Fleetwood Mac shows its talent(From St. Petersburgh Times)

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St. Petersburgh Times Review

Fleetwood Mac shows its talent
By TOM ZUCCO, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published June 9, 2003

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TAMPA - If the Grateful Dead and the Doors can reunite and go out on tour . . .

But there's a catch.

It's got to be worth it. Either the music has to be new, or the band has to be excited about what they're doing. In a perfect world, you get both.

Fleetwood Mac, American music's first family of dysfunction (sorry, Osbournes), the band that played at Bill Clinton's first inauguration and then promptly fell off the face of the Earth, made their designated appearance at the St. Pete Times Forum Sunday night to promote their new album, Say You Will, their first studio LP in 15 years.

Four of the five original members of the band were there. (Christine McVie opted out.)

But in truth, it seemed as if only Lindsey Buckingham showed up.

Vocalist Stevie Nicks, 55, can be mesmerizing. Sunday night, in front of 12,199 of her loyal subjects, she did what she was supposed to do. Her voice is still a hauntingly beautiful present.

But it wasn't until the fourth quarter of the show that she took it out and really showed it off.

After opening with seven of their hits and getting a chance to warm up, the band did Rhiannon, a song that should showcase Stevie Nicks' vocal ability and her charisma.

Nicks made no mistakes and hit every note, but she took no chances. On Landslide, another signature Nicks song, even the audience singing along didn't seem to inspire her.

But Buckingham, who at 53 is the baby of the band, proved once again that he is one of the most underrated guitarists in rock. He drew the notes out, bended them, and did something Nicks rarely seemed willing to do. He played to the crowd.

Through all this, sitting in the back, there was 60-year-old Mick Fleetwood, wailing away on the drums, grinning and gasping like a man in dire need of an antacid. The highlight of the show arguably could have been a percussion/guitar battle between Fleetwood and Buckingham on an extended (finally) version of World Turning.

Toward the end of the two-hour performance, Nicks finally seemed to allow herself to let go and have fun. As the band pounded out Stand Back, she dialed up the energy, found the emotion and a new range, and became the Stevie Nicks her fans worship and adore.

And fans she has. The whole band does. On Go Your Own Way, the crowd knew all the words and they drowned out Buckingham and Nicks repeatedly.

But on this night, Fleetwood Mac played a concert.

And Lindsey Buckingham gave a performance