27/05/15 - The 02
 

Well. I went to my second Fleetwood Mac gig last night. Whilst it was nice to see the five original members together again and to hear songs like Everywhere and Little Lies performed - the changes in key of some of the songs were really quite jarring. Plus, the staff at the 02 were being really officious and I got told off for a number of things including puffing on my e-cig and standing up whilst trying to acclimatize myself to the altitude of where my seat was in the venue.

This is in stark contrast to the gig I attended in September 2013 in which the crowd were left alone to dance and have a bit of a party. I don't know what's happened to the 02 staff since then - but this woman who kept bothering me pretty much ALMOST ruined my night. I'd make a complaint about her but it would do not good.

I mean OK - fair play - I probably shouldn't have been using my e-cig - but it's when she came and stood next to me for no reason as if to say "I'm watching you mate" - really kind of pissed me off.

But I'm pleased to be able to say I've seen Fleetwood Mac twice. But of the two concerts I've attended - the first one was the best. There was a magic in the air that night that seemed to sort of be missing this time around if that makes any sense.

NME by Leonie Cooper May 28, 2015

http://www.nme.com/news/fleetwood-mac/85746

Adele and Florence Welch watch Fleetwood Mac kick off UK tour in London Fleetwood Mac Tickets

The band - including Christine McVie - played London's O2 last night (May 27)

Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks dedicated the song 'Landslide' to Adele on the opening night of the band's UK tour.

The group played the first of a run of shows at London's The O2 last night (May 27), with Nicks addressing the crowd mid-set to talk about her love of British singer, Adele. "She's from here - you might know her," commented Nicks. "She's a fantastic songwriter... I told her 'you're going to be me in 40 years, you're going to still be up onstage doing what you're doing because of your songwriting'." The song 'Landslide' originally featured on the band's self-titled 1975 album.

Fleetwood Mac were joined by keyboard player and songwriter Christine McVie, who is now a full-time member of the band again, after first appearing on stage with the group at the same London venue in September 2013 before officially rejoining in January 2014. McVie - who wrote some of the band's most well known songs - left the band in 1998.

The band arrived onstage at 8.15pm and played a 22 song, hit-packed set to a sold out crowd. Opening with 'The Chain', it was followed by 'You Make Loving Fun' after which Christine McVie commented: "Thanks very much London, it's great to be here." Stevie Nicks then explained that it was the 82nd show of their current tour. "And now on show 82 I think we can safely say that our girl is back!," she added, gesturing to McVie.

Following 'Rhiannon', McVie addressed the crowd once more. "I can't tell you what a thrill it is to be on the stage with these wonderful musicians who I consider my family," she said. "You don't get this chance many times in life - I got it twice." The band then started a mass sing-along with 'Everywhere'. Guitar player Lindsey Buckingham later spoke about "the return of the beautiful Christine" and called it "a karmic, circular moment".

Later, for the songs 'Over My Head' and 'Gypsy', drummer Mick Fleetwood swapped his large kit for a smaller one at the front of the stage, which Christine McVie referred to as a "cocktail kit". During 'World Turning' he embarked on an epic drum solo, much to the delight of the crowd. "****, this is a huge, massive place," he remarked towards the end.

Following the show, both Adele and Florence And The Machine's Florence Welch were pictured backstage with Stevie Nicks.

Read more at http://www.nme.com/news/fleetwood-ma...MWAMCgr1gcG.99

Telegraph Co. UK (5 stars *****) By Neil McCormick

11:00PM BST 27 May 2015

Fleetwood Mac, O2 Arena, review: 'Nothing less than extraordinary'

The soap opera of the band member's personal lives has always lent a certain depth and texture to Fleetwood Mac, says Neil McCormick


The Chain made for a suitably dramatic opening, showing off the restored Fleetwood Mac to full effect with that fantastic bass, thunderous drums, blood quickening guitar solo and gorgeous wall of harmonies insisting the chain cannot be broken. Going straight into You Make Loving Fun drove the point home, showcasing Christine McVie's smooth vocal and funky keyboards. "I think we can safely say our girl is back" trilled Stevie Nicks.

This tour marks the full reunion of the classic line-up, with the return of Christine McVie after 16 years. The band have become almost the definition of a heritage act in her absence, regularly touring sets of their greatest hits to nostalgic audiences, so you can't really say she was missed. But there is no doubt she restores some balance, both in musical and pop cultural terms.

Musically, she takes some of the weight off virtuoso guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, her smooth, lush pop songs softening his sharper arty edges. Flowing gems as potent as Everywhere, Little Lies and Songbird were restored to their rightful place in the centre of a Fleetwood set and for that alone audiences have reason to be grateful.

But there is a sense too that the dysfunctional family is back together, healing old wounds with the balm of time and music, a message that, in itself, speaks volumes to lifelong fans

Fleetwood Mac make much of their history of "ups and downs" as Buckingham puts it. Now that Christine is back playing again with ex-husband bassist John McVie there are three former couples on stage, if you take into account that drummer Mick Fleetwood romanced singer Nicks behind the back of Buckingham.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger," Buckingham insisted, and seemed intent on proving it with a playful yet dramatically full blooded duet with his ex on Never Going Back Again.

The soap opera has always lent a certain depth and texture to Fleetwood Mac but, frankly, a little less chatter and a little more playing would be my only suggestion. There were speeches even after the encores. Yet it feels churlish to complain. Precious few bands have contained the range of vocal, stylistic and songwriting talent of the Mac, and even the inevitable inclusion of a new song didn't start a queue for the toilets.

With that taut, explosive rhythm section, Buckingham's imaginative flair, Nicks' wildcard charisma and Christine McVie's singalong soulfulness restored to the heart of the matter, there is really no way this band could be anything less than extraordinary. A lusty mass singalong of Don't Stop spoke volumes about how their audience felt about the return of the Mac.

I don't know, Lindsey. What doesn't kill me usually just makes me weak, scared and unhappy. Not stronger.

Michele

Fleetwood Mac review – back together, and just about perfect
4 / 5 stars

http://www.theguardian.com/music/201...2-arena-review

O2 Arena, London, The Guardian

The return of the band’s classic line-up on their On With the Show tour is cause for celebration – and fascination


“Let’s get this party started!” isn’t the introduction you expect at a Fleetwood Mac show, and especially not from Stevie Nicks, creator of the Hollywood Hills hippie-mystic archetype. But tonight is the 82nd gig of their year-long On With the Show tour and Nicks, splendid in trailing black lace, feels they’ve turned a corner in their relationship with Christine McVie. The singer-pianist’s nervousness about rejoining after a 16-year break has given way to wholehearted mucking in. Nodding towards McVie’s keyboard, behind which she is tall and commanding, Nicks roars: “Now I think we can safely say our girl is back!”

Mac returning to their classic configuration is cause for celebration, and not just because it lets us hear one of pop’s great songbooks performed by the five people who wrote it. There’s also the fascination of seeing them accommodate each other: Lindsey Buckingham, Nicks and McVie get equal front-time, and use it in ways that make you wonder how such disparate personalities functioned in the same group.

Nicks is the spell-casting sensualist, reedily fronting Dreams, Rhiannon and Landslide (dedicating the last to her father and singer Adele); Buckingham’s emotional collapse after years of “leading the lifestyle” is re-created in the angular battering he gives Tusk and Big Love. And McVie is somehow veiled and private, even when singing about bliss and its turbulent aftermath on Everywhere and Little Lies. Mick Fleetwood also gets his eventual moment, with a drum solo on World Turning, but he and John McVie are the perfect rhythm section – there without being too there.

There’s nothing to fault except Nicks’s getting so lost in her cocaine-warning song, Gold Dust Woman, that it goes on for a week – time that could have been better spent hearing the blaring Tusk again. Apart from that, it’s just about perfect.

[Some say Lindsey's parents used the British spelling, but they don't spell it right in the UK either. Basically, you've ruined his life, Rutheda]

Fleetwood Mac Reviews: Critics Hail Band's London O2 Gig Reuniting Stevie Nicks, Lyndsey Buckingham, Christine McVie, Mick Fleetwood And John McVie


The Huffington Post UK | By Ashley Percival [click for slide show] 5/28/15

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015...n_7459456.html

It was the gig British Fleetwood Mac fans have been waiting years for - the original line-up back on-stage on UK soil.

So it’s fair to say that expectations were high as the band took to the stage at London’s O2 Arena on Wednesday night (27 May) as part of their ‘On With the Show’ tour.

Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were reunited with keyboard player Christine McVie after sixteen years, and it seems the critics absolutely loved it.

Here’s what they had to say…

The Guardian (4 stars)

“There’s nothing to fault except Nicks’s getting so lost in her cocaine-warning song, 'Gold Dust Woman', that it goes on for a week – time that could have been better spent hearing the blaring 'Tusk' again. Apart from that, it’s just about perfect.”

The Telegraph (5 stars)

“With that taut, explosive rhythm section, Buckingham's imaginative flair, Nicks' wildcard charisma and Christine McVie's singalong soulfulness restored to the heart of the matter, there is really no way this band could be anything less than extraordinary.”

Daily Star

“With the crowd featuring die-hard fans, teenagers and even Harry Styles, we can't see Fleetwood Mac ever losing their appeal – especially considering how incredible their live act is.”

Evening Standard (4 stars)

“When the individuals surrendered to the collective, the evening turned celestial. Harmonies sparked off each other on The Chain; the comforting 'Don’t Stop' and its dark twin, 'Go Your Own Way', were all singalong moments of adult pop perfection.”

Look by Robyn Munson May 28, 2015

http://www.look.co.uk/fashion/adele-...h-stevie-nicks

Adele Gets Glammed Up For A Gig Night With Stevie NIcks


Adele looked gorgeous at London's Fleetwood Mac concert last night as she posed for a selfie with Stevie and mingled with Harry Styles

Adele doesn't flaunt her antics on Twitter much, but when she does, they're always pretty epic.

Last night, the 27-year-old singer spent a night out watching Fleetwood Mac at London's O2 (along with the rest of the world), and couldn't hide her excitement when she got to pap a selfie with none other than Stevie Nicks herself.

Adele looked gorgeous in her star-struck selfie, working her signature uniform of black, black and more black but upping the glam factor with a gorgeous side-swept lob, fierce feline flicks and a glossy red lip.

Read more at http://www.look.co.uk/fashion/adele-...fC6pWrqYu4F.99

'So...tonight was THE best night of my life. I love you Stevie Nicks!! The queen of melodies! Thanks for everything x,' she captioned the image of her and the legendary crooner.

It's not the first time she's been caught gushing over her showbiz icons – as well as papping a selfie with Lady Gaga earlier this year, the Skyfall singer also channelled her all-time idol, George Michael, on her 27th birthday this month when she underwent one almighty transformation to become George himself.

Taking to Twitter to post a photo booth snap of herself at the bash working George's trademark 80s aviators and a beard, she wrote: 'Thank you for the birthday wishes I had a wonderful time! I was my hero x #gottahavefaith.'

How we love you, Adele.

Also joining the British songstress at the gig last night was One Direction's Harry Styles, who was working his trusty man bun once again as he mingled with Lisa Snowden pulling peace signs backstage.

The Capital FM radio presenter shared a snap of herself with the floppy-haired boybander and her dad after bumping into him and wrote: 'This happened last night- Mr S met Mr S! @LiveNation epic night.'

Harry was also seen hanging out with his sister Gemma where he looked cool in an open black shirt to show off his man jewellery.

We wonder if Adele and Harry were hanging out too? With her dirty laugh and his cheeky chat, we can totally imagine those two getting on...

Read more at http://www.look.co.uk/fashion/adele-...fC6pWrqYu4F.99

I love your pictures of Mick!

wow Chris's eye makeup looks like it was done by Stevie's makeup person! And her hair is looking much softer and sleeker than previous. ;)

I should have said it when I posted it; these are not mine, they are professional pictures.
:)

Christine's hair did look a little brittle at the start of the tour. Michele

Independent Co. UK, four stars **** May 31, 2015 by Andy Gill

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...10287543.html#

Fleetwood Mac, O2 Arena, gig review: There's no stopping these sublime rockers

The internal dynamic of the Fleetwood Mac soap opera has always lent an additional frisson of interest to their performances, so the return of Christine McVie after an absence of 16 years made the band’s current show especially intriguing.

No surprise, then, that they should open with “The Chain”. Even without its obvious message that “the chain keeps us together”, it serves to reintroduce all the elements that make the band special: Mick Fleetwood’s earth-shaking bass-drum pulse heralding the re-constitution of those sylvan three-part harmonies, and John McVie’s massive bass bridge leading into the first of a series of dazzling guitar solos from Lindsey Buckingham. If only, in retrospect, they had stayed true to the show’s natural arc and eventually closed with the obvious money-shot encore, “Don’t Stop”, rather than deflating its impact by tacking on several more songs to an already overlong show.

But for a while, there’s no faulting this reunion, which of course relied heavily on “Rumours”, their defining epic of Californication. Even the weaker numbers, like “Second Hand News” and “Gold Dust Woman”, get an airing, the latter inflated into an interminable bout of melodrama.But once things settle down, there are some sublime performances tonight, several of them from Buckingham, a seriously underrated guitarist. His solo presentation of “Big Love”, a whirligig flurry of acoustic arpeggios and hammered notes, is extraordinary; though I could have done without the preceding lecture on the production of Tango in the Night and how it represented a “meditation on the power and importance of change”, or whatever. It’s almost as if he’s trying to epitomise the West Coast new-age weirdo – and that’s Stevie Nicks’ job, surely?

For her part, Nicks seems delighted to be back front and centre, wafting her witchy black silks and ribbons around and tottering about on spike-heeled platforms like a glam-rock version of the prologue to Macbeth during “Rhiannon”. By contrast, Christine McVie has a more refined deportment, even when hefting an accordion through a set-stopping version of the mighty “Tusk” which, in lieu of an actual horn section, climaxes with a back-projection of the USC Trojans marching-band that played on the original recording. It’s a euphoric, triumphant moment.

For all their claims of friendship, however, there’s something lacking in the onstage dynamic, which fails to shrink the massive space in the way that, say, the Stones do, when Keith and Ronnie lean upon each other like old chums. The three singers seem miles apart, as if reluctant to intrude on one another’s personal space. But whatever their relations, it seems to work for the music, which is uplifting and joyous for the most part. And the most welcome parts of it come from Christine McVie’s return: with songs as potent and engaging as “Little Lies”, “Everywhere”, “Say That You Love Me” and, of course, “Don’t Stop”, she’s always been the warm, welcoming heart of Fleetwood Mac, and it’s wonderful to see her back.

Financial Times May 29, 2015 5:41 pm

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/de54f...44feabdc0.html


Fleetwood Mac, O2 Arena, London — review Peter Aspden

The band managed, in the way of sexagenarian rock ensembles, to sound both urgent and relaxed

It was the completion of a karmic cycle. The beginning of a new chapter. The flight back of a much-missed songbird, after an absence of 16 years. The return of Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie to live performance at London’s O2 Arena on Wednesday prompted a flow of tributes from her fellow band members, all of which she acknowledged with a winning air of modesty.

McVie was always one of the more stable components of a group that was notoriously prone to explosive internal chemical reactions, and her presence here seemed restorative. Her sensible coiffure and on-stage stillness acted, again, as an important counterpoint to the more pyrotechnical stagecraft of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham.

Her songs, melodically simple and charmingly optimistic, cooled things down when melodrama threatened to take over. It felt authentically retro. Close your eyes and it was the year of the Queen’s silver jubilee all over again.

The band managed, in the way of sexagenarian rock ensembles, to sound both urgent and relaxed. They front-loaded the set with classics: “The Chain”, “You Make Loving Fun”, “Rhiannon”. It was not without its absurd moments. “Let’s get this party started!” exhorted Nicks, segueing straight into “Dreams”, seen as a rebuke to former boyfriend Buckingham: “Now here you go again, you say, You want your freedom, Well who am I to keep you down?”

But that was long ago, and nobody was keeping Buckingham down tonight. Drive and energy undiminished, his guitar-playing was well judged, his therapy-speak asides generally wise. “Big Love”, played solo, had turned, he said, from a “contemplation on alienation” to a “meditation on the power and importance of change”. Whatever; it was beautifully performed.

There was a lull halfway through; a reminder, for those of us who remember it first time around, that this was the mid-tempo, well-crafted, soft-rock balladry that punk was supposed to kill forever. It didn’t turn out that way. The songs are resonant and resurgent. “Go Your Own Way” (Buckingham’s own version of his troubles with Nicks), a song which only just penetrated the top 40, was a triumphant crowd-pleaser.

There was time for a demented drum solo from a dementedly happy Mick Fleetwood, and McVie’s slightly tentative rendition of “Songbird”. Can there really have been first-night nerves? If nothing else, it proved she cares. Writing new chapters after 40 years in this exhausting business can do that to you.


four out of five stars ****

Spectator Co. UK by Melissa Kite, June 6, 2015

http://www.spectator.co.uk/arts/musi...e-o2-reviewed/


Unutterably thrilling: Fleetwood Mac at the O2 reviewed

When they spoke, they made little to no sense, but when they sang and played they came close to perfection, says Melissa Kite

‘I can’t tell you what a thrill it is to get this chance in life,’ said Christine McVie, as the opening jangle to ‘Everywhere’ rang out. Judging by their ecstatic reaction, the audience felt much the same way.

Look, I’ll be honest. I’m not going to give you a dispassionately critical review of Fleetwood Mac, together again in their classic line-up — Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and, for the first time in 16 years, Christine McVie. But then, who would give you that? A puritan arrived on a time machine from the 16th century? A shadow minister for work and pensions? Who could possibly be so joyless as to not enjoy the Mac being well and truly back?

From the minute the fab five wafted on stage and began thumping out ‘The Chain’ in glorious abandon, this was a show that was as near perfection as it is possible to calibrate. It wasn’t just good. It was so good I was jealous of myself for being there.

This was the 82nd gig of Fleetwood Mac’s On With the Show tour, and they delivered an impeccable showcasing of non-stop hits. For such diverse, eccentric talents to come together and gel at all is a miracle. To gel for so long, how does that work? But perhaps that’s the point. The band makes a wonderful sound in the way that only musicians who have been together a long time, gone through fire, and learnt to accommodate each other, can.

I was on my feet a few numbers in, unable to stay seated for the songs from Tango in the Night, the soundtrack of my youth. But no matter which was your own particular favourite era or album, there wasn’t a number in this show that wasn’t a crowd-pleaser. If you’d wanted a drink, or a trip to the loo, you would have been hard pressed. There just wasn’t a second you could allow yourself to miss.



Stevie Nicks, like an exquisite moth in her winged clothes, the mystic muse, ‘our poet’, as Fleetwood called her, was by turns raunchy and raucous, wounded and delicate. On ‘Rhiannon’ she was every inch the old witch of the song, on ‘Gypsy’ she was knowing, yet vulnerable.




Buckingham played unfeasible guitar solos, yelping and howling like a demented coyote in an acoustic version of ‘Big Love’ that was half rock’n’roll, half flamenco. Standing in a spotlight alone, screeching as his fingers plucked lightning fast arpeggios, the effect he produced was as if Jimi Hendrix had swallowed Joaquin Rodrigo. It was unutterably thrilling, and worked on a deep level, by which I mean that as well as making a fantastic noise, it did things to you that you weren’t exactly sure you wanted doing, as they might dislodge something awkward, emotionally speaking. He tried to explain the song before playing it, referring back to his personal struggles with the lifestyle the band led in their heyday.

‘Tango was a very difficult album to complete,’ he told the audience. ‘We were probably living that lifestyle out to its ultimate conclusion. If I look back on how I was then …this is about the power and importance of change.’ Even though he didn’t make total sense, I understood what he meant.

Effusive about McVie’s return, as they all were, he said: ‘We’ve seen our fair share of ups and downs but it’s made us what we are. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. We’ve been able to grow and evolve but also to prevail. And in this karmic, circular moment, with the return of the beautiful Christine, we’ve begun a prolific, profound new chapter in the history of this band.’ I’m allowing it, I thought, as he rambled on, because the man is a genius.

In one of several meandering excursions of her own between songs, Nicks gave a Reith-style lecture on the subject of longevity, but I guess she has earned the right. They had honed their craft properly, she said, supporting Hendrix and other giants in big stadiums before they headlined themselves. They had only survived 40 years because they were ‘proper songwriters’. Then she launched into a ‘we may be old but we’re still down with the kids’ type tribute to Adele, who was in the audience. She dedicated ‘Landslide’ to her, and sang it like she was only a slip of a girl herself.

How can Nicks be 67? Is this possible, or has Wikipedia made a mistake? She looked incredible cavorting around the stage, shaking her long blonde hair, dancing with legs planted wide, frenziedly tipping herself upside down and gyrating like a shaman in a trance. Her voice was as strong as ever. ‘Back to the gypsy that I was,’ she sang, in that world-weary drawl, and you believed her. ‘We love you, Stevie!’ people shouted from the back seats.

She possibly didn’t need to come back to the mike at the end of the encore and start telling us the exact details of how Christine had rung up and told them she was coming back to the band, especially after McVie herself had more than adequately brought proceedings to a close with ‘Songbird’, seated alone at a grand piano, landing us in a sweet, serene place.

Still, I sat listening to Stevie chatting about life, and how it had ‘all worked out beautifully’, long after the rest of the band had gone off stage, and with no hope of another song coming, because, well, she was right, wasn’t she? It had all worked out beautifully.

This article first appeared in the print edition of The Spectator magazine, dated 6 June 2015

"demented coyote"... LOL

I remember one old review that said he yowled like a woof, contrasting his vocals to Christine's.

Michele

If they performed a new or less traveled song I would be so riveted to stage, even if it meant peeing in my pants. Why is it always assumed that unknown songs are so alienating that it signals people to head to the bathroom. I don't get it.

I'm always appalled at shows when people starting leaving before the show was over (presumably to beat the traffic). It seemed so careless and rude. A genuine fan would never sacrifice missing the last two songs.

Hi
Does anyone know why the Manchester show was cancelled ?
Many Thanks.