisbane return roused cringe-worthy flashbacks to one of those work Christmas parties where you end up at a dingy karaoke bar in the early hours of the morning.

The sound was off, the vocals felt groggy and the sparkle that fuelled decades of success for the 50-year-old band was just not there.

That was until the group launched into the first bars of Black Magic Woman, penned by former band member Peter Green, and the hypnotic Fleetwood Mac spirit arrived.

“When we first went into rehearsal for this tour we went through our history of Fleetwood Mac and we picked out a couple of songs we thought you might enjoy,” Stevie Nicks told the crowd on Tuesday night.