Seven shows remain in Fleetwood Mac’s highly successful North American tour. The band will perform in the following cities before taking a break to rest and prepare for the European leg of the tour, which kicks off in Dublin, Ireland on September 20:
June 24, Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte NC
June 26, Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines IA
June 29, Spokane Arena, Spokane WA
June 30, Rose Garden Arena, Portland OR
July 3, Staples Center, Los Angeles CA
July 5, Viejas Arena, San Diego CA
July 6, Sleep Train Arena, Sacramento CA
European concert goers can expect to hear a revised set list of Fleetwood Mac classics and a special guest performance from former member Christine McVie, who is scheduled to appear at the band’s first London show on September 24, according to sources close to the band.
September 20, O2 Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
September 21, O2 Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
September 24, O2 Arena, London, United Kingdom
September 25, O2 Arena, London, United Kingdom
September 27, O2 Arena, London, United Kingdom
September 29, LG Arena Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
October 1, Manchester Arena, Manchester, United Kingdom
October 3, The Hydro, Glasgow, United Kingdom
October 6, Lanxess Arena, Cologne, Germany
October 7, Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam, Netherlands
October 9, Sport Palais, Antwerp, Belgium
October 11, Bercy, Paris, France
October 13, Hallenstadion, Zurich, Switzerland
October 14, Schleyerhalle, Stuttgart, Germany
October 16, O2 World, Berlin, Germany
October 18, Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning, Denmark
October 20, Oslo Spektrum, Oslo, Norway
October 23, Globen, Stockholm, Sweden
October 26, Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tickets are still available for some shows. Visit FleetwoodMac.com for official tour information and FleetwoodMac-UK for tour news and resources for European fans.
On a warm summer evening on June 22, Fleetwood Mac performed at the Nikon at Jones Beach Theater in Long Island, New York, for a packed amphitheater.
They commenced their set with “Second Hand News” and they followed it up with “The Chain,” as well as the classic “Dreams.”
Other noteworthy tunes that they performed in sequence included “Sad Angel,” “Rhiannon,” “Not That Funny,” “Tusk,” “Sisters of the Moon,” “Sara,” as well as “Big Love.”
Prior to introducing “Landslide,” Stevie noted that the song was written in 1973 and it subsequently became one of the group’s signature songs. “There are so many people here that I cannot thank enough for everything that they have done. First of all, I would like to dedicate this song to a girl, Jana that wrote this beautiful article about me. I want to thank her so much and I will never forget it since it lives in my journal and it goes from journal to journal,” the rock songstress remarked.
Her soaring rendition of “Landslide” showcased Nicks’ distinct lilting vocals.
Equally captivating were “Gypsy,” “Gold Dust Woman,” as well as Stevie Nicks’ smash hit as a solo artist “Stand Back.”
They closed with “Go Your Own Way,” and returned for an encore that included such vocals as “World Turning,” “Don’t Stop (Thinking About Tomorrow),” as well as “Silver Springs” and “Say Goodbye.”
Overall, Fleetwood Mac gave a tremendous live show at Jones Beach. Stevie Nicks nailed the vocals and John McVie rocked the bass guitar. Lindsey Buckingham proved that he is one of the best lead guitarists the rock genre of music has to offer and Mick Fleetwood was phenomenal on drums and percussion.
They were able to breathe new life into these timeless hits and introduce them to a brand new generation of fans. The group interacted extensively with the crowd throughout the evening and Stevie proved that she is a great storyteller, in addition to a gifted vocalist. For passion and enthusiasm alone, their show garners 5 out of 5 stars.
According to Christine Nagy, esteemed radio personality from New York’s 106.7 Lite FM, she remarked, “Stevie Nicks is such a timeless and ageless singer and songwriter, as well as a super front-woman. She is the only member of Fleetwood Mac who gets to perform her solo song, ‘Stand Back,’ in their concerts. She is also a strong, single woman who has dedicated her life to her art, especially since she spends her free time visiting wounded soldiers. There aren’t many stars that will downsize their lives to spend more time doing charity work. I really admire her.”
For more information on Fleetwood Mac, visit their official website.
Markos Papadatos / Examiner / Monday, June 24, 2013
Fleetwood Mac (Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood) have been on the road for the past couple months for their first full tour in a few years, which already hit MSG, and returned to the NYC-area for a show at Nikon at Jones Beach Theater on Saturday (6/22). The tour is in celebration of a lot of things. They’re supporting a new EP (their first new material in ten years) and the 35th anniversary reissue of Rumours. And as Lindsey mentioned on stage, they’re celebrating the fact that when you go against the music industry’s formula (in Fleetwood Mac’s case, when they released the “difficult” double album, Tusk, as the followup to Rumours), sometimes time can treat the artistic decision well.
The Jones Beach show was my first time seeing Fleetwood Mac, so I can’t comment on how it compared to seeing them in their prime, but besides all the retrospective stuff they were talking about on stage, they seemed more like a band hungry to tour again than a nostalgia act. Lindsey is a wildly impressive guitarist to watch, and not only does he still have the stage presence, but he would often put so much into a song that by the end of it, he was panting, stomping the ground, and triumphantly throwing his fist in the air. He practically screamed all of “Not That Funny,” pulled off an intricate solo-acoustic rendition of the usually multi-layered “Big Love,” and stole the show with his song-ending guitar solo on “Go Your Own Way.” Stevie is still great on stage too and her voice is commanding as ever. She had many show-stealing moments too, leading the crowd in sing-alongs with “Dreams,” “Landslide,” and one of her solo cuts, “Stand Back,” but if I had to say, she was most in full force during “Silver Springs,” the “Go Your Own Way” b-side that ended up on the new Rumours reissue.
Not only was this my first time at Jones Beach Theater in a long time, it was also my first time this year, which means it was my first time seeing the venue since it re-opened after being severely damaged by Hurricane Sandy. (The only other two shows there this year so far were Rascal Flatts or Pitbull.) The brand new stage and boardwalk look great again, and Stevie mentioned on stage that they’ve got all new dressing rooms too. Mick also mentioned how happy he was to see the place back in good shape during the speech he gave at the end of the show. The next Jones Beach show is Rush tonight (6/23).
Fleetwood Mac at Jones Beach – 6/22/13 Setlist:
Second Hand News
The Chain
Dreams
Sad Angel
Rhiannon
Not That Funny
Tusk
Sisters Of The Moon
Sara
Big Love
Landslide
Never Going Back Again
Without You
Gypsy
Eyes of the World
Gold Dust Woman
I’m So Afraid
Stand Back (Stevie Nicks song)
Go Your Own Way
Fleetwood Mac performed in concert at the newly restored Nikon @ Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, New York on Saturday evening. Fans enjoyed warm weather and watched a full moon shining brightly, high above the theater as Fleetwood Mac performed.
Stevie dedicated “Landside” to two people: Jada Yuan, the New York Magazine journalist who wrote an outstanding piece on Stevie; and Doug Morris, currently Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment, who helped Stevie launch her solo career in 1981. A video clip with the full dedication of “Landslide” is posted below, courtesy of Boston Steve.
Here is amateur footage from the show. Special thanks to Amlyn75, Boston Steve, ellellew, funfamily6, Glenn GeoVott, Shannon Korzecmay, marty7433 and platoplates for making these clips available.
2. The Chain (courtesy of platoplates)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G25suhgU_j4]
3. Dreams (courtesy of platoplates)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD7k_ekP1jU]
5. Rhiannon (courtesy of platoplates)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g47oaIl7c54]
8. Sisters of the Moon (courtesy of Glenn GeoVott)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knUcb2JehPs]
8. Sisters of the Moon – partial (courtesy of Shannon Korzecmay)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNKeNNs7VgE]
9. Sara (courtesy of Boston Steve)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruRJXQd1peQ]
11. Landslide – with dedication (courtesy of Boston Steve)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12Iono8mbjg]
11. Landslide – partial (courtesy of funfamily6)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhIWBgkXx_4]
12. Never Going Back Again (courtesy of marty7433)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpPuQhi_L-w]
13. Without You (courtesy of Amlyn75)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ka2tYfQ0jU]
14. Gypsy (courtesy of Boston Steve)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP52eWrylF4]
16. Gold Dust Woman (courtesy of Boston Steve)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dQQA3heS-k]
17. I’m So Afraid (courtesy of ellellew)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs_gPjIr4W0]
18. Stand Back – partial (courtesy of Glenn GeoVott)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAUDh4tLtqU]
19. Go Your Own Way (courtesy of Glenn GeoVott)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1ulv2GkXtw]
19. Go Your Own Way – short clip (courtesy of Amlyn75)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TACrdlvuRDA]
First Encore (courtesy of Amlyn75)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtNHUgAF3Lo]
20. World Turning (courtesy of Glenn GeoVott)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doRuie2hJdM]
21. Don’t Stop (courtesy of Glenn GeoVott)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=348tAtC9S70]
Second Encore (courtesy of Amlyn75)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QQPhc9FwhY]
23. Say Goodbye – intro only (courtesy of Amlyn75)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6sI4I2FUXs]
Final bows (courtesy of Amlyn75)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkA8ahojamE]
Fleetwood Mac’s 2013 Live Tour is said to be celebrating the 35th Anniversary of their iconic Rumours album, but their two-and-a-half hour concert Friday night before about 19,000 fans at the Comcast Center in Mansfield (close to, but not quite a sellout) included much more. The quartet, enhanced by two extra musicians and two harmony vocalists, performed a healthy cross-section of their vast catalog, as well as a new song, and an old one most of us hadn’t heard before.
Publicity for this tour noted that it includes original members John McVie on bass and Mick Fleetwood on drums, both of them dating back to the band’s 1967 founding, as well as 1975 recruits Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. There was no mention of McVie’s former wife, Christine McVie, who’d joined the band in 1970 and retired from the road in 1998. So it was not a surprise that last night’s show didn’t include a lot of Christine McVie songs, and while the band did do nine tunes from Rumours, they did not play three Christine McVie-penned numbers from that album, including “You Make Loving Fun.” But since we’re talking about an album that sold somewhere between 40-50 million units worldwide, there were still plenty of Fleetwood Mac nuggets to play.
John McVie and Fleetwood came out of a blues-rock background, of course, while Buckingham and Nicks came out of the California singer-songwriter mode, and their joining pushed the band into a more pop direction. Christine McVie added a bit of English folk roots, which only added to the band’s intriguing mix back in the day. The setlist this year is heavily skewed towards Buckingham and Nicks numbers, and that’s fine, making for some galvanizing rock moments. The main quartet was placed center stage, with the two vocalists on a back platform at stage right, while the two extra musicians—either both on guitar, or with one on keyboards—played on a back platform at stage left.
If there was one overriding impression Friday night’s concert left, it was that Buckingham is one hellacious guitar player, and his incendiary solo on the ten-minute version of 1975’s “I’m So Afraid” was easily the evening’s high point. That song, originally just a ‘B-side’ to the hit “Over My Head” from the album just before Rumours, began as a sweeping ballad accented by Fleetwood’s heavy rimshots, before Buckingham yanked it into the stratosphere with a torrid cascade of notes, including some subtle use of undertones/overtones, as the rhythm section drove him on with ever accelerating tempos. That solo climaxed with Buckingham flailing away at the highest possible note on the guitar, before sliding back down the fretboard with a technique that resembled karate chops. It was simply a spectacular rock ‘n’ roll moment, overshadowing some excellent music that followed, and confirming Buckingham’s status as a bonafide shredder of the first order.
Nicks was also in fine form, her voice a bit more raw than in her prime, perhaps, but her charisma as breathtaking as ever. At this point, her stage quirks, from mid-song twirling to wandering offstage when she’s not singing, her mystic aura, and her non-sequitur song intros are just endearingly goofy, and the audience seemed to embrace her with a “Well, that’s Stevie” attitude.
Nicks tried to explain how the old tune “Without You” was once a Buckingham-Nicks demo cassette which they’d lost, then recovered, and recently re-discovered by finding it on YouTube. The larger point was that tunes like that had convinced Fleetwood to add them to the band back around ‘74. Nicks noted that the old Mac had needed a lead guitarist, “but there was no mention of his hippie girlfriend,” and Buckingham had persuaded the British band to take them as a pair. Expressing her eternal gratitude to Buckingham, Nicks also noted that McVie’s reaction had been “just take the girl!”
It was a warm and funny anecdote, made even more so by how hopelessly tangled up she got in telling it, with Buckingham and Fleetwood having to add pertinent details to keep her on track. And the song, once they got around to playing, was the kind of gently bumping folk-rock that, combined with some of the old Mac muscle, would lead to some of the 1970’s biggest hits.
Lots of bands celebrating old albums play them front-to-back, but Fleetwood Mac diverted from that easy path. They did start out with a marvelous three-song sequence of Rumours’ tunes however, from the rumbling “Second Hand News” to the gripping, bass-heavy thunder of “The Chain,” and then into a superb take on Nicks’ “Dreams.” But then Buckingham introduced a new tune, noting the band has a new four-song EP out and has recorded some new material with an eye towards a new album in the near future. “Sad Angel” was a fast-paced rocker, sung by Buckingham and skittering along what seemed to be a frenetic shuffle beat.
Nicks did an impressively vibrant “Rhiannon,” raising the strands of a black shawl with her arms to signify the tune’s surreal nature, and ending it with a nice bit of improv vocals. The spotlight kept shifting back and forth between the two front persons, with Buckingham introducing some songs from Tusk, the more experimental followup to Rumours that he conceded probably stunned their record company. The first chestnut from Tusk was surely a departure from the smoothness of Rumours, as “Not That Funny” featured jagged guitar lines over a big beat. Then of course the title cut was all rumbling, barely contained angst, as “Tusk” seemed to embody all the romantic upheaval that had best the band during those days.
Nicks noted that the band hadn’t been doing “Sara” since about 1981, and while the tune certainly had its rhythmic flow, and Nicks’ own patented world-weary waif vocal was spot on, something was a little off. Perhaps it was just the harmony vocals, which were alright, just not as stellar as they were with Christine McVie’s voice in the mix. At any rate, at the song’s finish, Nicks embraced Buckingham for a long moment in one of the evening’s more touching scenes.
Buckingham sang “Looking Out For Love” (“Big Love”) solo, with just acoustic guitar, as his mates took a break. With his blazing fingerpicking and the passionate howl in his voice, that was Buckingham at his most brilliant. Nicks came back out to do a lovely acoustic duet with Buckingham on “Landslide,” and then they combined again for a riveting rendition of “Never Going Back Again.” It’s a measure of how solid those songs are that they can be so compelling in almost any format, and the acoustic interlude was really fabulous.
That led into the band’s return and Nicks’ convoluted intro to the new/old “Without You.” A sweetly swirling run through “Gypsy” was another special Nicks vehicle, contrasted right after by Buckingham’s rowdy gallop through “Eyes of the World,” from their 1982 Mirage album. The haunting tones of Fleetwood’s gong introduced “Gold Dust Woman,” with Nicks adding extra tinges of mystery, and finishing the tune, back to the crowd, holding aloft a white shawl which made her resemble a butterfly.
After Buckingham set heads a-spinning with his tour de force on “I’m So Afraid,” Fleetwood Mac did a fiery version of “Stand Back,” one of Nicks’ signature solo hits, and if there was a woman in the throng who wasn’t singing along, we didn’t see her. The hard driving Fleetwood Mac rumble was back for a bracing charge through “Go Your Own Way,” and Buckingham changed it up a bit by playing his guitar solo on the lower strings, even as Fleetwood fired off his rapid drum patterns with a maniacal grin.
The first encore was the rhythmic potpourri “World Turning,” featuring the predictably wacky Fleetwood drum solo–he’s obviously still having a blast performing. The slightly ramshackle but utterly joyous “Don’t Stop (Thinking About Tomorrow)” that ended the first encore was everything music fans love about the band; disparate parts coming together and creating something unforgettable.
This tour has featured “Silver Springs” and “Say Goodbye” as the second and final encore, but after the blazing Buckingham turn on “I’m So Afraid,” Nicks’ triumphant “Stand Back,” and that wondrous “Don’t Stop,” the band had already reached the heights.
Here is amateur footage from the 38th show of the Fleetwood Mac 2013 world tour. Special thanks to Ray Alva, ceoBailey, Jeff Connell, Jeremy Day, jackhutson, Jay Kay, Jimmy Nally, Steven Pichette, and susea for making these clips available.
1. Second Hand News – partial (courtesy of Jeff Connell)
[youtube=www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzkXC0EyBNI]
3. Dreams – partial (courtesy of Jeff Connell)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c7xTTwdqKo]
5. Rhiannon (courtesy of Ray Alva)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHD7zUn2968]
5. Rhiannon – short clip (courtesy of jackhutson)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4EVCrPdzlw]
8. Sisters of the Moon (courtesy of Jay Kay)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgjn2jWCX6I]
9. Sara (courtesy of Jeff Connell)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8gMauFUUg8]
9. Sara (courtesy of Ray Alva)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAz27a1mDWk]
11. Landslide (courtesy of Jeremy Day)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6YTLILGG-s]
11. Landslide (courtesy of Steven Pichette)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gspMPMsBi4]
11. Landslide – partial (courtesy of Jimmy Nally)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A7F608lHeg]
11. Landslide – partial (courtesy of jackhutson)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OF109aipqo]
12. Never Going Back Again (courtesy of Jeff Connell)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfT_OrYidsU]
16. Gold Dust Woman (courtesy of susea)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLjeP2UCXNo]
18. Stand Back (courtesy of ceoBailey)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwgD4OE4_BY]
19. Go Your Own Way (courtesy of ceoBailey)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEOZj98pyHQ]
23. Say Goodbye (courtesy of granitedog)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDsQKDScKPw]
CONCERT PREVIEW: Fleetwood Mac @ Comcast Center, Mansfield MA, Friday, June 21, 2013
Vampire Weekend. Lady Antebellum. Judas Priest. The Lumineers. Best Coast. The Cranberries. MGMT. Dixie Chicks. Smashing Pumpkins. Elton John.
What do all of these artists have in common? Surprisingly enough, the answer is Fleetwood Mac.
And that list is just the tip of the iceberg of musicians who have either covered a Mac tune or professed their admiration for some aspect of the sound of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group that has gone through several incarnations since its inception as a blues band in 1967.
Drummer Mick Fleetwood, bassist John McVie, singer-songwriter-twirler Stevie Nicks, and singer-songwriter-guitarist Lindsey Buckingham — the steady Mac lineup since the 1998 departure of singer-songwriter-keyboardist Christine McVie, who grew weary of touring — come to the Comcast Center on Friday to play endlessly rotated hits like “Dreams,” “Go Your Own Way,” and “Don’t Stop,” as well as a few new songs from their newly released four song EP.
In recent years, the Mac fever seems to have spread especially wide in the worlds of indie rock and contemporary country, with tribute albums like “Just Tell Me That You Want Me” sprouting up and groups like Little Big Town and Lady Antebellum performing Mac songs either on awards shows or on the CMT cross-genre series “Crossroads” with Buckingham and Nicks, respectively.
Mac guitarist Buckingham isn’t exactly sure why the band’s songs — both those written during his tenure and before his time — have weathered the years and continue to appeal to new generations, but he’s certainly glad they have.
“I think that’s hard to be objective about from the inside,” he says on the phone from a Chicago tour stop. “It is weird, this time we’re doing better business now on the road since like ’83. It’s skewing younger, which I like, obviously, since I like listening to younger bands looking for new things. Why is that? Obviously some new generation has kicked in. You’ve got something like Little Big Town but you can go on something like “Alt Nation” on satellite radio and hear strains of things, and I don’t know what it is about it that has legs. But I do know that when you can see that phenomenon occurring generationally, at some point you’re being given the sense that you’ve done your job properly.”
Many of the band’s admirers point to the unique vocal blend of Buckingham, Nicks, and Christine McVie during the band’s most commercially successful period from the mid-’70s to the late ’80s.
“Their harmonies, it’s just like a warm cozy blanket you just wrap yourself in,” says Kimberly Schlapman of country quartet Little Big Town, who make “The Chain” a staple of their concerts.
“I’ve always liked when men and women take turns singing in stuff,” says Bethany Cosentino of the indie-rock group Best Coast, who contribute a jaunty cover of “Rhiannon” to “Just Tell Me That You Want Me.” “I think the blend of voices sounds really cool. But I also distinctly remember just loving Stevie Nicks’s voice.”
The group’s songs are also often not simple affairs to replicate.
“If you can do a Fleetwood Mac song, it’s not too shabby,” says Ken Caillat, who coproduced the band’s classic album “Rumours” and released a book about the sessions in 2012. “I think it’s a challenge, their music is really intense. It’s like playing Augusta [in golf].”
“I think that what inspires me the most is the honesty in their songs,” says Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast.
Caillat, whose daughter is pop star Colbie Caillat, also points to the pathos of the songwriting.
“I think it boils down to the fact that these songs were written out of pain and anguish,” he says of the famously fractious era in which the various band members were dating, mating, packing up and shacking up. “The songs became very touching in a kind of a universal way. It works for everybody, it still works for everybody. I’m not a genius about it, but it’s the only thing that makes sense to me.”
And it didn’t hurt, says Caillat, that “we took every piece of music and polished and perfected it as much as possible.”
“In many ways — from their longevity to their songwriting to lyrics and to friendships — I think that almost every aspect of Fleetwood Mac has inspired me in one way or another,” says Cosentino. “I’ve read so many books about them and have seen tons of footage of them recording and performing, and I just fall in love with them more and more every time. I think that what inspires me the most is the honesty in their songs.”
Although Patrick Berkery of the pickup group the Lindsey Buckingham Appreciation Society — a collection of indie-rockers from bands like Pernice Brothers and Papas Fritas — didn’t think Fleetwood Mac was particuarly cool when he was growing up and his older sister played their records, he came around as he got older.
“The secret to me to a lot of those songs is in the groove and the tempo,” says Berkery, who will come to Johnny D’s on Sept. 19 with the Lindsey Buckingham Appreciation Society to play the Mac album Tusk in its entirety. “People can pontificate all day about the harmonies and the arrangements and the guitar playing, but when you hear ‘Dreams’ or ‘Over and Over’ and the deeper album cuts like ‘Wish You Were Here’ from ‘Mirage,’ those songs are the perfect tempo. They just feel so natural.”
Buckingham is seen by many as the unsung hero of the group. Caillat calls him a genius and Berkery agrees.
“I’m a huge fan of his songwriting,” he says. “He’s definitely the George Harrison or Brian Wilson-type of group. So yeah, I gravitate to the layers of acoustics and the harmonies but to support all that you need the tempo and the rhythm. It’s such a weird mix and that’s why I love the band so much. It’s so cool and almost punk rock in a way. Nobody else sounds like that.”
Buckingham remains perplexed but grateful that the band itself works at all.
“It’s a weird cocktail,” he says with a laugh. “You’ve got this girl who’s a little costumey and visually a little bit camp, and has this wonderful voice and writes great songs. It portrays one thing, and I’m putting out [a sound and image] like some guy who wanted to be in Clash or something. How do those two things fit together? I don’t know.”
Sarah Rodman can be reached at sr*****@***be.com. Follow her on Twitter @GlobeRodman
Fleetwood Mac
Venue: Comcast Center, 800-745-3000. http://www.livenation.com Date of concert: Friday, June 21, 2013 Ticket price: $34.50-$154.50
Sarah Rodman / Boston Globe / Originally published on Thursday, June 20, 2013
It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Fleetwood Mac. They canceled their 2009 Albany show due to poor ticket sales, and the last time the band rolled into town was a decade ago, when Albany’s big downtown concert venue was named the Pepsi Arena. Now it’s the Times Union Center, and on Wednesday night they filled it with more than two and a half hours’ worth of pretty much nonstop hits. Or at least instantly recognizable songs.
Yes, the big Mac attack was back, and fromMick Fleetwood‘s galloping drum intro to the opening “Second Hand News” straight through to their fourth and final encore of “Say Goodbye,” they managed to come pretty darned close to recapturing their Rumours-era glory days.
Fleetwood and bassist John McVie have always been the band’s muscle, but the focus these days is on vocalist Stevie Nicks and vocalist-guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, who respectively provide the mystic heart and the brains of the band.
In 2011, when Buckingham dished out a brilliant concert at The Egg, he explained his approach to his musical career in Hollywood terms, saying that sometimes he’s in a box-office blockbuster movie (Fleetwood Mac, or as he says, “the Big Machine“) and sometimes he’s in a gritty, indie art-house film (his solo work). And like, say, Johnny Depp, Buckingham brings plenty of indie quirk to the table even when he’s playing with the Big Machine.
Take for example, the string-strangling, big guitar freak-out that he injected into “I’m So Afraid,” the willfully eccentric “Tusk” and his dark but furiously scintillating solo rendition of “Big Love.”
Nicks, of course, has had the bigger solo career, and her twirling rendition of “Stand Back” was the lone song of the night that wasn’t culled from the Fleetwood Mac catalog. She shined brightest in the sparser musical setting of the sublime “Silver Springs” and “Landslide” (stripped to a simple duet with Buckingham).
Nicks’ witchy woman psychedelic swirl of “Gold Dust Woman” was unfortunately marred by an aimless, meandering jam, and likewise, “World Turning,” the only song of the night that hinted at Fleetwood Mac’s pre-platinum pop success as a blues band, was burdened with Fleetwood’s drum solo, which was more entertaining than musical.
Bolstered throughout the night by at least five backing musicians, the band did offer a couple of new songs from their Extended Play EP, although the best of them was the charming “Without You,” a previously lost Buckingham-Nicks song from their pre-Mac days. But after a night of what was predominantly ’80s nostalgia, it seemed somewhat ironic that they would wrap up their first set of encores with “Don’t Stop” — penned by departed member Christine McVie — singing, “Don’t you look back…”
Where: Times Union Center, 51 S. Pearl St., Albany
Length: Two hours and 40 minutes
Highlights: Buckingham’s guitar freak-out on “I’m So Afraid,” McVie’s thundering bass solo in the middle of “The Chain,” Nicks’ sublime, subdued treatment of “Silver Springs” and the blues-laced “World Turning”
Here is amateur footage from the 37th show of the Fleetwood Mac 2013 world tour. Special thanks to Luane Ballantine, Alain Fattal, granitedog, Joann71, kaypee24, Bill Maas, Jay McBain, Leland Pinkham, and Nicholas Teta for making these clips available.
1. Second Hand News (courtesy of Nicholas Teta)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py9XUM4IJyc]
4. Sad Angel (courtesy of granitedog)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLYVblgnL7w]
5. Rhiannon – short clip (courtesy of Jay McBain)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1kzbRCBBCs]
8. Sisters of the Moon (courtesy of granitedog)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfJScuuqkHA]
9. Sara (courtesy of Bill Maas)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVfIsBx-4sQ]
9. Sara (courtesy of prizm555)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zVLI1f83RM]
11. Landslide (courtesy of Jay McBain)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShcJYAG_0eY]
12. Never Going Back Again (courtesy of Nicholas Teta)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxTrroAhLyg]
13. Without You (courtesy of granitedog)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwxEkQgWcII]
15. Eyes of the World (courtesy of kaypee24)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV0BCX98uM0]
16. Gold Dust Woman (courtesy of Nicholas Teta)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_-PXKXTfhs]
17. I’m So Afraid (courtesy of Joann71)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVSObHWTBpU]
17. I’m So Afraid (courtesy of Alain Fattal)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxT0soNPgFc]
18. Stand Back (courtesy of kaypee24)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guQ15zQ4Ojg]
18. Stand Back (courtesy of Leland Pinkham)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s7o9C8uNs4]
19. Go Your Own Way (courtesy of Nicholas Teta)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l57zY2tKD68]
22. Silver Springs (courtesy of Luane Ballantine)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q1tgrZdXFk]
23. Final bows (courtesy of kaypee24)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9V2008VAb8]
Fleetwood Mac will hit the stage of the newly refurbished Nikon at Jones Beach Theater on Saturday night.
The Nikon at Jones Beach Theater underwent millions of dollars in repairs after Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast more than seven months ago. On May 31, the famous theater in Wantagh reopened for the first time since the storm, with Rascal Flatts headlining the first concert of the year.
After Sandy, the 14,000-seat waterfront theater was left flooded and with severe damage to its infrastructure. Four feet of water flooded the theater, leaving the seats, concession stands and stage covered in seaweed. The storm also destroyed nine miles of cabling.
Despite the extensive damage, John Aarons of Live Nation said in a report from CBS News that he had no doubt that the theater would be ready to go for the summer. “We were able to get what should have taken a year’s worth of work finished in approximately four months,” he said.
A crew of over 250 people — almost all of them from Long Island — removed debris from the stage and pumped an estimated three million gallons of water from the theater. The theater underwent several upgrades during the reconstruction efforts, including 4,000 new seats, a new stage made from scratch and improved concession stands.
Reconstruction of the theater ended up costing over $20 million, and was funded by both the state government and insurance.
The re-vamped theater has a full 33-band schedule for the summer. Rascal Flatts rehearsed on the stage Thursday night before the reopening. “We feel a sense of responsibility to have the platform that we do to inspire people to help each other,” the band’s bass player Jay DeMarcus told CBS News.
About 350,000 people visit the theater every year. Fleetwood Mac, Rush, Dave Matthews Band and Phish are among the 33 headliners set to perform at the waterfront theater this summer.
Eric Anderson / Long Island / This is a slightly-edited version of the article originally published on May 31, 2013.
