FLEETWOOD DAZZLES (Mohegan Sun Review)

[MacMan]

Fleetwood dazzles
Monday, March 16, 2009
By KEVIN O'HARE
Masslive.com


Music writerUNCASVILLE, Conn. - If you're sick of superstar bands going out and playing too many obscure songs during their concerts, then Fleetwood Mac's first tour in five years will hold a whole lot more appeal for you.

The 1970's superstars are out on the road and bringing a truckload of hits with them on their "Unleashed" tour, which was unleashed Saturday at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

While the Mac went through plenty of personnel changes during decades of rockin', this tour features four-fifths of their most famous lineup. Guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, singer Stevie Nicks, and founding fathers Mick Fleetwood on drums on John McVie on bass are all there. Unfortunately the great keyboardist/vocalist Christine McVie, who retired from the band in the late 1990s to return home to England, is not back on board for the latest reunion and early rumors that Sheryl Crow would take her place blew up when Crow blabbed about it before the agreement had been finalized.

Nevertheless, there's plenty to like about this tour, which finds Buckingham in particular as well as Nicks out front and in fine form.

With tickets priced between $125 and $175, this wasn't a cheap seat, but the band nevertheless played to a packed house.

Accompanied by two additional musicians and three female backing vocalists, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees opened the two-hour and 20 minute performance with "Monday Morning" before Fleetwood's huge, pounding beat drove "The Chain," and Nicks said it was time to "get this party started" with a crowd-pleasing take of "Dreams."

Early in the concert, Buckingham acknowledged Fleetwood Mac's "convoluted and complex emotional history." It was a supreme understatement for anyone who's followed the band's soap opera-like journey through the decades.

"Because there is no new album to promote - yet," he said, teasing the audience with the implication, "we're just going to do the things that we love and hopefully you love as well."

It appears they succeeded on all levels.

Centered between two of Nicks' signature songs, "Gypsy," and "Rhiannon," Buckingham turned in a drop-dead brilliant "Go Insane," filled with the mesmerizing finger-picking and pure passion that he exhibited nearly every time he stepped into the spotlight Saturday.

"Tusk" started slow and somewhat eerie but built to a huge ending before Nicks brought her raspy lower range into focus for "Sara," while Buckingham offered the high harmonies.

An acoustic triad featuring "Big Love," "Landslide" and "Never Going Back Again," was placed perfectly into the set, which also included a few genuine rarities, including one they had never played live before this tour, 1979's "Storms."

While this is definitely a Buckingham and Nicks kind of tour, they did acknowledge Christine McVie with a sharp arrangement of the latter's "Say You Love Me."

Buckingham's firepower reached staggering heights when he did "Oh Well (Part 1)" from the days when Peter Green played lead guitar for Fleetwood Mac. Buckingham's take brought the house down, as did the follow-up "I'm So Afraid."

The night wound down with highlights that included "Go Your Own Way," and encore faves such as "World Turning," complete with a very amusing tribal drum solo courtesy of Fleetwood; "Don't Stop;" and a moving version of "Silver Springs."

[MacMan]

Fleetwood Mac Shines With Greatest-hits Concert At Mohegan Sun

TheDay.com

Even bitter breakups can't kill great musical chemistry.

They certainly didn't for Fleetwood Mac, whose hook-ups and bust-ups were well-documented back in the 1970s - and whose intra-band animosity would occasionally bubble up in the years after that.

Now, 32 years after releasing its biggest album, “Rumours,” Mac still bristles with the feisty energy of opposites coexisting. But now they seem to be coexisting happily. During their Saturday concert at Mohegan Sun Arena, the band members emanated a distinct, shared joy.

Central to Mac's success are the quirky contradictions between its two lead singer/songwriters. (Christine McVie, the third singer/songwriter, has retired.) Lindsey Buckingham sparks with edgy intensity. Stevie Nicks swirls with ethereal lyricism. It certainly made for a neat balance Saturday; after Buckingham's screaming guitar on one number, Nicks would swoop in to soothe with a ballad.

Buckingham - who is 59, a year younger than Nicks - performed as if the term “a man possessed” was invented for him. He attacked guitar solos, snapping and pawing at the strings, on “I'm So Afraid” and “Big Love.” He cooed and yelped, injecting each song with fresh emotion. It was heartening to see that he was having a hell of a great time, and so was the audience.

The beauty of this go-round, their first tour in five years, is that there is no new album to promote, so Fleetwood Mac is staging a greatest-hits, fans-dream concert. And Mac isn't merely settling for a musty revival-for-revival's-sake tone. Instead, the band goosed the old songs with fervor and new angles. The once countrified loping cadence of “Second Hand News,” for instance, was sped up and sung by Buckingham with a distinct aggression.

Nicks, too, often toyed with the familiar melodies - sometimes, granted, because she might not be able to hit the high notes like she used to, but often because it made for an intriguing twist.

Nicks' purr is now more of a growl when it comes time to rock, but her voice sounded supple on mellow tunes like “Sara” and “Storms.” And, yes, Nicks rotated through a number of costume changes that inevitably ended up a different variation on her signature look - flowy dark, gypsy-like ensemble, shawl optional.

Much quieter a stage presence was John McVie, but his bass work was sharp as ever. Animated Mick Fleetwood thwacked and swatted the drums in his own inimitable style, especially on that hugely entertaining drum rhythm on “Tusk.”

As if proving that you don't have to repeat history, Nicks and Buckingham worked better and seemed more figuratively in tune as the night went along, and they actually came out for the encores hand-in-hand

[StandbackStevie]

Thanks for posting these news articles it was an amazing awesome power house performance by the Mac great audience excellent show loved every minute didn't want it to end.