Sunday, May 05, 2013

STEVIE NICKS "In Your Dreams" Edmonton | Saskatoon | Vancouver Screening Dates Upate

‘IN YOUR DREAMS’ STEVIE NICKS 
Documenting the making of Stevie's last album "In Your Dreams"

Decadent rock star, ’70s survivor, gypsy songbird, white-winged dove - the inimitable Stevie Nicks has entranced millions of fans worldwide with her poetic lyrics, sultry singing and feather and-lace style. In 2010 Nicks embarked on the recording of a new solo album, In Your Dreams, produced by former Eurythmics mastermind Dave Stewart. With cameras in tow, documentarian Stewart and diva Nicks set up shop in her home studio and reveal their collaborative creative process. Shifting dynamically among video formats, painstaking recording sessions and revealing interviews, this magic-tinged musical journey is a loving and tuneful portrait of the eternally bewitching Gold Dust Woman.



Canadian Screening Dates Updated
Edmonton and Saskatoon have added multiple screening dates for the film, particularly Saskatoon.  Vancouver has set the date as May 18th for it's screening of the film.  The screenings coincide nicely with Fleetwood Mac's western Canadian swing of their current world tour. Fully updated list below.

MOTHER'S GET IN FREE - in Edmonton (Mother's Day 2-for-1)
If you see the film in Edmonton on May 12th, bring someone's Mother and they get in FREE. (Doesn't indicate that it has to be your own Mother, just "someone's" mother)

In Your Dreams Movie Website



CANADIAN THEATER LISTING

Winnipeg, MB Cinematheque May 5 Tickets
Saskatoon, SK Broadway Theatre May 13 7:00pm
Edmonton, AB Metro Cinema May 12 4:00pm
Edmonton, AB Metro Cinema May 13 9:15pm
Edmonton, AB Metro Cinema May 14 7:00pm
Calgary, AB Globe Cinema May 16 TBA
Saskatoon, SK Broadway Theatre May 17 9:00pm
Saskatoon, SK Broadway Theatre May 18 7:00pm
Vancouver, BC Vancity Theatre May 18 Tickets
Saskatoon, SK Broadway Theatre May 20 7:00pm
Saskatoon, SK Broadway Theatre May 21 9:30pm
Saskatoon, SK Broadway Theatre May 23 9:30pm
Montreal, QC Cinema Du Parc June 14 Tickets
Montreal, QC Cinema Du Parc June 15 Tickets
Montreal, QC Cinema Du Parc June 16 Tickets
Montreal, QC Cinema Du Parc June 17 Tickets

REVIEW | PHOTOS | VIDEO: Fleetwood Mac one of the greatest shows to ever hit Central Arkansas

FLEETWOOD MAC LIVE
North Little Rock, AR - Verizon Center
May 3, 2013


Fleetwood Mac rocks flawlessly
by Jack W. Hill
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Even Clintons took in show at NLR arena

Anyone attending the Fleetwood Mac concert Friday night at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock could have easily guessed what the band’s climactic song was destined to be: “Don’t Stop (Thinkin’ About Tomorrow),” which became something of an anthem for the 1992 Clinton presidential campaign. But not that many in the sold-out crowd of 14,613 also guessed that former President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former secretary of state, were in the audience.

Hours after the dedication of the Little Rock airport that now bears their names, the Clintons took in the Fleetwood Mac concert in a skybox on about what would have been the 50-yard line if the arena were a football stadium.

They were introduced by Mick Fleetwood just before the band performed “their song.” By this time, it was 10:30 p.m., and instead of making it the final song, the band did a couple more, perhaps to help the Clintons ease out of the milling throngs with less stress.

Even without the presence of these former Arkansas luminaries, it was a memorable night, made more so by a band that showed they still have what made them the most successful band of the 1970s and ’80s. Guitarist Lindsey Buckingham was easily the star of the show, on both acoustic and electric guitars, hitting many an amazing lick. His band mates were certainly not slouches, with Fleetwood looming large over a massive drum set, clearly loving his job, just from the look in his eyes.

Bassist John McVie was the quiet, steady one, like bassists frequently are, never uttering a word or singing a line, but getting an occasional bass solo to show off his prowess. And then there was Stevie Nicks, swirling around a bit slower than she used to, but still able to belt it out.

This was a mammoth, seemingly flawless production, with no opening act and state-of-the-art lights, huge, towering elevated speakers, visual effects, plus two small screens and a giant one on which were projected views of the band from many angles, plus images and shapes, some of which were as seriously psychedelic as the times in which the band took shape in the 1970s.

The 23-song set began with Fleetwood’s heavy metal drumming introduction to “Second Hand News” at 8:20 p.m. and the show almost hit the 11 p.m. mark with no intermission and a variety of combinations from the full band (augmented by two female singers, a keyboardist and a rhythm guitarist) to Buckingham and Nicks together and Buckingham alone. And no matter what he did, Buckingham wowed the appreciative fans with his finger-picking skill. He even got in a bit of percussion on Fleetwood’s cymbals while also playing his guitar.

Since the tour’s announced intention is to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the band’s album, Rumours, the largest number of songs came from it: the opener, followed by “Chains” and “Dreams” in succession, later scattering throughout the set “Never Going Back Again,” “Gold Dust Woman,” “Go Your Own Way” and the Clinton anthem. Buckingham spoke of the band’s new EP and the group performed “Sad Angel,” from that, quickly moving into one of Nicks’s signature songs, “Rhiannon,” from the band’s self-titled 1975 album (later adding “Landslide,” “I’m So Afraid” and “World Turning” from that release). Another of the new EP songs, “Without You,” came later, along with “Stand Back,” a big Nicks hit from her solo career.

Buckingham told of the band’s refusal to follow industry dictates (“If it works, run it into the ground”) in releasing the odd-for-its-time album, Tusk, just before a mini-set of four songs from that album: “Not That Funny,” the title cut, “Sisters of the Moon” and “Sara.” There were two songs from Mirage: “Gypsy” and “Eyes of the World,” and single songs from The Dance: “Silver Springs” and from Say You Will: “Say Goodbye,” which was the final song of the second encore, when Buckingham and Nicks shared some tender thoughts of their famous troubled times together and apart.

Throughout the show, Buckingham found ways to add new intros or solos to songs that were also far more complex than their chart versions in the days of FM album rock, so fans got more than just a greatest hits show. Instead, thanks to one of the most amazing guitarists in the world of rock ‘n’ roll, they got one of the greatest shows to ever hit Central Arkansas.


The Verizon Center presented the Clintons with a commemorative poster of the show.
Bill and Hillary Clinton were at last nights show in North Little Rock.  They just happened to be in town for the formal dedication of the Little Rock Airport which last year was renamed The Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport.  And who would pass up Fleetwood Mac? In another photo below they are seen standing in their box seats applauding the band... Mick dedicated 'Don't Stop' to them.

Photo courtesy of Verizon Arena
Photo by Nelson Chenault
Facebook Gallery (38 photos)
Photo by Brian Chilson
Facebook Gallery (39 Photos)
FAN PHOTOS





Photo by Mark Wagner

BAND INTRODUCTIONS + "Don't Stop" Dedication to Bill and Hillary Clinton
DON'T STOP

REVIEWS | PHOTOS | VIDEO: Fleetwood Mac Live - New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 5/4

Photo by JamesMichaelc
Fleetwood Mac draws huge Jazz Fest crowd
by John Wirt
The Advocate

NEW ORLEANS — What a difference a day makes. After a Friday of mud, wind and chill, Saturday saw the sun return to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. The temperature rose into the 70s, the mud receded.

Photo by Chris Granger



The cooperative weather likely helped draw what must have been one of the biggest crowds in Jazz Fest history to classic-rock band Fleetwood Mac’s headlining show at the Acura Stage. The audience maxed out space on the Fair Grounds Race Course infield and bordering racetrack.

Fleetwood Mac singer-guitarist Lindsey Buckingham used his introduction of a newly recorded Fleetwood Mac song to explain the return of the band that’s sold 100 million albums.
It would be easy to assume, Buckingham said, that a group with decades together in the music business would have nothing new to discover. On the contrary, he said, “there seem to be a few more chapters left in the history of Fleetwood Mac.”

The 2013 edition of Fleetwood Mac features four of the five group members who filled its most successful lineup: drummer Mick Fleetwood, bassist John McVie, Buckingham and singing, tambourine-rattling Stevie Nicks.

“We’re so excited to be in your amazing city,” Nicks said after the band opened with “Second Hand News” and the autobiographical “The Chain.”

The band played many of the hits the crowd expected. “Rhiannon,” a Nicks signature song, also came early in the show.

Nicks, always the most visually striking member of the group, wore blonde bangs, oversized tinted glasses that looked very ’60s and one of her witchy black outfits. Later in the show, she donned a top hat for “Go Your Own Way.”

True to Fleetwood Mac history, one of the new songs the band played — released via iTunes last week — was inspired by a disagreement between Buckingham and Nicks. He responded to her reluctance to make a full-length album by writing “Sad Angel.”

“Hello, hello, sad angel,” Buckingham and Nicks sang together on the Acura Stage. “Have you come to fight the war? … The crowd’s calling out for more.”

Nicks and Buckingham took center stage again for “Landslide,” from 1977’s landmark “Rumors” album. The pair performed the song as a duet, with her singing and him playing his finger-picking, multi-voiced acoustic guitar.

DREAMS



Jazz Fest Day 6: Fleetwood Mac Still Has Issues
More than 30 years later, they're still working things out onstage.
by Alex Rawls
Myspiltmilk

The band didn't disappoint. For two and a half hours, they covered most of the hits (I'm sad about the omission of "Seven Wonders"), two songs from the new Extended Play EP, and a handful of album tracks. But the show was more than just an exercise in nostalgia. The songs and the act of performing them clearly still feed something in the members.

Continue to the full review



Photo Douglas Mason


Above 4 photos: Chris Granger





 Below 3 photos: Chis Bower

GYPSY
MORE VIDEO:

For Fleetwood Mac at the New Orleans Jazz Fest, yesterday isn't gone
by Keith Spera
Nola.com

Midway through Fleetwood Mac's two-hour-and-20-minute headlining set at the New Orleans Jazz Fest's Acura Stage on Saturday, Stevie Nicks spun a tale about "Without You." Originally a poem, she and then-paramour Lindsey Buckingham recorded it in the early 1970s for their unreleased second duo album. "Without You" faded into the hazy mists of memory until they "rediscovered" the song three years ago on YouTube.

"We loved it, we lost it, we found it," Nicks explained.

She was speaking of the song, but she might well have been describing the arc of Fleetwood Mac's career, one of rock's great success stories and soap operas. Like the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac accounted for one of the best-selling albums of all time, as well as one of the most enduring catalogs in American popular music. Also like the Eagles - and with the additional baggage of multiple intra-band romances - they fractured badly, only to come together again as an older and presumably wiser unit.

Much of the Fair Grounds was still a muddy bog on Saturday, but the weather was picture perfect - clear skies, mild temperatures. Tens of thousands of people filled the Acura Stage field and spilled over the dirt track all the way to the fences.

What they witnessed in the second half of Fleetwood Mac's set was a band that still very much wants to be a band. Nicks, Buckingham, drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie -- Christine McVie, John's ex-wife and the lead singer on several Mac hits, has not toured with them in years -- could have phoned in a greatest-hits recital and called it a day.

But to their credit, they were not afraid to take chances, and their time. Last week, Jazz Fest moved up Fleetwood Mac's start time to 4:40 p.m., giving the band 30 minutes more than originally scheduled. They easily filled them.

The show's early going included classics -- "The Chain," "Dreams," "Rhiannon," "Tusk" -- as well as "Sad Angel," from a new Mac EP. "Every time we go apart and come back together, it's different," Buckingham said. "You'd think a band that's been together as long as us would have nothing new to discover, but there do seem to be a few chapters left in the history of Fleetwood Mac."

History still weighs heavily on them. But now they seem to share the warm camaraderie of veterans who survived a war together. Midway through the show, Nicks and Buckingham were left alone for an intimate duet on "Landslide." Buckingham finger-picked an acoustic guitar as Nicks sang, "I'm getting older." At the song's conclusion, he gallantly kissed her hand.

When Nicks and Buckingham first joined Fleetwood Mac, some fans of the band's first incarnation as a blues-based rock group were horrified, but they provided the necessary ingredients for mass popularity. A couple at the time, they came as a package; Nicks joked that Mick Fleetwood was really only interested in Buckingham's guitar skills.

"The voices, all that stuff was completely secondary," she said. "They just wanted you, let's face it."

Buckingham grinned: "It worked out OK."

At the Fair Grounds, Nicks battled a "New Orleans bug" that was stuck in her throat. "I need some coffee or I'm never going to get through this next song," she said. "If it totally sucks, Lindsey will be singing lead."

The next song was "Gypsy," which would have been an unfortunate choice for Buckingham. Happily, Nicks managed just fine. "Thank you everybody for being so patient," she said. "We're learning to live with that bug."

She accented her black-on-black ensemble -- high-heeled, platform suede boots and, for one song, a top hat -- with sparkling strands and scarves on her microphone stand and a succession of shawls. During "Gold Dust Woman" -- which Fleetwood prefaced with a bass drum and cowbell beat -- she and the band embarked on an extended breakdown. "Baby, baby, baby, you should see me now," she sang. She traced the silhouette of a woman -- a gold dust woman? -- in the air, then turned to face Fleetwood's drum kit, holding her shawl aloft like angel wings.

Buckingham's voice was a bit craggy at points, but his guitar work was consistently aggressive and vital. During a romp late in the set, he ripped off distorted, dirty riffs, high-stepping and stomping across the stage. He pounded the guitar's neck with his fists, and slapped it, producing squalls of sound. Afterward, he tapped a hand to his heart, then blew the crowd a kiss.

The band's auxiliary keyboardist -- there also was a secondary guitarist, and two female backing vocalists -- carried Nicks' solo hit "Stand Back." They went back to the Mac with "Go Your Own Way." It got off to a shaky start; Nicks eyed Buckingham from across the stage, as if trying to get in sync with him. It was all good once the crowd took over the chorus. Buckingham, the bite still in his guitar, ended the song atop Fleetwood's drum riser, whacking a cymbal with his bare hand.

The encore opened with a sturdy "World Keeps On Turning," its churning riff angular and lean. It was a bit late in the day for a drum solo, but Fleetwood took one anyway. "You know it's comin!" he shouted.

Although Christine McVie no longer tours with the band, her signature composition "Don't Stop" does. Buckingham sang the first verse, Nicks the second. "Don't Stop" is about moving beyond grief, about looking toward a brighter day. "Yesterday's gone," they repeated.

Not if you're Fleetwood Mac, it isn't. Yesterday, rediscovered, still sounds pretty great.

Mac makes magic with show-closing set

All the cool young kids flocked to the Gentilly stage to catch hot French pop band Phoenix execute songs from their new Bankrupt! album, along with irresistible hit Lisztomania from 2009. Given that they were scheduled against Fleetwood Mac, the size of their audience was impressive.

But lovers of classic Baby Boomer pop-rock, and their grandchildren, packed the huge field of the Acura stage to witness a wonderful reunion of Fleetwood Mac. The group in various configurations has been around since 1967, but the lineup on Saturday was the beloved classic version of Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, missing only retired Christine McVie. The group paid loving tribute to its past, taking pains to explain the origins and context of the songs and digging out decades-old obscurities. Buckingham introduced several songs from 1979's Tusk, an album he said was a turning point in their career. When it came to the classic hits, Rhiannon seemed perfunctory but the set reached its peak with a heartfelt Landslide, sung by Nicks with an air of resignation. Nicks, wearing a blue velvet long-sleeved gown with a gold wrap, charmed the crowd with a brief a capella version of New Orleans from her recent solo album, In Your Dreams.

The whole approach, though well-curated, seemed a bit too low-key for a festival crowd that had been camped in the mud for most of the day.

Jerry Shriver, USA TODAY

by Gerald Herbert
New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Sees Performances From Fleetwood Mac, Little Big Town
by Chevel Johnson
Huffington Post

NEW ORLEANS — Little Big Town says that some networking they did is paying off with a chance to cross a couple of items off their "bucket list."

After playing Bayou Country SuperFest in Baton Rouge last year, group member Karen Fairchild said they talked to festival producer Quint Davis about other things they hoped to accomplish. They mentioned that they'd one day like to perform at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Davis was in a position to help since he also produces Jazz Fest.

Known for its trademark four-part harmonies, Little Big Town performed in New Orleans on Saturday.

"Can you believe we're opening for Fleetwood Mac?" said Kimberly Schlapman, another group member. "We've been wanting to play Jazz Fest forever and now we're opening for Fleetwood Mac and can mark off two big things from our list."

Schlapman said early in their career they had the chance to meet Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac, which she described as an "amazing harmony band."

"Being able to share a stage with them is one of our greatest wishes," she said.

Fairchild said they've watched Jazz Fest from afar for years. "The who's who of music shows up year after year at the festival. Who wouldn't want to play there?"

Flags flying amid a cool breeze, music fans packed the festival grounds by the stage where Little Big Town and Fleetwood Mac performed. Some put down tarps over the muddy infield. Others sat in chairs, wore rubber boots or stood barefoot to hear the bands.

"Once you're in it, it kind of feels good," said Mary Kathryn Gatlin, of Greenville, S.C., who danced shoeless in the mud, the muck covering her feet past the ankles. Gatlin was taking in her first Jazz Fest with her sister, Frances Gatlin.

The pair had been at the stage since noon, about an hour after the gates opened.

"We love country, bluegrass, just easy-listening music that's fun to dance to," Gatlin said.

Many danced as Fleetwood Mac performed such hits as "Dreams," "Rhiannon," "Gypsy," "Tusk" and "Landslide," which drew huge roars from the crowd when Stevie Nicks introduced it.

Nicks also delivered her tribute to the host city, singing a portion of her song, "New Orleans," which she said she wrote after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. "I wanna get a room in New Orleans, I wanna sing in the streets of the French Quarter," she sang.

The band also performed a new song, "Sad Angel," testing it out with the crowd. Toward the end of their set, they played an old favorite, "Go Your Own Way" at the end of which Buckingham shouted to the crowd, "New Orleans, we love you!"

They left the stage briefly before returning for an encore performance of "The World Keep On Turning," a song from their self-titled first album released in 1968 and "Don't Stop."

Saturday, May 04, 2013

Reviews x 2: Fleetwood Mac's New 4 Track EP "Extended Play"

Fleetwood Mac: Extended Play – EP
by Simon Sweetman
Off The Tracks

Though you could argue it’s phoned in by the title alone, I really like this four-track EP by Fleetwood Mac, the band’s first release in a decade and their second set of recordings sans Christine McVie. Once again her presence is missed – because it’s now just The Stevie and Lindsey Show and her counterpoint was (always) crucial.

Where Say You Will, the band’s last album, was far too long (some 75 minutes) Extended Play is probably just a bit too short – six tracks might have been nice. But it’s a move I applaud. For two (crucial) reasons. Firstly, Fleetwood Mac is a hits-act, running the nostalgia circuit, giving its fans what they want, delivering shit-hot performances, still white-hot with Lindsey’s guitar prowess front and centre, that oh-so-capable rhythm section, Nicks still playing the twirling white-witch bogan-fantasy to the hilt and – yes – The Stevie and Lindsey Show is a big part of the sound and look and story of the band’s tours – as it has been since 1975 (with just a slight break). So fans want to hear the hits and a new album would be a waste of time but a new EP allows them a fan-souvenir and a chance for the band to slip in just a wee bit of new material. A nice touch, I say.

But the other great reason for a four-track EP at this stage in their career – far more important, I say – is this idea of simply offering all you have to say at any one moment and nothing more. Or, put another way, offer up your best work – avoid the filler. So Fleetwood Mac only has four songs they want to share right now. So be it. See reason one above – no one is going to a Fleetwood Mac show for the new material.

I don’t see this move of releasing an EP as misguided, I think it’s smart that a band like Fleetwood Mac releases an EP over an album; that they’ve done so at this stage in their career pleases me. More bands should be releasing just the good material.

So, all that said, is the material on the EP good enough?


For the most part, yes. And – it has to be said – thanks to Lindsey. Three of the four songs are from Buckingham, who really has been doing the heavy-lifting since Tusk. And – in the decade since Say You Will – he’s the Mac member that’s offered the most outside of the band; his solo albums a grand showcase for his skills; each album offering something new, a fresh angle. The other song is one that Buckingham had a hand in way back; has been resurrected.

So, opener, Sad Angel is the sort of immaculate pop song Buckingham has been scrubbing since his first solo album and in the way the riff dissolves into the hook it bears some resemblance to his great solo track Trouble. It’s a strong new addition to the Mac cannon.

Without You is a re-recording of a pre-Mac Buckingham/Nicks demo – and though it’s lightweight it plays into the history and is something for fans to hear; to reconnect with that soap-opera back-story that is so important to this band. It’s the weakest song on Extended Play however.

But It Takes Time is gorgeous, Lindsey at the piano, deciding – essentially – that if the band is missing Christine McVie and Christine McVie Songs he’ll just write one. It Takes Time wouldn’t have been out of place on the recent return from Bill Fay. It’s my pick for winning track on EP – it’s the something special you often find on EPs.

And the closer, Miss Fantasy, is another strong pop song. Flavours of the Mac of old. Just enough to distinguish it – and the other songs here – from Lindsey’s solo career; it’s deceptively slight at first – just 17 minutes after all – but you hear the textures, that lovely feel that is signature.

Will it change the world? No. Will it keep the fans happy? Of course.

Fleetwood Mac, Extended Play (LMJS Productions) * * * 1/2
By Howard Cohen
The Miami Herald

Fleetwood Mac’s first new music since 2003’s Say You Will is short on Stevie Nicks, who resisted recording a full album with the group. The resulting four-track EP, released to iTunes as a digital download, makes you wish for more on the strength of Lindsey Buckingham’s three new songs.

Nicks contributes the folksy Without You, a reject from the 1973 sessions for the Buckingham Nicks LP. The pair harmonize over Buckingham’s tinny acoustic strumming. Meh.

Much better: Buckingham’s fresh songs in which he returns to writing crisp, accessible, engaging California pop/rock, like the infectiously melodic and rhythmically driving Sad Angel and the breezy Miss Fantasy, a piquant taste of Mirage-era Mac that makes great use of the famed rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie.

His stark solo piano ballad, It Takes Time — imagine Christine McVie’s Songbird as its closest cousin — intrigues the most because it’s unlike anything the guitarist has released.

New Orleans Jazz Fest moves up Fleetwood Mac Performance Time to 4:40pm Saturday... Don't be late!

Fleetwood Mac will now kick off its 2013 New Orleans Jazz Fest set at 4:40 p.m. on Saturday, May 4, 30 minutes earlier than originally scheduled. 
By Keith Spera
NOLA.com


Producers of the New Orleans Jazz Fest have tweaked the timing of several shows this weekend. The most significant change? On Saturday, May 4, Fleetwood Mac's headlining Acura Stage set will start 30 minutes earlier than previously scheduled, at 4:40 p.m. instead of 5:10.

As a result, the band is now allotted two hours and 10 minutes of performance time.

Friday, May 03, 2013

Wow! Really strong vocal from Stevie on "Silver Springs" in Kansas City from this past Tuesday 4/30.

FLEETWOOD MAC LIVE 
Kansas, City, MO 
April 30, 2013

SILVER SPRINGS!

GO YOUR OWN WAY

Couple more videos from this angle

Audio Interview: Lindsey Buckingham on KinkFM speaking about Fleetwood Mac Tour | New Music | Stevie Nicks

Rock legend and Fleetwood Mac lead vocalist took some time to catch up with Dave & Sheila of KinkFM in Portland, OR.

Sheila puts Lindsey in a somewhat uncomfortable position by asking him if he realizes that women secretly hope that he and Stevie someday get back together again...

NYC TONIGHT: Night of a Thousand Stevie's... 23rd Annual Event Celebrating Everything Stevie Nicks


THE JACKIE FACTORY NYC PRESENTS
NIGHT OF A THOUSAND STEVIES 23: 
CRYSTAL

Friday, May 3, 2013
The Highline Ballroom
431 West 16th Street, New York City

Doors Open 9pm - 4am
Tickets $25 in Advance and at door if available

Hard to believe this has been happening yearly for 23 years!
Have fun if you are going!

REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac “Extended Play” - "concise burst of fresh songs'


Fleetwood Mac “Extended Play” (iTunes)

In the decade since Fleetwood Mac released 2003's “Say You Will,” a new surge of interest in the group's distinctive pop style has taken hold in the modern pop, alternative and country communities. Recent music by artists as diverse as Cut Copy, Lady Antebellum, Vampire Weekend, Haim, Daft Punk, John Mayer and Little Big Town was inspired by the warmth and harmonic richness of Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham/Stevie Nicks era, and last year's tribute album, “Just Tell Me That You Want Me,” offered persuasive testimony to the band's enduring influence.

But for all the enthusiasm those acts show for Fleetwood Mac's pop shimmer, most would balk at walking a mile in their shoes, and continued tension within the band is a key reason why they only mustered four tracks for “Extended Play,” Fleetwood Mac's first new material since 2003. But this concise burst of fresh songs, mostly co-produced by Buckingham and Mitchell Froom (Crowded House), says more about what it really means to be part of Fleetwood Mac than anything since “Rumours” and “Tusk.” Buckingham takes it on directly with “Sad Angel,” which addresses the challenge of getting Nicks on board with new Mac material while the fans are “calling out for more.” Even the inclusion of “Without You,” an unreleased Buckingham Nicks song, underlines the continued tension — putting the song on “Extended Play” was a compromise after Nicks and Buckingham could not agree on how to handle the 40th anniversary of the “Buckingham Nicks” album.

But Buckingham extends an olive branch with “It Takes Time,” a rare piano ballad from the band since Christine McVie's retirement. The song acknowledges that Buckingham bears some of the burden here, and that he carries his own emotional baggage to every Fleetwood Mac gig. The group wraps up “Extended Play” with Buckingham's “Miss Fantasy,” a wistful uptempo song about “the queen of the underground.” “Everyone whispers when you go, into the silence soft and low/ Ten thousand voices, crying ‘on with the show,” Buckingham sings. Over 35 years after the romantic fissures that nearly wrecked the band, on “Extended Play” Fleetwood Mac proves that some chains never really break.

— George Lang
Newsok.com

A Lot of Rock in Little Rock TONIGHT with Fleetwood Mac


YOUR WEEKEND STARTS NOW! 
Fleetwood Mac are in Little Rock, AR tonight at Verizon Center.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY:
Stevie Nicks latest album "In Your Dreams" turns two today - released May 3, 2011.

"IN YOUR DREAMS"
The film that chronicles the making of the album screens in Winnipeg, Canada tonight at Cinematheque.




Thursday, May 02, 2013

Review: Fleetwood Mac "Extended Play" "as fresh and exciting as anything they have recorded for a very long time"

Fleetwood Mac – Extended Play Review
by Terry Hearn
WhatCulture

Ten years is a long time between records but for Fleetwood Mac it feels like the rest has done them good. Containing four tracks, three new Buckingham compositions and a reworking of an old Stevie Nicks track from the 1970’s, the new EP, ‘Extended Play’ is as fresh and exciting as anything they have recorded for a very long time.

At a show during their current world tour, singer and guitarist Lindsay Buckingham announced the EP saying it would be out in ‘a few days’ before performing one of the new tracks. This created quite a buzz of expectation online, not least because the band hadn’t released any new material for so long. Weeks later the iTunes-only release appeared without fanfare. In the gap between the announcement and release it was rumored there was a delay centered around getting an agreement on the title and artwork. Between the over simplistic title and the black and white cover it seems that the band fortunately decided releasing the music was the most important thing.

The EP leans strongly towards Lindsey Buckingham which is no bad thing as his song writing and performance is clearly in rude health but it would be nice to hear the lead vocal shared a little more.

By a long way the standout track is the opener ‘Sad Angel’ which is the best thing they have done since ‘Tango in the Night,’ possibly longer. It sounds fresh and new but it also fits with ease amongst the best of their vast back catalogue and would not be out of place on ‘Rumours.’ While not holding the strength or immediacy of the first track of this collection, the light and breezy ‘Without You’ sways with a sureness that was lacking from their last full album release ‘Say You Will’ from 2003. ‘It Takes Time’ hears an isolated Lindsay solo on the piano whispering until strings join him for a dramatic climax. Despite a small number of tracks, ‘Miss Fantasy’ is still able to stand out as a particularly delightful pop song.

If nothing else this EP shows that Fleetwood Mac still have what it takes in the studio. Each  song is immediate and fresh which belies the familiarity they provoke after only a handful of listens. Hopefully it is the first step towards a new full length album rather than a souvenir to give the current tour an identity. The Mac is back.

Get the EP on iTunes $3.96

It's Out Now... Granted, it’s only four songs. But still. Fleetwood Mac Man! "Extended Play"

With relatively little fanfare or forewarning, iconic pop/rock act Fleetwood Mac have released their first new music since 2003’s Say You Will.

Granted, it’s only four songs. But still.

Simply titled Extended Play, the four-song EP contains three brand-spanking-new tunes penned by Lindsey Buckingham, plus a lost Steve Nicks tune from the Buckingham/Nicks era, “Without You.” The band decided to resurrect the tune officially after an early demo of the song surfaced on YouTube.

Along with the oft-rumored tour, a new album from the band has been hovering on the will-they-won’t-they table for quite some time. The tour landed in the “will they” column and is currently in progress, but a full-length album is still up for speculation as Stevie Nicks in particular seems to be in wait-and-see mode. After Say You Will saw disappointing sales compared to earlier releases, Nicks has indicated that future music from Fleetwood Mac would be based on fan demand. Thus, it would appear that Extended Play is something in the middle, a way to test the waters, as it were.

(Translation: if you want even more new music from Fleetwood Mac, buy this EP. You can currently get it only at iTunes.)

Get the EP on iTunes $3.96

Fleetwood Mac have released a four-track EP called "Extended Play" via iTunes.
Classic Rock Magazine

Their first new music in 10 years comes in the form of three recently-written songs – Sad Angel, It Takes Time and Miss Fantasy – plus a reworked Buckingham Nicks number called Without You.

Lindsey Buckingham says: “After all this time you would think there was nothing left to discover, no new chapters to be written. But that’s not the case – there are new chapters to be written.”

He and Steve Nicks recently reflected on the life they might have lived if they’d remained together as a couple.

Fleetwood Mac are currently touring the US and will arrive in the UK in September:

Sep 20: Dublin O2
Sep 24: London O2 Arena
Sep 29: Birmingham LG Arena
Oct 1: Manchester Arena
Oct 3: Glasgow Hydro


Fleetwood Mac releases new music for the first time in 10 years.
CNN

While some musicians make a splashy entrance when they're returning from a recording hiatus, Fleetwood Mac has been far more subtle.

The legendary group has released a four-track EP called "Extended Play," which became available Tuesday on iTunes.  It's the group's first studio release since 2003's "Say You Will."

While Lindsey Buckingham said at a concert in April that fans should look out for a new EP from the band, "Extended Play" simply popped up on Tuesday.

The EP contains three songs written by Buckingham - "Sad Angel," "It Takes Time" and "Miss Fantasy" - as well as a fourth, "Without You," that was penned by Stevie Nicks years ago in the era of Buckingham/Nicks and was rediscovered for the EP.