A last minute thing for me. Didn’t expect to go see Fleetwood Mac. My friend and ex-roommate Max Comeau was also there. Seated somewhere on the floor. A musician himself and very much influenced by the band, he breathes their music to survive. He introduced me to Fleetwood Mac among other music back at the beginning of the millennium. Are friendship didn’t last long though due to many disagreements. Now we’re friends again because we’re mature people, sort of, and we agree to disagree on stuff.

The show was at the Bell Centre. Yawn. On the floor were chairs. Double yawn. I understand having a show at the Bell Centre when you’re a super group but you’ve got to at least have the floor free of chairs no? It’s just more exciting. Max pointed out though that pretty much everybody was standing up from their chairs in the first rows. I had a nice seat in the red zone not so far away from the soundman. A woman in the aisle next to me was having the time of her life, dancing to all her favorite songs, until someone told her to sit down because she was blocking the view. Yes! We’re at the Bell Centre.

The place was packed but not sold out. Still that’s good news. I was told Fleetwood Mac once cancelled a Montreal show. The official reason was scheduling conflicts but Max believes it was because of poor ticket sales. It happens sometimes in Montreal. A show cancelled or moved to a smaller venue. Last year, I was very lucky to see M. Ward at the Petit Campus. He was originally booked at the Corona. This year, Benjamin Booker has his show moved from the Corona to the Sala Rossa.

Back to Fleetwood Mac. I love the album Rumours with its catchy music. Pop rock songs are usually not my thing but in this case the melodies are just too good. I was happy to hear many of the songs from that album. And even songs that weren’t from Rumours I would recognize. Where Max and I differ is our love for the band. I guess I’m not a huge fan like many of the attendees that night. Having Lindsey give a speech between two songs with a certain self-importance bothered me. Max, on the other hand, knows every little detail about them. “This is a nerd talking” he would say before pointing out that Lindsey Buckingham upped the tempo (10% to 15%) to unnerve Stevie Nicks during “Landslide.” I did see some tension between band members but at this point I wonder if it’s real or all for show.

I enjoyed it very much but without getting carried away. Had it been in a smaller venue (in my dreams right?), standing and dancing in a tight crowd to those wonderful songs, I would’ve savored it more.

China Marsot-Wood / RReverb / Monday, February 9, 2015

I arrived at my seat wearing a fur cape and a newly acquired Fleetwood Mac baseball cap, beer in hand, channeling my inner Miss Nicks, ready to kick it old school to one of the greatest bands in the history of music. The last bit of that previous statement is indisputable; it’s a fact. Little did I know they were about to prove just how iconic they truly are. 

The second they took the stage and started to play the unmistakable first chords of “The Chain” it hit me that there was more magic in that room than at every circus and children’s birthday party in the entire world, ever. I have never in my life seen so many different people, spanning in age from adolescence to old-enough-to-walk-with-a-cane, light up all at once. I don’t mean that in the traditional concert sense, with lighters or cell phones, I mean peoples’ souls lit up.

The fact that they opened the show with four songs off of Rumours (“The Chain,” “You Make Loving Fun,” “Dreams” and “Second Hand News”) was enough for me to pack my shit up and go home satisfied but they continued to deliver.

 At one point I had to go pee, and you better believe I ran to the bathroom, and upon realizing my stall was out of toilet paper I asked the lady next to me if she could spare some. She kindly obliged and cheerily added something about how Tusk was a safe song for a bathroom break. I thought, “Hello? There is no’safe song’” and I ran back.

The members of Fleetwood Mac were in visibly good spirits all through the night, laughing and joking with each other, praising each other and even taking little moments to hug and kiss each other. Some of the most notable moments: Stevie’s insane gypsy fashion — which she told a short story about right before singing “Gypsy.” Something about dreaming about shopping at the Velvet Underground store when she was young and broke and harboring a burning desire to channel her inner Janice Joplin and Grace Slick — which was on point as ever. From her various glittery scarves (she wore a gold one during “Gold Dust Woman”! Like…!) to her top hat to her fingerless leather gloves, not to mention her graceful gypsy dance moves. Mick Fleetwood’s energy! The dude is three times my age and did the most epic, ridiculous drum solo I have ever seen, which should be YouTube searched immediately if not sooner. Everything, from the lighting to the melodies to the energy coming from them as a group and as individual artists was perfect.

Guitarist Lindsey Buckingham gave a nice welcoming introduction to Christine McVie for those who were unaware that it was a huge deal that she was even there at all. Buckingham called her return “poetic and prolific.” McVie hadn’t performed with Fleetwood Mac for over 15 years, as Stevie Nicks mentioned again towards the end of the show. Nicks stated that she truly believed it was the “collective energy” of the fans that brought her back, that one morning we must have all been putting that one same thought into the universe and that Christine received the message loud and clear. As Miss Nicks said, “We all know that whatever we ask from the universe, we receive.” I don’t know if that really works, but if the Fairy Godmother of This Galaxy says it does, then I believe her.

They ended with “Go Your Own Way,” which may have been an obvious choice but still one I appreciated the humor in, whether that was intentional or not. There were two encores, the last of which was just Christine sitting at her piano performing “Songbird.” I can’t say I didn’t cry a little. I can’t say I didn’t cry a lot. It truly was one of the most breathtaking moments of my life so far. The image of the spotlight focused just on her and all the aforementioned lighters and cell phones lighting up the Bell Center will forever be etched in my memory.

Stevie told us to never give up on our dreams, Mick told us to remember that the Mac is definitely back. But as they took their final bows I wondered if they were aware that they had never really left at all; not our minds, not our hearts and certainly not our ears. Hopefully they’ll be with us for forty more years to come.

Celina Flores / Montreal Rampage / Sunday, February 8, 2015