Fleetwood Mac's Classic West Performance A Well-Deserved Celebration
If forty years ago, when Fleetwood Mac was at the height of what guitarist Lindsey Buckingham now refers to as “The musical soap opera,” someone were to tell you that in 2017, the Mac would be a happy, healthy functioning touring act people would have thought you had partied harder than the six bands on this weekend’s Classic West.
But, 40 years after Rumours and all the tabloid drama that went with that landmark album, the Mac are a regular touring act and Buckingham told me earlier this year the band “is in a good place.”
So in a very unexpected twist of fate, the night after the Eagles delivered an emotionally compelling and dramatic performance (
https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveba.../#4983218a1e6a) at night one of Classic West, Fleetwood Mac got to come out and revel in the celebratory, feel good vibes that have characterized their tours in recent years.
After opening with “The Chain” and the Christine McVie pop gem, “You Make Loving Fun,” Stevie Nicks established the mood of the night when she said, “Without further adieu, we should get this party started,” introducing “Dreams.”
Despite their numerous upbeat pop/rock anthems, Fleetwood Mac aren’t what you would call a typical party band. With songs like the encore, “Don’t Stop” and the Buckingham-fronted “Go Your Own Way,” the band absolutely possesses the capability to get 50,000 fans singing and celebrating in unison. And the anthem-like “Go Your Own Way” is a joyous and jubilant celebration.
There were plenty of more introspective moments too. After the sublime “Landslide,” a song like the Eagles’ “Desperado,” that is as heart wrenching as any in rock, Nicks dedicated it to the Eagles’ Glenn Frey.
“I’d like to dedicate that song to Glenn Frey, who was my friend,” Nicks said. “And I’d like to dedicate it to his son, who did such a beautiful job last night under so much pressure. That was for big Glenn and little Glenn.”
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