The Mac Is Back! St. Paul 1/16/15

[teedeerocks]

The 5 fireflies light up again tonight after a long break so if anyone is going could you do a review and let us (me!) know what the communication between them was like and also if Stevie's GDW act has changed since she "gold dusted out?"Thanks a bunch! Oh yeah - mention the music too

[Hawkeye]

What do up you mean since did gold dusted out?

[cheappd]

I'll be there, so I'll write something up by tomorrow. I also attended the opening show of the tour in Minneapolis on 9/30, so it will be interesting to compare the two shows. FM has never played two shows in the Twin Cities on the same tour. This one is not sold out, good tickets are still available from the resellers at less than face value.

[teedeerocks]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

What do up you mean since did gold dusted out?

In the current issue of Rolling Stone Stevie said she has to apply ice to her back because,during her live Gold Dust Woman stint,she through her back out.She refers to it as "gold dusting out"

[teedeerocks]

Originally Posted by teedeerocks

In the current issue of Rolling Stone Stevie said she has to apply ice to her back because,during her live Gold Dust Woman stint,she through her back out.She refers to it as "gold dusting out"

Make that threw her back outAlso, thanks cheappd

[Macfan4life]

Bring on the reviews of 2015!!!!!

[cheappd]

Back from the concert. No changes to the set list, less welcoming of Chris back to the band, more Stevie talking between songs than I remember. Stevie dedicated one of the songs to Prince (he's from Minneapolis). Overall a great concert, though I've been spoiled by seeing them live 3 times in the last 21 months.

[michelej1]

Minneapolis Star Tribune

http://www.startribune.com/entertain...288908071.html

Fleetwood Mac reprises familiar flair at Xcel Energy Center
Article by: JON BREAM , Star Tribune
Updated: January 17, 2015 - 9:54 AM

Pink did it. So did Bruno Mars.

Last year, they both came back to the Twin Cities for the second time on the same tour and they were noticeably better the second time around.

Fleetwood Mac returned to the Twin Cities on Friday for a second time in four months and they didn’t do it. They weren’t better. But they were noticeably different even though they played the exact same set list at the Xcel Energy Center as they had at Target Center in September.

The Minneapolis show was all about the return of singer/keyboardist Christine McVie after a 16-year retirement. That concert, the first on the On with the Show Tour, was about giddy excitement, a rush of adrenaline and a warm, fuzzy feeling that this fractured family was somehow whole again. It was an evening of the democratic, polite, respectful Fleetwood Mac.

Since then, the Rock Hall of Fame fivesome played 39 more concerts, took a four-week break for the holidays and chose St. Paul as the kick-off for the second leg of the tour. But Friday’s performance had a changed vibe. This wasn’t about the joy of having McVie back on board. Or as Stevie Nicks put it early in the evening: on the last leg, she would say that Fleetwood Mac welcomed McVie back and now it’s simply “she’s back.”

This gig felt like “we’re getting back to work.” Sure, McVie’s contributions were significant, apparent from the opening notes of the first song, “The Chain,” with her high vocal harmonies ringing through clearly. There were several songs, including “You Make Lovin’ Fun” and the closing “Songbird,” that have returned to the repertoire after a long absence to the delight of fans. But McVie wasn’t the spark plug on Friday.

No, that duty fell once again to singer/guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, who frankly has carried this band by force of personality (and will) and an obsessive attention to detail, pretty much ever since he and Nicks joined in 1975.

With the sell-out crowd of nearly 16,000 not acting as amped as the Target Center crowd, the band kind of cruised along Friday, sounding good but never great. A good hour into the 2½-hour set, Buckingham took over for a solo version of “Big Love” and the intensity and momentum began building.

Next Nicks joined him for “Landslide,” which she dedicated to her old pal Prince even though he wasn’t in attendance, and the couple who’d turned around Fleetwood Mac in the mid-’70s turned around this show midway. Their romantic tension that has fueled the band propelled the song, which ended with her hitting a high note, then glancing at him for approval, him rolling his eyes playfully and them grasping hands as the lights faded.

Then came arguably the night’s highlight, “Never Going Back Again,” with Buckingham on lead vocals, Nicks on harmonies and their blend sounding like a male-female Everly Brothers. Buckingham was so overjoyed with their performance that he walked over to Nicks afterward in the darkness and gave her a hug that screamed “hot damn.”

For the rest of the night, this band of geezers, ages 65 to 71, was as good as they’re likely to get at this stage of their lives and career (drummer Mick Fleetwood started this band in 1967 in England). “Over My Head” was appealingly countrified. “Gypsy” found Nicks in all her Stevie Nicksness, with a mystical story to introduce it and trippy dancing to elevate it. Buckingham, an underrated guitarist who seizes solo opportunities aggressively, went insane on “So Afraid.” “Go Your Own Way” was the perfect combination of emotion and release.

If Frank Sinatra sings that love is lovelier the second time around, then someone could conclude that Fleetwood Mac made loving more fun the second half of the second time around.

[michelej1]

Then came arguably the night’s highlight, “Never Going Back Again,” with Buckingham on lead vocals, Nicks on harmonies and their blend sounding like a male-female Everly Brothers. Buckingham was so overjoyed with their performance that he walked over to Nicks afterward in the darkness and gave her a hug that screamed “hot damn.”

Goodness. This is so not my week. First Sarah Treem and now Lindsey getting encouragement I didn't want him to have.

If they did sound like the Everly Bros., on that song it would be fantastic. Unfortunately ...

Michele

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by michelej1

Goodness. This is so not my week. First Sarah Treem and now Lindsey getting encouragement I didn't want him to have.

If they did sound like the Everly Bros., on that song it would be fantastic. Unfortunately ...

Michele

Hahaha... you made my day..

[vivfox]

Originally Posted by michelej1

For the rest of the night, this band of geezers, ages 65 to 71, was as good as they’re likely to get at this stage of their lives and career (drummer Mick Fleetwood started this band in 1967 in England).

Lindsey is 13 years older than me. I wonder if the reviewer would consider me on old geezer also?

[michelej1]

MUSIC REVIEW | Fleetwood Mac packs the Xcel Center

By Caleb Baumgartner, TC Daily Planet January 17, 2015

http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/arts/20...ac-xcel-center

There is no arguing that Fleetwood Mac’s performance at Xcel Energy Center on Jan. 16 was stellar. The crowd was completely into it, the band was playing well within their limitations incredibly well, Lindsey Buckingham was shredding all night, Stevie Nicks was as haunting as ever … it was a display of fantastic musicians playing very well to a crowd that was eating it up.

There was genuine excitement in the air for Fleetwood Mac’s performance, and the pop that the band received when they took the stage was one of the loudest I have ever heard. Xcel was packed to the roof with grateful fans who were on their feet almost the whole time, singing along in unison to practically every track that the band performed, and it was clear that the band had these people’s attention and admiration from the moment they stepped on the stage.

As stated before, the band played at a ridiculously high level, firing off very tight and satisfying renditions of some of their best works and bringing the crowd along for the ride on a wave that put them just within touch of the band’s high water mark years before, bringing you glimpses into that iconic act that has been so very successful for so very long.

But in spite of how fantastic everything was, and how I, as a complete and total junkie for historic bands and popular music, and as an individual who very much enjoys Fleetwood Mac, knew how I should have been responding to it, I could not shake this overall feeling of boredom the entire time I was there.

Regardless of whether it was one of their all time classics, like Rhiannon or The Chain, or even an incredibly moving performance of Landslide, moments into any given song my brain would start to wander into what the rest of my evening would look like, and I would wonder what other people were doing. Nothing felt genuinely captivating. The entire experience felt so very rehearsed and stiff and almost disingenuous.

I am completely willing to accept I was alone in that perception, or, if not alone, at least in the minority. The place was clearly enamored with the band and for the most part, everyone seemed to be excited for the presence on the stage. But for me, not even the historic nature of this tour and the presence of so many of the original band members on stage could keep me engaged.

There is no question that Fleetwood Mac is a historically significant band, and that this "On With the Show" tour is quite significant as well. For big Fleetwood Mac fans, this is in all likelihood a can’t-miss event. But for folks who are maybe on the fence about buying tickets to this show when it comes to their town, all I can say is that if you’re open to pure musicianship, this may be your show, but if you’re looking for something more than a band playing on a stage, you may be better off enjoying your Fleetwood Mac records at home.