What’s up with the hipster-led Fleetwood Mac revival going on right now?
Let’s look at the evidence: Ruminative indie-darling Nicholas Jaar started his Coachella weekend one set with “The Chain.” Last month Gossip it-Girl Leighton Meester and her friend did an earnest and well-rendered cover of “Dreams” that got blogs all buzzy.
Oh, and then in 2012 there were not one, but two Fleetwood Mac tribute albums featuring indie-leaning groups. One had Best Coast, Tame Impala, St. Vincent, and The Kills, while the other had Yeasayer, Liars, and Julia Holter.
But for up-to-the-minute proof of the Fleetwood Mac hysteria sweeping the greater Silver Lake/Echo Park metropolitan area, behold the “Fleetmac Wood” party going down at the Short Stop tomorrow night, April 30. More than just a regular old tribute night, it’s a “re-edit project and party dedicated to the music of one of the greatest bands of our time,” according to London-transplants and husband and wife DJ-team founders Alex Oxley and Lisa Jelliffe.
Jelliffe gave us the scoop.
Tell us about the Fleetmac Wood parties.
Lisa Jelliffe: I used to put on these sort of West coast / yacht rock / disco nights in London and I always had this idea that I wanted to put on a Fleetwood Mac only event. This sort of came about from a love of their music, but also from an insight that quite often at parties, someone would put on a Fleetwood Mac greatest hits album and it would end up playing all night.[laughs]
Which was a clue to the fact that people love Fleetwood Mac. It creates such a great party atmosphere. The first party was this small basement in London. And Psychmagik made it their launch-party for their hit remix of “Dreams” which ended up getting millions of hits on Soundcloud. Everyone sort of just gets drunk and bangs on a tambourine and sings at the top of their lungs. It’s like, everyone can gorge on their favorite musical food. It’s an idea and an experience…it’s something more immersive than a regular club night. There’s a heavy representation of women at our events, too.
Even though I kind of know the answer, why did you decide to hold this at the Short Stop in Echo Park?
There seems to be a lot more going on on that side of town and we very much like a more word of mouth kind of event.
What do you make of the whole Fleetwood Mac revival?
I think what they are is essentially a supergroup. What they bring to the band is so much talent. It’s rock and roll that works on the dance floor. And edit-wise there’s so many different genres that they span…you’ve got pretty much every genre throughout their career. But I think there’s not much pop music out there that’s like that, I think they’re kind of filling a hole that no one’s been able to crack now. These are the best musicians in the world. I don’t think you get the same level of craftsmanship that you get with a band like that.
Why does everyone want to look like Stevie Nicks now?
Well, she was quite unfashionable for awhile. She’s an inspiring woman. She’s a survivor and she’s got a lot of stories to tell. She’s never going to stop being Stevie Nicks. I love her commitment to being an artist and her commitment to being herself. And we don’t have enough female role models of a certain age. We’ve got enough old rocking guys, but there’s not many older women who keep going. Most of them kind of get phased out or phase themselves out of the media, and she’s like, “No, I’m fucking Stevie Nicks, and I will continue to be.”
Ok, Jelliffe’s enthusiasm has caught on, we’re sold. Fetch us our Victorian waistcoats. More info on the party here
Paul T. Bradley / Rock That’s, Like, Classic / LA Weekly / Wednesday, April 30, 2014
