Fleetwood Mac
November 2, 2009
Hallam Arena
Sheffield, England
By
Ian Routledge
Set
List
Monday Morning | The Chain | Dreams | I Know I'm Not Wrong |
Gypsy | Go Insane | Rhiannon | Second Hand News | Tusk | Sara |
Big Love | Landslide | Never Going Back Again | Storms | Say You
Love Me | Gold Dust Woman | Oh Well | I'm So Afraid | Stand Back
| Go Your Own Way
Encore
World Turning | Don't Stop
I’m of an
age where I remember when the original Fleetwood Mac actually
burst onto the scene. I hadn’t hit my teenage years yet when the
likes of Albatross, Black Magic Woman, Oh Well and
Green Manalishi hit the
airwaves, and like thousands upon thousands of others I was
hooked. Unfortunately due to various circumstances, this era of
the band was short lived, too short, and everyone thought that
this would be the end. But no the band carried on in several
guises between 1970- 1975, but without the same success. It
wasn’t until 1975 when Lindsay Buckingham, and his then musical
partner and girlfriend Stevie Nicks were invited to join the
band, that Fleetwood Mac took off again.
So, it’s
8:20 in Sheffield, England and the house lights go down. First
on stage Messrs Fleetwood and McVie, followed by the hand
holding Nicks and Buckingham, and we’re into ‘Monday Morning’
from their first album ‘Fleetwood Mac’. As they had no current
album – ‘YET’ – Buckingham pointed out, the set tonight would be
filled with songs they’d wanted to play, and hopefully what we
wanted to hear. And so it was, greatest hits from their 5
biggest albums - ‘Fleetwood Mac’, ‘Rumours’, ‘Tusk’, ‘Mirage’
and ‘Tango in the Night’. We were also treated to the added
‘bonus tracks’ of ‘Oh Well’ from the Peter Green era of the
band, ‘Go Insane’ a Buckingham solo recording and ‘Stand Back’ a
Nicks solo single.
Highlights of the night for me were the acoustic versions of
‘Landslide’ and ‘Never Going Back Again’, ‘Oh Well’ (of course),
and ‘Sara’. What you have to say is that even at ages where most
people would be taking it easy, on the night Fleetwood Mac
produced a high energy, highly polished performance.
Stevie
Nicks’ voice is a little deeper than when she first came on the
scene, but still has it’s haunting quality, and of course age
has not lessened her beauty. Lindsay Buckingham’s guitar
playing superb, his fingers a blur during guitar solos, and his
energy on stage outstanding. John McVie, understated as he
always has been on bass, standing in the shadows, never hogging
the limelight or wanting to. Finally the eccentric Mick
Fleetwood, founder of Fleetwood Mac, and the driving force of
the rhythm section on the drums.
All in all probably the best 2hours and 15 minutes I have
spent in a very long time, and as you promised Mr Fleetwood,
please come back soon
