Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Fleetwood Mac Postpone The Remainder of North American Tour Dates

Fleetwood Mac is postponing four Canadian tour dates as singer Stevie Nicks deals with the flu.



A statement issued by the band says this week's concerts will be rescheduled including a show in Toronto tonight, Winnipeg on Thursday, and Edmonton on Saturday. A stop in Calgary on April 15 will also be pushed.

The Edmonton and Calgary dates were previously postponed last November when an unnamed band member fell ill.

Concert promoter Live Nation says ticketholders will receive further details shortly and refunds will be made available.

Fleetwood Mac is also cancelling their gig as headliners at Jazz Fest in New Orleans on May 2. They were brought in as a replacement for the Rolling Stones last week after Mick Jagger announced his heart surgery.

Mick Fleetwood says in a statement his band hopes to reschedule all of the Canadian dates in October and November of this year.

"The flu has sidelined Stevie for a couple of weeks but she is on the mend and we look forward to getting back out on the road," he added.

Two US dates, Boston and Philadelphia were also postponed and those are expected to be rescheduled as well.

  • Boston TBA
  • Philadelphia TBA
  • Toronto TBA
  • Winnipeg TBA
  • Edmonton TBA
  • Calgary TBA


Saturday, April 06, 2019

TRAILER Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - April 27, 2019


One week after the 2019 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony invaded Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, HBO has shared the first trailer for their annual Rock Hall special.

The 2019 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees are Stevie Nicks, Janet Jackson, The Cure, Radiohead, Roxy Music, The Zombies, and Def Leppard. With appearances by Harry Styles, Janelle Monae, Don Henley, Brian May, David Byrne, Simon Le Bon & John Taylor, Trent Reznor, Stevie Van Zandt, Ian Hunter, and Susanna Hoffs.

The 2019 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony premieres on April 27, 2019 at 8pm ET.


Friday, April 05, 2019

FLEETWOOD MAC POSTPONED PHILADELPHIA SHOW

PHILADELPHIA SHOW POSTPONED


Due to a band member illness, the Fleetwood Mac show scheduled for Friday, April 5th, in Philadelphia will be rescheduled. The band apologizes for the inconvenience to their fans. Ticket holders should retain their ticket for the new date, alternately refunds are available at point of purchase. Please note that rescheduled Fleetwood Mac show dates will be announced shortly pending forthcoming sports Playoff schedules in both Boston and Philadelphia. We will provide updates as soon as possible.

Thursday, April 04, 2019

Fleetwood Mac Added To New Orleans Jazz Festival May 2nd

Fleetwood Mac to Replace the Rolling Stones at New Orleans Jazz Fest

Fleetwood Mac have been added to the musical lineup for the historic 50th anniversary New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers will play Thursday, May 2.

The band will be replace The Rolling Stones, who were forced to postpone touring due to singer Mick Jagger’s health.

Mac collectively have sold more than 100 million records worldwide with countless hits. The band's current lineup includes Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie, along with newcomers Mike Campbell and Neil Finn.

Jazz Fest will also feature Tom Jones, Ziggy Marley, Mavis Staples and Regina Carter's Southern Comfort, along with local Louisiana artists.

A day-specific ticket is required for admission on May 2. General admission and VIP tickets are available at NOjazzfest.com and Ticketmaster. Tickets can also be purchased in-person at the Smoothie King Center box office. - Billboard

Tuesday, April 02, 2019

NEW RELEASE Fleetwood Mac Before The Beginning - 1968-1970 Rare Live & Demo Sessions

Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac
Before The Beginning - 1968-1970 Rare Live & Demo Sessions 



Recently Discovered 1968 And 1970 Live Recordings To Be Released In 3CD Boxset, Three Volume Triple Heavyweight Vinyl & Digitally - Released 7 June 2019



Two live recordings from 1968 and 1970 have recently been discovered of Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac and will be released as a 3CD Boxset on 7 June 2019 that will include rare band images and a brand new essay. This will be released alongside a single vinyl entitled Volume One consisting of the 1968 recording with Volume Two (the 1970’s recording) being released at a later date, which includes additional previously unreleased demos. Both vinyl releases are on triple heavyweight discs and for any pre-orders, an instant gratitude live version of ‘Albatros’ will be made available upon order.

Not much is know about the live recordings. Discovered unlabeled and by pure luck in the US, their era has been authenticated by experts of the bands blues origins. Fleetwood Mac has given their full approval for the release of these tapes. Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac had a short but hugely prolific career, with the 1968 recording being at the early stages of the band, and the 1970 recording will, in contrast, be one of their final shows before Peter left the band.

Monday, April 01, 2019

REVIEW Fleetwood Mac Live in Boston March 31, 2019

Fleetwood Mac delivers thrills at TD Garden
By JED GOTTLIEB | PHOTOS: JIM MICHAUD
Boston Herald



Fleetwood Mac began a stunning Sunday TD Garden show with “The Chain.” Yes, the band known as much for infighting as perfect pop welcomed the packed house by repeatedly shouting the lyrics “Keep us together” without irony.

Much like “The Chain,” the band draws energy from collecting chaos and synthesizing it into a sublime sound. Whatever the drama, whatever eccentric talents fill the lineup, Fleetwood Mac comes together to make magic. It sounds damn corny, but “Rhiannon,” “Little Lies,” “Landslide” and all that delightful AM gold dazzled the fans.

Now does Fleetwood Mac get to call itself Fleetwood Mac without Lindsey Buckingham? Devotees spent an enormous, possibly inappropriate amount of time arguing about this last year when the band announced they would tour without their longtime singer and guitarist — the tour plays the Garden again tonight. That debate never concerned me. What I wondered was: Would the Mac be any good without Buckingham? The short answer: Absolutely.

REVIEW: If there’s one thing there’s no room for in Fleetwood Mac, it’s hard feelings - Boston March 31, 2019

Fleetwood Mac seamlessly blends old and new at TD Garden
By Marc Hirsh | Photo Josh Reynolds
Boston Globe



If there’s one thing there’s no room for in Fleetwood Mac, it’s hard feelings. How could there be, given that its members were writing breakup songs to their bandmates and love songs to people other than the bandmates they were married to? So even though Lindsey Buckingham unamicably skedaddled last year, it’d be foolish to wager against his eventual return. But on Sunday, the first of two nights at TD Garden (the band returns on Tuesday), Fleetwood Mac proved that it could do just fine without him.

It helped, of course, that the band still had two of rock’s most distinctive voices at its disposal. Stevie Nicks, in her first public performance since becoming the first woman twice inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, still cast a spell with a swirly, tinkly “Gold Dust Woman” whose extended coda brought the song deeper and deeper into the dark. The less-flamboyant Christine McVie’s cagey alto occasionally got lost in the arena setting, but she sold the smooth sting of “Little Lies” and nestled cozily amidst the sparkling California harmonies of “Say You Love Me.”

Sunday, March 31, 2019

Stevie Nicks Became The First Woman to be Inducted Into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Twice!

Stevie Nicks Enlists Harry Styles, Don Henley for Blazing Rock Hall Medley.
Nicks ran through some of her biggest hits from “Stand Back” to “Edge of Seventeen”

(Both Harry's intro and Stevie's acceptance speech are at the end of this post.)

By Brittany Spanos
Rollingstone

Stevie Nicks kicked off the 2019 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony with her windblown classic, “Stand Back.” She paid tribute to its inspiration and co-writer Prince with purple lights bathing the audience. She twirled 11 times during the guitar solo with her (original!) gold and black shawl cascading around her.




She followed with “Leather and Lace,” with Henley slowly walking to the front of the stage from the back. They locked eyes as they harmonized through the duet.



After Henley exited, she introduced former One Direction star Harry Styles, who took over the Tom Petty part of “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.” He played with guitar in hand, skillfully filling in for a rock legend.



“Edge of Seventeen” followed after Nicks explained that she didn’t realize it would be “the last song in my set for the rest of my life.” It was a raucous, tambourine-smashing end.




Styles returned to the stage to reverently induct his hero, whom he called “God.” He began with the incredible fact that said it all: “Stevie Nicks is the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the second time.” The crowd roared. And he said it again. The pair have performed together on two separate occasions: Nicks joined Styles on stage two years ago at the Troubadour for his album release show, and Styles later joined Fleetwood Mac at 2018’s MusiCares Benefit tribute to the band where he sang on “The Chain” with the whole group.

Henley and Nicks have had a long friendship. The pair initially dated in the late Seventies, and Henley later appeared on Nicks’ debut album Bella Donna in 1981. “Leather and Lace” was a Top 10 hit for the pair, though Nicks had originally written the song for Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter’s duet album of the same name.

“Don always treated me very special,” Nicks has said of Henley in the past. “He always treated me like we were married. He still does every time I see him. I think he found in me something he has not probably found since […] He found a very different girl in me than in most of the women he was used to hanging out with, and we had a very special relationship because of that.”








HARRY'S INTRODUCTION:

Hello. Just like the white winged dove sings a song sounds like she’s singing, Stevie Nicks is the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for a second time. The first female artist to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for a second time. First with Fleetwood Mac and now for her unforgettable solo work. With Stevie, you’re not celebrating music long ago from the mists of time. She was standing on stage, headlining a place this size, doing her best work just three nights ago.

She is forever current. She is forever Stevie. But what exactly does that mean? In my family, we listened at home, we listened in the car, we listened wherever we could. “Dreams” was the first song I knew all the words to before I knew what the words really meant. I thought it was a song about the weather, but I knew that it was a beautiful song about the weather. I always knew the words and I loved them all. “Thunder only happens when it’s raining. Players only love you when they’re playing.”

She’s so wise and serene. She sees all the romance and drama in the world and she celebrates it. She will stand on stage introducing song telling you how she wrote them honestly, like you’re the only other person in the world. You’re more than a fan. You are her friend, and her words say in so many ways, “I understand you and you are not alone.” And that is true Stevie.

She walked a path tread by Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell—visionary women who had to throw a couple of elbows to create their own space. Her early band Fritz opened for Jimi Hendrix and they helped her out. She was far ahead of her time, creating her own sound. It was bright. It was fresh. It was magical.

Next, she formed a duo with Fritz’s bassist, Lindsey Buckingham: Buckingham-Nicks. Then on New Years Eve, 1974, Mick Fleetwood invited Lindsey Buckingham and herself to join Fleetwood Mac, and everybody’s lives became brilliant and a lot crazier.

Stevie Nicks stepped onto the world’s stage with unforgettable ease. I remember it well. She began creating stories that flowed from her heart to her pen which ended up in our souls with characters we’ll always remember. Classic songs like “Silver Springs,” “Rihannon,” “Gypsy,” and “Sara.” In the 1980s, she released Bella Donna, the rare first solo album that was as powerful as the supergroup she was still in. With “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” she and Tom Petty took things to another level.

Then she did it again with albums like The Wild Path and Rock a Little. Whether on her own, in a duet, with her band, it’s probable at some point she found herself in a barbershop quartet. Stevie could do it all, and that is true Stevie.

You can’t take her eyes off her, as we’ve seen tonight. She’s the magical gypsy godmother who occupies the in-between. It’s a space that can only be hers. She’s a lot like a rock’n’roll Nina Simone, finding the notes only she can. And by being so unapologetically herself, she gives others permission to do the same, and that is true Stevie.

And if you’re lucky enough to know her, she’s always there for you. She knows what you need—advice, a little wisdom, a blouse or shawl, she’s got you covered. Her songs made you ache, feel on top of the world, make you want to dance, and usually all three at the same time. She’s responsible for more running mascara, including my own, than all the bad dates in history combined. And that is true Stevie.

There are few people who hold the stage like her. I was lucky enough to play with her at the Troubadour a few years ago, and all I could do was watch. The show is no longer yours, it’s hers, and that is true Stevie.

She has many, many solo hits—“If Anyone Falls,” “Edge of Seventeen,” “Talk to Me”—but there are so many gems hidden within the albums. Songs like “Belle Fleur” and “Garbo,” “Annabel Lee” and “Ooh My Love.” However you feel or want to feel, there is a Stevie Nicks song that will meet you there. Each song is a dance, it’s an emotional ballet, it’s a letter to a lover or friend, and every single year she gathers more momentum.

Somewhere around 2005, 2006, this woman became God, I think we can all agree on that. On Halloween, 1 in 7 people dress as Stevie Nicks. She is both an adjective and a verb. To quote my father, “that was rather Stevie Nicks,” and to quote my mother, “I Stevie Nicks that shit so hard!” Mick Fleetwood calls her the fearless leader. She is mama lion to her friends. She is the family member you can always count on.

I hope she knows what she means to us—what she means to yet another generation of artists who look to her for inspiration and trailblazing courage. That is true Stevie. She is so much more than a role model. She is a beacon to all of us. Whenever you hear her voice, life gets just a little bit better. When she sings, the world is hers, and it is yours. She’s everything you’ve ever wanted in a lady, in a lover, and in a friend. Stephanie Nicks, I love you, we all do, and that is true Stevie.

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s been an honor to be with you. Please join me in welcoming to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for the second time, Stevie Nicks.

STEVIE'S SPEECH:




This speech thing that I was supposed to give now has been following me down — the sound of its voice will haunt me for the [next] two weeks. It’s not hard for me to go and play for you, but it’s very hard for me to try to tell you — thank you for for this, for being the first girl in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — twice!

Sometimes I just couldn’t tell great stories. Because it’s like easy — if I’m telling a story about Prince, I can say, ‘He picked me up in his purple Camaro. And we went out to his purple house in a suburb outside Minneapolis, nobody knew where I was. And we wrote a song called, “It’ll Take You Days to Find Her”? And I can actually tell you a great story about that because it is what it is. But for me to tell you a story from my heart, about what this means to me, is very hard … because this has never happened to me before. [It’s only happened for] 22 men and four — zero women, and now one woman.

[Now] I’m like, ‘Hey man, I can do it!’ Now I’m telling all my friends. The girls in Haim? I’m like, “Okay you guys, you gotta really get it together now. One of you needs to step away. And don’t break up your band, just do an album so you have it. Because it’s gonna take 20 years before you get recognized, again! So you’ll already be like, 60. Again, this is the problem of getting in. I started Bella Donna in 1979. I had been in Fleetwood Mac for not even four years, more like three-and-a-half years… This is a hard thing to do. Because you have to — the times are different. It’s like — it’s going to be hard, But I know there’s somebody out there that will be able to do it because I’m going to give you all the directions and I’ll do enough interviews and say what to do.

I wanna tell you that everybody in my life gave me ideas of what I could say to you — I have to just say this because I don’t have my glasses on, I can’t even read it — but I’ve read it so many times in the middle of the night, crying going like ‘Shit I don’t even know what I’m gonna say up there.’ This morning at 4:30 my assistant came in and I’m laying there, and my little Chinese Crested [dog] lays right on my stomach and she’s looking at me like… ‘It’s so late.’ And she goes, “Are you done?” and I’m going “No I can’t do it. I have to go to bed. I don’t know what I’m going to say. I’m just gonna have go out there and… six minutes is not very long. So let me move right on — six minutes for me! I majored in Speech Communication in San Jose State!

The second I called my mom and said, “I have to quit because me and Lindsey have to move to L.A., because the music is in San Francisco, and record deals are in L.A.. We have to go tomorrow.” My mom said, “Okay, that’s fine, but we will be withdrawing all financial support.” I said, flat out, “I know mom. I know, and I’m up to the challenge. Three waitress jobs, two cleaning lady jobs, it was cool.” Lindsey worked on the music, I worked on food and carrying glasses. I rather enjoyed it because I could get out of the house and go into the real world instead of being in the cave with all the guys who were just laying around smoking pot and messing up my house.

It’s like I go, “Excuse me? Excuse me? Can I just step over your feet and your pot and everything so I can straighten this place up?” I don’t get paid for doing this at my own house, but I will do it for you because I know you guys work hard. That’s just a little bit of a moment of how we got before Fleetwood Mac. I want to tell you that this solo album thing, I started thinking about this. I only know this because my friend Paul Fishkin, in 1976 who then became my boyfriend after we went to this convention at the Acapulco Princess, which I like to call the Tequila Convention because the first night, everybody had the little necklaces. One of you may have been there, the little necklace around your neck, and they come and they fill it with tequila. Who is going to waste tequila?

Everybody was so drunk that nobody served us for three solid days, and then it was over. So everybody went to the airport and left, but not me. I stayed, because I’m going like, “I’m already down here. Somebody else paid for it, so I’m going to enjoy this vacation.” Paul and me, I said to him, after playing Rumours, which is not even finished, but still really cool the night before, I didn’t even hear it because I passed out as soon as I pushed play, but some people must have heard it because they spoke about it later.

I said, “No no, it’s other songs, more demos,” and he goes like, “Okay.” We go out on the beach and I plan for 15 or 20 songs, and he goes, “Wow, that’s a lot of songs. Okay.” He’s a record man, so we go back to L.A. and New York. We start going out, and I find out because Paul tells me, a year later when I said to him, [whispers] “Do you think there’s any way that I could do a discreet solo album, that would not break up Fleetwood Mac?” I’m going like, “It’s a secret.” He’s like, “I think so. I think if you’re kind and loving, and you tell them that you will always put them first, and they will always be at the top of your priority list, they will understand and they will stay. Go do what you want to do and have fun. We’ll see you later.”

That’s what we eventually did. Yes, my amazing band is still together and very strong today. Last but not least, which probably won’t be last but not least, they can’t get me off this stage. I want to thank, first of all, very quickly, Paul Fishkin because he was the wise man who said, “You can do both, and you can have both. You just have to do it with love. That’s all.” Then I was introduced to his partner Danny Goldberg who became our group guru and our calm coach who kept us calm. I was gone all the time, so they were talking about this and trying to put it together calmly and serenely.

I’m off in the world doing Rumours and Tusk. They’re working behind the scenes to see if they can make this happen. Then it happened. We formed a record company called Modern. We went to Mr. Doug Morris at Atlantic, my hero. I said, “So Doug, what I want to do is I want to make a Tom Petty album, straight up rock and roll. I have two great girl singers, Laurie and Sharon that are amazing, and we’re going to be Crosby, Stills & Nash. I’m going to be Stills and they’re going to be Nash and Crosby.

“So it’s going to be straight up rock ‘n’ roll, but we’re going to sound like Crosby, Stills & Nash. And Doug’s like — “Fan-fucking-tastic.” Sorry, didn’t mean to swear. So then I said, “Who produces Tom Petty?” He goes, “Jimmy Iovine.” I say, “Can you set me up with Jimmy Iovine?” And he goes, “Yeah, I can. I’ll give him a call.” He calls Jimmy and he sets us up to go and have dinner. We go and have dinner and I tell him the same thing. Tom Petty, straight-up rock album, but we want to sound like Crosby, Stills & Nash. He goes, “Okay, I can do it. I haven’t done a girl album in a while.” We go, “Okay, good.”

We both went back to L.A. because he was there finishing Tom’s record. We get there, and 10 days later — I moved in with Jimmy. It’s just how it was… I moved in with Jimmy. I learned to make tiny pizzas, and waited for him to finish Tom’s album. Meanwhile, me and Laurie and Sharon are practicing all our three-part harmonies, which Jimmy and nobody else really wanted to hear. We were going to be damned if we weren’t gonna be on that album, being Crosby, Stills & Nash. We got so good during that next six weeks, that when he was done and we started Bella Donna, we were ready.

We walked in and we made an album in three months — which is unheard of, especially in those days. We were focused. We were together. We were organized, and we made a great album. Then Jimmy came to me and said, “We have a problem Stevie. We made a great album, but you don’t have a single.”

I’m like, “Seriously? We don’t have a single, and you didn’t tell me until now?” He goes, “Well I though it would work out. I thought one would come to my head and it didn’t, but I have a plan. Tom Petty says you can have “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.” It’s already recorded. He’ll sing it with you. And… Problem solved!”

I finally got to meet Tom Petty — who Jimmy had kept me a secret from, because he didn’t want Tom to get pissed off — and think that his attention was going to be taken away because he had a new girlfriend. I liked it in the basement. It was fine. I got to hear everything, eavesdrop all through it. Anyway, Jimmy, Doug, Paul, Danny — also Irving Azoff — I had to hire him in 1976 because my mother said, “You better get some help here, because you don’t have anybody taking care of your money.” So I hired Irving, who gladly said, “Sure I’ll do it!” Not having any idea that he’d still be sitting here tonight, going like, “Sure, I’ll do it!”

My press agent, Liz Rosenberg who I met in 1976, who is still present, and press agenting for me. She’s the best. She’s the Rona Barrett of today. I adore her. She’s elegant and incredible. Talk to her if you can. She’ll get you in the newspaper. Then there was Howard Kaufman who passed away a little while ago — he then became my manager when Irving had to go become the president of a record company. That was okay, because all have to branch out!

Let’s see, and Sheryl [Louis], who when Howard passed away, then took on the mantle of being my manager — which is no easy thing, because I don’t agree with anything anybody says — especially when it’s a girl! Thank you Sheryl for giving it your all. Anyway, you all have been a fantastic, fantastic audience … Thank you! If you ever need a keynote speaker, somebody to talk to, someone to talk to a group of people — I am your girl.

TUNE IN APRIL 27th ON HBO WHEN THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME WILL BE BROADCAST.


STAND BACK
LEATHER AND LACE
STOP DRAGGIN MY HEART AROUND
EDGE OF SEVENTEEN
INTROS AND MOST OF STEVIE'S SPEECH


Thursday, March 28, 2019

REVIEW Fleetwood Mac at Wells Fargo, Philadelphia March 22, 2019

Concert Review: Fleetwood Mac at Wells Fargo Center
The three-song encore featured a cover of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’,” and as the band performed the song, a montage of Petty photographs appeared on the big screen behind the stage.

By Tom Beck
South Philly Review



It was just last year when Fleetwood Mac announced the firing of longtime guitarist and songwriter Lindsey Buckingham, leading all members of the classic rock universe to collectively roll their eyes. It was just one more chapter in the band’s history, which has been marred by inner turmoil for more than 40 years. For many longtime Fleetwood Mac fans, the idea of seeing the band perform in 2019 sans-Buckingham was a dealbreaker. It simply wouldn’t be the same. These people may be right – perhaps it wouldn’t be exactly the same. But as the band performed at the Wells Fargo Center Friday night – their first performance at the venue in five years – it became clear that the dismissive attitude toward Buckingham’s departure was shortsighted. 

The 2019 incarnation of Fleetwood still features the criminally underrated drumming of Mick Fleetwood, the soulful croon and keyboard talents of Christine McVie and her bass-playing former husband John McVie, and of course, the ultimate rock goddess herself: Stephanie Lynn “Stevie” Nicks. After all, Buckingham’s replacements, Neil Finn (formerly of Crowded House) and Mike Campbell (formerly of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), are no slouches. Campbell is the better known of the two, and widely celebrated for being Tom Petty’s sidekick for many years. Neil Finn isn’t quite a household name, yet he still proved his worth to Philly Fleetwood Mac fans at various points throughout the night. Chief among those moments was Finn and Nicks’s rendition of the somber “Landslide,” which was easily the show’s climax despite a setlist otherwise filled with Fleetwood’s catchier more upbeat work. 

Among the other hits played were “The Chain,” “Go Your Own Way,” “Gold Dust Woman,” “Dreams,” “Rhiannon,” “Little Lies,” and “Don’t Stop.” The three-song encore featured a cover of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’,” and as the band performed the song, a montage of Petty photographs appeared on the big screen behind the stage. Many of the photos were of Petty with Fleetwood Mac together, revealing that the two bands were close friends for many decades.

A second focal point of the night was Fleetwood and percussionist Taku Hirano’s drum duet in the middle of “World Turning,” which featured the two drummers slugging it out together for nearly 10 minutes.



For the whole night, the band was entertaining, synergistic, on-key and gripping, proving that Fleetwood Mac hasn’t in any way lost an edge despite its aging members. This summer is slated to be a big one for big-name classic rock acts coming to South Philly, with Billy Joel, The Rolling Stones and The Who all slated to make their way into various venues in the sports complex. It’s not a competition, but Fleetwood Mac set the bar pretty high.





Monday, March 25, 2019

REVIEW Fleetwood Mac Live in Baltimore March 24, 2019

Fleetwood Mac gives spectacular farewell to Baltimore
BY JON GALLO | BALTIMORE POST EXAMINER


Fleetwod Mac, the timeless band that has spanned more than five decades, tried to make a statement as soon as it took the Royal Farms Arena stage on Sunday night by opening with “Chain,” one if its smash hits from its 1977 blockbuster album “Rumours.”

The problem, however, was that one the most integral links in the band’s chain wasn’t there – and won’t be coming back anytime soon. Lindsey Buckingham (singer/guitarist/songwriter) was let go by his bandmates for having irreconcilable issues about the farewell tour. He was replaced with Crowded House frontman Neil Finn and Mike Campbell, lead guitarist from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Make no mistake: Buckingham’s presence was missed throughout the 21-song, two-hour performance that took the sellout crowd through a stroll down memory lane.

But also make no mistake: Even without Buckingham Fleetwood Mac put on a tremendously entertaining show in likely its last performance in an arena in first played in May 1973.

Finn seized the spotlight from the outset by singing “Chain,” a song that originally featured Buckingham on the microphone. Meanwhile, Campbell played the guitar riffs that Buckingham had made famous. Both were very good, but not the same as Buckingham.

Sunday, March 24, 2019

REVIEW Fleetwood Mac Live in Philadelphia, PA March 22, 2019

Fleetwood Mac's farewell tour at Wells Fargo Center is great goodbye, bedeviled by details
By John J. Moser
Mcall.com | Photos by Brian Hineline



First the distant view of Fleetwood Mac’s performance at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center on Friday, on what the group says is its farewell tour.

The show was a two-hour-and-five-minute evening of 21 songs that included 13 of Fleetwood Mac’s Top 20 hits – virtually all of which held up as timeless music. It also played, as would be expected on a farewell tour, tunes from throughout its 52 years as a band and some interesting additions.

And it put each band member in the spotlight.

But the devil was in the details, as they say.

Up closer, singer/guitarist/songwriter Lindsey Buckingham, who was fired from the band for resisting plans for the tour (and who was since incapacitated by open-heart surgery) was badly missed multiple times, especially on some signature songs. It showed how much Buckingham meant to the band.

Despite that, there was no mention of Buckingham at all through the entire night.

Replacement guitarist Mike Campbell of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers was a fine player, but never quite captured what Buckingham added to his songs, and was badly under-used for half the show.

Much the same could be said for vocal replacement Neil Finn of Crowded House, who in some instances clearly tried to replicate Buckingham but fell short.

The democratization of the spotlight also occasionally gave the show a stilted, trying-too-hard feel.

The show opened with “The Chain” – among seven songs from the band’s most successful album, 1977’s “Rumours,” and the only tune credited to all its members. It was as if the band was making the statement that, despite Buckingham’s absence, it was still an unbroken chain.