Showing posts with label 6-15-13: Fleetwood Mac - Cleveland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 6-15-13: Fleetwood Mac - Cleveland. Show all posts

Sunday, June 16, 2013

CLEVELAND REVIEW "a vital, energetic concert that erased any doubts about Fleetwood Mac’s legacy and continued influence

Photo by Joe Kleon
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Concert Review: 
Fleetwood Mac at Quicken Loans Arena
by Annie Zaleski
Cleveland Scene

Fleetwood Mac tours so sporadically, the band would certainly be within its rights to trot out a well-worn greatest hits setlist when it does hit the road. But last night at Quicken Loans Arena, during a show that stretched over two-and-a-half hours, the group—vocalist Stevie Nicks, vocalist/guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie, as well as several auxiliary musicians and vocalists—balanced its biggest hits with deeper album tracks and even new songs.

The result was a vital, energetic concert that erased any doubts about Fleetwood Mac’s legacy and continued influence. “The Chain” was crisp and menacing, with McVie’s thundering bass and Buckingham’s forceful guitar making the song feel like an encore rather than the set’s second tune. “Gold Dust Woman” also had an ominous vibe; the song turned into a moody psychedelic sprawl during which Nicks unveiled some graceful interpretive dance moves (and, with her gold-colored shawl, resembled an evil villain from a Grimm’s Fairy Tale). The Mirage deep cut “Eyes Of The World” barnstormed forward thanks to Fleetwood’s monstrous drumming, and even a performance of the Nicks solo song “Stand Back,” in all of its ’80s keyboard glory, held its own.

Buckingham prefaced a set of songs from 1979’s Tusk with a philosophical story about the creative process—in a nutshell, don’t be afraid to rip it up and start again—and how he wished he could have been a “fly on the wall” in the Warner Bros. offices after Fleetwood Mac delivered the experimental post-Rumours album. At last night’s show, what stood out is how forward-thinking Tusk was—from the keyboard-heavy “Not That Funny” to the stomping title track (augmented by video of the USC Trojan marching band) and even a rare performance of “Sisters Of The Moon.” After the latter, Nicks said that song hadn’t been played since 1981—“so if you’ve seen it live, we know how old you are!”

True to form, however, the band didn’t just coast on its past. The new song “Sad Angel” (from Fleetwood Mac’s recently released EP, Extended Play) had a throwback jangle-pop vibe, but the performance was fresh and modern; on this song especially, it was clear how Buckingham’s ongoing solo work informs—but doesn’t overpower—Fleetwood Mac. Accordingly, the guitarist also took center stage with an intricate solo acoustic guitar version of “Big Love” and galloped around the stage slashing out a raucous electric solo at the end of a slinky, stretched-out “I’m So Afraid.” At the end of both tunes, his shirt was soaked through with sweat, a reflection of the passion he put into his performance. Mick Fleetwood too was a commanding presence behind his fortress-esque drum kit: Like Father Time with a vendetta, he tossed off intense grimaces and a look of steely concentration throughout.

Nicks too was in good form, warming up—especially vocally—as the show progressed. Plus, she was in a chatty, laid-back mood. Before another “new” song, “Without You”—which was actually an older song originally meant for Buckingham-Nicks’ second LP—she told a lengthy, amusing story about the song’s genesis that doubled as the tale of how Fleetwood Mac originally came together. She joked that over the course of the tour, the story had ballooned from a brief missive into something much more rambling, and even asked Buckingham if she was on the right track. (He said she was.) Prior to “Dreams,” she mentioned getting into Cleveland the previous night and being struck by a building lit by red lights (in other words, the Terminal Tower and its Hot In Cleveland promotion), and right before she and Buckingham performed “Landslide,” she said she was “not going to cry” as she dedicated the song.

Perhaps because of its pop culture ubiquity, “Landslide” has become Fleetwood Mac’s most iconic song. Last night’s lovely, stripped-down version proved why: In a touching move, the entire crowd sang along softly but audibly throughout the entire song. Perhaps in response, Nicks and Buckingham hooked pinky fingers in solidarity briefly during the performance, the gesture of two old friends acknowledging plenty of shared history. This small affection naturally thrilled the audience, but also subtly reinforced that chemistry is something the band still has in spades. Fleetwood Mac certainly doesn’t have to tour—but the members of the band genuinely appeared to be having a great time onstage and felt like a vital band with plenty left to say.

Great Review! Cleveland Scene

GOLD DUST WOMAN
WORLD TURNING and the ever changing Mick Fleetwood drum solo!
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REVIEW | PICS | VIDS: Fleetwood Mac Live in Cleveland

FLEETWOOD MAC LIVE 
CLEVELAND, OH - QUICKEN LOANS ARENA
JUNE 15, 2013

Photo by Paul Warner

Fleetwood Mac delivers a marathon concert at The Q
By Chuck Yarborough, The Plain Dealer

Fleetwood Mac gave a concert Saturday night at The Q with Mick Fleetwood on drums, Lindsey Buckingham on guitar and vocals, John McVie on bass and Stevie Nicks on vocals, and they were aided by a backing band that provided an extra guitar and keyboards as well as a couple of harmony singers who sang on a lot of the 23 songs the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers did in a two-hours and 40 minute set that included hits from the beginning to the current days of a career that, at least with Buckingham and Nicks in the fold, back in the early 1970s, but really couldn’t quite recapture the magic of those days, despite some really impressive guitar work and a stellar drum solo by Fleetwood, mainly because Nicks has lost a little of the somewhat limited range she had to begin with.

My computer tells me that paragraph has 145 words, and my instincts tell me you probably quit reading about 30 words into it. Which goes to prove the point that there’s a lot to be said for editing.

Photo by Paul Warner
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has scores of inductees, and few are more worthy of the honor than Fleetwood Mac. The band’s catalog – from “Rumors’’ to the newest release, a four-song EP called, fittingly, “Extended Play’’ – is a testament to the talents of Fleetwood, McVie (both John and his ex-wife and former bandmate, Christine), Buckingham and Nicks.

“Second Hand News,’’ “Rhiannon,’’ “Tusk,’’ “Never Going Back Again,’’ “Go Your Own Way,’’ “Don’t Stop’’ and the rest were, for a lot of us, the first “grown-up’’ songs we fell in love with. They were and are the tunes you can hear over and over listen to and find new meaning and nuances in each listen.

Photo by Paul Warner
One reason for that was obviously Saturday night: Fleetwood, McVie and Buckingham are hugely gifted artists. McVie lays a solid foundation, but he’s also capable of turning his bass into a lead instrument. The always animated Fleetwood – the inspiration for the Muppets’ drummer Animal, by the way – is that rare drummer who uses his fills to complement his jungle-beat grooves, especially on tunes like “Tusk.’’


And then there’s Buckingham’s guitar. In a word, WOW. His fingerpicking style on his beloved Turner Model One guitar really is the stuff of legends. Multiple big-screen close-ups showed that he was able to bend strings from here to Toledo and pull sounds out of a guitar that most people wouldn’t think possible, especially on “I’m So Afraid’’ and “The Chain.’’

But Fleetwood Mac has always been about the vocals, and as the saying goes, therein lies the rub. Nicks still LOOKS 25, but she’s 65 now, and her already limited range is even more limited. Not that much, you understand, but enough to make a difference. To use a sports analogy, it’s like a home run hitter who’s lost a few mph off his swing; balls that used to reach the bleachers are now warning-track outs.

That being said, she’s still capable of jacking one every now and then. “Landslide,’’ covered by the Dixie Chicks and so many others, will forever be a Stevie song, and she still does it better than anyone. Likewise with “Sisters of the Moon’’ and “Gold Dust Woman.’’

The most curious part of the show may have been the second of two two-song encores. Who would choose to end a Fleetwood Mac show with Fleetwood and McVie offstage, leaving Buckingham and Nicks alone to do “Silver Springs’’ and “Say Goodbye?’’

Hmmmm. Looks like a job for an editor.

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SECOND HAND NEWS
THE CHAIN
DREAMS
RHIANNON
TUSK
BIG LOVE
GO YOUR OWN WAY