REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac bewitches crowd

There needs to come a point when you believe in the band. Otherwise, you’re watching a classic rock jukebox.

We look for that moment when we forget about the baby sitter, the $200 or so spent on the ticket, the fact that we’ve heard these tunes more than a million times.

On Saturday, during Fleetwood Mac’s close-to-sold-out performance in First Niagara Center, that moment came early. Guitarist Lindsey Buckingham strode to the edge of the stage after the lights had been dimmed, looked around, said a brief hello to the front rows, and then dug into the swampy and sultry deep blues riff that signifies the beginning of the Mac’s evergreen hit, “The Chain.”

Buckingham hunkered down, dug into it, and made it plain to all that he had come not merely to collect a paycheck, but to play.

From there on, it was smooth sailing.

Buckingham led the version of Fleetwood Mac that most of us know and love – the group responsible for “Rumours,” “Tusk,” and “Tango In the Night” – through a hits-heavy set that walked the tightrope between easygoing ’70s pop-rock and deep-cutting avant-garde pop.

Of course, Buckingham is not the most famous member of Fleetwood Mac. That would be Stevie Nicks, his ex, and forevermore his partner in pop. Nicks is an icon, but Buckingham is a musical genius. On Saturday, their sparring made for abundant entertainment.

Fleetwood Mac has made a habit of including Buffalo in its tours since re-forming in the late ’90s. But this particular tour stop boasted something more than simply a run-through of “Rumours” and associated hits. This was in fact the first time area audiences have seen keyboardist and vocalist Christine McVie perform with the band in more than 15 years. McVie’s tunes – her “You Make Loving Fun,” “Everywhere,” “Say You Love Me” and “Over My Head,” among others – offered soulful highlights. She seems to have lost nothing in the vocal department – she nailed every part she should have, and did so with soul.

This was a hits show, to be certain, but in Fleetwood Mac’s case, that needn’t be a negative. The group has scored platinum with some rather adventurous tunes, and a mid-set focus on the freak manifesto that is “Tusk” made this plain. Buckingham’s “I Know I’m Not Wrong” and “Tusk” led nicely into Nicks’ “Sisters of the Moon,” and earned the crowd’s respect, apparently. The place exploded.

Nicks doesn’t have the voice she once did, but then, who would? She’s in her later 60s now, and if she couldn’t hit the high notes during “Rhiannon” and “Dreams,” she wisely chose the low road, while three backing vocalists, joined by Buckingham and McVie, fleshed out the harmonies. None of it felt fake or forced – this was a band that seemed grateful to be playing for an appreciative audience.

Nicks told a particularly cool story that involved her trademark top hat, an accessory she was rarely seen without during Mac’s “Rumours” heyday. The singer told the assembled that it was during a tour stop in Buffalo – one assumes that it would have been the 1975 pre-”Rumours” stop that is recorded as having taken place at the old Century Theatre – that she purchased said hat. This brought a huge roar from the crowd, which was made up of a cross section of 50-, 40-, 30- and, surprisingly, 20-somethings.

Fleetwood Mac still has it, as Saturday’s show made plain. Everyone pulled their weight, especially the recently returned McVie, whose voice was pure gold.

But like every other Fleetwood Mac show since he joined the band in 1974, this one belonged to Lindsey Buckingham. He is one of the true pop geniuses to have emerged from the ’70s, and on Saturday, he proved it one more time.

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Jeff Miers / The Buffalo News / Saturday, January 31, 2015

REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac doesn’t disappoint at FNC show

Last Saturday, people poured into the First Niagara Center to see an act that last performed in Buffalo almost 30 years ago.

Fleetwood Mac played the 46th show of its “On With the Show” tour, and it went off with a bang.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the group did not disappoint.

The show was all about the music, the band stopping only a few times to tell a few brief anecdotes, and welcome back keyboardist Christine McVie.

There was no opening act. The band came out and immediately went into “The Chain.”

Stevie Nicks’ distinct voice seemed to put the audience in a trance, especially during “Rhiannon,” despite Nicks no longer being able to hit the high notes.

The set was simple, just the band’s instruments on stage with psychedelic backgrounds changing as the set list went on.

The group performed with passion and enthusiasm, especially Lindsey Buckingham’s performance of “Big Love.”

Fleetwood Mac, a band that started in 1967, has spanned generations and is finding a new following thanks to the hit FX show “American Horror Story.” In the show’s second season, Lily Rabe plays Misty Day, a witch obsessed with Stevie Nicks. Nicks also has appeared on the show.

During Saturday night’s performance, Nicks thanked the TV show, and told the audience “Keep watching, it’s crazy!”

Eight Fleetwood Mac songs have been featured on “American Horror Story.” In her TV appearance, Nicks performed “Seven Wonders” while wearing one of her signature top hats.

She told the First Niagara crowd that she purchased her first top hat in Buffalo, and that’s when the fad began.

She then went on to dedicate the song “Landslide” to Buffalo, saying “My top hat thanks you!”

The band performed two encores, and the audience stayed put for both of them.

Overall, Fleetwood Mac did not disappoint its fans who came out to support them after all these years.

Rebecca Brandel is a junior at Mount St. Mary Academy.

Rebecca Brandel / Buffalo News / Thursday, February 5, 2015