Fleetwood Mac, O2 Arena – music review | Evening Standard

London Evening Standard
David Smyth
Wed 25th Sept 2013

The four ongoing members of Fleetwood Mac performed for the first time since 2009, with an epic set list drawn from the late Seventies. While Stevie Nicks still possessed a voice that bewitched, Lindsey Buckingham was a fiery leader, thumping his chest to celebrate every new solo accomplished

(Picture: Rex/Brian Rasic)
(Picture: Rex/Brian Rasic)

Though a rumoured reunion with the long-absent Christine McVie did not materialise last night, the four ongoing members of one of rock’s most turbulent bands looked like firm friends as Fleetwood Mac played in London for the first time since 2009.

It was all gushing introductions, a long hug for Lindsey Buckingham from Stevie Nicks, much hand-kissing and warm saluting. Given that most of their finest songs come from a period when their various couples were splintering painfully, time really is the great healer.

Most of an epic set list was drawn from that peerless period of the late Seventies when the Americans Nicks and Buckingham arrived to turn the bluesy Brits into superstars — The Chain, Tusk and Go Your Own Way all had energy to burn.

Nicks still possessed a voice that bewitched, especially on the acoustic Landslide. While even the engine room of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie had the occasional break, Buckingham was a fiery leader, thumping his chest to celebrate every new solo accomplished.

“There are quite a few chapters left in the book of Fleetwood Mac,” he claimed, airing one likeable new song and a long lost rarity. It’s been a fascinating read so far.

Also tonight and Friday, O2 Arena, SE10 (0844 824 4824,the02.co.uk)

Fleetwood Mac The O2 Arena, London | The Times

Will Hodgkinson
September 25 2013
Four Stars out of Five

 

Thirty-six years after Rumours became the soundtrack to the age of divorce, four of the five people that made it are reliving their personal dramas once more. With their soft rock masterpiece from 1977, Fleetwood Mac articulated the new rules of relationships, capturing the reality of affairs, tensions, betrayals and break-ups and selling over 40 million
copies in the process.

Simone Joyner/Getty Images
Simone Joyner/Getty Images

They also documented their own reality. Singer Stevie Nicks was splitting up from guitarist Lindsay Buckingham, songwriter Christine and bassist John McVie were getting divorced, drummer Mick Fleetwood was stuck in the middle, and they dealt with it all in the best way Seventies rock stars in Los Angeles could: by taking huge amounts of cocaine. Now all but Christine McVie have come back for more. Without the cocaine.

Buckingham said that Rumours “brought out the voyeur in everyone”. It also spoke to millions: the emotional truth of the music jumped out of the grooves. Judging by the hordes filling a packed O2 arena, it still does. Floaty scarves hung from Nicks’ microphone, but beyond that the stage was bare: fitting for a concert dedicated to an album defined by its simplicity. Continue reading Fleetwood Mac The O2 Arena, London | The Times