Fleetwood Mac Ziggo Dome Amsterdam The Netherlands 7th October 2013 (2013-10-07) RECORDING: Type: Audience master, recorded from seat in 2nd row of section 107, slightly left of centre stage, approximately 35 metres from the overhead PA. Source: Factory-matched pair of Schoeps CCM 41V microphones (DINa mounted) -> Marantz PMD661 recorder with Oade Concert Mod (-18 dB gain/44.1 kHz/24 bit WAV) Lineage: Audacity 2.0.4 * Amplified right channel by 1.8 dB. * Applied variable amplification across recording for consistent listening experience. * Crossfaded main set with encores. * Some attenuation of audience noise. * Added fades. * Split tracks. * Converted to 16 bit. -> FLAC (compression level 8) [libFLAC 1.3.0 20130526] Taper: Ian Macdonald (ianmacd) SET LIST: 01. [04:03] Second Hand News 02. [05:19] The Chain 03. [00:29] [banter] 04. [04:42] Dreams 05. [00:51] [banter] 06. [05:09] Sad Angel 07. [05:52] Rhiannon 08. [01:24] [banter] 09. [02:48] Not That Funny 10. [04:56] Tusk 11. [05:08] Sisters Of The Moon 12. [08:01] Sara 13. [01:31] [banter] 14. [04:16] Big Love 15. [00:38] [banter] 16. [04:35] Landslide 17. [05:18] Never Going Back Again 18. [07:14] [banter] 19. [04:35] Without You 20. [05:02] Gypsy 21. [03:28] Eyes Of The World 22. [12:36] Gold Dust Woman 23. [09:29] I'm So Afraid 24. [04:55] Stand Back 25. [06:11] Go Your Own Way 26. [01:59] [encore break] 27. [09:00] World Turning 28. [03:58] [band introduction] 29. [04:35] Don't Stop 30. [02:37] [encore break] 31. [06:28] Silver Springs 32. [01:29] [banter] 33. [04:44] Say Goodbye 34. [00:52] [encore break] 35. [04:32] [banter] Total running time: 158:57 **** Trader’s Note **** Tracks copied to Data DVD in native raw FLAC file format NOTES: I wasn't really considering this concert, but the opportunity to purchase a very good seat for less than face value presented itself on the day of the gig and I convinced myself that I might be able to get enough out of the experience for it to warrant my attendance. At 20:10, 10 minutes after the band were scheduled to come on stage, the three empty seats to my right are finally filled by a trio of men who, beer in hand, force the punctual amongst us to stand so that they may pass. As they do so, they inform us that they will try to limit this kind of disruption during the show. Well, that's just great: three selfish wankers who regard music as little more than the backdrop to their recreational drinking and who are going to be passing in and out of our row during the show to buy beer. No doubt they won't be able to keep their traps shut, either. About five minutes later, Fleetwood Mac come on stage. My God, they look old. None of us is getting any younger, of course, but a stage full of old-age pensioners serves to really ram the point home like a pile driver. Surveying the audience around me, the scene is a celebration of middle-aged conformism. This is a world where a gurning Mick Fleetwood is considered eccentric, live music is too loud by definition, and CDs are still considered a new medium. But shit, I'm part of this audience, too! I convince myself I'm not like the rest of them and deftly avoid yet another pang from my ongoing midlife crisis. I know what's coming tonight, because Fleetwood Mac's 2013 set-list is chiselled in stone, right down to final encore. However, rather than killing the surprise, it's precisely this knowledge that has swayed me to be here in the first place. I do have a soft spot for a number of the Buckingham/Nicks incarnation of the band's songs and most of those are due for an airing tonight. We open à la 'Rumours' with 'Second Hand News' and then it's on into 'The Chain', a song I grew up thinking of as the Formula One theme. John McVie's bass sounds good in here tonight, but its unmistakeable hook in this song is probably the only time tonight that I'll even notice it. Two of the clowns on my right pick the bridge of 'Rhiannon' as the natural moment to rise, force all on their left to also stand up, and head out to the bar for more liquid refreshment. Jesus Christ! They can't even wait until the end of the song? Stubborn prick that I am, I remain seated and merely angle my legs to the right. The two inconsiderate boozers are forced to prise themselves past my kneecaps, but it keeps the impact on the recording to a minimum. Nevertheless, if you listen carefully, you'll be able to detect the moment that this takes place. What was shaping up to be the 'Rumours' show suddenly changes direction and turns into the 'Tusk' show, with four songs from that album. The title track forms a gig highlight for me, the song packing a punch that few others this evening will equal. It's not the band's best composition, but it's performed with gusto and sounds great here this evening. 'Sisters Of The Moon' forms the cue for the third and final drinker on my right to exit section 107 to join his friends, who -- bless their warped sense of priority -- never return. If they had turned out to like alcohol and music in roughly equal measures, they'd have been back and forth all evening, so I'm thankful that the booze is apparently more important to them. 'Sara' is another show highlight for me. Although it could easily be dismissed as just another middle-of-the-road, saccharine ballad, I've always been enchanted by Stevie Nicks' plaintive, melancholic delivery of this song. Lindsey Buckingham performs a solo rendition of 'Big Love' next. His guitar-picking style is phenomenal to behold. The flurry of notes boggles the mind, but the overwrought vocals combine with the frenetic guitar to overwhelm the song in this format. An exhibition of brilliant, idiosyncratic guitar, it may well be, but the net effect doesn't really work for me. The song 'Without You' has quite some history to it and Stevie Nicks is eager to share it with us. As she regales us with the story, she takes on-stage banter to a new level, rambling for a good seven minutes on the course of events that led to this song's place in tonight's set-list. It's too much. The story can't bear the burden of the time taken to tell it and a crucial rule in the art of live performance is invisibly, but obviously violated. This could have been condensed into a couple of minutes. The impatience in the house is palpable and I feel myself becoming slightly embarrassed on Nicks' behalf. When the song finally materialises, it comes as a great relief to all. 'I'm So Afraid' is the scene of some good, old-fashioned guitar heroics from Buckingham. It borders on self-parody for me, but is impressive nonetheless. The main set bows out on the crowd-pleasing, rabble-rousing 'Go Your Own Way'. It's a great finish, but merely a charade, of course. This is old-school rock 'n' roll and we have the well-worn performance cliché known as the encore to contend with first. With my recorder's display ticking past the two hour mark, this is my opportunity to insert a new set of batteries. I fumble my way around the machine in the dark, boot up and start rolling again. All in all, about a minute's worth of cheering has been lost to the ether. I think we'll all live. And speaking of clichés, next up, during 'World Turning', comes the grandest musical faux pas of them all: the dreaded drum solo. It doesn't help that Mick Fleetwood is merely competent, not spectacular. There's just not that much to see and it doesn't sound impressive, either; but then again, it's an extremely rare drum solo that does. They've got Fleetwood triggering vocal samples to make it sound more interesting, but it comes across like a choppy 80s 12" remix of some long-lost, disposable pop tune. Nevertheless, the crowd lap it up, dutifully responding to Fleetwood's bellows from behind the kit. After the introduction of the band and the back-up musicians, things drastically improve with 'Don't Stop', despatching us into the second encore break. The show is starting to feel very long in the tooth at this point. I'm not the only one who thinks so, either. There's a steady trickle of people towards the doors, all of whom are no doubt hoping they can beat the crowds to the cloakroom or be the first in line for the exit barrier of the car-park. It's not just that the show is sagging a little under its own weight; it speaks volumes about the audience, too. For some, a gig like this is no different than going out to eat in their local restaurant. You order a meal, consume what you want and leave the rest. Like so many other things in modern society, the experience is eminently disposable and as casually discarded as the innumerable plastic Heineken glasses that litter the floor of the arena. 'Silver Springs' is followed by the final song of the evening, the lyrically appropriate 'Say Goodbye'. It's a dull choice to conclude the proceedings and the fact that the house lights slowly come up during the first half of the song certainly doesn't help. The indifferent chatter of thousands of distracted punters creates a hubbub that rises above the music, a phenomenon more commonly associated with a reluctantly endured support act than with a band one has paid EUR 75 to come and see. Someone gets a clue at the halfway point and kills the house lights. People continue to trickle out of the venue, but at least the scene no longer resembles the fizzling end of a gigantic wedding reception. The song ends and so, presumably, does the gig. But wait; there's more. Stevie Nicks addresses the crowd. The very end of a show, after the final note has been played and people have started to leave en masse, is an extremely unorthodox moment to choose for anything more involved than a final thank-you, but that's nevertheless what we get. Nicks' heartfelt gratitude to the audience wanders haplessly into a sentimental minefield when she informs us that we are, in fact, "dream-catchers". On the off-chance that there's still a toe left uncurled in the house, she then plants both feet squarely on top of a cringe-bomb by telling us to "go home, wake up in the morning and write on a little piece of paper that 'Stevie says I am extraordinary'". Stevie's American, in case you didn't know. Bless her. Mick Fleetwood then goes on to express yet more gratitude to us. He explains that the band are doing what they love to do and wouldn't be able to do it without us. Well, no shit. I'm obviously not a huge fan of the band, but I've had a good time tonight. I had a great seat, the sound was excellent and I paid less for the experience than most people here. The recording reflects the great sound of the concert and should be a delight for any fan of the band. Samples are provided in the comments to allow you to verify this yourself.