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Fleetwood Mac soldiers through St. Paul concert without guitarist Lindsey Buckingham
Two new replacements revitalize Hall of Famers.
The elephant wasn’t in the room but you sensed his presence all night long anyway. No, guitarist/singer/producer Lindsey Buckingham got kicked out of Fleetwood Mac this year, but it was obvious who was getting under Stevie Nicks’ skin when she came out of her trippy, enigmatic dance during “Gold Dust Woman” Monday night at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. She approached the microphone again, tugged tightly at her spangly gold shawl and started purging in song from deep inside her psyche: “You can’t save me now. You did this to me. You can’t fix me. You can’t fake me out. You can’t save me. You can’t blame me. You can’t change me. You can’t do it.” Talk about shattering your illusions of Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood Mac without Lindsey Buckingham is sort of like the Twins without Joe Mauer. He’s been there forever, right? The band, like the baseball team and Mauer, existed before Buckingham joined in 1975 and still carries on without him. In their 10th show since booting Buckingham, Fleetwood Mac took a while to find its footing. Oddly enough, it was a cover that sparked Nicks and the rest of the band. Neil Finn, who along with Mike Campbell has replaced Buckingham, was reprising his hit from Split Enz, “I Got You,” and Nicks was relishing vocalizing as if she was in her Los Angeles mansion singing along to MTV in 1982. Then it was time for “Rhiannon,” perhaps the Steviest of Nicks songs, and she became Stevie Nicks, all bewitching mystery, dangling scarves, shiny beads and mesmerizing vocals. Her voice was clear, she seemed focused and, for a rarity in Fleetwood Mac, relaxed. Refreshed, too. Nicks and the band — the veterans range in age from 70 to 75 — seemed revitalized by the addition of Finn and Campbell of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, who represent guitarists No. 11 and 12 in Fleetwood Mac’s long history. (No, the unofficial record for replacements in one band is held by Spinal Tap’s drum seat. Google it.) The new players helped to open up the Big Mac catalog, which, of course, dates back to the band’s beginning in 1967 in England. That gave Campbell, 68, an underappreciated guitarist in his Petty days, an opportunity to exercise his blues vocabulary, painting “Black Magic Woman” with a heavier brush than Carlos Santana used on his famous cover version and turning “Oh Well” into something swell if you welcome a Led Zeppelin feel. The crowd of nearly 14,000 was thrilled to hear Campbell’s signature work on Petty’s “Free Fallin,” which featured the liberating lead vocals of Nicks, the world’s biggest Petty fan. New Zealand’s Finn, 60, who has a Paul McCartney vibe about him, did a lovely understated reading of “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” the 1986 hit by his other band, Crowded House. With his assertive tenor, he was a good surrogate for Buckingham’s vocals on such Mac favorites as “Second Hand News” and “Go Your Own Way.” His acoustic guitar was all the reassurance Nicks needed to turn “Landslide” — her reflections about the fear of moving on from a relationship because, as she sings, she’d built her life around him — into one of the highlights of the 140-minute concert. As she has often done in the Twin Cities, she dedicated the song to her “one and only husband,” Kim Anderson, who was in attendance with his girlfriend of 30 years. “Minneapolis, St. Paul — quite a place in my heart forever,” she proclaimed as the fans cheered loud and long. Always a crowd favorite, this tune seemed to have new resonance on this night. It was so obvious that she’s moved on from the elephant in the room. http://www.startribune.com/fleetwood...ist/498275911/ |
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#3
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What a bull**** review.
Reviewer managed to not mention the McVies even once. As if the band would be without a bassist and without the hitmaker and singer who happens to play keyboards, too. |
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gotta love how a good half of every single review i've seen so far (and i only see them since i have a search pulling anything with LB's name) goes on and on about Lindsey and whether they can even pull off their gigs without him. and all the reviews seem to dance about the elephant in the room - that the "new" band is just even bigger nostalgia act than it has been since 2009, but now with a hint of a cover band too. and then the requisite happy conclusion - hey, they can put together a show without LB. for the money they are charging, you'd like to think they should!.
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"kind of weird: a tribute to the dearly departed from a band that can treat its living like trash" |
#5
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Irving(or Karen) are probably paying for those reviews.
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Christine McVie- she radiated both purity and sass in equal measure, bringing light to the music of the 70s. RIP. - John Taylor(Duran Duran) |
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#7
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When we last saw Fleetwood Mac in 2014, Christine McVie had returned to the band after a 16-year break, fully reuniting the “Rumours”-era lineup. After decades of drama, it seemed there was finally peace in the group as they made plans for this year’s outing to serve as their farewell.
But in April, the band shocked the world by firing Lindsey Buckingham and replacing him with guitarist Mike Campbell (of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) and vocalist Neil Finn (of Split Enz and Crowded House). Earlier this month, Buckingham responded by suing the band he fronted for decades. Drama! This new version of Fleetwood Mac headlined St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center Monday night for a crowd of more than 13,000 eager to hear what Stevie Nicks told the crowd was their “new adventure.” The good news is that Buckingham’s absence appears to have given the core members a second wind, with Nicks in particular looking happier than she’s ever been in the group. And, crucially, Campbell and Finn didn’t try to imitate Buckingham, but instead brought fresh energy to the stage. Fleetwood Mac concerts over the past two decades have offered an at-times chilly professionalism, especially those without Christine McVie. But Monday night, there was a sense of uncertainty in the best possible sense. The vibe felt like “Yeah, we’re still figuring this out but we’re having a ton of fun.” (This was the 10th stop on the tour and the band has tinkered with the set list along the way.) Finn proved to be a fine addition to Fleetwood Mac with his surprisingly powerful voice and casual chemistry with Nicks. But the real star of the show was Campbell, a longtime pal of the group who still wasn’t afraid to put his own spin on things with some creative, thrilling solos. Fleetwood Mac also used the opportunity to add some songs from throughout their entire history, something Buckingham largely avoided. Nicks handled lead vocals for “Black Magic Woman” and acknowledged that Santana had the bigger hit with it: “Even I thought that they wrote it. They didn’t.” Even better was Campbell tackling both guitar and vocals for the old Peter Green staple “Oh Well” and instantly turning it into a new Fleetwood Mac classic. Of course, the set list included the staples — “The Chain,” “Dreams,” “Rhiannon,” “Go Your Own Way” — and nothing from “Tusk,” the Buckingham-heavy double album that nearly tore the band apart. They also found time to give nods to the new members, with Nicks joining Finn on vocals for Split Enz’s “I Got You” and Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over.” Nicks — who sounded rusty at the start of the show — had opened up quite a bit by the time she nailed “Landslide.” She kicked off the encore with Petty’s “Free Fallin’,” and truly went for it during the choruses. Clearly she appreciated having some fresh material to sing. (She also faked out the audience by gazing at Campbell during the designated twirl time at the end of “Gypsy,” but worked in a quick spin to cheers.) It didn’t all work. Mick Fleetwood’s mid-show drum solo, which dragged on for more than 10 minutes, should’ve been cut in half. And beyond “Oh Well,” the other stabs at blues numbers felt wonky at times. The ultimate takeaway, though, is that this is a band reborn (for, like, the 10th time) and it’s going to be fun to see where they go from here. https://www.twincities.com/2018/10/2...fleetwood-mac/ |
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"This is a band reborn" "The good news is that Buckingham’s absence appears to have given the core members a second wind" "Campbell and Finn didn’t try to imitate Buckingham, but instead brought fresh energy to the stage" Yes - most of the concert reviews have been similar to this one ... very positive. |
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Anyway, no matter how successful this tour is, this iteration of FM has a lot of work cut out for them to make this any more than an interesting footnote in the band's history. A new album for starters. I think the risk with bringing in Finn and Campbell, rather than lesser known musicians, is that they have established careers of their own and don't need FM. They generate more interest in the short-term, but they may not stick around after this tour, as they both have discussed other musical projects in recent interviews. So we'll see what happens. |
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#12
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I suppose that makes it more unlikely we'll see any new music from this version of FM.
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#13
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'Where words fail, music speaks' Mick Fleetwood |
#14
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Apparently, Christine, Mick, and John are merely holograms.
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#15
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It's the f$cking Stevie show JUST THE WAY SHE WANTED IT!!!! I loathe her.
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