http://www.recordnet.com/entertainme...g-tour-to-lode
Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac bring tour to Lode
Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckhingham of Fleetwood Mac perform Friday at Ironstone Vineyards. [COURTESY]
By Lori Gilbert
Record Staff Writer
Posted at 4:36 PM
Updated at 4:36 PM
For 16 years, Christine McVie lived in self-imposed exile.
The keyboardist/singer/songwriter of Fleetwood Mac grew tired of living out of a suitcase and inexplicably, developed a fear of flying.
“I didn’t think about flying but toward the end, I started to think like some air stewardesses. They get the yips after so many flights and think, ultimately, one is going to go down,” McVie explained in a telephone interview. “I had the feeling every time I was on a plane everyone was going to die. It was a horrible phobia. A stupid one.”
Nonetheless, it helped drive McVie to quit Fleetwood Mac in 1998, buy a manor house in Kent, England, and become a homebody, devoted to refurbishing the place that dates to 1664.
“I spent five years or so restoring it, tile by tile, brick by brick, lovingly restoring the wood,” McVie said. “I think if I knew how damaged it was, I wouldn’t have bought it. It took an arm and a leg.”
If you go
What: Fleetwood Mac members Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie performing songs from their new duet album as well as classic Fleetwood Mac songs.
When: 8 p.m. Friday.
Where: Ironstone Vineyards Amphitheatre, 1894 6 Mile Road, Murphys.
Tickets: $55-$250 available through Ticketmaster.
And once she was done, she had a beautiful place but no one but herself and her dogs to enjoy it. Her friends were working in London. Or living in Los Angeles. Or touring as Fleetwood Mac without her.
She decided her isolated life was unhealthy, and rejoined Fleetwood Mac for its 2014 “On With the Show” tour, which indirectly, led to her current project with Lindsey Buckingham. The two recorded “Lindsey Buckingham Christine McVie,” an album released in June that Rolling Stone has deemed one of the top 50 albums of 2017, and the duet is on tour promoting it.
They make their only Northern California stop Friday at Ironstone Amphitheatre, performing new songs as well as favorites from the Fleetwood Mac catalog. Tickets range from $55 to $250 and are available through Ticketmaster.
That McVie and Buckingham, the guitarist/singer/songwriter, worked on this project as a duet hasn’t ruffled the feathers of their bandmates. Drummer Mick Fleetwood and bass player John McVie, — Christine McVie’s ex-husband — played on the album, and all five members, including Stevie Nicks, reunited at Dodgers Stadium last week for a two-day musical celebration with The Eagles, Steely Dan, Journey, the Doobie Brothers and Earth, Wind and Fire. They’ll repeat the show in New York next week.
Next year, the five will embark on another Fleetwood Mac tour.
This summer, though, is the first-ever pairing of just McVie and Buckingham.
The combo came about when McVie overcame her fear of flying and decided she’d had enough of being a homebody. She was in contact with Fleetwood, and after he’d visited London, she returned with him to his Maui home, never thinking twice about being on an airplane.
“In Maui I played with Mick’s band, did a couple blues shows and got the bug again,” McVie said. ”‘What would it be like to rejoin the band?’ I ask laughingly. Mick said, ‘Crikey, Chrstine, are you serious?’ We had a conference call and everyone loved the idea, and that was that. That was the beginning of the carnival.”
Actually, to ease her way back into touring after a 16-year-absence, she started writing some songs at her piano and sent them to Buckingham.
“He started playing with them, putting them in order,” McVie said. “I went early to Los Angeles to rehearse for the world tour. I went to meet up with him and he said, ‘Why don’t we go into the studio and reconnect on that level. We hadn’t played together in 15 years. Let’s see if the magic is still there.’ It might easily not have been.”
Not a chance. McVie’s writing credits include “Don’t Stop,” “Songbird,” “Over My Head,” “You Make Loving Fun” and “Say You Love Me.” Buckingham penned “Go Your Own Way,” “Second Hand News” “The Chain” and “Tusk,” among others.
Neither time nor distance could diminish that talent, and together they’re a creative force.
“I get bored with myself, just me and the piano,” McVie said. “What I really love about Lindsey is the way he produces me. I sit in the back of the studio on the couch and and I don’t really have my hands at the board. My ears are really good. I’m a good listener. I enjoy what he does, and he doesn’t do anything without my approval. I just love the way he layers my songs. I like the way we work together. I enjoy being with him in the studio.”
And, she’s enjoying being with him on this tour.
“It’s going great,” McVie said. “It’s scaled down from the comeback tour. It’s family-oriented. We have the same crew and everything around us. It’s lovely. We’re doing a lot of outdoor shows and we’re loving them.”
Contact reporter Lori Gilbert at (209) 546-8284 or
lgilbert@recordnet.com. Follow her on Twitter @lorigrecord.