Showing posts with label Fleetwood Mac 2015. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fleetwood Mac 2015. Show all posts

Friday, November 27, 2015

Fleetwood Mac awarded Headline Performance of the Year Award at UK Festival Awards 2015

Fleetwood Mac were nominated in the "Best Headline Performance" category at this years UK Festival Awards for their performance at Isle Of Wight Festival and they have taken the prize!! The awards were handed out November 26th at The Roundhouse in London.

Festival Awards







Best Headline Performance Nominees
Björk at Wilderness Festival
The Flaming Lips at Liverpool Sound City
Fleetwood Mac at Isle of Wight Festival
Florence and the Machine at Glastonbury
Grace Jones at Festival Number 6
Jon Hopkins at Bloc
Jungle at Secret Garden Party
Missy Elliot at Bestival
Muse at Download
Sufjan Stevens at End of the Road Festival
Taylor Swift at British Summer Time Hyde Park
The Libertines at Reading & Leeds

Monday, November 23, 2015

Reviews, Videos, Photos Fleetwood Mac Live in Auckland, NZ

Fleetwood Mac Live in Auckland, NZ
November 21st and 22nd - 2015. Final shows for the On With The Show Tour.

Photographer: Mish O'Neil - The Sound



Photo Gallery - The Sound
Review and Photos: Libel Music
Review - Stuff.co.nz
Review - Reverb








Saturday, November 21, 2015

Review Fleetwood Mac Live in Auckland, NZ November 21, 2015

Review: Fleetwood Mac in Auckland
by Lydia Jenkin
NZHerald

The title of Fleetwood Mac's current 15-month world tour 'On With The Show' felt especially fitting as the heavens opened above Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland last night in a pre-summer monsoon.

But the rain did little to dampen the spirits of the 38,000 people who'd turned out for the second to last night of the tour - the biggest crowd the legendary five-piece have played to since they reunited in September 2014.

They might've been getting soaked, but for many this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see Mick Fleetwood, Lindsey Buckingham, John McVie, Stevie Nicks, and Christine McVie all together once more, and they were ready to let the rain wash them clean, go their own way, and break some chains.

And so were Fleetwood Mac. Their two hour set was laden with hits, and right from opener The Chain, it was clear the five longtime band mates and past lovers have put the years of turbulence well behind them, and now delight in giving these songs a truly heartfelt rendition.

Full Review at NZHerald

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Review Fleetwood Mac Live in Dunedin, NZ November 18, 2015

Return of the 'Mac
by Philippa Ormrod
newstalkzb.co.nz

They may be old, but they sure don't act like it.

Fleetwood Mac are the ultimate performers, and last night's show at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin was just what fans were after. After the first four songs - 'The Chain', 'You Make Loving Fun', 'Dreams', and 'Second Hand News' - my friend turned to me and exclaimed: "And there are still so many good songs to come!" That statement perfectly summed up how you felt the whole night as the band charged through hit after hit with a contagious energy.

Having Christine McVie back on board for this tour was acknowledged by Stevie Knicks early on as being a blessing and I definitely agree. When the band last toured here in 2009 they were powerful enough with the four of them, but adding her musical abilities and her amazing collection of songs into the mix gave this concert a whole extra layer. It was fantastic to hear 'Little Lies', 'Everywhere', and 'Say You Love Me' all sung by McVie whose voice is well intact.

Full Review

Fans live their dreams
By John Lewis
odt.co.nz



Total strangers acting like long-lost friends - that is the power of Fleetwood Mac.

While it was cold outside, warmth radiated within with plenty of hugging, back-slapping, laughing and loads of people yarning like they were neighbours, minus the back fence.

The 35,000 fans, mostly in the 50-plus bracket, grew up with the various hits from Fleetwood Mac albums, so they have a common bond.

That bond appears to have been handed down to younger generations of fans who were also at the concert.

Whether they were baby-boomers, Gen X or Gen Y, most knew the lyrics and they were on their feet belting them out with their musical heroes on stage.

Full Article

Fleetwood Mac in Dunedin: Still rocking after all these years
BY BRYCE EDWARDS
Stuff.co.nz

Should aging rockers retire? Grace Slick has today suggested that Fleetwood Mac should give it up.

But last night's concert in Dunedin showed that age is no barrier to filling a large stadium with a phenomenal performance of perfect pop.

The classic line-up of band members from the Rumours album era may have an average age getting close to 70, but they clearly know how to put on a show.

It was all their greatest hits, delivered with energy and grace. And it worked well in a stadium. The crowd sung along to favourites such as Don't Stop, Go Your Own Way, and Sara. It was a nostalgic stomp-along for the 35,000 packed into the covered venue.

Many had travelled from all around the South Island, creating traffic jams as far north as Timaru. The crowd was mostly towards the older age group of 50-plus, but there were plenty in their twenties dancing along, illustrating that Fleetwood Mac has a cross-generational appeal.

The band was obviously keen to make an emotional connection with the audience, with a lot of between-song speeches and homilies.

Nicks explained the background of songs and tried to inspire success in her fans; Lindsey Buckingham talked about the people behind the music and how their personal lives and relationships were embedded in the songs for all to see and scrutinise. But the most poignant moment was when Stevie Nicks sung her emotional Landslide song, which she dedicated to Jonah Lomu.

Full Review


Fleetwood Mac review: Multitudes held in harmonic thrall
By Shane Gilchrist
odt.co.nz

Relationship issues, personal turmoil . . . and that's just some of the audience.

No, but seriously.

Last night, at Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium, Fleetwood Mac added further resonance to songs that long ago escaped the confines of urban cool and found a home amid millions of suburban lounges.

Having honed the template for soft-rock singalongs and a radio-friendly slickness belying the hurt and heartbreak often integral to a tune's genesis, the group reminded all that the distance between stage and stadium seats is best spanned by a combination of honest communication and energy.

That was best personified by guitarist-singer Lindsey Buckingham, who led the band in many respects.

Certainly, he, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie, all responsible for groundbreaking 1977 album Rumours, lived up to the title of their tour, ''On With The Show'', performing for more than two and a-half hours.

Full Review

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Fleetwood Mac are set to wow close to 100,000 fans in Dunedin and Auckland

Rock supergroup Fleetwood Mac are set to wow close to 100,000 fans in Dunedin and Auckland this week at the end of their 15-month On With The Show world tour.


The American band will blast out a 23-song set including hits such as Dreams, Go Your Own Way and Tusk at Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium on Wednesday, and again at gigs at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland on Saturday and Sunday.

Almost half of the 66,000-strong Auckland audience over the two nights will come from out of town, said Mt Smart's director of external relations Paul Brewer. Saturday's concert is sold out but a few tickets are still available for Sunday.

"The influx of fans will mean a significant boost for the local economy," he said.

Fleetwood Mac founding member Mick Fleetwood has said the shows will not be the band's last Downunder.

"This is not goodbye," Fleetwood told the 702 ABC Sydney breakfast show during the band's current tour of Australia. "Stevie [Nicks] mentioned it to me the other night, saying 'this can't be the goodbye tour because no one said that it was'."

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Reviews Fleetwood Mac Live in Brisbane, AU Nov. 10, 2015

Review: Fleetwood Mac, Brisbane Entertainment Centre, November 10, 2015
Noel Mengel
The Courier-Mail

Photo: Marc Robertson

WELCOME back Chrissie.

Not that Fleetwood Mac didn’t play great shows in Christine McVie’s years out of the band. But her return for this tour brings so many big songs back to the party — from You Make Loving Fun to Say You Love Me and Everywhere.

Naturally this first Brisbane Entertainment Centre show last night was sold out — there are a few tickets left for a second tomorrow night.

You know what you are going to get, two-and-a-half hours, mostly of hits, plus some album favourites like Gold Dust Woman.

Yet the addition of Christine’s songs, lead vocals and harmonies lifts the night to another level from their tours without her.

Mick Fleetwood and John McVie remain a powerhouse rhythm section, Lindsey Buckingham ensures the energy levels never flag despite this being show No 114 of a world tour, and Nicks’ voice remains a thing of crystalline wonder, from Dreams to Rhiannon, Sara and Landslide.

It’s a beautiful and tasteful visual production, but with this many big songs, they could play by torchlight and still hold our attention.

As Buckingham reminds the audience they put all their personal dramas out there in their songs. It sure beats singing about moon, June and the lesser concerns which can fill the charts for a week and are just as soon forgotten.

It is a long concert, close to three hours on stage, and at one point they even have a false start to Tusk, which not only shows they are human but only seems to fire up Buckingham further.

After such a long time on the road, you might imagine a band going through the motions. But not at this show, and on stage it’s Buckingham who stokes the intensity with some searing lead work and his virtuoso solo turn on Big Love.

Fleetwood grins from ear to ear during his party piece on World Turning, and by the time the 10,000 plus crowd is singing along with Don’t Stop, it doesn’t feel like this is goodbye.

The old hurts might be way in the past but they still have something to say: the word is that a new album is already recorded and set for release in 2016.



Review: Fleetwood Mac, Brisbane Entertainment Centre, November 10, 2015
by: Simon Holt

About 30 seconds into a song called Tusk, Fleetwood Mac stumbled. Like someone who'd lost their place on a page in a book, the band stopped.

"We're going to say we're not perfect, and we're going to start that one again, OK?" lead guitarist Lindsey Buckhingham said.

Until then, a full house at Boondall wanted badly for the show to be great. But it wasn't. It was pedestrian at worst, ordinary at best.

One of the world's greatest bands seemed to be going through the motions, playing like it was the 114th concert on a long two-year roadtrip.

Chart-toppers Rhiannon, Everywhere and Dreams had all been rolled out, and it was Fleetwood Mac. They had to be brilliant, right?

There was nothing horrible about the first few songs – it was certainly no Meat Loaf moment.

There was just no sparkle – at least not until the second the band hiccupped.

When the group hit silence – a musical brick wall – something magic happened.

It was like they'd been given a wake-up call, a nudge to say they were slightly off their game, an embarrassing kick in the guts.

Full Review at Sydney Morning Herald

Sunday, November 08, 2015

Review Fleetwood Mac Live in Geelong, AU November 7, 2015

Fleetwood Mac’s Geelong Day on the Green a night to remember
by: Mandy Squires
Geelongadvertiser

Photos: PETER RISTEVSKI
View Gallery


FOR those lucky enough to snare a seat or piece of grass on the Mt Duneed Estate knoll on Saturday evening, the Fleetwood Mac show was an affair to remember.

Performing much-loved hits from the Rumours and Tusk albums, Stevie Nicks and the band appeared barely to have aged, delivering an energetic performance that had the 18,000-strong crowd on its feet, singing and dancing for the whole show.

Between songs, the ethereal Nicks also managed to deliver some poignant stories and words of wisdom to aspiring young artists in the audience, encouraging them to believe in, and back, themselves, “find their gypsy” and pursue their dreams single-mindedly.

Clear skies made for a perfect, if slightly chilly, night of entertainment, and Nicks commented more than once that she was cold. But most audience members were snug in beanies and blankets, and warmed by the concert’s generous spirit.

Organisation on the night by Day on the Green was — for the most part — excellent, with plenty of food and drink outlets, toilets and free tap-water stations throughout the venue.

Entry to the picturesque venue was seamless and there was plenty of security and help on hand to direct festival-goers.

Promoter Michael Newton said the event had been “absolutely incredible.”

“It was an 18,000 person love-in,” he said.

He said a lack of available taxis had caused some headaches at the end of the night, with organisers arranging five shuttle buses to drop people in Geelong.

He said patrons had been warned via email not to rely on taxis.

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Review | Photos: Fleetwood Mac Live in Adelaide, AU October 28, 2015

Fleetwood Mac family finally felt complete
by Nathan Davies
The Advertiser
Photos Simon Cross - VIEW GALLERY
FEW bands have been through as much as Fleetwood Mac and lived to tell the tale.

They took the ’70s ethos of sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll to its limit, with the sex and the drugs threatening to end the rock ’n’ roll on more than one occasion.

Perhaps that’s why Wednesday night’s show at Coopers Stadium had such a feel-good vibe – the Mac are like a dysfunctional family who’ve had some therapy, buried the hatchet and turned up for Christmas lunch with smiles on their faces. And the family finally felt complete, with songwriter/keyboardist/vocalist Christine McVie back where she belongs after 16 years away from the band.

“This is quite an auspicious occasion,” McVie told the full stadium. “I haven’t been to Adelaide for 30 years.”

The crowd welcomed her with open arms – her voice and her songs are a vital piece of the Fleetwood Mac puzzle.

McVie looked effortlessly cool behind the keys, standing at the right hand of former husband and bass player John McVie who was, together with mercurial drummer Mick Fleetwood, rocking the “Morris dancers on acid” look. Stevie Nicks was front and centre, the eternal waif, and next to her was guitarist and vocalist – and former lover – Lindsey Buckingham, looking youthful and handsome in jeans and a sports coat.

The night began with The Chain, the stomping country rock anthem from Rumours, and from there on it was just a cavalcade of hits – Dreams, Rhiannon, Everywhere, a brilliant rendition of Tusk complete with a big-screen remix of the iconic marching band film clip, Sara and Say You Love Me, a song that showed off the McVie-Nicks-Buckingham harmony machine to full effect.

After that the band went off for a well-deserved breather while Buckingham laid down a truly beautiful solo version of Big Love. His guitar playing is a breathtaking mix of folk-styled fingerpicking and rock riffing, and his voice cut through the warm night as a full moon rose over the stands.

The band came back on for Landslide, and we got the first of Mick’s drum solos on Think About Me, before Nicks told the story of the inspiration behind Gypsy (it’s about an expensive San Francisco dress salon, Janis Joplin, and the moment she knew she was going to be a famous singer). I’m So Afraid saw Buckingham wowing with his guitar antics once more before the main set closed with a rousing rendition of Go Your Own Way that had the crowd on its feet and singing along (and one lady in the front row filming on an iPad. Get a phone, lady!)


There was an encore – that’s a given – and it started with World Turning complete with a five-minute Fleetwood drum solo/comedy routine, followed by Don’t Stop and Silver Springs. The night wound up, fittingly, with Christine McVie on a grand piano singing Songbird, accompanied by Buckingham on an acoustic guitar.

The applause was heartfelt, and the band genuinely seemed to appreciate it. The final word went to Fleetwood, the giant ringmaster, who thanked the fans for their support over almost five decades and implored everyone “in this seemingly crazy world that we live in” to “take such very good care of one another”. Yeah, Mick!

Review: Theaureview.com

Review & Photos: 4kq.com

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Fleetwood Mac: Supergroup being pretty low-key ahead of their Adelaide concert

THE members of legendary supergroup Fleetwood Mac are being pretty low- key during their Adelaide stay.

AdelaideNow


Heading out of the band’s city hotel yesterday wearing jeans and a T-shirt Lindsey Buckingham, greeted our shutterbug telling him to stay put because “there will be a raft of people for you to photograph’’.

He wasn’t telling Little Lies eitherbecause soon after appeared Christine McVie, who is back with Mac after 16 years, with an entourage. Like Lindsey, she was casually dressed and looking relaxed as she left to take in some city sights.

Mick Fleetwood was even more chilled out, rocking a beanie.

Fleetwood Mac is performing at Coopers Stadium on Wednesday night and there are Rumours the band will be at the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

“Fleetwood Mac has been invited and inundated with requests to attend Cup Carnival events,” a source close to the band tells Confidential.





Thursday, October 22, 2015

Reviews: Fleetwood Mac Sydney, Australia October 22nd

Fleetwood Mac fans cheer, laugh, cry and show love for the band on their Australian tour
by Kathy McCabe
The Daily Telegraph



IF you could harness all the energy devoted to singing Fleetwood Mac songs in loungerooms, cars and bars over the past 40 years, it would create a mighty bang.

The audience at the opening Australian concert by the legendary band at Sydney’s Allphones Arena brought an energy powered by all those moments, whether a solo karaoke of their favourite song, perhaps Go Your Own Way, or the more universally sung-to-the-rafters Don’t Stop.

Their myth is rooted in the reality of their drug-fuelled romantic entanglements and bust-ups as documented so honestly and historically on the greatest breakup album of all time Rumours.

Full Review and photos at The Daily Telegraph

Fleetwood Mac review: too long, sometimes listless, but hey, Christine McVie
by Bernard Zuel
The Sydney Morning Herald
Allphones Arena, October 22

The executive summary would be accurate but also not ever enough: too long and inconsistent of energy; some good sections and a virtual Classic Hits radio playlist; another "seriously, what the ... ?" moment with a drum solo and Christine McVie. Yes folks, it's worth an exclamation mark, Christine McVie!

The return, after 16 years, of the longest songwriting contributor in the band was always going to be more than just another body to accommodate onstage and a few more songs to add to the setlist. McVie's songs, from You Make Loving Fun - appearing two songs in, between Lindsey Buckingham's The Chain and Stevie Nick's Dreams, in the democratic/pragmatic structure long necessary in this complex band - to the show's closer, Songbird, with her at piano and only Buckingham on guitar accompanying her, are not just standards.

They, and she, are also the temperamental, lyrical and melodic balancing point between the very yin and definitely yang of the band's dominant forces, Nicks and Buckingham. That fractious pair these days make a deliberate, almost ostentatious, point of acknowledging each other, even singing to each other. But the more comfortable and frequent interactions are between Nicks and McVie, and Buckingham and McVie.

Full Review at Sydney Morning Herald


Drummer Mick Fleetwood opens up about Fleetwood Mac's longevity


Back Stage With Fleetwood Mac

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Mick Fleetwood Interview: This may be John McVie's final tour

Fleetwood Mac’s John McVie: This might be my final tour
By Annette Sharp
The Daily Telegraph



TWO years after pulling the pin on their 2013 Australian tour following bass player John McVie’s cancer diagnosis, Fleetwood Mac’s most famous and most successful line-up landed in Sydney this week ahead of what McVie has indicated might be his last tour with the band that bears his name.

Founding member Mick Fleetwood, 68, was respectful when he spoke of McVie’s recent health crisis during a sound check at Allphones Arena yesterday.

“I raised a toast the other night with Christine (McVie). He’s well as well, absolutely (in) tip top health and that’s pivotal. And outside of it, it’s great to be here and playing.

“It’s a revisitation,” Fleetwood enthused of his 69-year-old creative partner with whom he founded the band in 1963.

“John’s very practical. He didn’t get into it (cancer talk) one way or the other. I’m an old drama queen but John just said, ‘OK, let’s get it fixed’ and that was that. Never heard any more about it and it was fixed, and we’ve been on the road ever since.”

In May, McVie said his playing days would soon be at an end: “How much longer can the Mac be a working band? Not much longer, for me anyway. It’s not the music. It’s the peripherals, the travelling. Mick will go on until they put him up against a wall and shoot him.”

The return to the line-up of McVie’s ex-wife, singer and keyboardist Christine, 72, who parted ways with Fleetwood Mac in 1998 and was retired from the music business, has been described by guitarist Lindsey Buckingham as “really beautiful”. Buckingham also quit the band for 16 years from 1987 to 2003.

“(Christine) just sort of woke up and said, ‘I’m not done. I want to be more alive’,” Fleetwood said.

Fleetwood acknowledges relations within the band, which includes three
ex- couples — Buckingham, 66, and singer/songwriter Stevie Nicks, 67, the McVies and Fleetwood and Nicks — are still fiery 40 years after the most famous Mac five first collaborated in 1975.

“I don’t think Lindsey and Stevie will ever not be able to suppress various emotive buttons that exist. One lives in hope, as I think they do,” he said of the former lovers, who started working together at 16.

“Having Chris back is hugely amazing. I think Stevie’s loving it and Chris is, too.

Touring the world was “sort of” easier today, added Fleetwood, whose battle with cocaine addiction is the stuff of rock legend. (He once estimated that, laid end to end, the cocaine he consumed during his life would stretch seven miles).

‘‘Those, looking back on it, were sort of a bit harder. Harder to juggle feeling good and being professional. Those days are long gone.’’

Fleetwood says this time there will be only just the occasional “little jug” of wine during this tour.

The band plays Allphones Arena on October 22, 24 and 25.

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

WIN THE ULTIMATE FLEETWOOD MAC EXPERIENCE

Fleetwood Mac is due to hit New Zealand this November and THE BREEZE wants to send you to their sold-out Auckland show on Saturday, November 21!

Simply tell them the names of the five members of Fleetwood Mac and you could be into win:

  • Concert tickets for you and a friend to see Fleetwood Mac LIVE in concert on Saturday.
  • November 21 at Mt Smart Stadium.
  • Return flights to Auckland for two (from a major NZ domestic airport).
  • Luxury accommodation.
  • A rock 'n' roll dinner at SkyCity prior to the concert.

Fleetwood Mac  - On With The Show Tour - Australia & New Zealand 2015. All five classic band members back together!

Tour dates & locations:
  • Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin - Wednesday November 18 (ticketdirect.co.nz)
  • Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland - Saturday November 21 (sold out show)
  • Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland - Sunday November 22 (ticketmaster.co.nz)

LIMITED TICKETS TO THEIR ONLY DUNEDIN CONCERT AND SECOND AUCKLAND CONCERT AVAILABLE NOW

The legendary FLEETWOOD MAC are bringing their On With The Show World Tour to New Zealand next month!

Touring as a five-piece for the first time since 1998, one of music’s most enduring groups of all time, Fleetwood Mac, will play three stadium shows in November.

All five classic band members are back together, with Christine McVie rejoining band mates Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks after a 16-year absence.

The On With The Show Tour will see Fleetwood Mac on stage for close to two and a half hours, showcasing hits and classic songs from their career that spans more than four decades and global album sales in excess of 100 million, including songs such as: “The Chain”, “Dreams”, “Second Hand News”, “Rhiannon”, “Sara”, “Gold Dust Woman”, “Tusk”, “Looking Out for Love”, “Don’t Stop”, “Go Your Own Way”…and the list goes on and on.

This is a tour not be missed and tickets are selling fast so put it in the diary and get your tickets quick!

The first Auckland show Saturday, November 21 is already sold out but you can still get your tickets for the second Auckland show which is on Sunday, November 22.

ENTER CONTEST (Open to New Zealand Residence Only)

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Fleetwood Mac Reunited But Going Their Own Way

Reunited for a mammoth tour, Fleetwood Mac are now planning an album. But for all their attempts to put on a show, they are still driven by backstage tensions, writes Dan Cairns

I’M DRAWN TO THESE FOUR PEOPLE. HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE MICK? HE’S BOLD, ECCENTRIC ... WARM AND SWEET. LINDSEY IS ANOTHER TYPE OF CHARACTER ALTOGETHER
CHRISTINE McVIE

CANVAS - Couriermail.com.au - October 10, 2015

Forty years after the line-up that conquered the world with Rumours first came together, Fleetwood Mac are still having problems agreeing on anything much. The return to the fold 20 months ago of Christine McVie after an absence of 16 years is one development they all speak positively about, with none of the usual caveats and festering agendas.

“There’s Stevie on one side of the spectrum,” says Lindsey Buckingham, the band’s coiled, restless, 65-year-old musical director and – what seems like a lifetime ago – Stevie Nicks’s boyfriend. “And me, kind of, on the other, in terms of sensibilities. Christine sort of bridges that gap.”

Where Buckingham talks in the clinical manner of a scientist, Nicks dives right in.

“Christine’s coming back was like the return of my best friend after years away,’’ she says. “It’s much more fun now. We were always a force to be reckoned with, and that’s happened again.”

For McVie, 71, having emerged from what she describes as years of isolation in a remote Kent farmhouse – years of “mud and grey days, where your life is dark, your heart is dark, your brain is dark” – rejoining the band “feels like a resurrection’’.

“I feel confident again, self-assured, I know I can put my fingers on a piano and play. I can write again. I can sing,” McVie says.

And Mick Fleetwood, aged 67, gentle giant, drummer, court jester, and the band’s unofficial manager and cajoler-in-chief, is characteristically gung-ho.

“It’s been an enormous benefit,’’ he says. “I turn around every night during the shows, when Stevie’s doing her Gypsy intro, which sometimes goes on a little long, and there’s John and Christine chatting away, sitting on an amp.

“And I sit there and think, ‘How cool is that?’ I’ve asked them, ‘What are you talking about?’ and they say, ‘Oh, you know, we’re just catching up on stuff’. It’s the sweetest thing.”

The band began a European tour in May. This followed an 81-date run around North America.

In October they head Down Under with the On With The Show Tour, marking Fleetwood Mac’s first series of concert dates in Australia and New Zealand since 2009’s sold-out Unleashed Tour. The band were scheduled to tour in November 2013, but cancelled the tour after bass player John McVie was diagnosed with colon cancer. It will be Fleetwood Mac’s first Australian tour as a five-piece for the first since 1998.

Before the US tour was over, however, there were already signs of wear and tear.

Holding court at various locations in Santa Monica in the US, the Mac – save for Christine McVie’s ex-husband, the bass player John McVie, 69, who is in remission from cancer and rarely grants an interview at the best of times – accentuate the positives but can’t quite eliminate the negatives.

This is the latest stage in a journey, or saga, for a band that has always been as riveting for its offstage shenanigans as it has been for the music that has soundtracked the lives of successive generations.

Nicks, sitting in her vast apartment, its wraparound, floor-to-ceiling windows making you feel as though you’re suspended above the ocean, seems the most conflicted and ambivalent. Buckingham, by telephone, exudes a serenity you sense is hard won and, by all accounts, paper-thin. McVie talks like a lovable, slightly dotty aunt, words tumbling over themselves, candour suddenly rearing up and slapping you in the face.

Then there’s Fleetwood – resplendent in various shades of aquamarine, charms, chains and bangles rattling from wrist and neck – who goes back down memory lane to early 1960s Notting Hill in London, hanging out as a teen in coffee bars and flirting with the girl who would become his first wife. He later fights tears while talking about the recent death of his mother, and of his plans to walk Hadrian’s Wall in her memory.

“I was telling Lindsey about that the other day,” Fleetwood says. “And he went, ‘Oh, you and your rose-tinted spectacles’. I said, ‘Well, look where they’ve got all of us. You should try wearing them yourself some time’.”

If the two McVies are now friends again, and Fleetwood is still adept at playing the role of peacemaker, the relationship between Buckingham and Nicks seems as dysfunctional as ever. Most bands with a tour raking it in and a new album in the planning stages would, you’d think, have a fairly clear idea of how the near future was going to pan out.

Yet that mooted album – their first in the classic line-up since Tango in the Night in 1987; Buckingham and Christine McVie have collaborated on seven songs – already sounds fraught with some of the same old problems.

“Chris’s return has been a huge help for some of the things that Stevie and Lindsey continue to go through,” says Fleetwood, with a hint of exasperation. “In terms of ... well, it’s a form of button-pushing, about which Christine would say, ‘This should long since have been over’.”

Buckingham sounds wary when the album comes up.

“We had planned on reconvening at the start of next year but, again, there’s the politics. Stevie has not involved herself in it and has not committed to involving herself in it either, so that’s something we’re working on.” Nicks, 67, doesn’t even try to hide her fatigue. “Tomorrow will be show 79, and then we start the European tour, and then we go to Australia,’’ she says. “Three solid years of Fleetwood Mac. When that’s done, I’m done. I’m done. I’m taking a long vacation.

“I’ve bought a little house on the other side of Malibu, I’ve owned it since March last year and I have three chairs in the living room, and that’s it. I’ve spent five days there in a year. People keep saying, ‘How’s the new house?’ I don’t know, I haven’t been there. I need a break. Maybe I shouldn’t be saying this in an interview, but I don’t really care.

“I have done my best every single night to go out there and be my best and not be upset about the fact that we are doing 80 shows instead of 60, and then going straight to Europe and doing 27 shows instead of 17.”

Isn’t she keen, though, to have her own material represented on the new album?

“I don’t know how I feel about that,’’ Nicks says. “I’m not in a good place right now to make decisions. We are on the road, and in my opinion, we should not be thinking past that. We’re a strange band of bandits and gypsies, travelling as part of this huge machine. This tour would never have happened if Chris hadn’t come back.”

Christine McVie admits to some bemusement about the continuing discord between the band’s Californian contingent. She describes the appeal of returning to the band as one of “chemistry, simple chemistry’’.

“I’m drawn to these four people,’’ McVie says. “How can you not love Mick? He’s bold, eccentric, arrogant, pompous, vulnerable, warm and sweet. Lindsey is another type of character altogether. He has the darkest, most caustic sense of humour ever. He really makes me laugh, but he can also be so twitchy and edgy; you know, ‘Keep away’. He’s always crossing his arms, his legs. And you just think, ‘Relax’. He and Stevie don’t get on. On stage, they act. Privately, no.

“John and I genuinely have a friendship. I love Mick and I love both of them. But it’s like putting a wet hand in a plug socket. It’s an electric shock every time. Who knows how long it will last? The idea is to try to finish the album, and then tour it. But Stevie says, ‘You’ve just had 16 years off. Now it’s my turn’.’’

For McVie, her return was worth it, no matter the bickering that continues to coexist with some sublime live performances (for all that, the one I watched in Los Angeles was a bit flat). Anything is better than that Kent vastness, she says.

“I was living in this sprawling wasteland in the middle of 50 acres of farmland. It’s a lovely place, but it’s too isolated, and I think that’s what drove me into this slow decline; the dogs and the wellington boots and the Land Rover, the idea that you’re going to bake cookies in the Aga. “And you don’t. You just get depressed. I tried writing songs again, and nothing came, nothing. I was there in the middle of acres of greenery and sheep and totally alone.”

Nicks, clearly ready for that (long) vacation, says she still finds herself having to talk about the band’s 1970s heyday, the busted relationships, the drink and the drugs, the wounds that, in some cases, never quite seemed to heal.

“And I don’t enjoy going back to that time because it’s not who I wish I had been. I wish that I’d been less f---ed-up and less drugged-out. Done a little bit less coke, drunk a little less, smoked a little less pot. I don’t feel romantic about it at all. People like hearing about it, but it wasn’t their journey, it was mine. I was young and beautiful and just so super-unattractive.”

Of the Buckingham-Nicks relationship, Fleetwood speculates: “On some level, they must be addicted to it, to something – to love, probably. It’s strange when you’re a friend to both parties, and I do sometimes get drawn in, but you don’t want to be like the messenger in El Cid, bringing in the head. I want them to be sitting on an amp, like John and Chris. I don’t think it will ever happen, but I don’t know that for sure.” He pauses to relocate a more positive thread. “Look, this is one hell of a thing. Not all of it is ever going to be 100 per cent happy, but it’s one hell of a weird, wonderful thing. And if it were a book, you’d want it to end like this.” Fleetwood Mac play Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Boondall, November 10 and 12, 8pm, $101.85-$402.70, ticketek.com.au

Monday, July 20, 2015

Fleetwood Mac Announce Australian Tour Support Acts


Fleetwood Mac has announced sibling duo Angus & Julia Stone and all-sister rock group Stonefield as their supporting acts for select dates of their upcoming Australian tour. 

Angus & Julia Stone will hit the road for Perth, Adelaide, Hunter Valley and Geelong, as well as Fleetwood Mac's New Zealand dates, while Stonefield will perform on the tour's winery shows at Mt Duneed Estate (Geelong) and two Hope Estate Winery Shows (Hunter Valley). Supporting acts for the band's gigs in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne have yet to be announced.

Fleetwood Mac's Australian Tour Dates:

- October 22 - Allphones Arena, Sydney
- October 24 - Allphones Arena Sydney
- October 25 - Allphones Arena, Sydney
- October 28 - Coopers Stadium, Adelaide w/Angus & Julia
- October 30 - Domain Stadium, Perth w/Angus & Julia
- November 2 - Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
- November 4 - Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
- November 6 - Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
- November 7 - A Day On The Green, Mt Duneed Estate, Geelong w/Angus & Julia & Stonefield
- November 10 - Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane
- November 12 - Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane
- November 14 - Hope Estate Winery, Hunter Valley w/Angus & Julia & Stonefield
- November 15 - Hope Estate Winery, Hunter Valley w/Angus & Julia & Stonefield
- November 18 - Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin, NZ w/Angus & Julia
- November 21 - Mt. Smart Stadium, Auckland, NZ w/Angus & Julia
- November 22 - Mt. Smart Stadium, Auckland, NZ w/Angus & Julia

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Review Fleetwood Mac Live in Dublin - July 12, 2015

Fleetwood Mac light up 3Arena Dublin
by Ed Power
Independent


How fitting that Fleetwood Mac should close the European leg of their latest comeback tour with a brace of sold-out shows in Dublin.

It was at this very venue in 2013 that erstwhile singer and keyboardist Christine McVie reunited with her bandmates for the first time in 16 years. The success of their soundcheck jam that night persuaded the reclusive Englishwoman to rejoin full-time – and now here she was, back where it started.

The sense of a group operating at full tilt was evident from the outset as McVie, guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and vocalist Stevie Nicks plunged into the harmonized introduction to The Chain, a tug-of-love ballad written while Nicks and Buckingham were in the throes of their notoriously messy late '70s break-up (heartbreaking fuel for the 40-million selling Rumours album). Half a lifetime later the tune still gleamed with acidic vim as Nicks and Buckingham locked gazes and spat accusatorially lyrics at one another.

With McVie in the fold once more, it was as if a missing piece of a puzzle had clicked into place. In her absence, Buckingham's pop eccentricities wielded an outsize influence over Fleetwood Mac, his oddball histrionics threatening to capsize the ship. Tonight confirmed that McVie's classic songwriting and calm persona served as a vital counterpoint. Earlier Fleetwood Mac reunions felt like glorified Buckingham solo affairs. This was assuredly no longer the case.

How or why Fleetwood Mac became the world's favourite heritage act remains a matter of conjecture. Through the '80s and '90s, the soft rock titans were an ongoing punchline. Catchy, crowd-pleasing and always on radio, they were everything a rebellious young musician might despise. However, the onward march of the decades has seen their stock soar, with hayseed Gen Yers such as Haim and Best Coast blatantly indebted to the quintet's burned-out California cool. Wait long enough and everything comes back into fashion.

Straining my neck from my standing position towards the rear of the arena, I could just about make out the top of McVie blonde bob. It was all that I needed to see as Fleetwood Mac negotiated one of mainstream rock's greatest catalogues. From The Chain, they shifted gear into You Make Loving Fun, McVie's sly Valentine to a secret lover, while Nicks had an early opportunity to shine on Dreams, a scented-candle dirge whose hippy aphorisms yielded universal truths.

Wiry and goggle-eyed, Buckingham was a tortured yin to McVie's understated yang. He barked into the mic and bobbed his head as he dispensed platitudes to the crowd (apparently we're still the best audience in the world). McVie, in contrast, stayed in the shadows for much of the set but, when required to step beneath the spotlight, was a searing presence, especially on Everywhere, her bittersweet love ballad. Disinterred six songs in it was a knockout punch and powerful closing argument for anyone who wondered how pop's naffest ensemble ended up its most beloved.

Saturday, July 04, 2015

Fleetwood Mac Tour Stats Update Adding Toronto, Atlanta, Anaheim, AtlanticCity, Austin and Houston

Updated On With The Show Tour Stats.  New to the list: Anaheim, Houston, Atlanta x 2, Atlantic City, Austin and Toronto.


Friday, July 03, 2015

Reviews Fleetwood Mac Live in Manchester - July 1, 2015

Fleetwood Mac at Manchester Arena
Manchester Evening News
by Emily Heward

Fans were delighted to see Christine McVie reunited on stage with ex-husband John McVie and bandmates Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham
Photo: Henry Ciechanowicz
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Fleetwood Mac fans finally got to see the classic Rumours-era line-up reunited last night as Christine McVie joined ex-husband John McVie and bandmates Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham on stage at Manchester Arena.

The singer - who is the songwriter and voice behind some of the band's most enduring hits, including Don’t Stop, Little Lies and You Make Loving Fun - is back on the road with the band for the first time in 16 years for their On With The Show tour.

Fans were delighted to see her return - as was Stevie Nicks, who echoed the audience's excitement as she squealed: "Our girl is BACK!"

None of the group showed any sign of the mystery illness that forced them to cancel their first show in Manchester last month as they played an unrelenting two and a half hour set.

Now all in their mid to late 60s except Christine, who is 71, they worked the stage with the energy of a group half their age, particularly Lindsey, whose virtuoso guitar playing stole the show.

There was no sign either of the turbulence that nearly tore the band apart during the making of Rumours, with ex-lovers Stevie and Lindsey sweetly clasping hands before dueting on a gorgeous stripped-back version of Landslide (we think we even saw Stevie wipe away a tear), while Christine and John appeared just as happy to be sharing a stage again.

"Our Songbird, you might say, has returned," as Mick put it fondly - and there could only be one way to close the show as Christine sat down alone at a piano to sing her beautiful ballad.

The finale was the highlight of the show for many fans who had waited for years to hear her sing it again, but it was by no means the only standout moment.

From opener The Chain to the rousing singalong that accompanied Go Your Own Way and Mick's manic drum solo, it was a five-star performance from start to finish. Even the weather seemed to agree, with fans leaving the arena to a Dreams-worthy chorus of thunder and rain outside.

Fleetwood Mac bring thunder to Manchester
Wigantoday.net
by Tom McCooey

LIGHTS down, mobile phone cameras puncturing the black canvas, Mick Fleetwood’s right foot sets the tone.

Thud, thud, thud, thud - fans know what’s coming - and when a band can open on a monster such as ‘The Chain’, the night promises to show off some of the best songwriting to be heard.

But it would be wrong to expect the latest installment of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘On with the Show’ tour - at the Manchester Arena on Wednesday night - to be a flawless evening of note perfect music.

That’s not why fans, ranging from those who had their first dance to ‘Everywhere’ to the newly grown-up kids from those relationships, are out on a sweltering night.

Shivers as guitar interludes morph into songs which bring hibernating memories alive, knowing every word, being able to say: “I saw Fleetwood Mac,” is why most are here.

The band’s older voices sometimes crack - even with a few songs knocked down a semi-tone or two - but genuine moments of pure joy excuse imperfections.

And the inclusion of Christine McVie, on tour after a 17-year absence from the band, makes the experience more authentic - this really is the Rumours lineup - the record we’ve all bought five times and played to death four.

An energetic opening sees hits ‘You Make Loving Fun’, ‘Dreams’ and ‘Second Hand News’ chalked off before the intoxicating voice of Stevie Nicks shifts the mood with a haunting rendition of ‘Rhiannon’.

For fans with numerous live albums in the car glovebox, Lindsey Buckingham didn’t disappoint with his mesmerising solo performance of ‘Tango in the Night’ opener ‘Big Love’ - a version many fans prefer over the 1987 album offering.

Nicks had another opportunity to induce stomach butterflies in the audience with ‘Landslide’ - lyrics: “‘Cause I’ve built my life around you…. And I’m getting older too,” taking on new significance, as it becomes apparent this band is playing on a radio in the background somewhere in a staggering number of life’s flashpoints.

There were moments of self-indulgence to sit through though - the main culprit being Buckingham whose solo on ‘I’m So Afraid’ was more than a touch too long - and the camaraderie between members in between songs did at times feel forced.

But what can be expected from a band which has come through such thoroughly documented turbulence spanning more than half a lifetime?

And just when eyes were beginning to roll - the band relit the fire as ‘Go Your Own Way’ came to life, paving the way for a mammoth two-part encore, culminating in McVie and Buckingham wrapping-up with ‘Songbird’.

This was made more touching by McVie’s unpolished but heartfelt performance.

For the 98th night of a tour spanning two years and two legs - due to finish in November this year - Fleetwood Mac put on a show fans won’t forget.

The downsides (including a £15 programme with no editorial in it) were soothed with enough moments of magic to make their ticking off on the gig bucket list a satisfying one.

Fleetwood Mac continue their ‘On with the Show’ tour in Leeds, Birmingham and Glasgow next week.

Orange Amplifiers Sign Fleetwood Mac's John McVie



Orange Amplification is pleased to announce that Fleetwood Mac bassist John McVie has become their latest Ambassador. John co-founded the band along with drummer Mick Fleetwood, and the pair has gone on to form a lasting partnership that has long been regarded as one of the best rhythm sections in the history of Rock music.

Talking about becoming a new Orange Ambassador John stated, “The guys at Orange, have really put together a great amp system for me. It truly delivers the punch, bottom end and quality of sound that makes it a pleasure to hear night after night.”

John McVie’s bass legacy has anchored one of the biggest bands in the world, leading to his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. He has provided one stellar bass line after another for Fleetwood Mac, through a multiple of line-ups that includes the classic 1970’s group, which created the timeless hit albums Rumours and Tusk. He is now using Orange bass heads, together with Orange OBC115, OBC410 and PPC112 speaker cabs. He joins a roster that includes many other legendary bassists such as Geddy Lee and Glenn Hughes.

After more than forty years at the top, Fleetwood Mac are still as popular as ever. This year sees them take their ‘On With The Show’ world tour across Australia, New Zealand and Europe. The performances showcase hits and classic songs drawn from albums that have sold in excess of 100 million copies and that span their whole career. The list of tracks includes ‘Go Your Own Way’, ‘Dreams’, ‘Tusk’, ‘Second Hand News’ and ‘Think About Me’ to name but a few.

Orange amps distributed in Australia by http://www.gibsonami.com/

Fleetwood Mac Australian tour details: https://www.livenation.co.nz/artists/fleetwood-mac

Australianmusician.com

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Review Fleetwood Mac Live in Leeds - June 30, 2015

Fleetwood Mac Live in Leeds, UK - June 30, 2015
by Mark Casci
Yorkshire Evening Post

A wild-eyed genius named Mick Fleetwood says it better than I ever could as Fleetwood Mac exit the
stage - “The Mac is BACK!”

A blistering two hour and 20 minute set from the classic (yes, that word is ENTIRELY appropriate) Rumours-era line-up elicits one of the most passionate responses I have seen from an audience in my life.

A four-song opening shot from said record that made them famous the world over was always going to put us on the right foot.

The Chain, all close harmonies and blues guitar gives way to one of the most memorable of bass lines and Leeds is all theirs. You Make Loving Fun, Dreams and Second Hand News are all delivered as they should be, note perfect and intense.

The rock solid, bomb-proof rhythm section of Mr Fleetwood and his self-professed dearest friend John McVie form the bedrock of tonight’s show.

Highlights come from their front people throughout however.

Returning from a 17 year hiatus from music, Christine McVie still has the voice of an angel, as evidenced by set-closer Songbird and Everywhere.

Lindsay Buckingham storms around the stage like a man a quarter of his age, his distinctive finger-picking guitar style as ferocious and precise and it ever was. His solo-rendition of Big Love was a thing of majesty,

Best of all is centre-stage throughout. Stevie Nicks, 67, still mops the floor with any other front woman out there. During Gold Dust Woman she does not just command the stage but dominate it,

The highlight for this humble reviewer is Landslide, performed by the couple Buckingham and Nicks, whose well-documented fallings-out inspired so much of their greatest art, is tear-jerking. Stevie owns the spotlight, a magisterial performance.

Despite Mick’s bullish claim we will most-likely never see these five together again. But tonight’s gig capped a truly unique and inspirational career and cemented their legacy as one of the most special and unique rock n roll bands of all time.

The Mac is back? The Mac never left us and never will.