At Universal Amphitheater, by Richard Cromelin, August 30, 1976
Fleetwood Mac: View at the Top
The Fleetwood Mac success story is another case of a band going from undeserved obscurity to a level of acclaim that is equally disproportionate to what the group actually offers. Fleetwood Mac's basic talents and exemplary perseverance, if nothing else, should entitle the veteran outfit to a share of the cake, and when its disparate musical elements coalesce, it furnishes a highly attractive musical sound. Opening a four-day, sold-out engagement at the Universal Amphitheater, though, Fleetwood Mac exhibited too many shortcomings to be counted as an essential, compelling musical force.
Friday's show as immediately afflicted by a poor sound balance that hit directly at the core of the music's appeal - that smooth, easygoing, but urgent rhythmic groove enfolding the voices of Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks (at times, the former's indispensable keyboards were completely absent).
Fleetwood Mac's music is predominantly sedate (when not bland) rather than explosive, but the inclusion of some earlier, blues-based material, while adding a bit of fire, spotlights the band's two unreconcilable sides: the stately, purposeful qualities of McVie on one side and, on the other, the rougher, rather ordinary guitar and vocal work of Lindsey Buckingham, whose long turn in the macho rock-star role tends to eclipse his cohorts' more noteworthy elements. The two strains comprise an uneasy mix, and while the discrepant styles might serve to keep an album nicely varied, they preclude the unity necessary for a strong stage presentation.
The audience received Fleetwood Mac's music with wholehearted enthusiasm after unkindly dismissing opener Peter Ivers. Ivers is an interesting eccentric (her performed in a diaper a couple of years ago at the Hollywood Trash Dance), but needs a more developed and assertive musical framework for his offbeat compositions.
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