Atlantic City 1/24/2015

[michelej1]

Posted: Thursday, January 22, 2015 10:30 am

By SCOTT CRONICK, At The Shore, Press of Atlantic City
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/a...0a9fa358d.html

REVIEW: How much of a difference can one band member make?


In the case of Christine McVie, she single-handedly transformed Fleetwood Mac from a tired, going through the motions, classic rock band cashing in on their fame to a mind-blowing, arena-worthy, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-caliber act.


That may sound crazy considering McVie is 71 years old and hasn’t performed with her legendary bandmates for about 15 years, but that was clearly the case at Fleetwood Mac’s fall concert at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia as part of their massive, international “On With the Show Tour,” which hits Boardwalk Hall 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24.


The evidence was clear from the very first song, “The Chain,” one of the few Fleetwood Mac songs ever credited to all five members — McVie, singer Stevie Nicks, guitarist/vocalist Lindsey Buckingham, bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood. As soon as the harmonies hit, it was classic Mac. Seeing McVie behind the keyboards once again was a thing of beauty, and it was immediately clear what was missing for the last two decades: Christine McVie’s third vocal layer.


“The Songbird” personally shined all night: stepping out from behind the keys to sing the contagiously catchy classic “Everywhere,” showing what a great alto she is; making “Say You Love Me” a tour highlight thanks to its sweet lyrics and spot-on vocals; and deservingly closing the night with her trademark “Songbird,” which starts with her on piano as she is later joined by Buckingham and Nicks for a mellow, beautiful second encore.


And although the night was clearly not all about McVie, her presence obviously energized the band, which sounded tighter and seemed more energetic than any of their tours in recent memory.


Nicks, who seemed to be mailing it in on previous tours, was particularly strong. While she certainly doesn’t hit the high notes she once did, singing most tunes in a lower octave, she seems to care about the songs again, delivering them with passion and reminding everyone why she is one of the greatest female rock singers of all time.


She makes it obvious on the night’s second song, “You Make Loving Fun” and immediately continues with her distinctive vocal style with “Dreams.” It’s later evident on the smash “Rhiannon,” the groovy “Seven Wonders,” the crowd-favorite “Landslide” and her signature “Gypsy.”


For years, a Fleetwood Mac concert seemed like the Lindsey Buckingham show, and although he still plays a prominent role, he wisely steps back a bit for this tour. Buckingham highlights include “Second Hand News,” a borderline punk song that offers a fun, spirited rocker at the beginning of the night; “I Know I’m Not Wrong,” where he shows his guitar chops for the first time of the night accompanied by some impressive, pounding drum work from a 68-year-old Fleetwood; the tribal “Tusk,” with Christine McVie on accordion that still remains a great, live tune; and “I’m So Afraid,” a moody song that didn’t belong near the tail end of the first set but offered the most amazing guitar solo of the night.


With a stage more simple than you would expect on such a big tour — a large screen behind the band does help those in the cheap seats — Fleetwood Mac lets the music be all of the hype it needs. Supported by three musicians and three backup singers, the most amazing thing about this current tour is how awesome they sound as a team … like they never missed a beat after all of these years.


When all of the harmonies kick in and the rapport is in full swing, it’s something magical, particularly on the classic “Little Lies,” a complete team effort highlighted by another great Buckingham solo; the stellar “Gold Dust Woman” that featured their best harmonies of the night; “Go Your Own Way,” which ended the first set; and “Don’t Stop,” a perfect encore.


To quibble, the night could have done without Nicks’ “Sisters of the Moon,” complete with an “American Horror Story” plug to promote the FX TV series she has appeared on; “Big Love,” a Buckingham song that showed off his amazing acoustic guitar work but is simply not a great song; and “Over My Head,” a nice but boring tune.


Clocking in at nearly three hours and featuring 24 songs, one hit after another, Fleetwood Mac is offering a must-see tour, something it hasn’t done in nearly two decades.

[Macfanforever]

Any Ledgies attend tonight s show.

Please chime in with updates and let us know how Mick is doing.

We feel the pain for him with the loss of his mum.

Oops .Michele .I just notice a AC NJ thread you started below.Please merge this thread with yours.Thanks.

[michelej1]

http://www.app.com/story/entertainme...wark/22103941/

Fleetwood Mac plays Jersey this weekend

ED CONDRAN, CORRESPONDENT Asbury Park Press, 1/23/2015

Never say never in the world of music. Many moons ago Cher said she would never tour again and her 2014 tour was one of the most enjoyable events of the year. A half-decade ago Tommy Stinson said that the Replacements would never reform but there was one of the greatest bands of the '80s at Coachella last spring. During a 2012 interview Stevie Nicks said that Christie McVie would never reunite with her Fleetwood Mac bandmates for a tour. The sensual singer insisted that the band's 1997 tour was McVie's swan song.

"There's no chance of Christie coming back," Nicks said. "You can just tell that she will never come back to America. She doesn't want to fly. She doesn't want to deal with the hassle. There's a better chance of an asteroid hitting the Earth than Christie coming back for a tour with us."

Well, make sure to look up when you go your own way (those going solo) Saturday to catch Fleetwood Mac at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City and Feb. 8 at the Prudential Center in Newark.

It was just like old times when the classic Fleetwood Mac lineup of Nicks, McVie behind the keyboard and singing lead, vocalist-guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, bassist John McVie, 69, and drummer Mick Fleetwood, 67, took the stage at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia three months ago.

After kicking off a two-and-half-hour tour de force of a concert aptly with "The Chain"' a song about unbreakable bonds, Lindsey Buckingham beamed and looked to his right.

"And now the beautiful Christine is back," Buckingham said just before Fleetwood Mac delivered "You Make Loving Fun."

Vocally McVie and her counterpart, the beguiling Stevie Nicks, have to dial it down. The former is 71 and the latter is 66. What they lack in range, they make up for in character.

Fleetwood Mac still has it. It's just different than it was in '97 and especially than it was during the summer of '77 when the band's breakthrough album, "Rumours," was ubiquitous.

Fleetwood Mac wowed the enthusiastic crowd with cuts from the emotional "Rumours," the second biggest selling album of all-time, and a plethora of other hits.

"We love being in this band," Buckingham said. "We do the solo stuff and I really enjoy making the solo albums but there is nothing like being in this band. There's such a spark, such chemistry in Fleetwood Mac. I'm just glad we found each other."

Buckingham and Nicks proved to be the missing ingredients for Fleetwood Mac when they hooked up with the British act in 1975.

"Just before we joined the band, Lindsey and I lived in San Francisco and there was this amazing store (the Velvet Underground) which had incredible clothes and all of the rock 'n' roll women with money shopped there like Janis Joplin and Grace Slick," Nicks said. "I remember thinking that when I make it, I'll shop at that store and I did. If you do believe in your dreams, they can come true."

Not long after Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac, she was no longer a window shopper. The wild success of Fleetwood Mac enables Nicks to shop anywhere and it also gave the band considerable creative freedom to craft some of the most enduring songs from a generation ago.

"We had all of the autonomy in the world with this band," Buckingham said. "We always had this wild creativity. And we created this amazing batch of songs."

The gorgeous "Rhiannon," the acrimonious "Go Your Own Way" and the bohemian anthem "Gypsy" are just some of the many hits crafted by the quintet, which were once comprised of two couples and Fleetwood.

"We survived our personal breakups and band issues and we keep coming back for the music and the appreciation of what we've accomplished," Buckingham said. "We still love performing together."

Buckingham, 65, still performs with the enthusiasm of a teenager even though he has joined the geriatric club. His solos are among the many highlights of the concert. But ultimately the band is at its best with the members toiling as a collective, particularly when rendering the standards from "Rumours."

"We're still so proud of what we did when we made that album," Buckingham said.

And Buckingham, judging by his last three solo albums has plenty of gas left in the tank. But will he and his longtime bandmates get creative once again with Christine McVie?

"We've started a new and poetic chapter with Christine," Buckingham said. "It'll bear much fruit."

[Macfanforever]

Did anybody go to last nights show.

[BlueDenimLamp]

Last chance... RT for your chance to win this @fleetwoodmac backstage banner! Winner picked when we hit 4950 follows pic.twitter.com/cigWtpd2T9

— Boardwalk Hall (@BoardwalkHall) January 25, 2015

[Macfanforever]

Originally Posted by BlueDenimLamp

Last chance... RT for your chance to win this @fleetwoodmac backstage banner! Winner picked when we hit 4950 follows pic.twitter.com/cigWtpd2T9

— Boardwalk Hall (@BoardwalkHall) January 25, 2015

Wow.I would love to wallpaper the wall with that.

[go6car]

I was there. Great show! Was worried about the weather (ice), but turned out to be just fine. Had great seats on the side of the stage. TONS of people at the stage from the first song from what I could see.

Here's a picture (who knows if I'm actually doing this right!)

https://twitter.com/go6car/status/559201227314298880