The always animated Mick Fleetwood may be one of the most entertaining drummers in music. He and his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band, Fleetwood Mac, delivered an almost three-hour marathon at The Q Saturday night.
Fleetwood Mac gave a concert Saturday night at The Q with Mick Fleetwood on drums, Lindsey Buckingham on guitar and vocals, John McVie on bass and Stevie Nicks on vocals, and they were aided by a backing band that provided an extra guitar and keyboards as well as a couple of harmony singers who sang on a lot of the 23 songs the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers did in a two-hours and 40 minute set that included hits from the beginning to the current days of a career, at least with Buckingham and Nicks in the fold, back in the early 1970s, but really couldn’t quite recapture the magic of those days, despite some really impressive guitar work and a stellar drum solo by Fleetwood, mainly because Nicks has lost a little of the somewhat limited range she had to begin with.
My computer tells me that paragraph has 145 words, and my instincts tell me you probably quit reading about 30 words into it. Which goes to prove the point that there’s a lot to be said for editing. Sentences AND concerts can be too long.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has scores of inductees, and few are more worthy of the honor than Fleetwood Mac. The band’s catalog – from Rumours’ to the newest release, a four-song EP called, fittingly, Extended Play’ – is a testament to the talents of Fleetwood, McVie (both John and his ex-wife and former bandmate, Christine), Buckingham and Nicks.
“Second Hand News,’’ “Rhiannon,’’ “Tusk,’’ “Never Going Back Again,’’ “Go Your Own Way,’’ “Don’t Stop’’ and the rest were, for a lot of us, the first “grown-up’’ songs we fell in love with. They were and are the tunes you can hear over and over and find new meaning and nuances in each listen.
Chuck Yarborough / The Plain Dealer / Sunday, June 16, 2013