Saturday, October 31, 2009

REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac Live at Wembley in London

Fleetwood Mac at Wembley
Making Strange
"Even though it probably isn't so, it feels like every lyric about lost love is about the sad end to the relationship between Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. The way they move around and connect with each other on stage is either a very clever act to engage the audience or they made a terrible mistake all those decades ago when they broke up."


Continue To Full Review

COMING UP... MICK FLEETWOOD INTERVIEW ON SMOOTH RADIO 97.5 & 107.7

Mick Fleetwood will be a guest on The Mark Goodier Show on Smooth Radio 97.5 & 107.7 in the UK next week - 10am... Not sure of the exact date yet... Will post when I find out..

REVIEW: FLEETWOOD MAC - Live in London October 30, 2009

Fleetwood Mac, Wembley Arena
by Joe Muggs
The Arts Desk

The first signs were good. I've been to a lot of shows by “heritage bands” in my time, but I don't think I've ever seen a crowd for a band of Fleetwood Mac's vintage that had such an even age distribution. Sure, it was heavily weighted towards the greying end of the scale, but every age group down to teens – including teens there in groups under their own steam, not just with parents – was well represented, right across class boundaries too.

But then Fleetwood Mac have always been a lot of things to a lot of people. From the bluesy 60s underground Peter Green era, through the spectacular 70s pinnacles of rock-Babylon mega-success following Green's decline and departure and the arrival of sparkly-eyed Californians Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, to the shiny pure pop of their late-80s Tango In The Night creative swansong, they covered an awful lot of ground. Everyone was hoping their setlist might suit their own tastes – in my case the Tango In The Night songs of my schooldays. Sadly they did not play this.

On stage, the band managed the extraordinarily impressive feat for such a repeatedly split-and-reformed act of actually looking like a band. Other than the lack of Christine McVie, who has seemingly permanently retired from live performance, this was the classic 70s/80s lineup of Nicks and Buckingham out front and the founder-members' British rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie (the original “Fleetwood” and “Mac”) on drums and bass behind them – plus backing vocalists and two session musician multi-instrumentalists in the wings.

Fleetwood and McVie looked rather like a multimillionaire Chas & Dave with their matching flat caps, waistcoats and beards, while Buckingham had the air of an over-dressed pervy music teacher and Nicks of a wonderfully batty goth aunt, complete with one black glove, tinsel hanging from her sleeves and a mic stand draped with witchy decorations. But somehow, among the arena lightshow and moving set decorations, despite all the history, they still looked like their relationship was musical.

And it is. From the swagger of “The Chain” (from the quintillion-selling Rumours) onward it was clear this is more than just some ageing drug casualties propped up by technology and extra staff. The 12-string guitar jangle of Tusk's “I Know I'm Not Wrong” showed how much Fleetwood Mac's work prefigured the whole of eighties alternative rock as well as the mainstream – making them the missing link between The Byrds and The Cult. “Second Hand News” was a mighty country-rock stomp, showing precisely how much the band were always connected to heartland America. And “Rhiannon” and “Sara” showed how much Nicks's voice was born to age gracefully, it's catches and cracks only made more affecting by age's emphasis.

Source: The Arts Desk

REVIEW: FLEETWOOD MAC - FRONT ROW AT WEMBLEY

Blog Review
Fleetwood Mac - London
Wembley Arena 10.30.09
The State Of The Nation UK
Review and Photos by Stephen Chapman

I am proud to announce the 200th posting on my blog! And it's a special entry from me today following one of the most amazing concert experiences I have had, last night at Wembley Arena.

Pete, Sonny and I went to see Fleetwood Mac on their Unleashed tour and had some luck in obtaining front row seats. There's nothing like watching 12,500 people fill up an arena behind you! But better news was yet to come as one of the road crew came out and asked us if we wouldn't mind standing for the show! So we positioned ourselves right on the stage - I was actually touching the stage's carpet! He said that they were happy for photographs to be taken, so I was very pleased with that.

The show itself was truly stunning with a performance to rival any band. We were standing on the Stevie Nicks' side of the stage and she was on great form. I have always been a fan of Lindsey Buckingham's guitar playing, but he blew me away and when he came to our side of the stage for a long guitar solo, he stood right in front of me - his boots were 2 inches away from my hand!

This is the 4th time I have seen Fleetwood Mac and it's by far the best performance I have seen - the choice of songs was brilliant and the sound impressive. The strange thing about being at the very front of the audience is that you don't really hear the main crowd and get the atmosphere, so this was very much about watching the band from close quarters and enjoying the professionalism and performance.

A night to remember. I hope you like these pictures...





(PHOTOS) FLEETWOOD MAC - LONDON 10.30.09

Fleetwood Mac Performing Live in Concert at
Wembley Arena
London, England - 30.10.09


Additional Shots HERE

Friday, October 30, 2009

(BLOGGER REVIEW) FLEETWOOD MAC

Unhappy Fan Review (assuming it's London)... But a few nice pics go along with it... But I like this one!

"So very bittersweet - waited so long. and so disappointed. Still had a great antagonisingly fun night singing and being me. Shame though."

Read/view the review Shootingatthescreen

REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac Live in London - Night #1 Return of the Mac


Return of the Mac
Fleetwood Mac, Wembley Arena 30 Oct 2009
I was just a little tinker when Fleetwood Mac were notching up chart success in the late 1970s and early 80s when my parents were listening to the ‘Rumours‘ album.

But having obviously passed their good taste down to me, by the time I was 10 years old I was listening to ‘Albatross‘ and ‘Dreams‘ on my then industrial size Sony walkman whilst everyone else at school was being fed on a diet of Wham!

I’ve always liked The Mac, favourites being ‘Sara‘ and ‘Gypsy’ which sometimes transport me away from the hustle and bustle of a busy tube into my own little bohemian world, through the hypnotising vocals of Stevie Nicks.

And hypnotise she did tonight, as they performed at London’s Wembley Arena on their ‘Unleashed Tour’

Continue to Showbiz-i.com

FLEETWOOD MAC - A FLEET IN GLIMPSE...

A Fleet in glimpse
By david dunn
Sheffield Star

MICK Fleetwood makes no excuses for having no new music to put our way when his legendary band get to the UK.

In fact, as the tour that has already thrilled cities across the USA crosses the 'pond', he'll go as far to say he is glad.

"For the first time we've gone on the road without a new album and there's less pressure for us," he says.

"There's no one thing no-one knows. People are loving it, probably because they are not sitting through five or six songs they don't know and are not as emotionally connected with.

"Because there's less pressure, we are in a healthy position and the energy is up a few notches."

For now The Unleashed Tour coincides with a re-mastered double greatest hits album, but the plan is to make new music.

"There are a lot of bands who have been completely resting on their laurels for a long time because they've not made new music.

"We all turned around and said 'We actually did do something worth half a damn'. It was like looking into the mirror. We are older and some of us have young families. Certainly we're more responsible second time around – you try to do a better job second time around."

Fleetwood Mac intended to tour before now, around the time they released Say You Will, the first album without Christine in the band.

But with a solo career flourishing, Lindsey Buckingham was making a double album that turned into two single albums and he toured both.

Then Stevie Nicks toured.

"Getting us all on the same page was easier for me and John. He is sitting there sailing his boat," recalls Mick. "But five years went by before we realised it was five years."

Mick, Cornwall-born and now 62, says he is glad the tour brings the band back to Sheffield on Monday and recalls some of his earliest career gigs at Peter Stringfellow's Mojo club.

The lofty drummer was in a short-lived band called Shotgun Express with Rod Stewart and Beryl Marsden.

"Those were brilliant days. The club was so advanced in terms of the way music was presented – they fed you and did the things other people were not doing.

"Peter and his wife were brilliant promoters.

"They used to give us records to listen to and say 'You should do this as a song'. They turned us on to all sorts of great music.

"Everyone had an energy about music – that place reminds me of an energy that was so important."

Both he and Rod went on to become major stars, of course.

And, much like his Scottish friend, Mick has no intentions of calling it a day just yet.

"If you enjoy playing your music and people want to come and see you… I hope I can do this for another 10 years.

"About 20 years ago the Stones said 'This is our farewell tour'. Then they said it a few more times. Then they stopped saying it and have carried on.

"We have not said it yet.

"Jagger is like a freak of nature, though. I'm 62, practically no different than the Stones. Physically I think, touch wood, I'm in pretty good shape to do what I do. Maybe I will not be banging the drums so loud at 70.

"I will never think I will not play again, though – I will play at the local bar.

" I hope we do another couple of tours and I hope we don't implode where we say 'I can't stand to see your face anymore'.

"It has happened before and I hope it won't happen again.

"But we are older now; we are ex-lovers and old friends."

Hawaii home suits Mick

HOME these days for Mick is Maui – the same Hawaiian island base as US country legend Kris Kristoffersson, the late George Harrison and fellow Mac John McVie.

"It's a reclusive place," says Mick, "but I did not move for that reason. I like the people and I'm living a very social life here.

"I came in the '70s when it was a lot less commer-cialised and I've been coming ever since.

"Life got crazy, the rock and roll time, and we never made the move way back then.

"We bought property here years ago and it was always my dream to one day make the move."

And he did, with his twin daughters from his third marriage.

"From time to time I miss the culturally solid feeling I get when I go to England – by the nature of the oldness, not that the Hawaiians don't have an old culture."

As well as his side project, the touring Mick Fleetwood Blues Band, the legendary drummer also maintains a 10-piece Hawaiian band.

"We play Mac stuff in a Hawaiian style," he says.

"We have a lot of fun."

FLEETWOOD MAC - THE MAC IS BACK (Sheffield Star)

The Mac is back
By david dunn
Sheffield Star

MICK Fleetwood is the first to admit his band is not entirely normal.

"We are sort of like a dysfunctional family, a unique bunch of people," he tells The Star from Hawaii ahead of Fleetwood Mac's first UK dates in six years.

And looking at the headlines down the years the people behind some of the best-known music in the western world – Stevie Nicks, John McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie – were not exactly short of excitement off stage.

"We've all been extremely close but we also had to become friends and ex-lovers and all the rest of it.

"The bottom line, the umbilical chord that links us, is not about business.

"Stevie and Lindsey were pretty much married for 20 years – it was part of the Fleetwood Mac soap opera."

Beyond the sometimes complicated romance issues, the drugs and the rows, Mac have been an incredible success story with global hits like Don't Stop and Go Your Own Way. The landmark Rumours album alone accounts for 25 million of their album sales.

"We're not a bunch of guys who hate each other but make great music and turn up and play. We cannot do that.

"Because we were probably too forthcoming while washing our laundry in public the upside now is not having to talk about it. We are sort of lucky we were talking too much before.

"Now the great thing is people identify with us being human beings and not iconic, rock and roll untouchable creatives.

"After the blood and guts of drugs and alcohol abuse there's a real connection with us as people.

"We are no different to someone who has had a love affair in the office. It has to be worked out.

"We are hearing and feeling - we are having a good comfortable celebration and that's a good feeling."

REVIEW: FLEETWOOD MAC LIVE "The most surprising thing about the group" - Dublin

REVIEW of the week: Fleetwood Mac * * * *
DUBLIN, IRELAND - 02
By Ed Power
Friday October 30 2009

Fleetwood Mac used to be something of a bad joke among the rock cognoscenti, a guilty pleasure best enjoyed with a generous side-serving of irony. However, in recent years a new generation of musicians has stepped forward to claim them as an influence -- Bat for Lashes, Florence and the Machine and The Feeling are among the artists who have publicly acknowledged their debt to the Anglo-American FM rockers and their dreamy sound.

Live, the most surprising thing about the group, back for an umpteenth reunion tour but minus singer and songwriter Christine McVie, is how full-on they are -- "soft rock" has seldom felt this prickly or intense. Snapping the whip and stoking the engine is Lindsey Buckingham, the 60-year-old frontman who throws himself into the performance as though he were a 20-something competing in a battle of the bands contest.

From the opening note of Monday Morning, he's a whirlwind of manic, live-wire energy. He grimaces, shrieks and batters his guitar. At the conclusion of Tusk, Fleetwood Mac's anti-commercial curve-ball from 1979, he's bent over yelling his lungs out, a river of sweat sluicing down his face.

In contrast, vocalist Stevie Nicks, in a chiffon dress similar to the one she sported on the cover of the group's gadzillion selling 1977 album Rumours, cuts a surprisingly slight presence. Her voice is buried in the mix, wavering when it should soar. That's a shame because her dusky croon is the moon dust that elevates Fleetwood Mac's best songs out of the ordinary (nonetheless, she does provide one of the evening's most affecting moments, dedicating Landslide to Stephen Gately).

Solid accompaniment, meanwhile, is provided by drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie, the blues veterans after whom the band is named -- though it's clear they are glad to leave the pyrotechnics to Buckingham

Much of the set is drawn from Rumours. Recorded when the two couples in the line-up -- Buckingham and Nicks and John and Christine McVie -- were going through messy break-ups (and hopping in and out of bed with each other), it's the easy listening equivalent of a Tolstoy novel, a multifaceted epic that gains in stature with each passing year.

Not that these tracks are ever in danger of sounding like museum pieces: teetering between Buckingham's guitar and McVie's bass, The Chain verges on proto metal; there's a palpable bitter sweet ache to Don't Stop and a euphoric tingle to Go Your Own Way, surely among the best kiss-offs to a lover ever written.

Standing at the lip of the stage, Buckingham, is as happy to bask in the attention as the rest of Fleetwood Mac are to surrender it. So it's no surprise that the concert's finest moment comes when everyone else is ushered into the wings and he bashes out an acoustic version of their 1987 hit, Big Love. It's one of many stunning turns by the lanky vocalist tonight. If only Nicks had delivered some fireworks of her own.

FLEETWOOD MAC - SHEFFIELD PREVIEW

PREVIEW
Fleetwood Mac
Rachel Jeffcoat
DigYorkshire.com

A truly legendary force will take to the stage in Sheffield next week as Fleetwood Mac bring their global tour, Unleashed, to the Arena. It coincides with the UK release of The Very Best Of Fleetwood Mac. Fittingly, it’s set to be a ‘Greatest Hits’ tour, with all the familiar chart-toppers sitting alongside a few fan album favourites.

Last year when the tour was first announced, rumours were abound of Sheryl Crow joining the group in place of Christine McVie. These proved to be unfounded, however, so fans will be treated with a classic lineup of Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Lindsey Buckingham.

There’s talk of the band heading back to the studio after this tour, but for now they’ll just be unleashing their considerable arsenal of crowdpleasers – the chances of hearing your favourites are higher than ever!

digyorkshire.com will be heading to Sheffield with our finest singing voices in tow. Check back next week for the review.

FLEETWOOD MAC - TONIGHT THEY PLAY WEMBLEY

Sleeve Notes: Return of the Mac
by: Tim Jonze
Guardian
Twenty years ago, when my peers were having their parents' record collections enforced on them, I was receiving a rather more limited musical education (Paul Simon's Graceland and the soundtrack to Cats were the only albums my folks ever played, and even then on inexplicably long car journeys to a rainy French campsite). For this reason, I never received the inevitable schooling in Fleetwood Mac and their gazillion-selling Rumours album. Of course, you can run (into the shadows) but you can't hide. And by the time I hit my mid-20s, I surrendered to the Mac attack, especially the bizarre arrangements that make up their 1979 double LP Tusk. I think getting into them so late, when the first signs of complex, tangled, depressingly-adult problems were weaving their way into my life, helped me fall in love with them all the more. I ended up claiming them as my own, rather than as some guilty pleasure. Tonight, they play Wembley Arena. It will be emotional, especially if Dave Simpson's live review from Manchester is anything to go by ...

REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac Performance Takes Cynics by Surprise - Dublin

FLEETWOOD MAC LIVE IN DUBLIN
By John Meagher
Friday October 30 2009


They may have been on the road to make yet more millions off their old songs, but Fleetwood Mac put in a performance at The O2 last weekend that took cynics such as me by surprise.

For two-and-a-half hours Stevie Nicks, a remarkably youthful looking Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie played with an enthusiasm and verve to appease anyone grumbling over the high price of tickets.

Hearing Nicks sing their finest song, Sara, was especially lovely as was the obvious joy Buckingham derived from the middle aged folk in the front rows.

What wasn't nearly so pleasant was having two loudmouth gentlemen in the row behind, both of whom were incapable of keeping their mouths shut during the performance and utterly oblivious to the furious glances of those around them. The situation was made all the worse by their cretinous friend from Cork who came over to them several times to crack schoolyard, homophobic jokes about his county's hurling goalkeeper Dónal Óg Cusack.

If any of you three laminate-wearing buffoons are reading this, stay away the next time someone offers you a freebie -- and give the tickets to someone who would really appreciate them.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Photos: Fleetwood Mac Live in Rotterdam


FLEETWOOD MAC
ROTTERDAM (AHOY) 10.15.09
Photos by: Markus.Presser (Gallery)




PHOTOS: Fleetwood Mac Live in Manchester at MEN Arena Oct 27, 2009

Manchester, UK MEN Arena 10.27.09
Photos by: Ian (Gallery)

REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac - Manchester, UK October 27, 2009

FLEETWOOD MAC 
at MEN Arena 27/10/09
It's a funny thing about Fleetwood Mac, when I hear them I'm instantly transported to a fantasy 1970s that most likely never even existed and it's all what I imagine it was like based on stuff I've seen on TV. I'm pretty sure I'm to young to actually remember Rumours when it was originally released, so just why it has such an effect is beyond me. But I like it.

I'm not a huge Fleetwood Mac fan, and I'd never seen them live before but when I heard they were touring again I decided to get myself some tickets and check it out. The current line up is the same as the Rumours line up, but sadly minus Christine McVie and they're not promoting any new material so I knew it would basically be a greatest hits package, which suited me.

Continue to The Morningstar for the full review/pictures

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac Live in Manchester "The Guardian"

Fleetwood Mac Live 
Manchester Arena - October 27, 2009
By Dave Simpson

"This band have a complex emotional history," begins guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, hinting at Fleetwood Mac's rollercoaster of bedhopping, cocaine, mental illness and religious cults, which is almost as famous as their music. While the antics (and some members) have been lost to the years, the music, particularly 1977's mega-selling Rumours, still defines AOR cool and inspires current acts, not least Bat for Lashes.

Without a new album to promote, the Mac are choosing songs for "fun": nothing from 2003's underwhelming Say You Will, but rather a fantasy setlist from their ravishing back catalogue. After a tumultuous The Chain, a hallucinatory Dreams and a wistful Gypsy, the band charge into Rhiannon, Sara and a drumming-led Tusk. It feels like seeing off an army only to face bigger cannons coming over the hill.

The songs don't sound exactly as they did. With leather-jacketed Buckingham – the band's Clash fan – seemingly on a mission to prove the band remain relevant, the AOR sheen has been stripped away to reveal the emotional turmoil and even anger that inspired them. The delicate counterpoint is the ethereal Stevie Nicks, whose dulcet tones cast a spell. The hug between her and lost-love Buckingham might be scripted, but it nonetheless seems as poignant as Landslide's lyrics about "getting older".

In two and a half hours, there isn't a dull moment. Highlights are a dark Gold Dust Woman and a Buckingham guitar rampage, delivered to a standing ovation. Fans of the Mac's 1960s blues-rock incarnation are sent into raptures when the band pile into Oh Well, so electrifying it could power a small town. As an exultant Mick Fleetwood puts it: "The Mac are back!"

(PHOTOS) FLEETWOOD MAC - MANCHESTER MEN ARENA 10.27.09

FLEETWOOD MAC
MANCHESTER, UK - 10.27.09
A few shots by: PJ

REVIEW and PHOTOS: Fleetwood Mac Live in Manchester, UK

FLEETWOOD MAC LIVE
MANCHESTER, UK - October 27, 2009
REVIEW AND PHOTOS
Photos by: SimonN




BBC 1 THIS SUNDAY.... FLEETWOOD MAC "DON'T STOP" DOCUMENTARY

What's on the box this week?
'Fleetwood Mac: Don't Stop' 
(BBC 1, Sunday)
Meathchronicle.ie
Almost everything that ever happens to a rock band has happened to Fleetwood Mac. One of the greatest and most enduring acts in popular music, they began in the 1960s and can still sell out stadiums in 2009, surviving countless personnel changes and inter-band meltdowns.

Featuring new interviews with Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, this documentary delves deep into the heart of the band, tracing the relationships, turmoil and changes and unwinding the complex love story between Nicks and former partner Buckingham.

Now, Fleetwood, McVie, Buckingham and Nicks are back onstage together, singing the songs that were fuelled by their 1970s relationships and their fall-out. Together they are Fleetwood Mac, one of the biggest names in rock. But it still hurts.

(PHOTOS) FLEETWOOD MAC - MANCHESTER UK


Fleetwood Mac 
MEN Arena, 

Manchester, UK
27th October 2009.
Photos by: Phil Lee 

FLEETWOOD MAC "TUSK" 30th ANNIVERSARY INTERVIEW WITH STEVIE & LINDSEY

The Story's Behind History's Greatest Rock Bands

UPCOMING INTERVIEWS

Fleetwood Mac
Tusk (30th Anniversary)
Week of November 2nd
With guests Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks

In The Studio with Redbeard
The weekly hour-long "rockumentary" features in-depth exclusive interviews with the superstar musicians who have created the greatest albums in rock & roll history. Now in its 21st year, In The Studio is syndicated each week to over 85 U.S. cities & distributed by Radio K & G of New York City. In The Studio is a Barbarosa Ltd. Production by veteran Dallas-based radio personality Redbeard.

(REVIEW) FLEETWOOD MAC - GLASGOW

FLEETWOOD MAC REVIEW
SECC, Glasgow, Thu 22 Oct 2009
by: Amber Baxter
List.co.uk

Most bands go through their fair share of drama. Some have inter-band relationships of a non-platonic nature, a few manage to forge successful careers at the top of the charts, even fewer manage to amass a back catalogue that spans decades.

Fleetwood Mac have done all this and more. Their personal history is as compelling as it comes, and alongside this they have scored hit after hit. They’re a songwriting arms factory that has produced lethal pop weapons such as 'Gypsy', 'Second Hand News' and 'Gold Dust Woman' - and they’re back.

It’s in the pursuit of showcasing these classic songs that four-fifths of the most commercially successful combination of Fleetwood Mac take to the stage at the SECC.

Without Christine McVie, vocal duties are left to Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham meaning McVie’s musical contributions are omitted, so no 'Little Lies', no 'Songbird' and no 'Everywhere', this doesn’t put a damper on the evening though, as there’s still plenty to keep everyone happy.

Early renditions of 'Monday Morning' and 'The Chain' from their second and most tempestuously recorded album Rumours, along with Buckingham’s words on the making of the album itself, warms up the sold out arena crowd nicely. ‘We were going through such emotional turmoil,’ Buckingham recounts. Thankfully, going by tonight’s onstage comradeship, with Buckingham and Nicks holding hands and singing to each other, all this seems to be in the past.

Highlights include Buckingham’s solo acoustic rendition of 'Big Love' which showcases his technical ability as a guitarist, Nicks' faultless performance of 'Landslide' and pre-encore set finisher 'Go Your Own Way', which easily commands the biggest applause of the night.

After thanking the rest of the band, Mick Fleetwood delivers one of the most confusing drum solos ever in encore opener 'Worlds Turning' by shouting in a Scottish accent and (what sounds like) rapping in a Jamaican accent.

Closing the set with a few too many words, Fleetwood thanks the crowd, which is a sweet, if slightly drawn out touch.

He can be forgiven though - if I’d been feeding and nurturing the cash cow that is Fleetwood Mac so successfully for forty years, I’d be looking to milk it too.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

PHOTOS: Fleetwood Mac M.E.N. Arena Manchester October 27, 2009

FLEETWOOD MAC LIVE
MANCHESTER, UK - October 27, 2009

Photos by: Pastapaul



Silver Springs was dropped as the final encore (for those keeping track)

THE VERY BEST OF ALBUM REVIEW - FLEETWOOD MAC

The Very Best Of
Fleetwood Mac
Album Review
Fleetwood Mac are, and have always been, a bit screwed up. Like a tawdry soap opera dynasty, their story is one of intrigue, hedonism, depression and addiction. And of music - this particular family's golden, if schizophrenic, child.

Formed more than thirty years ago and frequently described in their seventies and eighties heyday as the world's biggest group, Fleetwood Mac have enjoyed global album sales in excess of 100 million and registered more than 30 hit singles in the UK, more in the US.

Full Review at Allgigs.co.uk

Fleetwood Mac - Don't Stop BBC One Documentary & Johnnie Walker's Sounds Of The 70's

All you BBCer's in the UK - keep your eyes peeled for late this Sunday night on BBC One a Fleetwood Mac Documentary called "Don't Stop" will be on... Not sure if this is a new doc on the band, or a rebranding of something old... In any case, here are the details:

Fleetwood Mac - Don't Stop
NEXT ON:
Sunday, 22:20 on BBC One (except Northern Ireland)

Fleetwood Mac, one of the biggest-selling bands of all time, are back on the road again. Their story, told in their own words, is an epic tale of love and confrontation, of success and loss.

Few bands have undergone such radical musical and personal change. The band evolved from the 60s British blues boom to perfect a US West Coast sound that saw them sell 40 million copies of the album Rumours.

However, behind the scenes relationships were turbulent. The band went through multiple line-ups with six different lead guitarists. While working on Rumours, the two couples at the heart of the band separated, yet this heartache inspired the perfect pop record.

BROADCASTS
Sun 1 Nov 200922:20BBC One (except Northern Ireland)
Sun 1 Nov 200922:50BBC One (Northern Ireland only)

Elsewhere...
Johnnie Walker's Sounds Of The 70's
On BBC Radio 2's Johnnie Walker's Sounds Of The 70's - Fleetwood Mac's Mick Fleetwood and Lindsey Buckingham join Johnnie Walker to discuss the stories behind their incredible 70s back catalogue, which includes the hits Go Your Own Way, Dreams, The Chain and Rhiannon.

Mick and Lindsay have reunited with Stevie Nicks and John McVie for Fleetwood Mac's first live tour in five years and have released a remastered collection of their greatest hits.

Next on: Sunday, November 1st - 15:00 on BBC Radio 2

REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac - Dublin "This was what we expected and so much more"

Fleetwood Fans in Awe as Stevie & Co Regroup
By Juno McEnroe
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Examiner.ie

Photo by Andrew Carson

THIS was what we expected and so much more.

With a throw of her slight arm over the microphone stand, a sullen Stevie Nicks took us into The Chain, Fleetwood Mac’s second melody of the night. A sunken O2 arena quickly perked up as a crescendo of cheers rushed over the north Dublin venue.

This was every party song played to its full.

Mick Fleetwood himself barely opened his eyes, tapping cymbals and booting the bass drum into the night.

Back on the road again for the first time in six years, this self-confessed old-time group took time out of their well publicised set to tell Dublin of their tales of mixing with the likes of other bands such as Velvet Underground.

This concert was so much more than just a medley of greatest hits, it was an opportunity for the original 1960s group to settle scores. Despite the fact that group founder Peter Green separately played an arresting set at the weekend in Cork, Fleetwood Mac were not for falling. The band played out the iconic group tune, Dreams, and a slower than usual Rhiannon.

But it was guitarist Lindsey Buckingham’s gripping guitar solo during I’m So Afraid that pushed Irish fans up off their seats to a standing ovation.

As the 60-year-old guitarist blitzed his way along his fretboard, the awestruck crowd shouted for more.

A briefly excited Stevie Nicks brought listeners back to the all-known Go Your Own Way as Fleetwood Mac moved to the end of their set.

In between songs, Lindsay and Stevie satisfied hardcore fans with talk of what the band did before the infamous splits began.

This was more than just a play list.

And an enthusiastic Mick Fleetwood said before courting Stevie off stage: "We’ll see you next time."

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Monday, October 26, 2009

REVIEW: FLEETOOD MAC in DUBLIN Reviewed by: The Irish Times

Fleetwood Mac
02 Dublin
October 24/25, 2009
Irishtimes
by: SEÁN FLYNN

Fleetwood Mac are back on the road, 32 years after the generation-defining Rumours album. This time around, there is no new album to plug and no new songs to roll out. Yesterday’s gone, but those golden sun-drenched songs roll on forever.

Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, whose combustible relationship sparked Rumours , emerge hand-in-hand and in warm spirits. Heathcliff and Cathy are chilling out.

Wrapped in her familiar shawls, Nicks is still playing the beguiling gypsy queen. Now 61, she meanders across the stage in long, flowing, chiffon dresses. For those of a certain vintage, it’s as if that fabled footage of Nicks belting out Rhiannon in 1976 has come to life.

Buckingham, with that familiar icy stare, is her counterpoint, all darkness and danger.

The set opens with Monday Morning , from the band’s eponymous second (white) album. The second song, The Chain , is the first of seven from Rumours . What is striking is how time and familiarity have not aged the power and beauty of these songs.

A blistering performance of Go Your Own Way is a real highlight. The song is Buckingham’s finest hour; his defiant guitar driving it forward with relish. Buckingham is very much the first among equals, dominating the stage with two underrated songs, Big Love and Tusk , commanding a standing ovation on each occasion.

Nicks is strongest on Dreams and Sara , two soft rock classics. Stand Back , one of her solo hits, has aged much less well.

There is an extraordinary synergy between the band and the middle-aged audience when Nicks sings that poignant, familiar line from Landslide – “And I’m getting older too”. It’s a terrific performance of a great song.

The concert did not work on all levels. Fleetwood Mac has always been a tapestry of different colours, so the absence of Christine McVie, who has retired from public performance, was keenly felt. Buckingham and Nicks dominated the vocal duties but McVie’s unplayed piano and echoey vocal style were conspicuous by their absence. McVie’s best songs – Songbird and You Make Loving Fun – are part of the Fleetwood Mac canon. The band did pay tribute to one former troubled member when Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood rolled out Peter Green’s Oh Well . It was good to see his contribution acknowledged.

The gig was also a reminder that Fleetwood – the mainstay of the band since the Peter Green era, is one of rock’s finest drummers – even if the solo on World Turning veered close to Spinal Tap country.

Fleetwood Mac also encored with the old foot-stomping Bill Clinton favourite, Don’t Stop . The final song was Nicks’s glorious Silver Springs , tossed away as a B-side back in the day, but given its due recognition here.

At the end, the band lingered on stage, revelling in the warm embrace of the crowd long after the music had stopped.

(PHOTOS) FLEETWOOD MAC - DUBLIN, IRELAND NIGHT 1 & 2

FLEETWOOD MAC
A Combination of Oct 24th and 25th
Dublin, Ireland
photos by: hejiranyc
(or the slideshow option)

REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac Live in Dublin 2009

Fleetwood Mac – 02, Dublin
By Lisa Hughes

photo by alison mchugo


Ah, the reunion tour – the cash cow that never loses its value. And, based on tonight’s evidence, we can’t say no to them. After all, in the midst of a recession the O2 is packed to the gills with punters, most of whom paid more than a pretty penny to be there. Adding to the long string of comeback gigs to grace these shores in recent years, Fleetwood Mac joined the ranks with a two night stint at the O2. With their last comeback tour somewhat immortalised as a piece of rock history, Mick Fleetwood pulled the original Rumours contingent together for the Unleashed 2009 World Tour (minus Christine McVie of course, who apparently declined the offer).

With no support act lined up and the stage clothed in darkness, all elements were in place for the crowd to nervously anticipate the show to come and as each band member took their place to kick things off with ‘Monday Morning’ the nervous tension peaked. Once the surreal sensation of seeing the Mac in the flesh wore off, it became clear that there was something of a sing-off taking place before us, with FM’s legendary rivalries surfacing. For a significant handful of songs, Nicks and Buckingham split vocal duties, with both guilty of hamming things up in an effort to own the show. As the tassled and shawled Stevie Nicks tottered around the stage in semi-slow motion in 4 inch heels, she almost managed to rekindle her 70s cool yet, despite the earlier murmurs of the crowd ahead of her entrance. Buckingham however was the undisputed show stealer. With his guitar-wielding swagger and powerful solos, the guitarist’s onstage presence, particularly on moments like ‘Big Love’, made him dominate the performance. Meanwhile, Stevie’s vocals remain top-notch (‘Landslide’ affirmed this), so distinctive that even when she occasionally dropped the ball, it only endeared her further.

Let’s not forget the presence of Mick Fleetwood either, whose steady efforts belting away on the drums underpinned the entire performance. Although he looked physically sidelined by the two most famous band members, half of the group’s namesake was certainly not forgotten, as the huge cheer he garnered at the end rightfully displayed. Things were hammed up further with the sermon-like intervals where Nicks and Buckingham digressed on the band’s often troubled history, attempting to add to the symbolism of the event by harking back to their well-versed dramas. Admittedly it was a tactic that worked, reminding us of the rarity of the occasion by reiterating the group’s stature and legendary status, regardless of how wholly theatrical it felt.

When the clash of egos died down (or became less apparent), things instead centred on the music as the setlist hit all the expected high points and was a solid blend of well-known numbers. From the thundering outro of ‘The Chain’ to the note-perfect rendition of ‘Dreams’ through to the bluesy ‘Gold Dust Woman’, musically the band managed to pull it all together as though they’ve been doing this untroubled without a break since 1977. For a reunion tour there was no sense of the band phoning in their performance and, occasional cheese-factors aside, there was a very real sense that, despite Mick Fleetwood’s call of “Until next time”, this could be the last we see of Fleetwood Mac and that made it an occasion to savour. Tonight’s show lacked that certain something to make it a truly unforgettable night, (perhaps due to the obvious impersonal nature of a mammoth venue like the O2) but on the whole it was an impeccable performance hard to fault and one you couldn’t help but feel privileged to witness.

WIN TICKETS TO FLEETWOOD MAC IN SHEFFIELD

WIN TICKETS TO SEE FLEETWOOD MAC

TheStar.co.uk
Fleetwood Mac make their Sheffield Arena debut!

One of the most successful Rock bands in history are back. With their best-selling line up featuring Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Lindsey Buckingham, Fleetwood Mac make their Sheffield Arena debut on Monday 2nd November AND The star have 5 pairs of tickets to give away.

Since forming in 1967 the only thing about the group that hasn't changed is the rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. Through the '70s, the band's personnel and style shifted with nearly every recording as Fleetwood Mac metamorphosed from a traditionalist British blues band to the maker of one of the best-selling pop albums ever - Rumours. From that album's release in 1977 into the present, Fleetwood Mac has survived additional, theoretically key, personnel changes and yet remained a dominant commercial force.

Fleetwood Mac has sold more than 100 million copies of its albums — including 25 million for Rumours alone — making it one of the most popular rock bands in history, don’t miss out on this rare outing for the band.

If you are not one of our lucky winners don’t worry tickets are still available to buy from The Arena Box Office priced £75, £60, £45 (subject to booking fee) and are available in person at the Arena box office, by phone on 0114 256 5656 and online at www.sheffieldarena.co.uk .

For your chance to win this fantastic prize simply enter our free prize draw by text or online at www.thestar.co.uk/competitions

Text STARFLEET and leave a space, followed by your members zone number, full name, postcode and house number, then send to 81800.

Texts cost £1.00p plus your standard network charge. This will be charged to your mobile phone bill. Get the bill payer's permission. Do not text after deadline and please ensure you enter the correct competition name, if this is incorrect you may still be charged and your entry will not be entered into our draw.

Service provided by g8wave London N7.

Deadline for all entries is Friday Oct 30th at 10am.

(PHOTOS) FLEETWOOD MAC - DUBLIN

Images of Fleetwood Mac at The O2...

With a line-up that has changed many times over the last number of decades, our personal fav version of Fleetwood Mac (Mick Fleetwood, Lindsey Buckingham, John McVie and Stevie Nicks) lit-up the O2 Arena last week with a set list any band would be proud of. (See The Rest)

REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac - 'Landslide' Dedicated To The Late Stephen Gately - Dublin

Fleetwood Mac, The 02, Dublin
by: John Meagher
Independent

THERE have been so many incarnations of Fleetwood Mac over the past 42 years that even the most avowed student of the band may have trouble keeping up.

The current guise comprises four-fifths of the so-called classic line-up that gave the world 'Rumours' in 1977 -- still one of the best-selling albums of all time.

Christine McVie may have quit in 1998, but her ex-husband John McVie, along with Mick Fleetwood, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, are back on the road again for the first time in six years.

With no new album to promote, this Unleashed tour is ostensibly a greatest hits parade and over two-and-a-half hours the foursome duly deliver.

Buckingham, who is looking in very fine fettle for a 60-year-old, is especially up for it, not least when he produces the superb riff on 'The Chain'. It is the first of several occasions where he throws the sort of guitar-god poses one would normally associate with Spinal Tap.

Nicks hasn't lost it either and her voice remains a thing of beauty, not least on 'Gypsy', 'Rhiannon' and 'Landslide'. The latter is dedicated to the late Stephen Gately, much to the appreciation of the crowd.

The night's most spell-binding moment is provided by 'Sara' -- one of Nicks's best compositions -- and she performs it beautifully.

There is a touching moment towards the song's end when she and former lover Buckingham embrace warmly. Later, she's just as affectionate with another ex-lover, Mick Fleetwood. It's a reminder of the band's soap-opera past.

Buckingham alludes to the group's rollercoaster history, not least during the sessions that yielded 'Rumours', as he introduces one of that album's less-celebrated songs, 'Second Hand News'.

In places, the performance drags a little -- Fleetwood's solo drumming and indecipherable chanting towards the end smack of self-indulgence, for instance -- but there are enough tried and trusted songs to reel the audience back in again.

'Don't Stop' has the capacity crowd on their feet and that's where they stay, right until the house lights come on.