(To see videos and more pictures from the show, scroll to the bottom of the page.)

Fleetwood Mac performed in concert before a highly enthusiastic and loving crowd on Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Fortunately for Philly fans, the band reciprocated the love by performing all 23 songs that it played on opening night in Columbus, including new songs “Sad Angel” and “Without You.”

Stevie provided some insight into the recording of “Without You,” explaining that she and Lindsey were preparing to record the song for the second Buckingham Nicks album, but shelved the song after joining Fleetwood Mac. She rediscovered the song in 2010 after unexpectedly finding the original demo on YouTube (a similar story for In Your Dreams track “Secret Love,”) which seemed to humor the crowd.

Stevie also spoke briefly about “Sisters of the Moon,” saying that the band hadn’t performed the song in concert since the 1970s. (Granted, she clearly overlooked her most compelling renditions of the song from the 1982 Mirage tour. But in her defense, those performances were more than 30 years ago!) The 2013 incarnation was less ferocious, but still had the spooky charm of the studio recording. The audience welcomed its return.

The band was in fine form once again, as the members relished their time together onstage. Stevie and Lindsey, in particular, showed considerable affection for each other, holding hands as they walked onto stage and blowing kisses at each other while performing “Landslide.” The audience responded with thunderous cheers and applause, as the duo played up their onstage love affair.

Drummer Mick Fleetwood, wearing bright red shoes and the Rumours balls, which dangled conspicuously between his legs, was typically animated. He smiled and bounced across the stage with child-like whimsy, as the band returned to the stage to perform “World Turning,” the first of two encores.

As expected, “Landslide” and “Silver Springs” served as the emotional high-points of the evening, with the audience delightfully singing along in approval. Stevie explained that she originally wrote “Landslide” for Lindsey Buckingham, but over time, her late father, Jess Nicks, associated the heartwarming song with himself. She appropriately dedicated the song to all families, encouraging everyone to spend time with family members because “they don’t last forever.”

Fans will have new songs to sing along to as Fleetwood Mac releases an EP release containing “Miss Angel,” “Sad Angel,” and “Without You.” Lindsey Buckingham said that the songs are “the best stuff [they’ve] done in a long time.” The EP is expected to drop “in a few days” (on iTunes).

Fleetwood Mac heads to the Big Apple next for a show at legendary Madison Square Garden on Monday night.

Videos

1. Second Hand News – short clip (courtesy of Denny Henson)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOYYVB8Jbus]

1. Second Hand News – partial (courtesy of tyrant2525)
[youtube=http://youtu.be/gQ4519ILHuI]

2. The Chain (courtesy of Denny Henson)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWnQZ-QUmPI]

2. The Chain (courtesy of tyrant2525)
[youtube=http://youtu.be/42Ur1dFzYs8]

3. Dreams (courtesy of edf1979DE)
[youtube=http://youtu.be/kbqwZBtQmt8]

4. Sad Angel (courtesy of tyrant2525)
[youtube=http://youtu.be/CITTkWQyf4g]

5. Rhiannon (courtesy of RockDoc50)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv12IRdwnCc]

5. Rhiannon (courtesy of tyrant2525)
[youtube=http://youtu.be/D-3o7NucUWk]

6. Not That Funny – partial (courtesy of tyrant2525)
[youtube=http://youtu.be/QvP2uKznIJE]

7. Tusk (courtesy of MrDcsnj)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2Kt8IvXH70]

7. Tusk (courtesy of tyrant2525)
[youtube=http://youtu.be/lEenVBcPcVY]

8. Sisters of the Moon (courtesy of Denny Henson)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0pnv0Q3Uuk]

8. Sisters of the Moon (courtesy of aerofan2007)
[youtube=http://youtu.be/Og38DwkQKDg]

9. Sara (courtesy of Denny Henson)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0X4Hcr8YVCE]

9. Sara (courtesy of tyrant2525)
[youtube=http://youtu.be/oZZJLKB1bEU]

10. Big Love (courtesy of Agslions)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e3EQMZbGyo]

10. Big Love (courtesy of tyrant2525)
[youtube=http://youtu.be/zRPxsOvv6Do]

11. Landslide (courtesy of RockDoc50))
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oF-R8bsly2E]

11. Landslide (courtesy of tyrant2525)
[youtube=http://youtu.be/utwTJcX-UNg]

12. Never Going Back Again (courtesy of tyrant2525)
[youtube=http://youtu.be/-wSdYk6BiKg]

13. Without You (courtesy of Denny Henson)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8CSfIGuHpk]

13. Without You (courtesy of tyrant2525)
[youtube=http://youtu.be/4PQBps1-cIs]

14. Gypsy (courtesy of Denny Henson)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTAdA3Bn7-w]

14. Gypsy (courtesy of tyrant2525)
[youtube=http://youtu.be/2_9Y3VHqsVo]

15. Eyes of the World (courtesy of tyrant2525)
[youtube=http://youtu.be/T_cdn6OPBDg]

Band Intros (courtesy of tyrant2525)
[youtube=http://youtu.be/9vzWilw6Krw]

16. Gold Dust Woman (courtesy of George Wagner)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trcZm95w5oc]

17. I’m So Afraid, Part 1 (courtesy of Denny Henson)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Byp62qiYaAc]

17. I’m So Afraid, Part 2 (courtesy of Denny Henson)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIkDFTDciXE]

17. I’m So Afraid – partial (courtesy of tyrant2525)
[youtube=http://youtu.be/z1dt64Ioqdo]

17. I’m So Afraid -partial (courtesy of Andi Sprag)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhtAwW0Ud78]

18. Stand Back (courtesy of tyrant2525)
[youtube=http://youtu.be/fCVQtS3Fh1Q]

19. Go Your Own Way (courtesy Denny Henson)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63DwFzDz_3o]

19. Go Your Own Way (courtesy of tyrant2525)
[youtube=http://youtu.be/MwP-LoNWeIE]

20. World Turning (courtesy of Denny Henson)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjzHvQ7O_uU]

20. World Turning (courtesy of tyrant2525)
[youtube=http://youtu.be/81e84qlw4gU]

21. Don’t Stop, Part 1 (courtesy of Denny Henson)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNq-7bv7OFk]

21. Don’t Stop, Part 2 (courtesy of Denny Henson)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqQ4U1KsWmw]

21. Don’t Stop (courtesy of tyrant2525)
[youtube=http://youtu.be/5FVrWyK1LA4]

22. Silver Springs – partial (courtesy of Denny Henson)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxl-ZXJsak8]

22. Silver Springs (courtesy of tyrant2525)
[youtube=http://youtu.be/LfvGdagNGXM]

23. Say Goodbye (courtesy of Tablehockeyshop)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNnyHeekekM]

1st & 2nd encores – World Turning, Don’t Stop, Silver Springs, Say Goodbye (courtesy of warthog341)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO6AbI_7HwQ]

Special thanks to aerofan2007, Agslions, Denny Henson, MrDcsnj, RockDoc50, Tablehockeyshop, tyrant2525, and George Wagner for making these clips available.

Media reviews

• Fleetwood Mac in Philly: Good playing, songs, singing don’t add up to great show (Lehigh Valley Music Blog)
• Review: The return of Fleetwood Mac (The Inquirer)

To read reviews from the tour, visit The Nicks Fix 2013 Fan Reviews page.

Philadelphia Set List

1. Second Hand News
2. The Chain
3. Dreams
4. Sad Angel (new song)
5. Rhiannon
6. Not That Funny
7. Tusk
8. Sisters Of The Moon
9. Sara
10. Big Love
11. Landslide
12. Never Going Back Again
13. Without You (new song)
14. Gypsy
15. Eyes Of The World
16. Gold Dust Woman
17. I’m So Afraid
18. Stand Back
19. Go Your Own Way
20. World Turning (first encore)
21. Don’t Stop
22. Silver Springs
23. Say Goodbye (second encore)

Band members

• Lindsey Buckingham – Guitars, Lead Vocals
• Mick Fleetwood – Drums, percussion
• John McVie – Bass
• Stevie Nicks – Lead Vocals
• Neil Heywood – Guitars
• Brett Tuggle – Keyboards
• Sharon Celani – Background vocals
• Lori Nicks – Background vocals
• Uncredited – Additional drums & percussion
• Uncredited – Additional drums & percussion

By Erin Fox
98.5 WNCX Cleveland
Friday, April 5, 2013 3:08 PM

Fleetwood Mac kicked off their 50-stop North American tour in Columbus, Ohio last night by delivering a mix of their biggest hits, a few unexpected gems from their decades-spanning career… and an announcement of a forthcoming EP.

Though it had been three years since Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie took the stage together, they played as if no time had passed since their last tour.

(more…)

By Jeffrey Lee Puckett
Courier-Journal
Friday, April 5, 2013

FLEETWOOD MAC

When: Thursday, 8 p.m.
Where: KFC Yum! Center
Tickets: $46.50, $76.50, $144.50, available at the box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com and by phone, (800) 745-3000.

Thousands of albums are released each year, and the vast majority quickly fade to black. A handful become part of pop culture, however, touchstones for anyone with even the slightest interest in music.

Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours is one of those. In fact, it may be the one. There are albums that have sold more (seven of them, to be exact), but none enjoy the same kind of unconditional love across several generations; Rumours has always been an album sought out by elitist and casual fans alike.

(more…)

By Tris McCall
The Star-Ledger
Friday, April 05, 2013 9:17 AM

Last year, drummer Mick Fleetwood was ready to take the band that has borne his name for 40 years out on tour.

His bandmate had other ideas.

Stevie Nicks, the singer-songwriter who joined Fleetwood Mac in 1974, was still supporting In Your Dreams, her most recent solo set. Dreams, a highly personal album for Nicks, was a deliberate return to the radiant, sorcerous sound that the Mac made world famous in the mid-’70s. Both Mick Fleetwood and Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham contributed to the set.

“To her credit, she really stood by it,” says Fleetwood, 65. “We delayed taking Fleetwood Mac back on the road because she was so involved with the album. I know everybody was getting huffy and puffy and wondering if we were ever going to do this. In retrospect, the delay wasn’t so bad, because it allowed us to do things that we wouldn’t have otherwise.

“And it’s such a lovely album. We’re going to do one of the songs from it on our tour.”

That tour stops at Madison Square Garden on Monday and at Prudential Center in Newark on April 24. It’s the first national circuit for a legendary group that found common ground between blues, rock, experimental pop, and folk, and laid much of the foundation for contemporary country. In the mid-’70s, Fleetwood Mac was a subtly radical act: Here was a pop-rock group in which men and women raised their voices together, in harmony, and with equal authority. The members of the group told stories of joy, magic, and romantic dissolution in dialogue with each other, and each one had a distinctive instrumental signature, too. There’d never been anything like it before — and arguably, there’s never been anything quite like it since.

Buckingham took advantage of last year’s delay by launching a solo tour of his own. Fleetwood fulfilled a lifelong dream by opening a restaurant. Fleetwood’s on Front Street overlooks the Lahaina Roads, the Hawaiian strait that separates Maui from Lana’i.

“Having the restaurant has gotten rid of what’s left of my hair,” says the drummer, “but I get to play there whenever I want.”

This February, Fleetwood was joined in Hawaii by another old bandmate: Christine McVie, the talented electric pianist whose sensuous and madly romantic songs provided a necessary counterweight to Buckingham’s wild experimentation and Nicks’ crystal visions. McVie retired from Fleetwood Mac after the band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, and has been reclusive ever since. Yet Fleetwood coaxed her up onstage to perform “Don’t Stop,” one of her most enduring compositions. The impromptu performance made musical headlines, and encouraged fans to dream of a full reunion of the band’s classic lineup. Fleetwood would love to see that happen, but he doubts it will.

“We’re going to see her in London. I told her, ‘This time, you must get up and play the songs with us,’ ” says Fleetwood. “But she’s definitely not in the mode of coming back.”

Last year, Fleetwood Mac celebrated the 35th anniversary of the release of Rumours, the 1977 album that remains one of the best selling — and best loved — pop-rock sets in history. In January, Rumours was reissued in a three-CD package that contained outtakes, demos and live performances. Next year, the band will celebrate the anniversary of another landmark. Dismissed upon release as a bizarre indulgence by a group of detached rock stars, Tusk, the Mac’s 1979 double-disc, is now recognized as an album ahead of its time — an echo-drenched, ravished, wildly percussive response to punk rock and new wave that is bold and brilliant.

“It was almost suicidal to decide, as we did, not to make another album like Rumours, ” says Fleetwood. “But if you ask me now what my favorite of our albums is, I’ll say Tusk. ”

It was the guitarist who drove Fleetwood Mac toward the experimentation on Tusk. But once he was satisfied that Buckingham wasn’t trying to make a solo album while still in Fleetwood Mac, the drummer went along willingly.

“I just became really, really open-minded,” remembers Fleetwood, whose drums on the set are thunderous, and pushed to the front of the mix. “We did all sorts of crazy stuff. It reminded me of some of the work I did with (early Fleetwood Mac guitarist) Peter Green.

“If it wasn’t a drum kit, I was hitting a Kleenex box, or slapping the side of a piece of leather. We set up an old Sony ghetto blaster that was limiting the hell out of the drums, and that’s the microphone we used. We had a huge door to an echo chamber, and we’d open and close it to varying degrees while I was playing. And we got these quite fantastic textures that added up to this eclectic piece of art.”

After a long layoff, the members of Fleetwood Mac have returned to the recording studio. According to Fleetwood, they’ve written several new songs, and they’ll be premiering them during their spring circuit.

“We’re going to do a couple,” says the drummer. “But there are songs we know we always have to do, and we’ll be sure to do those, too.

“We know we’d literally be taken out and shot if we didn’t.”

Fleetwood Mac

Where and when: Monday at Madison Square Garden, 32nd Street at Seventh Avenue, New York; April 24 at Prudential Center, 165 Mulberry St., Newark; both shows at 8 p.m.

How much: $49.50 to $179 for both shows; call (800) 745-3000 or visit ticketmaster.com.

By Chad Hobbs
The Examiner
Friday, April 5, 2013

Fleetwood Mac returned to the stage for the first time in over three years at Columbus’ Nationwide Arena tonight. The quartet, having long lost fifth member Christine McVie to retirement, looked and sounded as good as ever as they played 23 songs over two and a half hours which included two encores. Celebrating their landmark album, Rumours, the band highlighted the set list with 7 tracks from the record. Tusk and the self titled album were both well represented also.

Adding to the set list were some new music, a Stevie Nicks solo hit, and a few songs from the Mirage and the Tango in the Night albums. Lindsey Buckingham easily highlighted the show with his ridiculous and underrated ability to play the guitar with songs such as “Big Love” and the chilling “I’m So Afraid.” Not only is he vastly underrated, but the passion and energy that he pours into his music is more apparent than most other artists could even aspire to portray. Stevie Nicks dazzled as well with her timeless voice and iconic stage presence; especially on songs like “Rhiannon”; “Gold Dust Woman”; “Landslide”; and “Silver Springs.”

Not to be forgotten, the thumping backbeat provided by founding members Mick Fleetwood and John McVie are the heart and soul of the band. McVie’s legendary bass riff leading into the guitar solo in “The Chain” is easily one of my most anticipated parts of any song I’ve ever heard. Fleetwood’s work behind the kit also might tend to get lost with the spotlight out front on Nicks and Buckingham but with a closer listen you can’t help but notice the seriousness and heavy hitting going on in songs like “Tusk” and how, in perfect harmony with the bass lines, it compliments Buckingham and Nicks’ work up front.

Having never seen Fleetwood Mac, I had been anticipating this moment for well over a decade, probably since my dad first introduced me to the The Dance live album and I first heard “I’m So Afraid”. While the band members are well into their sixties now, you couldn’t tell that by the sound coming from the stage tonight, as Fleetwood Mac brought it, just as I knew they would. Supremely confident, yet professionally humble; the band delighted the 16,000 or so in attendance on the opening night of a tour that is going to hit over sixty cities worldwide.