It’s only been six years since Fleetwood Mac last paid a visit to Orlando, but they were missing something when they played the now demolished Amway Center in April of 2009. Original bandmate Christine McVie was absent, leaving the sole female presence for the show to fall on the capable shoulders of Stevie Nicks. And while that’s not a bad thing, particularly for the many fans of Nicks, it left a significant number of songs off the setlist.
All that has been remedied with the current On With The Show tour, which played Orlando’s Amway Center last night. All of the hits were there, from Christine’s taking the lead on “You Make Loving Fun” to the witchy ways of Stevie on “Rhiannon” and “Gold Dust Woman.”
While McVie’s voice seemed to have some difficulty, particularly in the upper registers, Nicks was in amazing voice, seemingly finally figuring out how to adeptly mask those upper notes which she may now be missing. But the real star of the show was guitarist, and former Nicks paramour Lindsey Buckingham. Buckingham is a true rock star, giving his all on every number where he took the lead. As drummer Mick Fleetwood noted at the end, Buckingham barely left the stage for the entire show which clocked in at just under three hours.
An amazing thing about attending concerts in this day and age are the number of people who obviously fancy themselves amateur photographers and videographers. With so many of them out there, and the shareability of their results so simple, it makes it even more fulfilling to just sit back, live in the moment, and enjoy the show to its fullest extent. Sooooo…here are some of the show’s best Amway Center moments as captured by local YouTubers.
The show opened with “The Chain,” one of the most iconic anthems from the Rumours album.
McVie found the spotlight once again with “Little Lies” from Tango in the Night.
It’s hard to beat one of the most iconic musical performances ever…Stevie Nicks and “Rhiannon.”
What at the time of its release seemed like such an odd song, has come to be a true classic, as only Fleetwood Mac could have produced. And thanks to the magic of concert video, the USC Marching Band was there to accompany them on “Tusk.”
And who could have known that the cell phone was set to replace the lighter as the ultimate pre-encore light show.
Fleetwood Mac performed at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, on Monday night.
Stevie dedicated “Landslide” to the Steven Dole (sp) family, about whom she credits writing her first song.
“Tonight I would like to dedicate it to a friend of mine’s family who is here. The first song I ever wrote [presumably “I’ve Loved and I’ve Lost”] I wrote about this particular family’s, I guess it would be their dad and granddad. I know, it’s making me old just to say it. But it’s true. I wrote my first song when I was 15 and a half about their dad and their granddad. Isn’t that crazy? So this is for the Dole (sp) family. So I always like to say, without them, there may never have been a first song. So we have to applaud them for the grace that they gave me. So this is for you, Dole family. It’s called ‘Landslide.’ Thank you to all of Steven’s family here.”
“Seven Wonders” and “Songbird” were dropped from the set at this show.
Date
Venue
Location
Reviews
Show #
Total
Monday, March 23, 2015
Amway Center
Orlando, Florida
28
68
Videos
Thanks to CQAirsofting, EFK1993, Jason D, Andrew Grew, Tatyana Perez, Robert Ratcliff, Robert Ruark, Doug Staas, stretchtothemoon3, SuperBoomshack, zoechasteen for sharing these videos!
It’s been nearly 38 years since Fleetwood Mac appeared in Miami with Christine McVie, whose smooth vocals and strident keyboards were so essential to the sound of this legendary rock band.
That last Magic City show starring all five members of the group’s classic lineup was at the long-gone Miami Stadium for megahit album Rumours. Now, all these decades later, the quintet is back together and still playing many songs off that 1977 record for its On With the Show tour.
So, needless to say, it was a historic reunion the other night at the American Airlines Arena in downtown Miami. And thankfully, for many latecomers, Fleetwood Mac hit the stage on Miami time, around 25 minutes past 8 p.m., though thousands were still scrambling to their seats after the band kicked off the show with “The Chain.”
Christine McVie, once retired from the band is back. (Timothy Norris / Miami New Times)
On paper, the song — which equally features the band’s trio of singers: McVie, Stevie Nicks, and guitarist Lindsey Buckingham — was a great choice. Though the voices of McVie and Buckingham have clearly been roughened by time, Nicks’ raspy vocals have only improved with age. But the most egregious problem with the opener came from the its steady, deliberate beat, through no fault of drummer Mick Fleetwood. It was potently played, but an annoying echo bounced down from the upper level of the arena following each lick of the drum kit.
Much of Fleetwood Mac’s charm is its knack for creating an enveloping sense of intimacy. And though it’s unrealistic to expect this hit machine to play a small theater with proper acoustics, that would be the ideal setting for a band mostly defined by smooth, dreamy songs featuring distinctive voices. But if there is one thing that can fill an arena besides hits, it is charisma, and this band has that to spare.
After “The Chain,” Nicks played up McVie’s return to the Fleetwood Mac fold, which, after her departure in 1998, was something hardly anyone expected to see again. She noted the Miami show marked their 67th performance with McVie since she decided to rejoin the group last year. “I feel there are all kinds of things she could say, but I won’t go into that,” said Nicks in a clear reference to the band members’ tumultuous relationship. Later, McVie said, “On a personal note I’d like to thank John [McVie, her former husband and the band’s bassist], Mick, Stevie, and Lindsey for letting me do this again.”
Throughout the show, one of the most interesting things was how the band members played with their history and the personal stories that inspired the songs. “I think it’s fair to say we are a group of individuals and a band that’s seen its ups and downs,” Buckingham offered later that night. “We have been able to evolve but also prevail in the good and bad times.”
Though supplemented by a trio of backing singers, as well as an extra keyboardist and guitarist, the band’s most compelling numbers of the night came about when Buckingham picked up an acoustic guitar. Alone on stage, he again brought up Fleetwood Mac’s history before playing a spare yet energetic version of “Big Love.”
“We lived our lives the way we thought we were supposed to,” he said before noting the significance of the single off the group’s 1987 album, Tango In the Night, which was Buckingham’s last album with Fleetwood Mac before he “took leave.” He mentioned that the lyrics of the song have evolved in meaning for him over the years. “It began as a contemplation on alienation, but it became about the power and importance of change,” he said.
He then broke into a spirited version of the song, lashing at the nylon strings of the acoustic in his distinctive style of flicking downward on the instrument. Stripping “Big Love” of all of its embellishments, he was able to highlight the lyrics and even enhance the song’s energy. This was the first of a trio of acoustic songs that would be the evening’s highlights. After the song, Buckingham got the night’s second standing ovation. (The first was for a spirited version of the 1979 single “Tusk,” with the marching band part coming from a backing track enhanced by a giant screen projecting images of the ‘70s-era marching band.)
Then Nicks, who was Buckingham’s girlfriend when he joined the group, came out for the next song. She was one of the night’s chattiest members. “This song is my dad’s favorite song, and he said he thought I wrote it about it him,” she offered. “I didn’t, but I wanted to mention that because it brings him closer.” After three other dedications, she offered the song’s title: “This song is called ‘Landslide,’” and Buckingham played that familiar, sad, rambling guitar line. It was a beautiful moment capped off with the couple holding each other’s hands to another standing ovation.
“Every place that that’s been played there has been snow,” Nicks said, whose emphasis on “snoooow” in the lyrics got nary a notice from the Miami crowd. “Real snow. Not here.”
Indeed, Miami could have responded to the band with more enthusiasm. There was an almost collective zoning out during a pair of extended songs — “Gold Dust Woman” and “I’m So Afraid” — featuring indulgent but potent solos. Of course, they were a pair of challenging, slow-burning deep cuts from the earliest years of this lineup that appeared toward the end of a nearly two-hour set. So sleepy fans can be forgiven, and it was a relief to some when the band delivered an enthusiastic “Go Your Own Way” afterward.
Fleetwood Mac perform in Miami (Timothy Norris / Miami New Times)
Buckingham, who gave the most energy that night, sometimes letting out primal roars instead of words, played an epic guitar solo and even bent over to the front row, allowing fingers to reach up from the pit to play on his fretboard at the hit single’s conclusion.
Even Mick Fleetwood had his own moment to interact with the crowd from his epic kit, which featured an impressive array of cymbals, two of the longest rows of chimes you will ever see, and a giant gong. During the night’s encore, which kicked off with “World Turning,” the rest of the group wandered off as Fleetwood pounded through a lengthy solo and inspired a call-and-response with the crowd. “Goodness gracious me,” said the drummer. “One thing is for sure, much fun was had by all tonight.” Then the full band came back to play a rollicking version of “Don’t Stop.”
It had already been a long, lovely evening, and though many in the audience began trickling out to beat traffic as Fleetwood Mac played a perky version of “Don’t Stop,” Fleetwood Mac was not done. The five reunited members offered a wonderful version of “Silver Springs” to end the night. It’s rare for a band that began in the late ‘60s and had high points in both the ‘70s and ‘80s to be able to draw an arena-size crowd so many years later.
Fleetwood Mac can still bring it. It was a mythic, historical moment this past Saturday night. And who knows if Miami will ever get one like it again.
Critic’s Notebook
Fleetwood Mac’s Setlist
-“The Chain”
-“You Make Loving Fun”
-“Dreams”
-“Second Hand News”
-“Rhiannon”
-“Everywhere”
-“I Know I’m Not Wrong”
-“Tusk”
-“Sisters of the Moon”
-“Say You Love Me”
-“Big Love” (Acoustic)
-“Landslide” (Acoustic)
-“Never Going Back Again” (Acoustic)
-“Over My Head”
-“Gypsy”
-“Little Lies”
-“Gold Dust Woman”
-“I’m So Afraid”
-“Go Your Own Way”
Fleetwood Mac performs classic hits at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.
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Photos by Jamie Hernandez
If Fleetwood Mac wanted to phone in last night’s show at the Bridgestone Arena, they totally could have. The crowd — predictably mostly middle-aged, mostly white — was the kind of crowd that would dance to anything. Before the band even took the stage, folks around us grooved to the anonymous instrumental house music, a sure sign that these people are ready to boogie to whatever is put in front of them. But Fleetwood Mac obviously has no interest in just getting through. This is a band that has persevered through decades of adversity; this is not a band who takes shortcuts.
From opening number “The Chain,” Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and, back after a 16-year absence, Christine McVie all flawlessly and seemingly effortlessly delivered the goods as though they were holding their proverbial middle fingers in the air and defying any onlooker to even contemplate uttering the phrase, “They still rock … for a bunch of old folks.”
But it wasn’t just a collection of well-performed hits, played as though they were trapped in an unforgiving casino circuit driven by fans who can’t let go of the past. As a full band, Fleetwood Mac is incredible, yes, but they’re also such iconic musicians in their own right, and the remarkable thing about Wednesday night’s performance was that everyone had his or her own moment to shine, with obvious respect and support from their bandmates.
With Christine McVie back, the set list had a liberal sprinkling of Mac’s more yacht-rock-friendly tunes — “Everywhere,” “You Make Loving Fun,” “Say You Love Me” — all with gentle, warm imagery of trees and sunsets glowing behind the band. McVie claimed to be nervous, but she performed like she had never been gone, her voice sounding as strong and capable as her bandmates’, who’ve all had over a decade-and-a-half to keep their talents sharp.
Buckingham had plenty of opportunities to show off his jaw-dropping shred skills on songs like “Second Hand News” and the stellar minutes-long guitar solo during “I’m So Afraid,” of course, but the moment that felt truly special was right before he played “Big Love” — standing on the stage alone, he got all VH1 Storytellers on us, offering a long and humble explanation of how this song was written during an unhealthy time in his life (he didn’t overtly say drugs, but he basically blamed drugs), and while it could be a hard tune to play today, he noted that the song has taken on a new form. A form in which he’s able to look back and appreciate how far he’s come as a human being, now capable of healthy relationships.
Another charming moment came immediately after, when Stevie joined Lindsey onstage to perform “Landslide.” She admitted that her future could’ve been a lot different if it weren’t for Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey and “Landslide,” the band’s first hit and a song she’s performed “3 million times.” She said because her and Lindsey had another more country-inclined music project, she could’ve just as easily ended up in Nashville, married with babies and living a life so unlike the one she has and loves now. She dedicated the song to Lindsey and a friend’s newborn baby, of whom she’s the “fairy godmother.” And yes, a few happy tears rolled down The Spin’s cheek.
(As for John McVie, well, he played bass. In the shadows. While wearing a hat. Maybe the band is still mad at him or something.)
After a brief traipse down each individual path, the band would come back together, performing all-hands-on-deck hits like “Tusk” and “Go Your Own Way” with a herculean effort. Then the encore came. And it was Mick’s turn to shine. After playing two-thirds of “World Turning,” the band stepped off the stage and hid in the shadows as Mick obviously delighted in finally being the center of attention. It started innocently enough: a drum solo from behind the unnecessarily (but understandably) massive drum kit that included a gong. But as the crowd started to groove, Mick got weird. He squeezed his eyes closed and started to grunt into his headset mic, popping his eyes open from time to time, as wide as possible, like one of those bug-eyed stress dolls. “Don’t be shy now,” he said before inviting the tens of thousands of fans to partake in his goofy call-and-response of hoots and hollers. The longer it went on, the delightfully weirder it got, like he was testing the crowd’s ability (and willingness) to make random, high-pitched howls.
The giant screen behind Fleetwood, which featured only close-up shots of his face, started to do cheesy video effects — the image of him shrinking down and shooting around the screen like a game of pong — and it felt like we suddenly stumbled upon a random guy’s 2 a.m. public-access show.
After one last song, “Silver Springs,” the band all took a bow and verbally gushed with gratefulness. Stevie, once again, giddily thanked Christine for rejoining the band and bringing back the “girl power,” and instead of leaving it on that wonderful note, Mick popped onto the stage, thanked the fans, and popped his collapsible red top hat against his crotch and waved goodbye. Stay weird, dude.
Fleetwood Mac’s recent reunion with formerly retired vocalist/keyboardist Christine McVie marks just another notable transformation with the hybrid U.K./U.S. pop rock band. The value of having all of the members of Fleetwood Mac’s heyday on stage in Miami this weekend will not be lost on the hardcore fans of the band. In a recent interview with Miami New Times, drummer and founding member Mick Fleetwood said, “Not in a million years would I have ever thought, including Christine herself, that she would have ever been standing up there to my right on stage, playing in this band again, so it’s a real sort of … mythological situation that we have right now.”
The myth began in London, in the summer of 1967, before Fleetwood even new who McVie was and certainly prior to the membership of singer Stevie Nicks and guitarist/vocalist Lindsey Buckingham, both Americans who joined the band in 1974.
Here are Fleetwood Mac’s ten most pivotal moments, from the band’s formation and lineup changes to Rumours and reunions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGh6BVOJInk
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers
Fleetwood Mac were a product of the early 1960s English blues scene forged by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. Guitarist/vocalist Green left the Bluesbreakers to form Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac in 1967. He took Bluesbreakers drummer Fleetwood and bassist John McVie with him, hence the Fleetwood and Mac in the band’s name. Fleetwood says the earliest beginnings of Fleetwood Mac came from the DNA of the Bluesbreakers, and reflects fondly on the guitar playing of his band’s former leader. “If you listen to ‘Supernatural,’” he says, “which was early Peter Green, one of the first things he ever wrote, to my knowledge, and John Mayall allowed him to put it on a John Mayall album, it’s beautiful. It’s stunningly simple.”
“Albatross”
Fleetwood Mac’s first U.K. number one was the 1968 instrumental “Albatross,” which marked the band’s first departure in its sound. Fleetwood says Green was channeling Hawaiian lapsteel players Santo and Johnny. “‘Albatross’ was like an alien slipping into our milieu,” says the drummer, “into all this hard-driving blues material that we were prone to be doing then, and when it happened, it confused a lot of the people that listened to Fleetwood Mac. It was almost too much medicine of a strange type.”
Peter Green Leaves
After a hit UK album in 1969 with Then Play On, Green reportedly left the group for religious reasons. But there were also rumors. One story had it that Green took a job as a gravedigger. It was later revealed Green became a casualty of the era’s LSD culture. Music author Anthony Bozza, who co-wrote Play On: Now, Then, and Fleetwood Mac: The Autobiography with Fleetwood explains, “He had a mental breakdown … sort of the onset of mental problems and drugs and stuff and had mental issues brought on by LSD abuse, like Syd Barrett in Pink Floyd.” The closest Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac got to another success like “Albatross” was the 1970 single “The Green Manalishi,” whose title spurred rumors of that spiritual rediscovery by Green.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYlJLqnIGRc
Christine Perfect
Former Chicken Shack keyboardist/singer Christine McVie, née Perfect, joined the band in 1970 after having married Fleetwood Mac bassist, John McVie. Around that time she recorded keyboard parts and even painted the cover for the band’s fourth album, Kiln House. She began writing and co-writing songs for the band on their fifth album, 1971’s Future Games, which revealed a shift away from blues and more towards folk-pop. “Show Me a Smile,” which was written by Ms. McVie, is a nice hybrird of blues and folk.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9CXnn_Y_pw
American Blood
Bob Welch was first American in the band and joined soon after McVie became a full-time member. He hailed from California. Bozza calls this an interim period for Fleetwood Mac but still very important to that band. “That era is very fascinating because it lays the groundwork for the sound that Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks just kind of walked into and made a lot richer,” says the writer. “It opened up the possibility of what else this band could do besides being just this incredible blues band, which they were before.” Welch actually wrote most of the songs on the band’s eighth album Mystery to Me. “Hypnotized” became a staple on FM radio in 1973.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7SloVbbzZc
A Lost Identity
Depending on which of the early 1970s Fleetwood Mac albums you pick up, they could sound like blues, folk pop or mainstream rock. But the most nefarious change came when a former manager created a fake Fleetwood Mac after the band started falling apart due to affairs and alcohol abuse. Their most famous member was guitarist/vocalist Elmer Gantry who later joined The Alan Parsons Project. After playing a few shows under the premise that Fleetwood and Christine McVie would join them, they were stopped by lawyers. Gantry and guitarist Kirby Gregory went on to form the band Stretch, whose 1975 single “Why Did You Do It” was inspired by their time as the decoy Mac.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT1q7L4QA0A
Buckingham and Nicks
Stretch can have that cheesy 1975 UK semi-hit. In late 1974, Welch left but Fleetwood discovered guitarist/vocalist Lindsey Buckingham who agreed to join the group if he could bring his then girlfriend Stephanie “Stevie” Nicks with him. The result was a self-titled album in 1975 often referred to as “the White Album.” It featured the dreamy, driving hit single, penned by Nicks, “Rhiannon.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkELfUO8jBM
Rumours
After a long world tour that added more difficult experiences of interpersonal relationships, the band wrote and recorded their 1977 hit album Rumours. The songs were inspired by the complexities of love and the difficulties heartache. The most literal track is the Buckingham song “Go Your Own Way,” inspired by his difficult relationship with Nicks. As hard as life was in the band, it produced several hit singles. Everyone knows most of the hits, but one notable outtake from the Rumours sessions was “Silver Springs,” by Nicks, featuring stalkery lyrics on an existential level: “Time casts a spell on you, but you won’t forget me … You’ll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mniS4ZUaheg
Buckingham Leaves
There were more terrific albums since. Though Tusk (1979) and Mirage (1982) have many merits, the bar had been set with Rumours. After the band’s hit 1987 album Tango In the Night and as another grueling tour loomed, Buckingham announced his departure. He had argued that his creativity was being stifled, but Bozza notes a bigger, more personal issue: “He didn’t want to be around Nicks and McVie who were still very much on the substances, and Lindsey wasn’t, and he told them later he didn’t want to see them destroy themselves.” In 1990, Fleetwood Mac went on to record an album without Buckingham, Behind the Mask, that produced the low-ranking top 40 single “Save Me.”
You Name It
There were clearly more transformations in the line-up, though by this point, the band’s sound was secured as adult contemporary pop rock. Fleetwood says, “Really, everyone, other than John and myself, has left this band. Lindsey was first to go, and he was gone, unbelievably – I thought it was only like three years, but he was gone for like 12 years or something, and then eventually Stevie and Chris stayed for a while and then they left, Stevie first, and then Chris left after we had reformed to do The Dance [ in 1997]. So it’s an unbelievably crazy story.”
Fleetwood Mac’s On With The Show Tour . 8 p.m. Saturday, March 21, at American Airlines Arena, 601 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; 786-777-1000; aaarena.com. Tickets cost $46.50 to $176.50 plus fees via ticketmaster.com. All ages.
Hans Morgenstern / Miami New Times / Thursday, March 19, 2015
Fleetwood Mac performed at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, on Wednesday night.
Stevie made two two “Landslide” dedications: First, she dedicated the song to Lindsey and acknowledged their early days performing as Buckingham Nicks when their only album “started to simmer across the South.” Stevie made the second dedication to musicians Vanessa Carlton and John McCauley’s new baby, Sidney, Stevie’s “fairy goddaughter.”
“Seven Wonders” and “Songbird” were dropped from the set at this show.
Date
Venue
Location
Reviews
Show #
Total
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Bridgestone Arena
Nashville, Tennessee
26
66
Videos
Thanks to hydearchives and Wolfstar69 for sharing these videos!
Fleetwood Mac, back intact after 16 years, perform at the Greensboro Coliseum on St. Patrick’s Day, Tuesday, March 17, 2015.
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Photos by Joseph Rodriguez / News & Record
Stevie Nicks moved to the side of the stage to pound her tassled tambourine at the Greensboro Coliseum on Tuesday night while the other members of Fleetwood Mac wailed on “Go Your Own Way.” As she walked behind Christine McVie, Nicks gave her a gentle pat on the back.
It was a fleeting, seemingly offhand gesture, but it summed up the way the band members appear to feel about each other 40 years after this version of the group first coalesced. Christine McVie, who first joined Fleetwood Mac in 1970, returned last year after a 16-year absence. The rest of the group seemed delighted to have her back.
Drummer Mick Fleetwood is one of the band’s founding members along with bass player John McVie, the two giving name to what was originally a British blues band in 1967. During extended introductions in the encore Tuesday night, Fleetwood hailed Christine’s return “making this all so very complete.”
She was in fine voice throughout the show, her creamy alto restoring several classics to the band’s set, including “You Make Loving Fun,” “Dreams,” “Say You Love Me” and “Over My Head.”
Nicks and songwriter-singer-guitarist Lindsey Buckingham joined the band as a unit slightly more than 40 years ago, adding a California pop-rock sensibility that catapulted Fleetwood Mac to stardom — and a notorious, soap opera-style descent into substance abuse, love affairs and acrimony.
In 2015, the band’s set list is still dominated by its two smash-hit albums of the mid 1970s, Fleetwood Mac and Rumours.
The group’s runaway popularity and rock star excesses may have helped inspire the punk rock explosion of that era, but decades later, their own music still has the power to surprise with its burning intensity. That energy came through Tuesday night in multiple songs, particularly “ Rhiannon ,” “Tusk,” “Never Going Back Again” and “Go Your Own Way.”
About 14,000 people attended the 21-song, 2 1/2 -hour concert. Enthusiastic young fans were sprinkled throughout the largely AARP-eligible crowd. The show opened with a ferocious version of “The Chain,” with Christine McVie adding gorgeous harmonies to Buckingham’s lead vocals.
Though the first instrumental solo of the night came from John McVie’s bass, oddly enough, Buckingham quickly reminded the crowd that he started out as something of a proto-Eddie Van Halen. His nimble solo on “The Chain” was fast and fierce, and his undiminished enthusiasm for his art came through in every song. Buckingham’s solo on “Big Love” alluded to classical and flamenco guitar styles.
Nicks told an endearing story to introduce the 1982 hit “Gypsy,” about a 1968 trip to a store in San Francisco where Janis Joplin and Grace Slick bought their clothes. She said her visit gave her a premonition of the stardom awaiting her: “I walked out of that store a different girl.”
She achieved that stardom with a marvelous rock ’n’ roll bleat, a voice that somehow ends up beautiful despite sounding like a cross between Laura Nyro and a goat. She has lost some of her range through the years but still pulled off “Rhiannon,” “Sisters of the Moon,” “Gold Dust Woman” and one of the most beautiful songs in the English language, “Landslide.”
Nicks and Buckingham did that last one as a duet. Band members came and went throughout the concert, the core quintet supplemented by a couple of multi-instrumental utility players and three backing vocalists. Buckingham never left the stage until Fleetwood’s drum solo toward the end.
Fleetwood wore vibrant red shoes, knickers and dangling (ahem) accessories, his entire getup an homage to the outfit he wore on the cover of Rumours. He dropped the drum solo into the frenetic funk of “World Turning,” played during the encore.
Using a headset microphone, he egged the audience on throughout his solo — which was long enough to give the rest of the musicians a breather. Though I would be happy never to hear a drum solo again, I must say that hearing one narrated by a consummate showman like Fleetwood was a refreshing change of pace.
The show ended with the inevitable “Don’t Stop (Thinking About Tomorrow),” one of the big Rumours hits and a song that had a second run in the spotlight as the theme for Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign.
In a concert dominated by the songs of yesterday, the optimism of the closing number suited a show defined by the band’s enthusiasm for restoration of its classic lineup.
Contact Eddie Huffman at hu***********@***il.com, and follow @eddiehuffman on Twitter.
Eddie Huffman/ News & Record / Thursday, March 19, 2015
After two postponed shows, Fleetwood Mac performed its first concert in seven days at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Sunday night.
“Songbird” was dropped from the set at this show.
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Photos by 22KevMac
Date
Venue
Location
Reviews
Show #
Total
Sunday, March 15, 2015
John Paul Jones Arena
Charlottesville, Virginia
24
64
Videos
Thanks to Bobbie Burnette, ellellew, Lapis Lee, Alan Puryear, SandyMac, Todd Stone, and 22KevMac for sharing these videos!
