Las Vegas Sun review

[Johnny Stew]

Mac trudges on after latest lineup change

By Spencer Patterson
LAS VEGAS SUN


More than perhaps any other band, Fleetwood Mac has turned changing its lineup into an art form.

Fourteen musicians have been members of the group. Even the departure of its founder, guitar god Peter Green, proved to be just a pothole in the Mac's winding road to rock immortality.

So it probably came as no great shock to fans when Fleetwood Mac announced its intention to tour this year without the retired Christine McVie, a mainstay in the band since 1971.

Far more surprising was the extent to which McVie's absence affected her former bandmates' live performance Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Not that the concert was a bust without her. Far from it, the four remaining Macsters -- Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood -- offered up enough well-presented favorites to satisfy the Boomer-dominated crowd of 12,700.

But as the two-hour, 20-minute performance wore on, even the most ardent supporters of the Buckingham-Nicks combination must have yearned for the sheer simplicity of a good Christine McVie number.

Hers might never have ranked among Fleetwood Mac's primo cuts, but a few poppy singalongs might have lightened up the overly heavy mood emanating from the stage much of the night.

Nicks certainly wasn't at fault. After the band opened with its soap opera theme song, "The Chain," the 55-year-old singer took her first lead vocal for "Dreams."

Although she no longer works the upper register -- instead bringing the song's high notes down an octave -- Nicks' voice retains its unmistakeable rasp, which she projected effortlessly throughout the arena.

Robed in flowing black clothing and her microphone adorned with hanging beads and ribbons, Nicks played her role as rock's most mysterious chanteuse. She twirled, gestured cryptically with her hands and blew kisses to her adoring fans.

"Beautiful Stevie!" a man shouted from the arena floor during a particularly quiet moment in Nicks' wistful ballad "Beautiful Child," an unexpected highlight of the show.

"Rhiannon," "Gypsy" and "Gold Dust Woman" all found Nicks in top form, but her lone foray into solo territory, "Stand Back," cried out for its original, fully cheesed-out synth part.

Buckingham's night was far less even. The 54-year-old singer/guitarist provided two of the show's most memorable moments: a powerful solo, acoustic rendering of "Big Love" and a sweetly understated version of "Never Going Back Again."

He was also responsible for the concert's primary shortcomings.

Perhaps feeling that his songwriting has overshadowed his musicianship in the public eye, Buckingham seemed intent on showing off his instrumental skills.

On song after song, he soloed maniacally for minutes on end, pawing savagely at his guitar strings as if he were trying to tear them out. While the bizarre spectacle stirred up some in the mostly seated crowd, the heavy-handed approach only served to extend Buckingham's numbers far past the point of tolerance.

Of course, the shared moments between one-time couple Buckingham and Nicks drew lots of oohs and aahs from the audience, even if everyone realized the same scenes are most likely repeated nightly on the tour.

Buckingham and Nicks also reaffirmed that their version of "Landslide" is still the best one going, infusing the song with far more emotion than either the Smashing Pumpkins' or Dixie Chicks' popular covers.

The two men for whom Fleetwood Mac was originally named -- drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie -- were steady as ever, particularly the underrated McVie, who drove the band's music as much as its more famous skins man.

The wild-eyed Fleetwood engaged in a bit of his own self-appreciation during the first encore, a seemingly odd time for an eight-minute drum solo, part of it played by hand-slapping electric drums fitted inside his vest.

Along with the hits, the 56-year-old Fleetwood Mac performed six tracks from its new album "Say You Will." Most went over well, further evidence that the material is the Mac's strongest new work in years.

In the liner notes, Christine McVie is credited with contributing to that disc in the studio. As the band's lackluster attempt to recreate "Don't Stop" without her in Saturday night's encore demonstrated, it's too bad she didn't come along for the ride as well.

[wondergirl9847]

Originally posted by Johnny Stew
Buckingham's night was far less even. The 54-year-old singer/guitarist provided two of the show's most memorable moments: a powerful solo, acoustic rendering of "Big Love" and a sweetly understated version of "Never Going Back Again."

He was also responsible for the concert's primary shortcomings.

Perhaps feeling that his songwriting has overshadowed his musicianship in the public eye, Buckingham seemed intent on showing off his instrumental skills.

On song after song, he soloed maniacally for minutes on end, pawing savagely at his guitar strings as if he were trying to tear them out. While the bizarre spectacle stirred up some in the mostly seated crowd, the heavy-handed approach only served to extend Buckingham's numbers far past the point of tolerance.

Gimme a break. He couldn't have done it ENOUGH for seteca and I.

I am SERIOUSLY sick of the whining about Christine being gone. It was HER decision NOT to tour, GET THE FRICK OVER IT!!!! Geez. Anywho...next FM show I get to....ain't gonna be in frickin Dallas...thank GOD I'm from Fort Worth, because those people SUCK. LAMOS!!! I hope they spilled their beer.

[Merf]

ouch.... that's one of the MOST cynical articles i've seen about this tour, they should just have printed some fan reviews too so we could see both sides of the story..... wouldn't that be nice?

xx Meredith

ps. Christy- i totally agree about the CM thing, she CHOSE not to tour-- but then again if this journalist knew *anything* about this band he would have known that.

[LCinPA]

"I miss Christine", and "Lindsey 'unplugged' is OK, but I don't like his 'loud' songs".

There you have it, and it wouldn't have taken six column inches for Mr. Patterson to type.

[rant:ON]
As to Christine, sure, we'd all be happy if she was onboard this time. Is their sound different without her? Definitely.
(No matter how many times I hear it, Stevie's voice is still disconcerting on CM's part in "Don't Stop". Nothing against Stevie's performance on the song; it's just not what my ears have been conditioned to hear all these years.)

But the members of Fleetwood Mac (circa 2003) certainly don't need to apologize to anyone for not sounding "poppy" enough. Some people actually LIKE rock music. And I wonder which songs would have been cut from the setlist to make room for a few of Christine's FM hits? A couple more from SYW, perhaps? You can bet "Beautiful Child" - a song looooong overdue to be done live - would still be buried in the archives. Christine has moved on. Fleetwood Mac has moved on. Best of luck to 'em both.

And then, there's this:

On song after song, he soloed maniacally for minutes on end, pawing savagely at his guitar strings as if he were trying to tear them out. While the bizarre spectacle stirred up some in the mostly seated crowd, the heavy-handed approach only served to extend Buckingham's numbers far past the point of tolerance.

Unless this show was vastly different than any other on this tour, the guitar-pawing was on 3 (three) songs at most - "Come", "I'm So Afraid", and "Go Your Own Way" are the only ones I can think of. Admittedly, "Come" is new, it's long, and it sounds nothing like the songs on Rumours. That might turn some people off. (Too bad, IMHO.)

But anyone who owns ANY live FM album, or has actually watched The Dance at least once, knows that:
1) The live version of "I'm So Afraid" clocks in around 8:00, and it comes with about a 5-minute-long guitar solo. Been that way for a while now. And I sincerely doubt it's coming off the setlist any time soon.
2) "GYOW" is a little bit longer than it used to be, but I think most of that is the extended intro.
(Question to veteran Lindsey-philes: that intro is the same as the 1992 San Juan Capistrano recording, right?)
It's the end of the show (before encores), Lindey's jumping around going nuts, up on Mick's platform pounding the cymbals with his hands, etc., etc. Except for the eight-finger-shred, this isn't new either, is it?

Good grief, it's not like he's playing the uncut "In-a-gadda-da-vita".

Oh well, at least I found a few things I could agree with him on.....

Buckingham and Nicks also reaffirmed that their version of "Landslide" is still the best one going, infusing the song with far more emotion than either the Smashing Pumpkins' or Dixie Chicks' popular covers.
The two men for whom Fleetwood Mac was originally named -- drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie -- were steady as ever, particularly the underrated McVie, who drove the band's music as much as its more famous skins man.

and this.....

Along with the hits, the 56-year-old (?) Fleetwood Mac performed six tracks from its new album "Say You Will." Most went over well, further evidence that the material is the Mac's strongest new work in years.

.....although I'm kind of wondering what other recent new work he's comparing it to.....

But hey, that's just my opinion - I could be wrong. [ rant:OFF ]

[dissention]

Originally posted by Johnny Stew
Of course, the shared moments between one-time couple Buckingham and Nicks drew lots of oohs and aahs from the audience, even if everyone realized the same scenes are most likely repeated nightly on the tour.

At least someone finally pegged that.