Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Fleetwood Mac Reunites in Madison Square Garden: Concert Review via The Hollywood Reporter

Fleetwood Mac Reunites in Madison Square Garden: Concert Review
by Frank Scheck
Hollywood Reporter
Photo by: Rebecca Taylor/MSG Photos
The venerable band rocks Madison Square Garden with classic hits and enough relative obscurities to please die-hard fans.

Any longtime fan of Fleetwood Mac must have relished a particular exchange between Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks during the band’s Madison Square Garden concert, the third stop in a 50-date tour. Introducing the song “Without You,” a previously unreleased track from their Buckingham Nicks days, Nicks explained that she and Buckingham differed on when exactly the vintage song was written. It’s somehow comforting that after all these years these longtime collaborators can still disagree.

Otherwise it was a virtual lovefest between the two, who displayed a deep personal and musical chemistry on that song and such numbers as “Landslide,” performed as an acoustic duet.

Performing their first shows in three years, the band demonstrated that they haven’t lost a step, with the rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie brilliantly anchoring the proceedings, Buckingham once again proving that he’s one of rock’s true guitar gods, and Nicks’ vocals displaying their familiar husky beauty.

Coinciding with the recent 35th anniversary deluxe reissue of their classic Rumours, the show not surprisingly began with three songs from that 40 million copy-selling album -- “Second Hand News,” Chain” and “Dreams” — which immediately jump-started the crowd.

Delivering 23 songs over 2-1/2 hours, the band delivered a generous portion of hits while also including enough relative obscurities to justify a return visit even for those who’ve seen them many times. Besides the aforementioned “Without You” -- which Nicks said she rediscovered via YouTube, of all things -- they included the gorgeous “Sister of the Moon,” which they haven’t performed since the late 1970s; “World Turning,” featuring a titanic drum solo by Fleetwood; the B-side “Silver Springs”; and “Not That Funny,” from their landmark album Tusk. They also unveiled a new song, the propulsive and jangly “Sad Angel,” which Buckingham announced would be appearing on an EP to be released as soon as next week.

The band’s familiar tropes were well on display. Buckingham delivered endless virtuosic guitar solos, including one on “I’m So Afraid” that brought down the house. Nicks engaged in her signature twirling on “Gypsy,” and turned “Gold Dust Woman” into a mini-opera, her voice movingly cracking as she repeated the lyric “You can’t save me” over and over; and Fleetwood drummed with a maniacal fervor, his eyes gleaming with delight at his own prowess.

Highlights were plentiful, including an epic rendition of the title song from Tusk; Buckingham’s goose bump-raising solo turn on “Big Love”; and a rousing version of Nicks’ solo hit “Stand Back.”

The evening’s final song, “Say Goodbye,” featured just Buckingham and Nicks onstage. While it marked a lovely and fitting way to end the show, it left one hoping that it wasn’t meant to be taken literally.

GO YOUR OWN WAY

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Greatest ever!!!

We travelled all the way from holland to join in msg. Cant wait to join the concert in Holland Ziggo dome ( ofcourse people here are not so "stiff" about the "i bought a seating place, and want to be seated at all times ) Fleetwood Mac ROCKS!!!

John & Fatima

Unknown said...

Thank you for a great show!!! See in Holland !!

John & Fatima

Lena Mahoney-Petrie said...

My husband treated me to the wonderful gift of seeing a Fleetwood Mac concert, live for my 50th birthday. We travelled from Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia Canada to attend the MSG concert on the 8th of April 2013. It was stellar! We had the most awesome time of our life! The performance was a concert highlight for our lifetime. The last song "Say Goodbye" was very emotional, and it seemed for them, Stevie and Lindsy, that there was no one else in that stadium. As life-long fans , it felt like the crowd saw and felt the emotion and history this song evoked. Must not have been easy but we feel like it was a true privelege to witness the beauty of the song. Such a wonderful concert, trip and memory for my husband and I. Thank you for such a wonderful concert!

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