MONTREAL REVIEW (Montreal Gazette)

[MacMan]

Fleetwood Mac's golden oldies are aging just fine
Bell Centre gig. Nicks, Buckingham balance and complement each other

Montreal Gazette

When Mick Fleetwood and John McVie formed Fleetwood Mac as a British blues band in 1967, they probably never envisioned that they'd be playing to adoring arena audiences, paying up to $150 per ticket, 42 years later.

And they certainly could not have foreseen, during that long-gone summer of love, that all the adulation would be directed at two Yanks they had yet to meet.

As any of the 11,000 fans at the group's Bell Centre concert last night will tell you, drummer Fleetwood is a muscular timekeeper and bassist McVie provides an unobtrusive, solid anchor of his own. But it's also clear that, at all times, virtually all the energy in the room emanates from - and comes back to - singer Stevie Nicks and guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, the group's songwriters and its heart and soul.

If there was a defining moment in last night's hit-heavy show, it was when Buckingham completely took over Oh Well, a snarling 1969 rocker by original guitarist Peter Green that predates his and Nicks's presence in the band by more than five years. While Buckingham, undeniably the group's frontman, soloed away furiously, Fleetwood played the crazy-old-grandpa part for the benefit of the giant video screens.

Buckingham's prowess on his instrument simply isn't talked about often enough. Whether he's playing tasteful, economical phrases, as he did during ex-member Christine McVie's Say You Love Me, hammering out manic rock-flamenco note clusters in Big Love or fingerpicking the tasty folk-blues licks of Never Going Back Again, he's one of rock's most interesting players.

During his five-minute solo in I'm So Afraid, he made the instrument rumble, shriek and gasp, sending out shards of high-pitched squeals and hammering out repeated patterns. Unlike your average guitar god, Buckingham made no attempt to show how many different notes he could squeeze in per minute.

What makes a Fleetwood Mac show so satisfying, however, is the way Buckingham and Nicks complement and balance each other, in both their vocal blend and their approach to songwriting. For every Buckingham power-pop stomper like I Know I'm Not Wrong or Second Hand News came one of Nicks's earthier, more linear crowd-pleasers, like Gypsy or the sweetly nostalgic Landslide, which she sang in her long-familiar husky, lower register. (And, incidentally, how fantastic did she look?)

Buckingham spoke on stage of the emotional challenges that have defined the group's internal relationships over the years. But during Sara, Nicks crossed over to his side of the stage and he put his head on her shoulder.

Staged? Probably - but really, who cares? That affectionate gesture spoke of a hard-won victory that pretty much ensures that - to paraphrase the group - the chain will never be broken.

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[kathy1]

love the review.

[bikerchic]

What a nice review. That writer knows his Mac stuff. Obviously a fan.

I like this quote:

But during Sara, Nicks crossed over to his side of the stage and he put his head on her shoulder.

Staged? Probably - but really, who cares? That affectionate gesture spoke of a hard-won victory that pretty much ensures that - to paraphrase the group - the chain will never be broken.

[louielouie2000]

So has Stevie ditched the burgandy dress? All the pics from the last few weeks have only shown her in black...

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

So has Stevie ditched the burgandy dress? All the pics from the last few weeks have only shown her in black...

She doesn't change into burgundy until after "Big Love." As pathetic as it sounds, you can tell what song is being played based on the color of the rear screens. . The teal seafoam green/blue background is "Monday Morning." The orange background is "I Know I'm Not Wrong." The deep blue is "The Chain," etc. Accordingly, it looks like all of these pics were taken during the first half of the show.

[louielouie2000]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

She doesn't change into burgundy until after "Big Love." As pathetic as it sounds, you can tell what song is being played based on the color of the rear screens. . The teal seafoam green/blue background is "Monday Morning." The orange background is "I Know I'm Not Wrong." The deep blue is "The Chain," etc. Accordingly, it looks like all of these pics were taken during the first half of the show.

Ahh, gotcha. I knew she opened the show in the burgandy dress early in the tour... I didn't realize she was simply limiting her time in it now . At least this latest black dress isn't as bad as the dreaded Italian Widow Granny dress she wore for the Say You Will tour! Still pretty blah though...

[dnightshade]

Originally Posted by MacMan

But during Sara, Nicks crossed over to his side of the stage and he put his head on her shoulder.

Staged?

Not at all.

[wheart]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

Ahh, gotcha. I knew she opened the show in the burgandy dress early in the tour... I didn't realize she was simply limiting her time in it now . At least this latest black dress isn't as bad as the dreaded Italian Widow Granny dress she wore for the Say You Will tour! Still pretty blah though...

yeah, her outfits are better than SYW but not by much. We've seen all these outfits over and over

[michelej1]

Actually, she has one black dress that seems to be cut exactly like the red dress. It just doesn't capture people the same way. Michele

[BTFLCHLD]

well, I do prefer a 'sleeker' line as opposed to any color she might wear with those gathered 'rosettes' ... ugh

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by BTFLCHLD

well, I do prefer a 'sleeker' line as opposed to any color she might wear with those gathered 'rosettes' ... ugh

I suspect that there is so much engineering going on underneath that a sleeker line would just reveal too much of that infrastructure.

[BTFLCHLD]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

I suspect that there is so much engineering going on underneath that a sleeker line would just reveal too much of that infrastructure.

it is obvious said contraption requires a 2ft gap in stance

[ricohv]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

I suspect that there is so much engineering going on underneath that a sleeker line would just reveal too much of that infrastructure.

Stop, you're killing me! This is some seriously funny sh*t, for sure! Ricoh

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by BTFLCHLD

it is obvious said contraption requires a 2ft gap in stance

[michelej1]

Montreal Gazette, by Bernard Perusse, March 26, 2009

http://communities.canada.com/montre...vie-nicks.aspx

Not so sure about Stevie Nicks?
Comments from readers on the Fleetwood Mac show are coming in. Most are raves, but one caught my eye. Filomena made an interesting observation:

"I really enjoyed the show," she wrote. "Mick, Lindsey and John were amazing. But am I the only one who noticed how lethargic Stevie was??? Yes, she's 60, but Tina Turner is even older and rocked like you wouldn't believe in December. Yes, Stevie's voice was good, although she didn't hit those hiigh notes. And from where I was sitting, I could clearly see the monitor on stage and beside the stage with not only the lyrics scrolling up (and these were for Stevie - when she was off stage, Lindsey didn't need them) but also directing her actions - GO TO THE TENT, GET YOUR CAPE BEHIND JOHN, GET YOUR TOP HAT BEHIND JOHN, SAY GOODNIGHT - I mean, come on - what was that all about???"

From my seat, I was blissfully unaware of monitor action, but big rock tours leave nothing at all to chance now. When such ambitious concert undertakings were in their infancy, audiences cared less about perfection and more about the live experience. So if the performer flubbed a verse, missed a cue or had a few drinks and got sloppy, it was all part of the fun. Increasingly, rock audiences want more or less perfect reproductions of the songs as recorded, so monitors have become de rigueur for many boomer artists, whose memory in their 60s just ain't what it once was.

I'd also say that Stevie Nicks, even in her 20s, was not trying to be the flamboyant rocker Tina Turner was. It's a bit apples and oranges. As for Lindsey needing no prompters, what can we say? He's a wonderful, crazy force of nature.