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

Fleetwood Mac
Unleashed 2009 Tour,
MEN Arena 27/10/09
By Aasma Day
Lep.co.uk

THE band once famed as much for their turbulent relationships as their chart-topping success returned with a vengeance to prove that great music is more important than who's sleeping with who.

Fleetwood Mac has seen multiple line-ups and musical change since first forming in 1967, but a delighted Manchester crowd were treated to their best-selling Rumours team of Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, missing only the now-retired Christine McVie.

Looking good and sounding even better, the band showed their tumultuous past was behind them as they delivered almost two-and-a-half hours of top songs with perfect chemistry, tremendous energy and above all fun and vigour.

"We don't have a new album to promote… yet," Lindsey Buckingham teasingly told the audience. "So we thought let's go out and have some fun. "We're going to sing the songs we love - and hopefully you do too."

He even made a cheeky reference to the band's inter-relationships by saying: "As you all know, Fleetwood Mac has a complex and convoluted emotional history".

But although the former lovers may no longer share a personal spark, the magic of Stevie and Lindsey's voices blending together in perfect harmony was there in full force.

Everyone seems to be friends again and the pair even shared a tender embrace.

Seventies sex symbol Stevie is still stunning at 60 and is as blonde-haired, mysterious and bewitching as ever and charmed the crowd from the moment she stepped on stage.

Her melodic voice was hypnotic and haunting and had just the right mix of vulnerability and strength to deliver songs like Gypsy, Sara, Landslide and Dreams with true emotion.

Wearing a flowing gypsy-style black dress and black boots, later changing into a ruby red dress with a gold shawl and then even appeared in a top hat as she swayed, waved a tambourine and did her trademark twirls during the music.

Lindsey was a real live wire and his sheer energy and enthusiasm revealed his guitar playing genius and fantastic singing.

His impressive fingerwork during Big Love and scorching riffing during the early blues Fleetwood Mac number Oh Well had fans on their feet to give him a standing ovation.

Since forming, the only thing that hasn't changed in Fleetwood Mac is the rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie.

Mick Fleetwood's famed ponytail which was on the Rumours album cover may now be white, but his enthusiasm and entertaining personality hasn't waned at all.

He came across as a real character and wearing drawstring pants and bright red shoes, he played the drums with passion and skill coupled with comical facial expressions and was superb during a drum solo.

In contrast, John McVie was quiet and calm as he played his bass with skill.

With the footstomping Tusk, the singalong Don't Stop, Go Your Own Way, Rhiannon, Say That You Love Me, Gold Dust Woman, World Turning and Silver Springs among the many songs delivered, fans simply could not have been disappointed.

But with such an extensive back catalogue to choose from, tracks such as Seven Wonders, Everywhere and Little Lies weren't there and the band could have played a whole other set of the great songs they didn't do.

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REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac Live in London October 30, 2009 "Fleetwood Mac stick to what they do best"

Fleetwood Mac
Wembley Arena
by: David Smyth
The Evening Standard

Fleetwood Mac stick to what they do best

How heartwarming it is when a band of a certain vintage recognises that another new album would be about as welcome as rheumatism and heads out to play everyone’s favourite songs with no ulterior motive.

“This time we said: ‘Let’s just go out and have fun,’” claimed guitarist Lindsey Buckingham as Fleetwood Mac’s Unleashed tour arrived in London for the first of three arena shows. There have been rumours of a new album and even of Sheryl Crow taking the place of the long-departed Christine McVie but perhaps they got bored waiting for inspiration and decided to remind themselves of their many finest moments.

With a set drawn largely from the classic Seventies album trilogy of Fleetwood Mac, Rumours and Tusk, there could be few complaints about song choices. Other bases were briefly covered with a solo composition each for Buckingham and co-vocalist Stevie Nicks, a nod to the band’s early hard-blues incarnation with Peter Green’s stormy Oh Well and even a gibbering Mick Fleetwood drum solo.

But the music that dominated was that written by Buckingham and Nicks when they were in the middle of an agonising relationship break-up. Dreams, Second Hand News and Go Your Own Way all summoned glorious melodies from a painful place.

Here the ex-couple arrived on stage arm in arm and embraced after Nicks had finished her ballad Sara. In his sixties, Buckingham has become more of a rock singer than he was, often barking his lines and offering a finger-bruising solo interpretation of Big Love.

Nicks remained instantly recognisable in floaty outfits that were only missing a maypole. In black here, if she had appeared on your doorstep this weekend you would have handed over all your sweets quick for fear of being egged. That reedy voice, though, remains a thing of witchcraft.

With Rumours still high on the list of the biggest-selling albums ever, the band can’t be journeying the globe again just for the money.

Furious drawn-out versions of Gold Dust Woman and World Turning demonstrated an undimmed passion for playing and suggested a simple truth: they still love these songs as much as the rest of us.

OVER 35,000 TICKETS SOLD FOR FLEETWOOD MAC HOPE ESTATES GIG

FLEETWOOD MAC AUSTRALIA

The Sunday Telegraph

One of the most influential rock bands of all time, Fleetwood Mac formed in 1967 and experienced huge success during the 70's and 80's.

Despite affairs and drug and alcohol addictions making for a tempestuous history, the supergroup re-formed in 1997 for their 20 year Rumours Anniversary and in December, 2008 announced their new tour Unleashed - minus Christine McVie - which they've been performing throughout North America since March.

"The chance to work together again without all the conflicts that had once made things so difficult and hard to restart" Stevie Nicks said.

Classic tracks such as Go Your Own Way and Black Magic Woman have fans lined up to see Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, Lindsey Buckingham and John McVie perform in Sydney this year, and their Hunter Valley date in December will be the largest ever held in the wine growing region selling over 35,000 tickets.

For Tickets go to ticketmaster.com.au and ticketek.com.au

"DON'T STOP" FLEETWOOD MAC DOC. BBC ONE

"DON'T STOP" FLEETWOOD MAC

BBC One's iplayer is loaded with the new Fleetwood Mac documentary "Don't Stop" that just aired in the UK. New Interview footage is included from each member of the band including John McVie who NEVER gives interviews in print, on the radio and definitely not for tv! So that's a bonus right there... Sadly Christine McVie didn't contribute to the documentary but does appear in the program via older interview footage taken from previous documentaries.

If you missed it, and you live in the UK, check out the BBC iplayer BBC One.

On TV the program will broadcast again:

Fri 6 Nov 2009 21:00 BBC Four

Sat 7 Nov 2009 02:25 BBC Four

Mon 9 Nov 2009 01:30 BBC Four

(PRESS PHOTOS) FLEETWOOD MAC LONDON

PRESS PHOTOS

FLEETWOOD MAC

LONDON OCTOBER 30th

    

   

       

FLEETWOOD MAC'S "THE VERY BEST OF" LOGS 2ND WEEK IN UK TOP 10

WEEK 2 IN THE UK TOP 10
Fleetwood Mac's "The Very Best Of" 2cd set spends a 2nd week inside the Top 10 on the UK charts dropping 4 places down to #10.

Sales for the second week: 17,541.
Previous weeks sales: 18.763

Top 10 UK Albums This Week:

1. (NEW) 3 WORDS (Cheryl Cole) 1 wk 125,271
2. (2) CRAZY LOVE (Michael Buble) 2 wks 112,314
3. (NEW) THIS IS IT (Michael Jackson) 1 wk 78,097
4. (NEW) COMING HOME (Soldiers) 1 wk 56,558
5. (1) OVERCOME (Alexandra Burke) 2 wks 55,429
6. (NEW) BELIEVE (Katherine Jenkins) 1 wk 30,572
7. (3) I LOOK TO YOU (Whitney Houston) 2 wks 25,400
8. (NEW) PEACE IN THE VALLEY (Daniel O'Donnell) 1 wk 18,095
9. (5) SUNNY SIDE UP (Paolo Nutini) 22 wks 17,706
10. (6) THE VERY BEST OF (Fleetwood Mac) 2 wks 17,541

(The Number 1 Album by Cheryl Cole includes the song "Boy Like You" which heavily samples Fleetwood Mac's "Little Lies".)

Other Charts:
European Top 200 Albums
For the week 10/31/09 - Fleetwood Mac's The Very Best Of debuts at #39.

Irish Top 100 Albums:
For the week 10/29/09 - Fleetwood Mac's The Very Best of jumps from #32 to #14.

Re-listen to Johnnie Walkers Sounds of The 70's

If you missed Johnnie Walkers broadcast on BBC2 today interviewing Mick and Lindey - you can relisten to the broadcast on Johnnie's site: HERE It's available for 7 days. The section with Fleetwood Mac begins at 1:11:33 - advance the player up to that point to listen.

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.

(PHOTOS) FLEETWOOD MAC - LONDON (October 30th)

FLEETWOOD MAC
LONDON

OCTOBER 30th - WEMBLEY ARENA

Unlike the Press Photographers who are restricted to taking pictures of the band during the first two songs of the night, Monday Morning and The Chain (hense the reason they pretty much all look the same).  Fan Photos give you a real sense of the whole show as it progresses through the set... Here's another example of Fleetwood Mac in London on October 30th at Wembley Arena. All photos by: Pip Fidler, who from the look of these shots, had an amazing spot right up front at the stage.  See her full gallery of shots on facebook

(PHOTOS) FLEETWOOD MAC WEMBLEY (NIGHT #1) PHOTOS FROM THE STAGE

FLEETWOOD MAC, WEMBLEY ARENA

LONDON, ENGLAND

10.30.09

Photos by: suzyvermoesen (gallery)

Checkout this gallery of shots from the Wembley show 10/30.
Some really exceptional supper close-up shots of the band.

REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac - Manchester "Mystery-and-Magic isn't merely an act for Stevie Nicks"

Fleetwood Mac, MEN Arena, Manchester
Reviewed by Simon Price
Sunday, 1 November 2009
Independent on Sunday

If she didn’t mean it, it wouldn’t work. Stephanie Lynn Nicks may have been working as a waitress in a cocktail bar when Fleetwood Mac found her, and cleaning the producer’s toilets to pay for her first record, but the bucktoothed blonde from Phoenix never stopped imagining herself as a Welsh witch goddess.

Thirty-five years on, she hasn’t ceased: swishing about in a bat-winged cape and a diamante half-moon pendant, and bleating about a “ woman taken by the sky”. Mystery-and-magic isn’t merely an act for Stevie. She believes it, and bless her to bits for that.

If Stevie on a British stage is what really sends the hackles tingling for the faithful, then it’s only in the context of a truly stunning Fleetwood Mac concert. Her foil and sometime lover Lindsey Buckingham, spindlylegged and still offensively handsome, is a fast-fingertipped phenomenon on guitar. His solo spots for “ Big Love” and “ Oh Well” are breathtaking; the title track of his 1979 folly Tusk is so berserk you can almost taste the Hollywood A-grade in your septum.

Together, they conjure such an electricity that the rhythm section John McVie and Mick Fleetwood, whose British blues band was transformed by the BuckinghamNicks takeover in 1974, can only stand and watch. “ I think I had met my match,” she sings in the sublime “ Sara”, and she looks at him with lazy eyes. He catches the glance, and bites his lip. As the song ends, they waltz and he kisses her hair. It must drive their current partners insane. Because it sure as hell sends a shiver through everyone else.

Sunday: Don't Stop Documentary... Johnnie Walker's Sound of the 70's

[repost - reminders]
FLEETWOOD MAC
DON'T STOP DOCUMENTARY
BBC ONE

NEXT ON:
Today, November 1st - 22:20
(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 2009 22:20 BBC One (except Northern Ireland)
Sun 1 Nov 2009 22:50 BBC One (Northern Ireland only)
Fri 6 Nov 2009 21:00 BBC Four
Sat 7 Nov 2009 02:25 BBC Four
Mon 9 Nov 2009 01:30 BBC Four

DURATION
60 minutes

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

The Broadcast is now available on the BBC2 site to re-listen to: HERE