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REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac at The Forum

FLEETWOOD MAC
Great Western Forum
Inglewood, California
December 7th, 1990

It was supposed to be a grand send-off for two women marking the end of their days with Fleetwood Mac, but the life of the party turned out to be the guy who’d left the band a few years back. Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie celebrated their departure from the touring version of Fleetwood Mac with one final show at the Great Western Forum – while Lindsey Buckingham, who’d never had the chance to do this kind of ceremonial swan song because he quit the group rancorously just before a tour, showed up to lend support and wound up stealing the show.

In a way, it figures. The classic Fleetwood Mac lineup, the one that hit its commercial and artistic peak with the albums Rumours and Tusk, was made up of Nicks, McVie and Buckingham, in addition to drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie. It was a precarious blend of mercurial, difficult personalities balanced on a knife edge; the new Mac, with singer-guitarists Billy Burnette and Rick Vito replacing Buckingham, is less explosive, more pedestrian and harder to get nostalgic about.

As a result, what could have been a teary, emotional evening full of fond farewells and charged performances of songs that’ll soon be retired turned out to be a pretty routing performance. Beginning with the foreboding “In the Back of My Mind” – the most adventurous tune on the recent album Behind the Mask – the band ran through a variation of the set it’s been doing for about a decade and a half now. “The Chain,” “Dreams,” “Rhiannon” and “Oh Well” come early on; then there’s a break while Nicks does an acoustic version of “Landslide”; Fleetwood takes a long drum solo on “World Turning”; rockers like “Say You Love Me” end the set; and then Christine McVie does the final encore singing “Songbird” alone at the piano.

It should have been possible to give this business-as-usual set some extra fervor, but that rarely happened. Nicks in particular seemed to be going through the motions; not only did she invest onetime show stoppers like “Rhiannon” with little of the passion she used to display, but she didn’t even twirl around waving her scarves very often. In fact, the only time she seemed fully committed to a song was when she did “Stand Back” – not a Fleetwood Mac song, but a single from one of her solo albums.

Christine McVie, meanwhile, contributed a few of the evening’s more bracing songs, from “Say You Love Me” to the set-closing duo of “You Make Loving Fun” and “Don’t Stop.” But McVie functions best as the calm in the eye of the storm – and between Nicks’s listless performance and the relatively colorless tunes provided by Burnette and Vito, she simply didn’t have enough storm to work with.

In the end it was left to Buckingham to ignite the evening’s only real sparks. He walked onstage midway through the show to accompany Nicks on “Landslide” and immediately added a bit of tension. “I know that maybe someday he will find it in his heart to spend some time with me again, and maybe do some music,” Nicks said of her former band mate and lover, suggesting that a few emotional loose ends are still dangling around the duo.

Buckingham returned with the entire band for the encore, playing along on a version of the rockabilly chestnut “Tear It Up” and then leading the band through his magnificent “Go Your Own Way.” For a moment he reverted to his old self, staggering across the stage spastically as he ripped our a blistering guitar solo – while Nicks, either in a bit of one-upmanship or oblivious to what was going on behind her, marched around the stage with a preschool-aged Stevie wanna-be she’d dragged out of the audience.

That’s the kind of drama, and the kind of music, that once enlivened and invigorated Fleetwood Mac. It probably isn’t what’s in store for the band, though: Whenever Burnette or Vito led the group, Fleetwood Mac became, at worst, a professional and faceless rock band, and, at best, a group of convincing blues rockers. Judging by the Forum show, Fleetwood Mac’s road from here will be less rocky – and less interesting.

Photo: Billy Burnette, Lindsey Buckingham and Rick Vito (from left)

Photo: Christine McVie

Photo: Stevie Nicks

Steve Pond / Rolling Stone / February 2, 1991 (Issue 597, p26.)

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LIVE IN CONCERT (2024)

Stevie Nicks

MAY 3, 2024 – MAY 5, 2024
Lovin’ Life Fest
Charlotte, NC
TICKETS

MAY 7, 2024
Enterprise Center
St Louis, MO
TICKETS

MAY 10, 2024
WinStar World Casino & Resort
Thackerville, OK
TICKETS

MAY 14, 2024
Bridgestone Arena
Nashville, TN
TICKETS

MAY 18, 2024
Frost Bank Center
San Antonio, TX
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MAY 21, 2024
Yaamava’ Resort & Casino – Yaamava’ Theater
Highland, CA
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MAY 24, 2024
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Napa, CA
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MAY 27, 2024
Delta Center
Salt Lake City, UT
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Indianapolis, IN
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MVP Arena
Albany, NY
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JUN 15
Hersheypark Stadium
Hershey, PA
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JUN 18
Van Andel Arena
Grand Rapids, MI
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JUN 21, 2024 (with Billy Joel)
Soldier Field
Chicago, IL
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JUL 12, 2024
BST Hyde Park
London, England
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^ Non-Live Nation show


Previous 2023 dates

March 10, 2023 – BILLY JOEL
Los Angeles, CA
SoFi Stadium

March 15, 2023
Seattle, WA
Climate Pledge Arena

March 18, 2023
Las Vegas, NV
T-Mobile Arena

May 12, 2023
Raleigh, NC
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May 16, 2023
Knoxville, TN
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Nissan Stadium

May 22, 2023
Atlanta, GA
State Farm Arena

May 25, 2023
Orlando, FL
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Philadelphia, PA
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Toronto, ON (Canada)
Scotiabank Arena

June 23, 2023
Chicago, IL
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June 27, 2023
Louisville, KY
KFC Yum! Center

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Columbus, OH
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August 8, 2023
Milwaukee, WI
Fiserv Forum

August 12, 2023
Houston, TX
Toyota Center

August 15, 2023
Austin, TX
Moody Center

August 19, 2023 – BILLY JOEL
Kansas City, MO
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September 23, 2023 – BILLY JOEL
Foxborough, MA
Gillette Stadium

September 27, 2023
Pittsburgh, PA
PPG Paints Arena

October 1, 2023
New York, NY
Madison Square Garden

October 4, 2023
Buffalo, NY
KeyBank Center

October 7, 2023 – BILLY JOEL
Baltimore, MD 
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October 28, 2023
Memphis, TN
FedEx Forum

November 1, 2023
Savannah, GA
Enmarket Arena

November 4, 2023
Allentown, PA
PPL Center

November 7, 2023
Detroit, MI
Little Caesars Arena

November 10, 2023 – BILLY JOEL
Minneapolis, MN
U.S. Bank Stadium

November 29, 2023
San Diego, CA
Viejas Arena

December 2, 2023
Inglewood, CA
The Kia Forum

December 5, 2023
Palm Desert, CA
Acisure Arena

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Phoenix, AZ
Chase Field

December 12, 2023
Sacramento, CA
Golden 1 Center

December 15, 2023
San Francisco, CA
Chase Center

FEB 10, 2024
Mark G Etess Arena
Atlantic City, NJ

FEB 14, 2024
UBS Arena
Belmont Park, NY

FEB 17, 2024
CFG Bank Arena
Baltimore, MD

FEB 21, 2024
Bon Secours Wellness Arena
Greenville, SC

FEB 24, 2024
Hard Rock Live
Hollywood, FL

FEB 28, 2024
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New Orleans, LA

MAR 3, 2024
CHI Health Center
Omaha, NE

MAR 6, 2024
Simmons Bank Arena
North Little Rock, AR

MAR 9, 2024
AT&T Stadium
Arlington, TX
Billy Joel

 



2022 Tour

Stevie Nicks

Jazz Aspen Snowmass
Snowmass, CO
Labor Day 2022

Ravinia Festival
Highland Park, IL
September 8, 2022
September 10, 2022

Pine Knob Music Theatre
Clarkston, MI
September 13, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton

Sea Hear Now Festival
Asbury, NJ
September 17, 2022

Xfinity Center
Mansfield, MA
September 19, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton

Maine Savings Amphitheatre
Bangor, ME
September 22, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton

Sound on Sound Festival
Bridgeport, CT
September 24-25, 2022

Ohana Festival
Dana Point, CA
September 30, 2022

Hollywood Bowl
Los Angeles, CA
October 3, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton

POSTPONED
Ak-Chin Pavilion

Phoenix, AZ
October 6, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton

POSTPONED
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

The Woodlands, TX
October 9, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton

Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
Alpharetta, GA
October 12, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton

Ascend Amphitheater
Nashville, TN
October 16, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton

Credit One Stadium
Charleston, SC
October 19, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton

PNC Music Pavilion
Charlotte, NC
October 22, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton

MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
Tampa, FL
October 25, 2022
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iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
West Palm Beach, FL
October 28, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton

Orion Amphitheatre
Huntsville, AL
October 31, 2022

RESCHEDULED SHOWS

Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
The Woodlands, TX
November 2, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton

Ak-Chin Pavilion
Phoenix, AZ
November 5, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton