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  #1  
Old 03-27-2019, 12:28 PM
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aleuzzi aleuzzi is offline
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Default Jeff Miers on Seeing the Present Band

https://buffalonews.com/2019/03/27/r...st-be-in-town/

………………………………………

"Rumors, Recriminations and Rock-n-Roll. Yep, Fleetwood Mac Must Be In Town"


Guilt.

That’s what I felt about halfway through Tuesday night’s sold-out Fleetwood Mac show at KeyBank Center, at the moment when I realized that the band sounded pretty fantastic in its latest guise, and that the “new blood” on the stage was making the music and the people playing it sound fresh, rejuvenated and at times even inspired.

I should have been happy that “new guys” Mike Campbell (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) and Neil Finn (Crowded House) had been rather seamlessly integrated into the ornate, soulful rock and pop that are the Fleetwood Mac stock in trade.

But what I felt, mostly, was guilt for being so easily won over by this Lindsey Buckingham-less version of the band. The guitarist/vocalist/producer/songwriter and general sculptor of the Fleetwood Mac sound since the mid-'70s, Buckingham was rather brutally fired from the band prior to this 50th anniversary tour’s commencement last year. As a serious fan of his work, one who acknowledges that Buckingham’s vision played a big part in the multiplatinum, career-defining success of the “Rumours” album, I felt duty-bound to mourn Buckingham’s fate and, as unflattering as it is to admit it, was hoping that his absence would be noticeable, obvious and immediately felt.

But it really wasn’t, so much.

The full Fleetwood Mac lineup can be seen on the stage and the video screen during a concert at KeyBank Center. (Sharon Cantillon/Buffalo News)

Guitarist Campbell and vocalist/guitarist Finn sounded fantastic, as if they had been playing with the Mick Fleetwood/John McVie/Christine McVie rhythm section for decades, rather than months. Finn’s still-strong and soulful tenor worked wonders on the songs Buckingham used to sing and fit into the Christine McVie/Stevie Nicks harmony blend (aided by a pair of background singers) with graceful ease. Campbell’s instantly recognizable blend of gritty garage blues and soulful, elegant and often elegiac melodic lines made the jump from the late, lamented Petty’s band to Fleetwood Mac with conviction. It all worked, and well, for the two-plus hours the band was on stage.


It helped that Fleetwood Mac is sitting atop a catalog of songs that refuse to bow to the brutal reality of aging. From the mildly sinister, slow-boiling invocation of opener “The Chain,” through a 21-song set that included much of the 1970s/'80s music that Buckingham either wrote, sang, co-wrote, arranged or produced, and even in such tireless anthems as “Go Your Own Way” and “Don’t Stop,” the band proved that the songs and the sound – that laid-back marriage of California pop and British soul – transcend the people playing and singing them.


Nicks, who will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Friday for the second time – this time as a solo artist – seemed to be the primary focus of the packed house’s attention throughout. Her features – the woozy “Dreams,” of course, the leather-and-lace-clad “Rhiannon,” the folksy “Landslide,” the desperate, keening “Gold Dust Woman” – brought raucous ovations from the crowd, and her mildly gothic presence remained a focal point whenever she was on the stage. None of this was new – Nicks has been doing these songs in pretty much the same way since Fleetwood Mac returned to the concert trail after a hiatus, beginning in the mid-'90s.

However, a spirited arrangement of the Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac tune “Black Magic Woman” was indeed new, and acted as one of the set’s high points, Nicks’ at times weathered voice ably serving the tune’s hard-blues structure, which she approached from the first-person point of view of a woman. (“I’m a black magic woman,” she sang, truly making the song her own.) Campbell and Finn were all over this one, their layered guitars celebrating the Green-era of the band with fire and fury. Campbell did the same during a stomping take on Green’s “Oh Well,” a tune he played often with Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Christine McVie sang in her gorgeously languorous style throughout, her voice sounding as strong as ever as she led the band through “Say You Love Me,” while her ex-husband John McVie laid down the song’s indelible bass line hook behind her. Finn – who, let’s face it, had the toughest gig of anyone on stage, as he was largely fulfilling the role previously held by Buckingham – was granted a well-received solo spot for a stirring take on the Crowded House gem “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” with Nicks thrilling the crowd when she emerged to sing the song’s second verse.

These disparate parts should have ended up forming what was essentially an amazing Fleetwood Mac tribute act, performing a Vegas-style career retrospective. Yet somehow, this version felt like a real, honest-to-goodness band, and a revitalized one at that.

The Buckingham fan in me protested. But that protest was in vain.


[Jeff Miers – The News' music critic since 2002, Jeff Miers also compiles the "90 Minutes" series where he highlights things to do in various Western New York neighborhoods. Miers co-hosts the monthly Gusto Vinyl Happy Hour at the Sportsmen's Tavern.]
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  #2  
Old 03-27-2019, 12:42 PM
michelej1 michelej1 is offline
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At least the truth is making the rounds.
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Old 03-27-2019, 12:47 PM
mitzo mitzo is offline
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At least the truth is making the rounds.
Yup, exactly, they are doing just fine without Lindsey.
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Old 03-27-2019, 01:27 PM
michelej1 michelej1 is offline
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Yup, exactly, they are doing just fine without Lindsey.
If there was a risk that the band would implode without him, they would not have fired him.
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Old 03-27-2019, 01:59 PM
Feather Blade Feather Blade is offline
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Sounds like they won another skeptic over.
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  #6  
Old 03-27-2019, 03:18 PM
MissJanet MissJanet is offline
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this review makes me just glad that I'll see them after all, I just could not not see them.
It's Pinkpop in the Netherlands, yeah.
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  #7  
Old 03-27-2019, 11:09 PM
secondhandchain secondhandchain is offline
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Yup, exactly, they are doing just fine without Lindsey.
DOES THAT MEAN IT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO???? You stevie freaks are HEARTLESS. GROSS.
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Old 03-28-2019, 09:13 AM
AliceLover AliceLover is offline
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Yup, exactly, they are doing just fine without Lindsey.
Yeah they're doing "fine" as reaching that "par" that they need to hit on a tour, but this show is beyond boring.

Don't get me wrong, I adore Stevie and Christine. I'd never miss a show. For ANY of them. SOLO or with FWM, but this tour is STALE. It's the same show. Cambpell and Finn are Burnette and Vito replicas. Same sets. Same songs. Same wardrobe. Tom Petty tribute? Yawn. Like can't they do Angel or Crystal or something.

Kicking Lindsey out took me some time to get over. But then when the set list/show videos I think I was even more disappointed. Like this is what we got? Lame.
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  #9  
Old 03-31-2019, 11:25 PM
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but this tour is STALE. It's the same show.
It would have been even more stale if Lindsey had been there.

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Cambpell and Finn are Burnette and Vito replicas.
LOL! Hardly. Fleetwood Mac won’t be the biggest thing they’re remembered for, unlike Billy and Rick. There is a lot more potential with them.

Quote:
Same sets. Same songs. Same wardrobe.
Again, how would that have been different with Lindsey? If anything, that would have applied even more so. And, Mike most definitely doesn’t wear the same thing night after night.

Quote:
Tom Petty tribute? Yawn. Like can't they do Angel or Crystal or something.
With Stevie and Mike on stage together, it would have been weirder if they hadn’t said something. And anyway, Tom played a Fleetwood Mac song for years, so it seems appropriate.

Quote:
Like this is what we got? Lame.
It was more interesting early on for me. The Louisville show will probably go down as my favorite Fleetwood Mac show ever. Just hearing Christine actually solo on a few songs was worth it.
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Old 04-01-2019, 03:34 PM
AliceLover AliceLover is offline
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Originally Posted by SteveMacD View Post
It would have been even more stale if Lindsey had been there.


LOL! Hardly. Fleetwood Mac won’t be the biggest thing they’re remembered for, unlike Billy and Rick. There is a lot more potential with them.


Again, how would that have been different with Lindsey? If anything, that would have applied even more so. And, Mike most definitely doesn’t wear the same thing night after night.


With Stevie and Mike on stage together, it would have been weirder if they hadn’t said something. And anyway, Tom played a Fleetwood Mac song for years, so it seems appropriate.


It was more interesting early on for me. The Louisville show will probably go down as my favorite Fleetwood Mac show ever. Just hearing Christine actually solo on a few songs was worth it.
After seeing the Boston show last night, I can faithfully say it was WEIRD. I have seen every Mac/Stevie/Lindsey show in the Boston area since 97. This byfar was the most depressing incarnation.

I was actually pumped up to see Stevie/Christine. I was going into it as "well this is the last time you're gunna see a few of these guys so you better go." But as The Chain started, there was a GLARING absence. Obviously, this was a personal issue. Plenty of fans didn't even realize Lindsey was missing. The couple behind us were discussing it, saying "they were all together the last time they were here. They had just started touring."

It was sad. The whole night all I could think about was Lindsey being gone. It just didn't seem right.

Stevie was a mess. Her ear monitors were all messed up for probably the first 5-10 songs. You could tell she was tired. Rightfully so after her Induction ceremony.

While I couldn't bring myself to not go, there was just such an obvious void for me. I thought the whole time about what they did to Lindsey and how they couldn't make it work. It seemed like he had never existed and that Mike/Neil had always been there. No offense to either of these guys, they surely hold their own, but it just didn't seem appropriate in this context.

To your point Steve, I will reiterate, there was no deep cut that "did it" for me. Isn't it Midnight could have done it, but that is a lost dream.

One interesting point, after World Turning, John McVie walked up to a microphone and introduced Mick. I almost fell over, probably the most shocking point of the night.

Again, was it a bad show? No. Was it weird? Yes. One fan said he "entered with trepidation" and I agree with that statement. I was actually expecting to have a good time, but there was a malaise of sadness I simply could not get over. I did enjoy a few numbers: "The Chain, Little Lies, Everywhere, and even Say You Love Me" were all strong.

My mother, who is a huge Lindsey fan and was with me, couldn't get over his absence.
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Old 04-02-2019, 01:06 PM
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It would have been even more stale if Lindsey had been there.
Probably. His past bunch of tours with the band were all built on the Rumours core set: choice of material, presentation of it, set structure, and so on.

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Fleetwood Mac won’t be the biggest thing they’re remembered for, unlike Billy and Rick. There is a lot more potential with them.
Potential for what? Playing Say You Love Me or Dreams calypso style?

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The Louisville show will probably go down as my favorite Fleetwood Mac show ever.
Well, it's certainly a great big world out there.

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Originally Posted by SteveMacD View Post
Just hearing Christine actually solo on a few songs was worth it.
I've seen only some of the YouTube vids, but her soloing on BMW is pretty pallid and nothing to get excited about. Her blues licks were a lot more effective (and louder) on Stop Messin' Round in 1990, for one. That excited audiences. And she did tougher work on Don't Stop's lead-out in 1997.
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Old 03-28-2019, 08:58 AM
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^^ you seem to be confusing marketing with conspiracy theories.

Marketing pieces are sent out all the time, you can’t be oblivious to that? Up to writers whether to use some of the text from them or not.
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Old 03-28-2019, 09:20 AM
mitzo mitzo is offline
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^^ you seem to be confusing marketing with conspiracy theories.

Marketing pieces are sent out all the time, you can’t be oblivious to that? Up to writers whether to use some of the text from them or not.
So the positive reviews of Lindsey's work are marketing pieces too?? After all, he needs positive reviews to keep his solo career with at least a pulse! And those of the Buck McVie tour?? That was something different too, and surely they needed positive press to validate it??
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Old 03-28-2019, 10:09 AM
Feather Blade Feather Blade is offline
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^^ you seem to be confusing marketing with conspiracy theories.

Marketing pieces are sent out all the time, you can’t be oblivious to that? Up to writers whether to use some of the text from them or not.
So all the good reviews are lazy writers that can't be bothered to actually write about the show they attended regardless of whether they liked it or not, and any non-positive ones are the writers with some real journalistic integrity who refused to parrot the press release they are presumably pressured to use. Is that what you are saying? Doesn't matter that apparently there doesn't seem to be any appreciable amount of word of mouth going around about bad shows by people who actually went that would dissuade 100 million dollars worth of attendees.

https://www.pollstar.com/concert-pulse

Based on this, it looks like the word of mouth is pretty good.

Last edited by Feather Blade; 03-28-2019 at 10:23 AM..
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Old 03-28-2019, 10:27 AM
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I posted the article. Yes, it's a very positive review of the present band's live shows that acknowledges none of this would have been possible without Lindsey.

It rightfully respects Flynn and Campbell, who are not responsible for this mess.

What it doesn't do--because it can't--is address where the heck this band will go beyond what it's doing right now. Besides making money on a very presentable package, what's next?

If there's no discussion of new music, Why bother?

If there is, by some miracle, even a few new songs, there would need to be an honest assessment of that new music in light of previous achievements under the guitarist they fired.

I guess what I'm saying is, a positive review like this is only addressing a single night's entertainment, allowing masses of casual fans who want to hear the songs they sort of adore when they're in the mood for them a night of bliss. Bravo.
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