With McVie in fine form, Fleetwood Mac turns back time in nostalgic concert.
Fleetwood Mac played to a sold-out adoring crowd at the Toyota Center on Monday night. Many in the audience saw the band on their 2013 World Tour in June. Our reviewer gave the concert a big thumbs-up, with a footnote that “Fleetwood Mac is not Fleetwood Mac without keyboardist/vocalist Christine McVie.”
This time around, a youthful looking 71-year-old McVie joined the band, and her energy and high spirits elevated the concert to another level.
(Photo: Jane Howze)
Every time McVie took the lead, the crowd roared — and the band itself seemed delighted to have their “beautiful Christine” back. With good reason. She soared in a powerful “Say That You Love Me” and “Over My Head” and provided spirited keyboards on “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow.”
Playing for nearly three hours to a mostly older yet energetic crowd (this was not your Eagles audience who meekly followed orders to stay seated), Stevie Nicks, Lindsay Buckingham and McVie shared lead vocals. Opening with “The Chain” written by all five band members from the classic album Rumours, McVie then launched into “You Make Loving Fun.” Her lyrical and earthy alto made it clear that while Fleetwood Mac has held up amazingly well given their ages, McVie adds a richer and more nuanced sound.
(Photo: Jane Howze)
Plus it allowed Nicks to harmonize and Buckingham to play his emotional guitar solos without having to be overly burdened with vocals.
Hits and cheering
With McVie back in the mix, the 24-song setlist shifted to songs recorded that they couldn’t perform without her in previous concerts. The hits and cheering never stopped.
Nicks’ version of “Rhiannon” in a lower key with a slightly different arrangement didn’t suit my taste. I’m not sure if the arrangement was because of her difficulty in hitting the high notes or was a way to mix it up. As she did at the last Houston concert, Nicks dedicated “Landslide” to a woman in the audience named Rhiannon who had survived a seemingly insurmountable health challenge.
(Photo: Jane Howze)
After Nicks sang “Seven Wonders,” she gave a shout out to American Horror Story: Coven, in which she made a cameo and featured the song earlier this year.
Buckingham, the youngster in the group at age 65, was the only band member who didn’t leave the stage. Before launching into “Big Love,” he joked with someone in the front row that “you were not born when we wrote this song.”
Nicks was her usual hippie self with scarves, high heeled boots and flowing clothing reminiscent of the ’70s with a long (too long) anecdote about her early days of shopping in a store frequented by Grace Slick and Janice Joplin called The Velvet Underground. She urged young audience members to pursue their dreams and then launched into to an extended “Gypsy.” With “Gold Dust Woman” she donned a gold shawl and twirled as John McVie (Christine’s ex) and Buckingham showed their respective keyboard and guitar prowess. The song conjured up an almost psychedelic experience.
(Photo: Jane Howze)
Other highlights included Buckingham on “I’m So Afraid” which brought an extended standing ovation after his show-stopping guitar solo and an energized “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow.”
The best surprise of the night was the second encore when a baby grand piano was rolled out for Christine McVie’s vulnerable and delicate “Songbird,” with Buckingham quietly backing her on guitar.
After the band took their final bow, Mick Fleetwood and Nicks returned (wearing a Christmas decoration on her head) to once again thank the fans, express happiness for having “young” Christine back in the band and wish everyone a Merry Christmas and, as Fleetwood said, “be kind to one another.”
(Photo: Jane Howze)
For those who “can’t stop thinking about tomorrow,” Fleetwood Mac will be back in Houston March 3, 2015 for another concert.
Jane Howze / Culture Map / Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Fleetwood Mac performed at the Toyota Center in Houston on Monday night, the 37th show of the tour. The band has three more shows this week before winding down for the holidays. The second leg of the On With The Show Tour will kick off at the Xcel Energy Center in St Paul, Minneapolis on Friday, January 16.
Stevie dedicated “Landslide” to Rhiannon, a young woman who experienced medical adversity early in her life. “I’ve watched her grow up, and her name is Rhiannon. [The crowd cheers.] I know. She faced an amazing hell, [this] thing that she’s been fighting her whole life, and she’s just fought right through it, from this big [Stevie gestures low to the ground.] when I first met her. And she’s come right through it like this amazing woman that the mythological Rhiannon is and that this little Rhiannon is. So Rhiannon, this is for you tonight. This is ‘Landslide.’”
[slideshow_deploy id=’33569′]
The Mac’s other members weren’t shy about welcoming Christine McVie back into the fold. (Photo: Jack Gorman)Lindsey Buckingham: the higher the hair, the closer to God? (Photo: Jack Gorman)Have Shawl, Will Travel: Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood (back) (Photo: Jack Gorman)(Photo: csnowden)(Photo: Jess and the Bandits)(Photo: John Greeley)(Photo: Pamela)(Photo: The Real Egger)(Photo: Toyota Center)(Photo: Trish Badger)
Videos
Special thanks to Doug Garner, dylanelsie 9, and Space City Shows for sharing these videos!
The Chain (courtesy of Doug Garner)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtOoFArlwMM
The Chain (courtesy of Space City Shows)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC4OaIhMBAs
You Make Loving Fun (courtesy of Space City Shows)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv6lWT9lz4g
Dreams (courtesy of Space City Shows)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfeQ_pWlNxg
Second Hand News (courtesy of Space City Shows)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3X2CZZzqBo
Rhiannon (courtesy of Space City Shows)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9arO8eQb6f0
Everywhere (courtesy of Space City Shows)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6bYev5qQkY
I Know I’m Not Wrong (courtesy of Space City Shows)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-Xn7Omk_Lo
Sisters of the Moon (courtesy of Space City Shows)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8ZjAPtZCiM
Say You Love Me (courtesy of Space City Shows)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb5ht51lPxk
Seven Wonders (courtesy of Space City Shows)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3lu5gmz7gE
Big Love (courtesy of Space City Shows)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni_ku7u7Sg8
Landslide with dedication (courtesy of Space City Shows)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPvjMh-ssto
Never Going Back Again (courtesy of Space City Shows)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbhUsS5w_20
Over My Head (courtesy of Space City Shows)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lcDVGAHuvA
Gypsy (courtesy of Space City Shows)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrSIMNEkYJk
Little Lies (courtesy of Space City Shows)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ep2d8hCtkA
Gold Dust Woman (courtesy of Space City Shows)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZAMBdAmEN4
I’m So Afraid (courtesy of Space City Shows)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6RofcGAc_U
Go Your Own Way (courtesy of Space City Shows)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOmX4IvlNnQ
World Turning (courtesy of Space City Shows)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fkTfdebGPg
Don’t Stop (courtesy of Space City Shows)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG-9hFvz6aA
Return for Encore 1 (courtesy of dylanelsie 9)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG06k19F9F4
Silver Springs (courtesy of Space City Shows)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et5jlQQQTH8
Songbird / Stevie’s closing speech (courtesy of Space City Shows)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyXupNkcsMk
Why Fleetwood Mac Is Bigger Than Ever, Fleetwood Mac Music
Fleetwood Mac will be playing a very special show in Houston on Monday night. It’s special because it is the first time Christine McVie will be joining the band in a performance here since the early ’90s at least. For many younger fans, this is their first opportunity to see the band’s full classic lineup performing together.
And those younger fans? Well, there’s a lot of them — in fact, there may be more than ever. Against all odds, Fleetwood Mac has gone from a classic-rock band, relegated to bargain bins, to a thriving, relevant enterprise. Monday night’s show will be a celebration of that fact.
Of course, this has nothing to do with new music on the part of the band, or even anything particularly special they’ve done. Sure, it probably ignited a little bit of renewed interest when Stevie Nicks and all those witch rumors became a focal point of the last season of American Horror Story. But even then, Fleetwood Mac’s revival was rolling around beforehand.
It wasn’t releasing new music for the first time in a decade either. 2013’s Extended Play was Fleetwood Mac’s first newly released material since 2003’s Say You Will, a tepidly received album that missed the mark of their resurgence by years. While Extended Play was a welcome addition to their discography with some pretty solid songs on it, most younger fans probably never even noticed it came out.
No, the reason for their revival is indie rock and folk, which are massive these days. You can hardly go anywhere without hearing someone playing an acoustic guitar, once the sort of thing which was only ubiquitous in flashbacks to the long-forgotten era of hippies at parties noodling around on Beatles chords in clouds of weed smoke.
Bands like the Decemberists and City and Colour have brought Americana and folk into their indie-rock with astounding results. It’s practically a new genre, nothing like the indie rock of yesteryear, represented by bands like Pavement or Archers of Loaf. Much of it is indebted to one band, too: Fleetwood Mac.
The dual harmonies of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. The bluesy, roots guitar from Buckingham, combined with the band’s technical proficiency and tendency towards hard-rock breakdowns in their Americana jams. It’s all there plain to see on Rumours, the modern blueprint for how to make a record like this.
The esteem of Rumours has always been great. It is one of the most lauded and greatest-selling records of all time. But where this sound had once fallen into disfavor, relegated to your parents’ mixtapes while the kids were out breaking bottles and losing their shit to punk rock and metal, it has recently become cool again for the first time in 30 years.
A song like “The Chain” is so profoundly influential on a band like the Decemberists that one could almost accuse them of ripping it off. Even songs on their other records like “Landslide” have gone from your mom’s favorite song to a legendary ballad held in esteem by singer-songwriter indie rockers around the world.
Dare I say it, my generation has all but abandoned the distorted guitars and revolutionary attitudes of metal to embrace plaid shirts and beautiful chord melodies. In essence, this is the Fleetwood Mac generation. Almost every twentysomething I know now adores the band and their inestimable influence on modern rock music.
When Fleetwood Mac plays in Houston on Monday, it will be the first show in our city as a full lineup in at least 20 years. But it will also be the first show they’ve played in Houston where their audience will be so vastly mixed. This isn’t going to be a classic rock show where the average age of the audience member is middle-aged. It will be a legacy show, where everyone from teenagers to people in their thirties will congregate to pay their respects to the fore bearers of a genre.
The Mac is back, and bigger than ever.
Fleetwood Mac performs Monday, December 15 at Toyota Center, 1510 Polk. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Corey Deiterman / Houston Press / Friday, December 12, 2014
Fleetwood Mac thrills Fleetwood Mac fans new and old at Toyota Center for two-plus hours.
Fleetwood Mac
Toyota Center
December 15, 2014
The Mac Attack is Back! And with the Songbird back in the nest, the Chain has been reforged, and seems stronger than ever.
Okay, that may be a little heavy on the symbols and metaphors. But it’s hard to overestimate the importance the Fleetwood Mac’s return to its classic mid-’70s to mid-’80s lineup of Lindsey Buckingham (vocals/guitar), Stevie Nicks (vocals), namesake rhythm section Mick Fleetwood (drums) and John McVie (bass), and returning vocalist/keyboardist Christine McVie.
So many references were made by other band members onstage to McVie’s unlikely and never-thought-possible comeback after 16 years (she had retired to her English castle, vowing never to make music again), that no one would have blamed her for blushing, even nearly 40 dates into this reunion tour.
Lindsey Buckingham: the higher the hair, the closer to God? (Photo: Jack Gorman)
Every classic-rock band of any importance or longevity has gone through lineup changes — including Fleetwood Mac, whose origins stretch back to 1967 as a straight-up, all-English blues band. But there just seems something so…right about this lineup reconstituting. Take out any one of the five, and it’s just not the same.
And for more than 2.5 hours, Fleetwood Mac put on a vibrant, strident, joyous show that was no robotic walk through the Greatest Hits. And they had the sold-out Toyota Center shaking, with even most of those on the floor standing up for the bulk of the set.
Opening appropriately with the band-of-brothers-and-sister anthem “The Chain” to a rapturous welcome, the band played a seemingly never-ending string of favorites. The included a whopping nine of the 11 tracks from their career apex Rumours, and that album’s haunting B-side “Silver Springs.”
The Mac’s other members weren’t shy about welcoming Christine McVie back into the fold. (Photo: Jack Gorman)
They also found set list space for a couple of deeper cuts from the more experimental 1979 double album Tusk (“I Know I’m Not Wrong,” “Sisters of the Moon”), possibly to the exclusion of bigger hits “Sara” and “Hold Me” from the set list. Other highlights included a slinky “Dreams,” buoyant “Say You Love Me,” and hard-charging “I’m So Afraid.” The band was augmented by three backup singers and two keyboardists/guitarists, tucked up on risers at the back of the stage.
Nicks dedicated a lush “Landslide” — performed by just her and Buckingham on guitar accompaniment — to a real-life Rhiannon in the audience who had/was facing some unexplained life challenge. She was likely not the only audience member either named for or conceived by that Tale of a Welsh Witch.
A handful of numbers were rejiggered from their album arrangements to great effect. Buckingham’s “Big Love” went from a more pop tune (with the orgiastic “oohs” and “aahs” of the chorus) into a howling, guitar-drenched cry of pain. Its author told the crowd that the track’s meaning for him had changed since its 1987 appearance on Tango in the Night.
“This song was about contemplation in alienation…and now it’s a meditation on the importance of change” he told the audience and — pointing to one close by younger member — “written before you were even born.”
Nicks’ cocaine elegy “Gold Dust Woman” turned into a far heavier, extended jam. It featured one of Nicks’ trademark stage twirls, all long blonde hair, scarves, and glittering shawl batwings. And while she pulled out her trademark stage moves more sparingly (being a 66-year-old in high heels and all), the audience went apeshit every time she turned.
This was no robotic walk through the greatest hits. (Photo: Jack Gorman)
She also turned out to be the night’s most chatty storyteller, introducing “Gypsy” with a mini-history lesson of her and Buckingham’s adventures first as teenagers in high school, then band partners in L.A. and San Francisco in the late ’70s, where the duo opened for acts like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Chicago.
For all the romantic soap opera that has been the band’s history with its members being together, separated, divorced, and changing partners, it’s clear this particular pair still have an unshakeable bond between them that’s neither forced nor fake.
All five had a sinewy energy about them belling their chronological ages, especially the super lean Christine McVie (who Nicks said has been “working out with a trainer every day since February”) and stage-stalking Buckingham, both in skinny jeans.
There were, as expected, some concessions to age among the band’s three singers. Christine McVie’s voice is a bit sharper, sometimes removed from its warmer tones; Nicks’ is a bit more gravelly, and Buckingham worked to make his upper register.
But these are all minor observances, and in fact, actually add to the songs, making them more lived-in and reflective of history.
When Nicks offered the wistful line “But time makes you bolder/ Even children get older/ And I’m getting older too” on “Landslide” (written in 1973!), it clearly struck a chord with both band and audience. And the vocals could have actually been turned up a bit higher in the mix throughout the show.
A slowed-down “Never Going Back Again” brought some more regret into the lyrics. And even Buckingham’s well-worn kiss-off “Go Your Own Way” had a visceral power live that belied its FM-radio overplaying. [Note: this paragraph has been edited after publication.]
The evening came to a close with a rousing “Don’t Stop,” though one can’t help by mentally picture a certain political power couple with the track playing now, and an elegant, heartbreaking “Silver Springs.” Then, fittingly, Christine McVie returned to a grand piano to play the strains of “Songbird.”
In it, the avian of the title “knows the score.” And the score – brought home with Nicks and Fleetwood’s touchingly personal post-song address to the audience about the current reformation – is that the band has started a new chapter in its ever-unfolding book.
The quintet are already working on new material for an upcoming studio album, and a second Houston date has been added for March 3 of next year. Get your tickets…now.
Personal Bias: Longtime fan, and not just of this lineup. And I credit seeing a Mac show in Austin in the late ’80s (sans Buckingham, but with Rick Vito and Billy Burnette) with starting me on a music-journalism path.
The Crowd: Wider-range of ages than most classic-rock shows, from twentysomethings to sixtysomethings. A handful of shawled Stevie wannabes; Lots of couples.
Overheard in the Crowd: “I hope they do ‘Sara,’ but they probably won’t. It’s not a song really meant for concerts.”
Random Notebook Dump: Lindsey’s high, brillo hair is looking more Art Garfunkelesque all the time.
SET LIST
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
Seven Wonders
Big Love
Landslide
Never Going Back Again
Over My Head
Gypsy
Little Lies
Gold Dust Woman
I’m So Afraid
Go Your Own Way
ENCORE
World Turning (w/Fleetwood drum solo)
Don’t Stop
Silver Springs
ENCORE 2
Songbird
Bob Ruggiero / Houston Press / Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Three songs into Monday night’s set at Toyota Center, Stevie Nicks promised the crowd she would “get this party started!” Until then, Fleetwood Mac had been pleasing and mostly polite: anthem-ic kickoff “The Chain,” “You Make Loving Fun,” “Dreams” shifted to a lower key.
But something kicked into gear with “Second Hand News.” Lindsey Buckingham ripped into the song, all wild eyes and stomping feet. It reverberated through the sold-out crowd and energized Nicks’ take on “Rhiannon.” The party had indeed started.
Christine McVie, who rejoined the band after a 15-year absence, was still soulful and sweet on “Everywhere,” which benefited from a punchy arrangement.
“Now she’s been here, and it’s almost 40 shows. And now I think she’s gonna stay,” Nicks quipped. The band returns in March for another Toyota Center show.
The enduring allure of Fleetwood Mac has been the story behind the music. The core unit Buckingham, Nicks, John McVie, Christine McVie and Mick Fleetwood – has continued to thrive both in spite and because of its tempestuous history.
Buckingham played up the sentiment, saying the band’s success is its ability “to continue to prevail through the good times and the bad.” He called Christine McVie’s reappearance “the beginning of a poetic, a profound and a beautiful new chapter.”
For now, though, it was about the music.
Nicks introduced “Gypsy” with a lengthy story about meeting Buckingham, shopping for rock-star clothes and opening shows for Jimi Hendrix, Santana and Creedence Clearwater Revival.
“Are you listening over there?” she asked him.
And, yes, something sweet and magical still happens when Nicks’ croons about getting older and snow-covered hills during “Landslide.” The entire venue seemed to sigh in unison.
Fully-staffed Fleetwood Mac takes adoring Dallas crowd on a roller-coaster ride at American Airlines show.
Fleetwood Mac comprises former lovers, ex spouses, longtime friends and a tumultuous biography. Like any musical group that has survived decades of ups and downs, the members must constantly work at it to recapture their old chemistry.
That workmanlike spirit helped to define the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band’s sold-out show on Sunday night at American Airlines Center. Rejoined by vital vocalist and keyboardist Christine McVie after her 16-year-touring hiatus, the Mac leaned in admirably through a two-hour-plus performance that veered from soul-soothing to serviceable and back again.
Understandably, much fanfare was made of McVie’s return: Her warm, familiar vocals provided several highlights, from the smoky seduction of “You Make Loving Fun” to the melodic bliss of ’80s smashes “Everywhere” and “Little Lies.” Despite her solid performance, McVie was never one to bask in the spotlight.
Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, however, were more than happy to soak up the love of the audience on Sunday. With McVie on keys, her ex-husband, John, on bass and Mick Fleetwood behind his drums for most of the evening, it was up to the group’s two relative “newbies” to do the crowd work.
Guitarist Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac (Jason Janik)
Buckingham kept the folks up front entertained by harnessing a twenty-something’s energy, frequently screaming out lyrical lines and jumping into rock-god postures. Nicks was simply herself — a twirling and swaying mystical sage armed with raspy power pipes and a streamer-clad tambourine.
When the band took the stage to kick things off with “The Chain,” the entire arena leapt to its feet and folks around me were pointing out Nicks to each other (“There she is!”). The three vocalists, embellished by a set of backup singers, took a full verse and chorus to fully find their harmonic sweet spot.
Nicks continued to get better and better throughout the night, at first avoiding the highest notes on “Dreams” and “Rhiannon,” but later reaching the mountaintops on “Gypsy” and the spine-tingling classic, “Gold Dust Woman.” She and Buckingham shined during what was essentially an intermission for the rest of the band — a three-song mini-set consisting of “Big Love,” “Landslide” and “Never Going Back Again.” All spotlighted Buckingham’s acoustic finger-picking skills, while the middle song benefited from Nicks’ refreshingly unsentimental vocal delivery.
As other legacy bands are wont to do, Fleetwood Mac’s players introduced a few of their songs by recalling elements of the band’s backstory. Nicks charmed while explaining the origins of the first line of “Gypsy.” Buckingham spoke to how certain tunes’ meanings have changed for him over the years. McVie got the biggest laugh of the evening while introducing “Over My Head”: “This goes back to the days when John and I were still married. Remember that, John?”
Thirty or so dates into their current tour, now might be a good time for the Mac to consider making a few edits. For instance, unnecessary drum and guitar solos during “I’m So Afraid” significantly slowed down the pace toward the end of the show, a point when most acts would try to speed it up. And then came another odd drum solo during the encore set. Fleetwood shut his eyes, played a variety of rhythms and screamed at the crowd like a madman — it seemed indulgent, even if it might have given folks one more chance to hit the beer stands.
My few complaints probably won’t register with diehard fans of Fleetwood Mac. Anyone who delights in the band’s unique blend of creative voices would have been thrilled to hear Buckingham toast “a poetic, profound and prolific new chapter” from the stage.
A new album is expected next year, as well as a second leg of the On With the Show tour (it returns to AAC on March 4). If that means I’ll get to see Nicks twirl in the shadows one more time, sign me up.
Christine McVie always performed stage right with Fleetwood Mac, though she was never a side player. The keyboardist wrote a good number of the band’s hits back in the day and took the position of lead singer whenever they came into rotation.
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More than that, she was the supergroup’s third leg. Lindsey Buckingham was the rocker, Stevie Nicks the spiritual siren and McVie the pop songstress who brought a head-bopping bounce to the band’s sound with numbers like “You Make Loving Fun.” That combination gave Fleetwood Mac something for every prevailing taste in the 1970s and pushed it to the top of the charts.
And so when Christine McVie returned to the band after a 17-year vacation this fall, she brought not just her 71-year-old self, but also a little more easy-going fun. Fleetwood Mac’s appearance at the Pepsi Center in Denver Friday night felt much more like a pop concert than the raucous rock show it performed there in 2013.
Buckingham still did his high-jumps during “Big Love” and tortured his guitar until it screamed during “Tusk.” Nicks still growled through “Rhiannon” and danced and twirled in a sparkly shawl for “Gold Dust Woman.”
But there was also McVie, leaning into her mike and dropping those famously moony vocals on “Over My Head” and “Say You Love Me.” She took center stage for “Everywhere” and delivered the song’s happy, little trademark “boops” at the end with precision.
For the band, and the virtually sold-out crowd, it felt like home. There was McVie in her skin tight black jeans, Buckingham in his leather jacket, Nicks in her multiple layers of skirts and coats and those fingerless lace gloves. In the background, Mick Fleetwood banged his drums too hard like he has for four decades and John McVie plucked away on bass nearly invisible, except for a bright red vest. This was Fleetwood Mac as it was meant to be; the group, fully formed, that sold 100 million albums.
That not to say it was all nostalgia. The ensemble sounded tight and all the players brought what they had to. Nicks, who can have difficult nights, started strong and stayed relaxed. McVie lived up to the hype of her return, which was mentioned non-stop during the show. She was never the frantic type and that suits her well in her advanced years. Late in the game, the energy slowed, but that happens to a lot of bands on the 30th stop of a tour that offers few real breaks for musicians.
There were times when the proceedings felt programmed. The song list wasn’t all that different from June 2013 and neither were the renditions. The set and lights see med like an afterthought, with a series of distracting shapes projected through the giant monitor backstage — swirling bubbles, seashells and planets that looked more like screen savers for a home computer than the backdrop of an arena show.
But, of course, there was plenty to look without all that: Three of the world’s biggest music stars, trading off their best material. There wasn’t a huge amount of lovey dovey stuff between them, just a few sideways glances and one cute wink from Stevie to Christine during “Say You Love Me.”
They were co-workers whose best team was back together, with McVie stage right once again. They gave her the closer, leaving her alone with a spotlight for a gentle take on “Songbird.” She sounded comfortable to be back, and the fans, with their phones lit in a bright ovation, seems pleased as well.
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Ray Mark Rinaldi is a Arts and Entertainment writer and critic at The Denver Post and a regular contributor to Reverb.
Daniel Petty is a Denver-based photographer and digital director of sports at The Denver Post.
Fleetwood Mac performed at the Pepsi Center in Denver on Friday night, the 35th show of the massively successful ON WITH THE SHOW tour. The band has five shows remaining on Leg 1 of the tour, before winding down for the holidays and winter break.
Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham rock “The Chain” at the Pepsi Center in Denver. (Photo: Daniel Petty)Lindsey Buckingham dazzles the crowd with one of many blistering guitar solos at the Pepsi Center in Denver. (Photo: Michael Krieger)Christine McVie delights fans in Denver. (Photo: Daniel Petty)Stevie Nicks welcomes the Denver crowd. (Photo: Daniel Petty)Fleetwood Mac rocks the Pepsi Center in Denver. (Photo: Daniel Petty)
Videos
Special thanks to Marlo Goff, Katherine Pilafas, and Danielle Trumble for sharing these videos!
The Chain – partial (courtesy of Katherine Pilafas)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jUQO8Pp1OU
Landslide (courtesy of Marlo Goff)
Go Your Own Way – short clip (courtesy of Danielle Trumble)
Fleetwood Mac performed at the US Airways Center in Phoenix on Wednesday, the band’s 34th show of the tour.
Both Stevie and Lindsey spoke affectionately about the city where Stevie’s parents lived and the two spent a lot of time early in their career. Lindsey called Phoenix a “second home” and Stevie expressed regret for selling her beautiful home near Camelback Mountain, where she wrote many songs. Stevie later dedicated “Landslide” to the Phoenix audience, saying “it’s good to be home,” and delivered an especially poignant rendition of her late father’s favorite song.
Photos
[slideshow_deploy id=’32037′]
Videos
Special thanks to 9693297602 ., Traci Baker, Dan B, mattjohnson723, and Ron Orion for sharing these videos!
COMPILATION: The Chain / Second Hand News / Rhiannon / Landslide / Gypsy / Gold Dust Woman / Go Your Own Way / Silver Springs (mattjohnson723)
Second Hand News (Traci Baker)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z3pgq1Ynz8 Everywhere (9693297602 .)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwp51a3Uu4A I Know I’m Not Wrong (9693297602 .)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJyMeKyCdnw Tusk (9693297602 .)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8PD_Ajarrw Seven Wonders (9693297602 .)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyZr5bX6S9s Big Love (9693297602 .)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY8T3r_DOck Landslide (Dan B)
Never Going Back Again (9693297602 .)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w0aXQsC5RY Gypsy (9693297602 .)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD0-4F9JUtY Little Lies (9693297602 .)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoUweY4FsB8 Gold Dust Woman (9693297602 .)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMOOKSDNIYk Go Your Own Way (9693297602 .)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW7lJhiZJgU World Turning (9693297602 .)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa-MIfCbwaw World Turning / Band introductions (Ron Orion)
Don’t Stop (Ron Orion)
Silver Springs (9693297602 .)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFXO2cBUpaY Silver Springs – video is sideways (Ron Orion)
“Our songbird has returned,” Mick Fleetwood told the sold-out crowd at Talking Stick Resort Arena Wednesday night before the reunited “Rumours” lineup treated the fans to an encore performance of “Don’t Stop” that featured the songbird in question, Christine McVie, taking a turn on lead vocals and contributing a rollicking piano solo.
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This is McVie’s first tour with Fleetwood Mac since 1998. And Fleetwood was far from alone in viewing her return as cause for celebration, reuniting as it does the soft-rock icons’ most successful lineup. The crowd responded with enthusiasm when she took her first lead vocal, two songs in, on “You Make Loving Fun,” which was followed by a heartfelt tribute to McVie by Stevie Nicks.
McVie herself talked about “what a thrill it is for me to be standing on this stage singing with these amazing musicians and friends” before taking another lead vocal on “Everywhere.”
Lindsey Buckingham shared his thoughts on how “the return of the beautiful Christine” had signaled a new chapter in their history.
And the second encore started with McVie alone on piano and vocals for two verses and a chorus of an understated “Songbird” before Buckingham joined in on lead guitar.
That was it for the music, but Nicks returned to share a charming anecdote about a phone call she got last October in Italy, imitating McVie’s British accent to ask, “What would you think if I decided to come back to the band?” and ending her speech with “We so wanted her to come back. And we’re so happy to have our girl back.”
They did a lot of talking in the course of their nearly three-hour performance. Buckingham talked about how thrilled he was to be in Phoenix, where he and Nicks had spent a lot of time, saying “It kind of feels like a second home.” He gave a lengthy monologue before tearing it up on a solo acoustic performance of “Big Love,” talking about how although that “Tango in the Night” track is actually newer than much of the material in Wednesday’s set, it feels like it came from “a whole different lifetime,” before he “pulled back and made a few adjustments.” The song began, he explained, as “a kind of contemplation on alienation perhaps” but had become “more a meditation on the power and the importance of change.”
And Nicks talked at length about living in Phoenix.
“I actually lived here for 20 years,” she said before admitting that she wished she hadn’t sold her house. “I miss coming home to write and being near Camelback Mountain and all of you.” After acknowledging her friends and family in attendance, Nicks said, “A lot of our songs were written here. It’s good to be home.” And after talking about McVie in the second encore, she signed off with “And Phoenix, I’m so sorry I don’t live here anymore.”
As for the music, they made their way through nine of the 11 songs on “Rumours” and half the songs on 1975’s “Fleetwood Mac,” their first release with Buckingham and Nicks.
Fleetwood set the tone for their performance with the thumping kick drum of “The Chain,” the first of several tracks that thrived on Buckingham’s intensity both as a singer and as one of rock and roll’s most underrated lead guitarists. The man should be enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Most Watchable Guitar Gods. His tone is amazing and his presence makes his most electrifying moments that much more electrifying. The excitement he seems to be feeling when he plays those leads couldn’t be more contagious.
They kept the focus on “Rumours” as they traded off lead vocals from McVie on “You Make Loving Fun” to Nicks on “Dreams” and back to Buckingham for “Second Hand News.”
Highlights of the early part of their performance included “Rhiannon,” an electrifying “Tusk,” which was accompanied by footage of the USC Trojan Marching Band playing the song at Dodgers Stadium, “Say You Love Me” and “Seven Wonders.”
Buckingham’s solo performance of “Big Love” was exhilarating and far more intense than you’d imagine one man on acoustic guitar can be — unless, of course, you were familiar with Buckingham’s solo performances of that awe-inspiring song. They kept things in acoustic mode for “Landslide,” which featured Buckingham accompanying Nicks on her best vocal of the night. And then he took it up a notch with a haunting performance of “Never Going Back Again.”
At that point, their bandmates returned for a stripped-down set with Fleetwood on a kit out front for “Over My Head” and “Gypsy,” which was set up by another lengthy monologue from Nicks about a San Francisco dress shop called the Velvet Underground.
The set built to a climax from there with McVie’s “Little Lies” giving way to a haunted arrangement of Nicks’ “Gold Dust Woman,” Buckingham’s most insane guitar work of the concert on “I’m So Afraid” and a set-closing “Go Your Own Way.”
After starting the encore with a version of “World Turning” that featured a lengthy drum solo, they brought things up a notch with “Don’t Stop,” ending that first encore with an aching “Silver Spring” (the B-side of “Go Your Own Way”) with a really nice vocal from Nicks. And saving “Songbird” for the second encore was a nice touch, shining the spotlight one last time on the prodigal daughter, McVie, whose return really does suggest, as Buckingham said, a new chapter in Fleetwood Mac’s history.
