I’m still grinning after last night’s show and Stevie Nicks has been serenading me in my daydreams since we left the Bradley Center last night. So I have some stories to share, but I’ll spare you my own review – filled with exclamation points, CAPS LOCK, and various other teeny bopper expressions of delight OMGLOLZ!!1!!111!! And instead I’ll post Dave Tianen’s review for JSOnline, “Fleetwood Mac keeps the classics fresh: Material might be familiar, but time hasn’t hurt well-loved tunes” . What it lacks in passion and poetry (and squeals!), it makes up for in general accuracy and insight.
I just want to paste it here so that any skeptics can read an objective (aka non-crazy superfan) perspective. Then I’ll follow up with my own additions. Ready? Here we go.
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The classic Fleetwood Mac lineup has released exactly one album of new material in the last 21 years.
Monday night in concert at the Bradley Center, they totally ignored that one album, “Say You Will.”
I seriously doubt anyone cared. The Big Mac is on the road to milk the catalog, and that is surely what the fans want. Of the 23 songs in the current set, 14 are from the two classic mid-’70s albums, “Fleetwood Mac” and “Rumours.” Those are two of the classic pop rock albums of the ’70s, or any other decade for that matter. It’s a set list loaded with hits and classics, including “Rhiannon,” “Dreams,” “Gold Dust Woman,” “The Chain,” “Landslide,” “Monday Morning,” “Go Your Own Way” and “Don’t Stop.”
When a huge band decides to take the oldies route and work the old hits, some questions are logical. First of all, do they seem bored or just going through the motions? The answer to that would seem to be an emphatic no. If Lindsey Buckingham was bored Monday night, it was the most frenetic display of tedium I have ever seen in my life. There is also a slight freshening effect because the old Christine McVie hits have now been parceled out between Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.
Second, has the passage of time and the weight of the years compromised their ability to deliver the goods? That’s a logical question. Buckingham will turn 60 on Oct. 3, and he’s the youngest person in the band. Again, Buckingham is a dynamo physically. He may be the only 59-year-old guitarist on the planet who bounces when he plays.
If Buckingham is the engine and musical master behind Fleetwood Mac, Nicks was always the visual and theatrical center. That still holds true in slightly muted form. Although she still dresses in shawls and loves to strike theatrical poses on stage, Nicks isn’t quite the wood sprite sex kitten of yore. We got exactly one of the old spinning moves with the arms outspread. At 60, Nicks is a little less Tinker Bell, a little more the well-preserved Witch of Eastwick.
One of the smart things they’re doing on this tour, since there aren’t any new songs: They’re giving us something new about the old songs. In introducing “Gypsy,” Nicks reminisced about the first band she shared with Buckingham and their days of opening for Santana and Janis Joplin in San Francisco. Buckingham spoke at some length about how “Big Love” became the template for the solo songs he wrote later in his career. This is a band with history, and I think it’s wise to share it with the audience.
And as Buckingham acknowledged, they also have a “complex” emotional history. Those old storms seem to have quieted with the years, and at least on stage Buckingham and Nicks seemed to have reached a state of genuine warmth and affection.
One other thing came through. I’m not sure Buckingham has ever quite gotten the credit he deserves as a guitarist. For several tunes, in the second half of the set, it was just Buckingham playing behind his own voice and Nicks, and the sound never seemed withered or small.
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There are also photos here.
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So, Mom and I arrive on 4th Street, balk at the price of parking, make our way into the venue, balk at the price of merchandise ($40-50 for a tshirt?! I don’t love anyone enough to spend that much on one of their tshirts), and head upstairs to our section. The guy points us in the direction of our seats; we crane our necks up to see where he’s pointing. We look at the empty row directly in front of us, turn to look at its angle with and proximity to the stage, turn back to the guy, and ask, “Can we sit here instead?” To which he shrugs and says, “Fine with me, until you get kicked out!”
We get settled and proceed to sweat (Mom) and fidget (me) with anxiety over the possibility that someone would come along who was actually supposed to be in those seats and we plan where we’d move next if they did. We make jokes and speculate over what I’d do (which is drool and murmur incoherently) if I met Stevie. Minutes tick by ever so slowly as we watch the arena fill up and yet no one came to our row. I spew forth random Fleetwood Mac facts that I read on their websites earlier in the day. We marvel that these seats up in section 423 are so much better than being in the back portion of the floor seats. We declare ourselves “so rock & roll.”
Fleetwood Mac haven’t used an opening act in years and was scheduled for an 8pm start. 8:05. 8:10. *fidget fidget* 8:15. Mom turns toward the stage, taps her watch, and calls out, “I start getting tired at 10!”
Finally, a few minutes later, the lights come down and intro music starts… I can vaguely see people coming onto the stage, taking their positions. A stream of something that resembles the English language is flying from my mouth: “IsthatheristhatherISTHATHER? OhmygoshohmygoshohmygoshOHMYGOSH! That’sher,theresheis! Ohmygosh, Ineedtositoverhere, sorryexcuseme!!!” And I basically sail over my mom’s body, probably kicking her in the face and gouging out one of her eyes on the way, to get into the seat on the other side of her. And the stage lights come on and I proceed to squeal like a 12-year old.
*Insert 2 1/2 hours of what can really only be described as AWESOME-TASTIC-NESS*
Favourite Songs (no particular order):
- Dreams (I got choked up during her opening verse)
- Gypsy
- Big Love (holy WOW Lindsey Buckingham has fast fingers!!)
- Landslide
- Tusk (not as awesome without the marching band, but still packed some good punch!)
- Rhiannon (I actually cried)
- Storms (they had never performed this one on stage before this tour)
- Gold Dust Woman (loved the imagery with the lights and her shawl)
- Silver Springs
- Don’t Stop (last song of the night capping off an incredible encore!)
Other Highlights:
- Stevie’s signature things: half moon pendant, flowy dresses and shawls, ribbons on her tambourine and mic stand, top hat, platform shoes, and spinning around to the music
- Mick Fleetwood’s crazy fab drum solo (”You still there?! [crowd cheers] Don’t leave meeee!”)
- Stevie and Lindsey’s random stories about the band’s history and/or stories behind certain songs
- Lindsey did a particularly awesome guitar solo. Mom asked me, “Do your whistle!” I complied. She shouted towards the stage, “That’s from me!!”
- Mick Fleetwood’s lovely mid-encore introductions of each band member, calling Lindsey the maestro, John the righthand man, and Stevie the poet and their first lady
- Don’t Stop coming on the radio on the way home
It was just a most excellent night, and one I won’t soon forget! A million thanks to my mom for getting the tickets for us 
PS – Also, they’ve just confirmed a UK leg of the tour. London’s Wembley arena, 30th October. I will be there, on my own if I must!
