FM / O2 sings happy bday to Mick (6/24, London)

[MoonSister75]

Originally Posted by AncientQueen

^^^Great review, I laughed! Finally someone understands my dislike of concerts, which is strangely comforting.

I would like to mention a woman from Cologne. She paid around 330$ to sit first row and had alot of wine before the concert. When the band entered the stage, she screamed "Lindsey" once and passed out. Security helped her out. Must have been a great concert experience for her.

What a waste of a good seat she must have been so drunk, oh dear....

[AncientQueen]

Originally Posted by MoonSister75

What a waste of a good seat she must have been so drunk, oh dear....

She used her given right to be stupid to the fullest.

[nicepace]

Brilliant! This review is really accurate about the problems of seeing a concert in a big venue like this. The people who get drunk and just miss the show; the people who talk to their friends the entire time and just miss the show; the people who stand up in front of short people making the short people just miss the show.

And I love this (titanic is such a great word!):

McVie is an extraordinary woman. She looks like your mum's best friend - Auntie Christine who works on the lingerie counter at M&S - but she has written some titanic songs: "You Make Loving Fun", "Say That You Love Me", "Little Lies". She is consistently underappreciated.

[michelej1]

"Lesley! Lesley!" [Thanks Fuzzy Plum]

GQ Magazine by George Chesterton 6/25/2015

http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/enterta...2-arena-review

Someone has got me a ticket to see Fleetwood Mac, you say? I love Fleetwood Mac. But hang on, I hate gigs. Love Fleetwood Mac. Hate gigs. Love Fleetwood Mac. Hate gigs. Oh well, let's just get on with it then.

The O2 would be a sterile venue to host a conference of anti-bacterial spray manufacturers, let alone a concert of one of the world's great rock bands, and the clientele were suitably hard to pin down. It was strange to go to a gig with no discernable tribes, unless fans of a carvery on a Sunday constitutes a tribe. It was like being on a Ryanair flight with 20,000 people.

Why do I hate gigs? Even when I was a teenager and went to a gig a week, I hated gigs. For starters, I experience enochlophobia (look it up). More importantly, I have always been so precious about music that it always seemed a particular perverse cruelty to have my experiences ruined by inevitable meatheads, who would always (and I mean, always) end up standing or sitting next to, behind, or in front of me. Since I refuse to enjoy myself, God punishes me by surrounding me with people who do.


And lo, George the meathead magnet strikes again. Behind me were five friends, who informed me that they had come all the way from Bristol to see their favourite band - and then talked through every song. It was all going exactly as I had expected. It was a shame that the sound at the O2 is so muffled and rough. It really is a music venue for people who don't like music. I would have preferred a bit more volume and clarity, not only to drown out my paralytic-clown neighbours, but because I really wanted to listen to the band.

Fleetwood Mac are both brilliant and loveable, which is some combination. I overheard one woman saying, "I'm going to cry when they come on, I can feel it." They opened with "The Chain", a surefire way to get everyone on board, and its finale still resonates with intricate vocal layering that evokes the choir of an Orthodox church. From here they ran through their greatest hits, which was just fine by everyone, including me. It is worth noting that this is a band with three distinct but complementary songwriters of the highest calibre. There are very few other bands who can boast of such a musical arsenal and their songbook reflects this strength, rotating from the enthralling, edgy neurosis of Lindsey Buckingham to the dark femininity of Stevie Nicks followed by the pure light of Christine McVie's perfect pop.

They have been buoyed by the return of Christine McVie, who restores the band to its classic Seventies and Eighties lineup (yes, I know it's not the original lineup). Stevie Nicks appeared to be genuinely delighted to have McVie back and this love was echoed in the reaction of the audience to McVie's songs, which got the loudest and warmest applause. McVie is an extraordinary woman. She looks like your mum's best friend - Auntie Christine who works on the lingerie counter at M&S - but she has written some titanic songs: "You Make Loving Fun", "Say That You Love Me", "Little Lies". She is consistently underappreciated.

Buckingham's highlight (his guitar playing borders on superhuman at times) was his solo acoustic version of "Big Love", a song which gets more unsettling, mysterious and enjoyable as it ages. He was clearly the hero of the one of my new friends, who was so drunk that in between informing those around him Buckingham was "a f***ing legend", he forgot the legend's name and began shouting "Lesley! Lesley!"

My enjoyment of the subtle, emotionally wrought harmonies of "Rhiannon" was impaired somewhat by the girl in the seat behind me yelling "Sit the f*** down" at her friends over and over and over again. She trumped this during Lesley, sorry Lindsey, Buckingham's slowed-down version of "Never Going Back Again", during which she loudly conceded, "I'm so drunk I can't see," as she kicked the back of chair like a toddler in economy class.

Buckingham made a speech about the band's well-documented "ups and downs" and proclaimed a new "profound and prolific" era for the band. That was the herald for the dead hand of a new song, which, since no one knew or wanted to hear, meant hundreds of punters headed for the toilets and the bars. It was as if Fleetwood Mac had become their own support band nobody cared about. But I don't think they noticed and it didn't matter as the hits soon started rolling again.

Buckingham and Nicks sang "Happy Birthday" to Mick Fleetwood, whose enjoyment and drumming chops are clearly undimmed. He and John McVie - recovering from cancer - remain reassuringly indomitable and tight. As John McVie said of his musical spouse of 50 years to Mojo, "Mick will go on until they put him up against the wall and shoot him."

And so, after most of Rumours, half of Tango In The Night and the title song from Tusk (one of the highlights and the only occasion the visuals really helped the show - with a trippy rehash of the original "Tusk" video at Dodger Stadium in LA), we got to the money shot: "Go Your Own Way" and "Don't Stop". Nicks returned for the finale wearing a black top hat that reminded me a bit of the hitcher from The Mighty Boosh (which would have pleased Mac fan Noel Fielding) and the band proceeded to give the crowd what they wanted.

About a third of the audience stood up to dance. More still jiggled in their seats. I doubt if there have been that many people with so little natural rhythm gathered in one place since the world championship bowls final at Potters Leisure Resort in Hopton-on-Sea. McVie capped her triumphant evening with a grand piano and "Songbird". My new chums were suitably moved. But it was hard not to be.

As I said before: Love Fleetwood Mac. Hate gigs. Deep down I knew the uncomfortable truth of this enterprise, which was that the meatheads were the unfortunate ones for having to sit behind me, rather than the other way round. "This has got to be one of the top three nights of my life, easy," slurred one of them. God had spoken and it was my fault if I didn't listen. Long live Fleetwood Mac and their fans.

[FuzzyPlum]

UNCUT
Fleetwood Mac Live in London
http://www.uncut.co.uk/blog/the-view...n-london-69275

It’s a lovely thing that Christine McVie is back in the band; but for all the harmonic brilliance of “Everywhere” and “Little Lies”, it’d be wonderful to hear “Show Me A Smile” or “Come A Little Bit Closer”.
Oh yes please, I'd pay double.

It’d be even better to get Danny Kirwan on to play “Woman Of A 1000 Days“.
Two hopes and one of them is long dead (er, Bob).


For a band whose career has been so assiduously documented, Fleetwood Mac have always had a knotty relationship with their past. Great swathes of it are essentially ignored, while the domestic dramas of four decades ago are still the pivot for Fleetwood Mac’s live shows in 2015. Last time they played in London, for instance, the narrative privileged Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks as the tragic star-crossed former lovers reunited; this time round, it’s the return of Christine McVie after a 16 year absence that provides the show with its motor. Not that you’d necessarily forget such a momentous occasion, of course: the band have a weird, almost neurotic need to constantly refer back to the narrative in hand. Tonight, for instance, we are routinely told how delighted they are that McVie is back in the fold, while it falls to McVie herself to spell out the specifics of her return to the band: “It was two years ago I stood on this very stage and played ‘Don’t Stop’…” Meanwhile, Buckingham is eager to present McVie’s return as part of “a karmic, circular moment” in the band’s evolution. “We are a group of individuals that have seen their fair share of ups and downs,” he explains to anyone who’s not been paying attention since Rumours came out. “But we’re still here! And that’s what makes us what we are. With the return of the beautiful Christine, there is no doubt that we begin a brand new, prolific and profound and beautiful chapter in the story of this band, Fleetwood Mac.”

Despite Buckingham’s warm predictions for the future, tonight’s set is typically focussed on the band’s mid-Seventies era: half specifically from Rumours. Writing in his autobiography, Play On, Fleetwood admits to a “preservationist instinct” when it comes to his band’s history. “On my farm in Maui, Hawaii,” he begins, “I have a weather-sealed barn full of memorabilia: photographs, journals, clothes, cars, endless video tapes, concert recordings, all bits of Fleetwood Mac and my life. As much as I’ve always been driven creatively to move forward toward something bigger, brighter and unknown, I’m also a deeply-rooted nostalgic.” Although Fleetwood’s archivist sensibilities may be firmly entrenched, as a live proposition, the band has a prescribed cut-off point: you might not know, for instance, that Fleetwood Mac released 10 albums before Rumours. It’s a lovely thing that Christine McVie is back in the band; but for all the harmonic brilliance of “Everywhere” and “Little Lies”, it’d be wonderful to hear “Show Me A Smile” or “Come A Little Bit Closer”. It’d be even better to get Danny Kirwan on to play “Woman Of A 1000 Days“. Alas, the demarcation line between the early line-ups and the Buckingham/Nicks era is so rigorously enforced that we’re not treated to anything released prior to “the first album in this configuration” – as McVie rather formally describes the Fleetwood Mac record.

Admittedly, it is hard to argue with the sheer brilliance of the Buckingham/Nicks/McVie line-up. But with McVie back in the band, the set-list highlights the disjunct between the band’s three writers. This is most evident on the run of songs from “Rhiannon” to “Everywhere” and “I Know I’m Not Wrong”: Nicks’ is witchy and soft-focus, McVie’s is bright and nimble while Buckingham’s is left-field and surprisingly angry. Admittedly, McVie brings a balance to the show – both in terms of opening out the set list but also the way she softens the on-stage dynamic. Outwardly, at least, she appears less eccentric than Buckingham and more grounded than Stevie Nicks. She is also thankfully brisk when introducing her songs; unlike her bandmates. Nicks, particularly, takes an age to get to “Gypsy”, by way of a lengthy story from 1968 involving Hendrix, Joplin and a San Francisco clothing store. Buckingham, meanwhile, over shares considerably with his intro to “Big Love”. He begins with an unexpected defence of Tango In The Night – “A very difficult album to make, but as a producer I am proud of the result” – before taking the scenic route round to the song’s meaning. “It was a song about someone who was not in touch,” he says, finally getting there. “It was a contemplation of alienation but is now a meditation on the power and importance of change.”

Aside from this talk of change and new chapters, there is nonetheless something telling about the name of this tour: On With The Show. It conjures up images of the band as redoubtable showbiz troopers – which in a sense, is precisely what Fleetwood Mac are these days. For all Buckingham’s talk of “ups and downs” in the band’s history, there is a reassuring sense of professionals at work tonight. He may show-off slightly, but it’s useful to be reminded what a fine player he is, especially on “Big Love”, “Landslide” and “Songbird”. Only the overwhelming oddness of “Tusk” momentarily stops the show’s warm, comfortable vibes. But even Buckingham’s quirks are permissible. Among the most conspicuous of these is the giant image of Buckingham’s head that is beamed onto screen at the rear of the stage during “I Know I’m Not Wrong” – and then, bizarrely, can be seen floating upside down on screens in front of the stage. But for all Buckingham’s idiosyncracies and Nicks’ Twilight theatrics, the heavy lifting is done by the men with their names above the door. Mick Fleetwood might enjoy a little of the thesping done by his band mates – the gong and wind chimes ensemble he brings to bear on “World Turning”, for instance – but as with John McVie there is solid workmanship underpinning the Buckingham/Nicks flamboyance. Indeed, the most unfussy players on stage tonight appear to be the former Mr and Mrs McVie. She is very much Laura Ashley mum, cheerful and polite, effortlessly delivering many of tonight’s best songs; while John McVie remains inscrutable behind his cap and waistcoat. A rarity among Fleetwood Mac, the bassist is the only member of the band to keep his views entirely to himself.

[FuzzyPlum]

[QUOTE=FuzzyPlum;1168872]UNCUT
Fleetwood Mac Live in London
http://www.uncut.co.uk/blog/the-view...n-london-69275



'It’d be even better to get Danny Kirwan on to play “Woman Of A 1000 Days“.

P.S. Much kudos for name-dropping the song...but... she was only 3!

[michelej1]

Uncut Magazine June 24, 2015


Fleetwood Mac, live in London Michael Bonner

Read more at http://www.uncut.co.uk/blog/the-view...c9JkE2wCCWo.99

London, O2 Arena, June 25, 2015: now with added Christine McVie


For a band whose career has been so assiduously documented, Fleetwood Mac have always had a knotty relationship with their past. Great swathes of it are essentially ignored, while the domestic dramas of four decades ago are still the pivot for Fleetwood Mac’s live shows in 2015. Last time they played in London, for instance, the narrative privileged Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks as the tragic star-crossed former lovers reunited; this time round, it’s the return of Christine McVie after a 16 year absence that provides the show with its motor. Not that you’d necessarily forget such a momentous occasion, of course: the band have a weird, almost neurotic need to constantly refer back to the narrative in hand. Tonight, for instance, we are routinely told how delighted they are that McVie is back in the fold, while it falls to McVie herself to spell out the specifics of her return to the band: “It was two years ago I stood on this very stage and played ‘Don’t Stop’…” Meanwhile, Buckingham is eager to present McVie’s return as part of “a karmic, circular moment” in the band’s evolution. “We are a group of individuals that have seen their fair share of ups and downs,” he explains to anyone who’s not been paying attention since Rumours came out. “But we’re still here! And that’s what makes us what we are. With the return of the beautiful Christine, there is no doubt that we begin a brand new, prolific and profound and beautiful chapter in the story of this band, Fleetwood Mac.”

Despite Buckingham’s warm predictions for the future, tonight’s set is typically focussed on the band’s mid-Seventies era: half specifically from Rumours. Writing in his autobiography, Play On, Fleetwood admits to a “preservationist instinct” when it comes to his band’s history. “On my farm in Maui, Hawaii,” he begins, “I have a weather-sealed barn full of memorabilia: photographs, journals, clothes, cars, endless video tapes, concert recordings, all bits of Fleetwood Mac and my life. As much as I’ve always been driven creatively to move forward toward something bigger, brighter and unknown, I’m also a deeply-rooted nostalgic.” Although Fleetwood’s archivist sensibilities may be firmly entrenched, as a live proposition, the band has a prescribed cut-off point: you might not know, for instance, that Fleetwood Mac released 10 albums before Rumours. It’s a lovely thing that Christine McVie is back in the band; but for all the harmonic brilliance of “Everywhere” and “Little Lies”, it’d be wonderful to hear “Show Me A Smile” or “Come A Little Bit Closer”. It’d be even better to get Danny Kirwan on to play “Woman Of A 1000 Days“. Alas, the demarcation line between the early line-ups and the Buckingham/Nicks era is so rigorously enforced that we’re not treated to anything released prior to “the first album in this configuration” – as McVie rather formally describes the Fleetwood Mac record.

Admittedly, it is hard to argue with the sheer brilliance of the Buckingham/Nicks/McVie line-up. But with McVie back in the band, the set-list highlights the disjunct between the band’s three writers. This is most evident on the run of songs from “Rhiannon” to “Everywhere” and “I Know I’m Not Wrong”: Nicks’ is witchy and soft-focus, McVie’s is bright and nimble while Buckingham’s is left-field and surprisingly angry. Admittedly, McVie brings a balance to the show – both in terms of opening out the set list but also the way she softens the on-stage dynamic. Outwardly, at least, she appears less eccentric than Buckingham and more grounded than Stevie Nicks. She is also thankfully brisk when introducing her songs; unlike her bandmates. Nicks, particularly, takes an age to get to “Gypsy”, by way of a lengthy story from 1968 involving Hendrix, Joplin and a San Francisco clothing store. Buckingham, meanwhile, over shares considerably with his intro to “Big Love”. He begins with an unexpected defence of Tango In The Night – “A very difficult album to make, but as a producer I am proud of the result” – before taking the scenic route round to the song’s meaning. “It was a song about someone who was not in touch,” he says, finally getting there. “It was a contemplation of alienation but is now a meditation on the power and importance of change.”

Aside from this talk of change and new chapters, there is nonetheless something telling about the name of this tour: On With The Show. It conjures up images of the band as redoubtable showbiz troopers – which in a sense, is precisely what Fleetwood Mac are these days. For all Buckingham’s talk of “ups and downs” in the band’s history, there is a reassuring sense of professionals at work tonight. He may show-off slightly, but it’s useful to be reminded what a fine player he is, especially on “Big Love”, “Landslide” and “Songbird”. Only the overwhelming oddness of “Tusk” momentarily stops the show’s warm, comfortable vibes. But even Buckingham’s quirks are permissible. Among the most conspicuous of these is the giant image of Buckingham’s head that is beamed onto screen at the rear of the stage during “I Know I’m Not Wrong” – and then, bizarrely, can be seen floating upside down on screens in front of the stage. But for all Buckingham’s idiosyncracies and Nicks’ Twilight theatrics, the heavy lifting is done by the men with their names above the door. Mick Fleetwood might enjoy a little of the thesping done by his band mates – the gong and wind chimes ensemble he brings to bear on “World Turning”, for instance – but as with John McVie there is solid workmanship underpinning the Buckingham/Nicks flamboyance. Indeed, the most unfussy players on stage tonight appear to be the former Mr and Mrs McVie. She is very much Laura Ashley mum, cheerful and polite, effortlessly delivering many of tonight’s best songs; while John McVie remains inscrutable behind his cap and waistcoat. A rarity among Fleetwood Mac, the bassist is the only member of the band to keep his views entirely to himself.


Read more at http://www.uncut.co.uk/blog/the-view...c9JkE2wCCWo.99