Tampa Review

[TpaDavid]

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/apr...news-breaking/

By CURTIS ROSS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 22, 2009
Tampa - Stevie Nicks' "Sara" was winding to a close midway through Fleetwood Mac's concert Wednesday night. Nicks strolled from center stage to the microphone of guitarist and ex-lover Lindsey Buckingham. She sang a final line and then embraced Buckingham – still playing the song's guitar figure – before she walked off stage.

It was a small gesture that said a lot, since Fleetwood Mac's intraband romantic tangles are almost as well-known as its songs; and those songs are ingrained in the memories of anyone who had access to a radio in the mid- to late-'70s.

Those hits made up the lion's share of the band's set list before a St. Petersburg Times Forum crowd of 10,008. However, there were enough surprises in the arrangements and in the song selection to keep the proceedings from utter predictability.

Buckingham and Nicks shared vocals on departed keyboardist Christine McVie's "Say You Love Me." Buckingham went back to the Mac's first incarnation as a '60s blues band, remaking Peter Green's "Oh Well" into a loose-limbed but fiery jam reminiscent of The Who's take on Mose Allison's "Young Man Blues."

Even a casual fan could have guessed the rest of the tunes, but the performances were full of heart and drive. Drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie have been in the pocket since 1968 and show no signs of leaving. Buckingham is simply an amazing performer, closing "Big Love" with frightening yelps and barks, and playing spectacular guitar throughout. Nicks paced herself, with her finest numbers, "Storms," "Gold Dust Woman" and the show-closing "Silver Springs," coming after midset.

[TpaDavid]

http://www2.tbo.com/video/2009/apr/2...t-forum-89107/

[LukeA]

Originally Posted by TpaDavid

a St. Petersburg Times Forum crowd of 10,008.

Ouch!

This is why you don't book both Orlando & Tampa a day apart.

Or Kansas City & Omaha.

Or Columbus & Cleveland.

Or Charlotte & Greensboro.

Or Albany & Rochester.

[TpaDavid]

April 22, 2009
LIVE REVIEW: Fleetwood Mac

TAMPA –- When Christine McVie ditched Fleetwood Mac in 1998, the piano-playing songbird took with her any semblance of levity that existed in the bed-hopping, turmoil-tossing band. She made loving fun; the rest of ’em made loving sound like a knife fight.

The remaining quartet, which played the St. Pete Times Forum on Wednesday, is now built solely on headstrong, prickly pieces: the steady apathy of bassist John McVie, the googly-eyed madness of warlockian drummer Mick Fleetwood, the beautifully broken mysticism of singer Stevie Nicks (left), the winning petulance of guitar virtuoso Lindsey Buckingham. (Click to enlarge photo)

"As many of you know, Fleetwood Mac has had a complex and convoluted emotional history," Buckingham told the tidy, intense crowd of 10,008 fans. But for this tour, he added, they "just wanted to go out and have fun."

Fun is a relative term when most of your shattered-sunset songs are about how much you once despised the person next to you. For a good part of five decades, the Mac has been dysfunctionally functional. Even though all but one member is now in their 60s, those crazy kids are still working out their junk onstage. That said, they're also really good at their jobs

For two-plus hours and 23 songs, Buckingham and Nicks traded hits, verses and curious looks, as the beatmakers behind them kept the heat on. Although the singers were separated onstage, overhead video screens were split to simultaneously show both, almost as if they were smooching.

For her "Sara," Nicks started on one microphone, but wandered over to Buckingham's, finally resting her head on his shoulder. The crowd went bonkers: a great tune and a soap opera all in one!

In the night's hottest moment, Buckingham performed a solo acoustic version of "Big Love," his fastest-fingers flying, a baroque frenzy of licks and hubba-hubba frustration. After that, Nicks came back for "Landslide," the end of which she spent staring into her former flame's eyes: "And I'm getting older, too."

There have been reports that Nicks, 60, has been less-than-lucid on this tour. But although she looked half-lidded, her voice was a wounded-bird marvel. With her long blond hair flowing, she busted out the twirly dance for "Stand Back." She did a bizarro shadow thingie for the sexy thunder of "Gold Dust Woman." Nicks was great -- loopy and possibly possessed, but great.

For all the rarities they dusted off ("Storms," "I Know I'm Not Wrong," "Oh Well"), the band made sure to also play the ones you warbled on the way to work this morning: "Rhiannon," "Gypsy," "The Chain." Although she was certainly missed, Christine McVie was honored with just one tune: "Say You Love Me."

If there were any concern that well-worns such as "Don't Stop" and "Go Your Own Way" have lost oomph due to ubiquity, Buckingham took care of that with a fluorish, putting liquid, hair-raising solos into each.

The Mac closed with "Silver Springs," a B-side from 1977's combative "Rumours" album. The song sounds gentle, nice, hopeful. Maybe it made sense to leave it off that warring album. But 32 years later, it's appropriate to bring it back. Give them time, and these crazy kids might figure things out after all.

Posted by Sean Daly at 11:20:07 PM on April 22, 2009 in

[louielouie2000]

Originally Posted by TpaDavid

Christine McVie made loving fun; the rest of ’em made loving sound like a knife fight.

That has to be one of the BEST lines EVER from a review!!

[MacMan]

[gjack5404]

That was an awesome show-but I did notice that Stevies' eye looked almost closed all the time. Maybe the lights or something but she sounded and looked awesome as ever. It was worth my 4 hour round trip drive from Gainesville.

Enjoy the future shows everyone!

[TpaDavid]

[FMlex]

Originally Posted by TpaDavid

After that, Nicks came back for "Landslide," the end of which she spent staring into her former flame's eyes: "And I'm getting older, too."

Whaaaaaaat?

[michelej1]

So, the media is also aware of reports that Stevie has been "less than lucid?"

I guess that guy doesn't realize that Don't Stop is a Christine song too. I wouldn't expect him to know WT is hers, but Don't Stop . . .

Those are incredible pictures MacMan.

Michele

[Stevie_Buck]

Hey guys. Haven't posted in a while. We drove down from SC to the show. Vocally, it was amazing! The only downside was that Stevie just seemed to be so blah. I miss the spins and twirls and gravel-y voice.

[Songbird4]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

That has to be one of the BEST lines EVER from a review!!

Love that quote!! And I kinda have to agree with it....

~Kim

[michelej1]

Concert Review: Fleetwood Mac at St. Pete Times Forum
April 23rd, 2009 by Eric Snider in Reviews

http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/tam...e-times-forum/

A little more than halfway through their set at the St. Pete Times Forum last night, Fleetwood Mac played “Say You Love Me.” A Christine McVie song. She is the only member of the re-assembled (yet again) Fleetwood Mac who opted out — she departed, apparently for good, in 1998 — and to these ears her presence was sorely missed.

“Say You Love Me” was also a reminder of all the McVie songs Fleetwood Mac did not play last night. And seeing as Chrissie was always my favorite of the combative quintet, to me the concert was left lacking.

Fleetwood Mac — which also included drummer Mick Fleetwood, bassist John McVie, two sidemen and three female backup singers — ran through a compendium of their mostly impressive songbook, touching on some obscure stuff (“I Know I’m Not Wrong”) but mostly sticking to such recognizable tunes and monster hits as “Dreams,” “The Chain,” “Monday Morning,” “Gypsy,” “Sara,” et al.


Overall, the band delivered a competent performance. It featured some rousing spots: “Tusk,” “Second Hand News,” a Buckingham/Nicks duet of “Never Going Back Again”). It dragged in spots: “Sara,” the dreary “Storms,” a rote “Rhiannon.” Notice the latter are all Stevie Nicks showcases. Rarely has a pop singer gleaned more success from a set of pipes that are as texturally unpleasant as Nicks’. During the Forum show, she avoided high notes as if they were poison ivy, choosing instead to rephrase lines downward.

Buckingham is walking proof that you can still be very much a SoCal dude at 59. Trim, sharply dressed in painted-on black jeans and a short leather jacket — and still sporting cheekbones that could cut glass — he preened and made a few lofty pronouncements to the crowd. Pretty precious.

But give him this: The fellow can play guitar. During a mid-set, acoustic segment, he killed on “Big Love,” raining arpeggios over the crowd. At the mic, he reached for the tough notes, although sometimes he ended up yelping more than singing. That’s nothing new, actually.

One last observation: Big acts really seem to be perfecting the art of arena concert production. Last night, the sound was crisp and at an ideal volume (loud enough to deliver rock punch; not so loud you had to plug your ears). Two big screens, high-definition big screens, hung from the rafters about a quarter of the way into the crowd. So each time Buckingham played a guitar solo, I could simply turn my head to the left and watch his fingers go at it — in hi-def. Nice.

Photo: Jamie Ostrand

Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham traded verses on “Say You Love Me,” and although it was nice they included the song, this version lacked the airiness of the original pop gem. Buckingham played the brief guitar solo note-for-note, which made the performance seem obligatory.

[michelej1]

[This was a reader's response to Sean Daly's negative review and there's more feedback about it on the blog]
http://blogs.tampabay.com/popmusic/2...ky-snarky.html April 30, 2009


Dear Sean,

I was one of the 10,000 people that paid to go to the St. Pete Times Forum last Wednesday and I just had to respond to your review of Fleetwood Mac. It seems to me that your snarky little commentary was more about judging and criticizing these Rock Legends' lives than it was about their music.

It was a great show and the songs were exactly what we all went to hear -- if they played anything else, we would have been disappointed. Those performers got up on stage and worked their asses off for 2 hrs. and 20 minutes -- they sounded instrumentally and vocally very much the way they did 40 years ago when they were in their 20s. It was a thrill to see Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood and John McVuie and I hope they keep on performing as long as they can.

As I said, Sean, your downer little review was snarky, snarky, snarky and I hate to think of people reading it and believing it. Maybe your years at the St. Pete Times are what have made you such a negative, judgmental person.