PHOTOS: FLEETWOOD MAC LIVE IN MONTREAL

FLEETWOOD MAC BELL CENTRE
MONTREAL, QUEBEC CANADA
MARCH 25, 2009
Photos: John Kenney

SOUNDSTAGE SESSIONS - ALBUM OF THE WEEK

KEN BRUCE

BBC - RADIO 2

Stevie Nicks's forthcoming CD "The Soundstage Sessions" is featured as the Album of the week this week on Ken Bruce BBC Radio 2 in the UK.  So far this week, they've played Stand Back on Monday, Landslide on Tuesday and Sara on Wednesday.

You can listen to rebroadcasts of his show on his blog.  You'll need realplayer installed to stream the radio show. 

FLEETWOOD TO SHOWCASE BLUES BAND IN HAWAII & KAUAI

MICK FLEETWOOD BACK WITH BLUES BAND DURING

FLEETWOOD MAC APRIL BREAK

Honolulu Adviser

Mick Fleetwood, co-founder of Fleetwood Mac, is coming to Hawai'i to perform in Waikiki and on Kauai with The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band, concert promoter Tom Moffatt announced today.

Performances will be at 8 p.m. April 2 at Level 4 in the Royal Hawaiian Center and 7:30 p.m. on Apirl 3 at the Kaua'i Marriott in the Kauai Ballroom.

The band features a tribute to the original Fleetwood Mac, the all-male blues band that started in 1967. Fleetwood's hand-picked blues quartet includes Rick Vito, former Fleetwood Mac vocalist and lead guitarist; Bass playerLenny Castellanos, and Mark Johnstone, who ties the band together with back-up vocals and keys.

The band released a live recording "Blue Again" in March. The album pays tribute to the Mac's early days, when it drew heavily on American blues music and produced hits such as "Albatross," "Oh Well" and "Black Magic Woman" (which was covered by Santana).

The album also includes fresh new blues tracks like "Looking for Somebody" and "Love that Burns."

Tickets are available at Ticketmaster outlets, 800-745-3000 and www.ticketmaster.com. Reserved seating for the Level 4 show are $45 and $35. For Kauai, advanced ticket prices are $35 and available at Big Kmart, Kauai Music, Progressive Expressions.Jack Wada Electronics & Hanalei Surf.

FLEETWOOD MAC IN THE UK IN AUGUST?

Mick Fleetwood - speaking to fans that purchased the I Love All Access 5 Star Package at last nights show in Ottawa Canada said that if logistics are worked out they will be touring in the UK and Australia beginning in August.

TODAY SHOW FOR STEVIE NICKS

Apparently Stevie is booked on The Today Show April 2nd.  There's no additional information on this appearance.  We do know that Stevie's going to be in New York City after the last show of this leg of the Unleashed Tour (which is Toronto on March 26th) to promote her Soundstage Sessions CD and Live in Chicago DVD.  She's appearing at Barnes and Noble, Union Square on March 31st for a CD/DVD signing at 7pm - then it's off to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on April 1st.

As to whether these TV appearances are performance and interviews - we just don't know yet.

PHOTOS: Fleetwood Mac Live in Ottawa at Scotiabank Place March, 2009

FLEETWOOD MAC SCOTIABANK PLACE

OTTAWA, ONTARIO CANADA

MARCH 23, 2009

Wonderful collection of shots from last nights show.

GALLERY

REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac Finally Landed in Ottawa Last Night

BY LYNN SAXBERG, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN

OTTAWA — Fleetwood Mac finally landed in Ottawa last night, a couple of decades past their heyday, but didn’t take long to remind an audience of 14,000 why they were everyone’s favourite band way back when.

So what if the configuration of the group wasn’t exactly the same as it was in the late 70s. The concert was still an unabashed nostalgia fest, consisting largely of songs from the band’s golden days. “There’s no new album to promote … yet,” Lindsey Buckingham teased the crowd early in the evening. “This time we said ‘Let’s just go out and have fun.’ Let’s do the songs we all love and hopefully that’s the thing that you love as well,” he added.

Sure enough, the veteran musicians looked like they were having almost as much fun as the fans who packed Scotiabank Place. A rock-solid version of Monday Morning immediately established a groove that was heavier than expected from the soft-rock superstars. Bass and drums blazing, it was a potent reminder of the awesome power of the rhythm section that provides the band’s name, that of drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie.

However, as the concert unfolded, over the next two-plus hours, it became clear that Fleetwood Mac is, at its heart, a Buckingham-Nicks project. Singer-guitarist Buckingham and singer Stevie Nicks traded lead vocals, and shared the duty of chatting with the audience. There were small signs of warmth between them but few actual sparks. Even when Nicks put her head on Buckingham’s shoulder, no one was fooled.

To fill in a bit of Mac history here, singer Stevie Nicks and guitarist Buckingham were lovers when they first joined the band in the mid-70s, and many of the songs on the classic 1977 LP, Rumours, were inspired by their break-up (as well as the divorce of McVie and his wife, singer Christine, who chose not to take part in this reunion tour). As Buckingham said last night, those were “complex and convoluted times.”

Rumours was a landmark album, ample proof that complicated emotional situations make for the best songs. Although relationships can go sour, the best songs stand the test of time. With every selection from Rumours, including The Chain, Dreams, Second Hand News, Go Your Own Way and Don’t Stop, the band dug in, rocked out and had no problem reclaiming the original passion of the times, to the delight of the audience.

Both Buckingham and Nicks were in fine form, ageless in appearance, their voices as strong as ever. Nicks wore her blond hair long and sleek, had scarves hanging from her microphone stand and twirled her shawl on stage, her voice haunting. Buckingham dazzled on guitar, exploring the softer side during an acoustic version of Never Going Back Again but then working up to some full-out electric soloing for Go Your Own Way.

Backing the core quartet on stage were a couple of extra instrumentalists and a trio of female backing singers.