Category Archives: Reviews

Reviews, Solo Activity, Stevie Nicks, UK Articles

Stevie Nicks: 24 Karat Gold | The Times

Leave a comment

Stevie Nicks: 24 Karat Gold – Review

The Times
Album Reviews
Joe Clay
October 4 2014

2/5 Stars

The eighth solo album from the Fleetwood Mac songbird is subtitled Songs from the Vault. It’s a collection of spruced-up versions of demos that Nicks recorded between 1969 and ’87. From the uptempo Starshine to the ploddy AOR of The Dealer it all feels rather half-baked, with only the title track having an ounce of the Mac’s magic. It’s not solely a vanity exercise (Nicks’s raw, nasal delivery is still distinctive), but as with most of these endeavours, there’s a reason why they were originally left in the vault. (Warner Bros, out Mon)

Stevie Nicks 24 K Gold advert

Fleetwood Mac, Reviews, Tour Info, UK Articles

Fleetwood Mac play full gig with Christine McVie for first time since 1997 | NME News

Leave a comment

By Lisa Wright
October 2, 2014 8:35
NME News

The band played the Target Centre in Minneapolis

Fleetwood Mac have played their first full show with original band member Christine McVie since 1997.

2014FleetwoodMac_Getty172596703060314

The show took place at the Target Centre in Minneapolis, Minnesota this week (September 30) and comprised a career-spanning, 24-song set including ‘The Chain’ and ‘Gold Dust Woman’.

McVie was introduced by the band, saying “our songbird has returned”, while the keyboard player also took lead vocals on ‘You Make Loving Fun’ and a closing ‘Songbird’ among others.

Fleetwood Mac previously reunited without McVie, who left the band in 1998, for a large-scale tour including several dates at London O2 Arena in September 2013. At one O2 performance, however, McVie joined the band on stage for a rendition of ‘Don’t Stop’.

The show kicks off Fleetwood Mac’s On With The Show tour, which will travel across the US and Canada throughout the remainder of 2014.

No UK tour dates have been announced yet, however the group lead the bookies’ favourites to headline Glastonbury festival next year. Fleetwood Mac are tipped at 4/1, while other favourites to take the Pyramid Stage top billing include Muse, AC/DC and Kate Bush.

Fleetwood Mac, Reviews, Tour Info, UK Articles

Fleetwood Mac is back: Christine McVie sings again as the tour starts anew | The Guardian (UK)

Leave a comment

Dylan Hicks
theguardian.com
Wednesday 1 October 2014

Though Stevie Nicks and the band are older, they opened their first reunited show in 16 years with the hallmark brilliance for playing off each others’ strengths

Stevie Nicks sings at a Fleetwood Mac show in London in 2013. Photograph: Christie Goodwin/Redferns via Getty Images
Stevie Nicks sings at a Fleetwood Mac show in London in 2013. Photograph: Christie Goodwin/Redferns via Getty Images

The key selling point for Fleetwood Mac’s On With The Show tour, which opened on Tuesday at Minneapolis’s Target Center, is that it’s the first in 16 years to include keyboardist and singer-songwriter Christine McVie, lately relieved of her fear of flying and sprung from her doggy English countryside redoubt.

All of the band’s members except taciturn bassist John McVie, Christine’s ex-husband, paid vocal tribute to her over the course of a spirited two-and-half-hour set. “Our songbird has returned,” said drummer Mick Fleetwood during an extended encore. Continue reading Fleetwood Mac is back: Christine McVie sings again as the tour starts anew | The Guardian (UK) →

Fleetwood Mac, Original Content, Reviews, Tour Info

Fleetwood Mac: Live at the O2 London, 27th Sept 2013

A personal account of the Fleetwood Mac show at the O2 in London on Friday 27th Sept 2013 as well as the meet n’ greet with Mick Fleetwood before the show commences…

Mick Fleetwood – Meet & Greet

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The meet n’ greet was scheduled at 17.00, waited for the outside the hall for the longest time whilst the band completed their sound check (supposedly there were having technical issues), so after about hour we get led into the hall and take our seats at the foot of the stage, Mick comes out and welcome us, apologies for the lateness and invites us all up on the stage for a chat and photos, for some reason I was first in the queue (of about 40 people), so I took the stage, stood in the corner by his drum kit, right next to the set list!, which of course hadn’t changed . One thing I noticed straight away was how beautiful Mick’s drum kit is, all brass and well polished, a thing of beauty. Mick then starts talking, a little rambling, mainly talking about his ‘new’ love of coffee as he asks his assistant for a refill, he talked about preferring coffee now instead of alcohol and that for many years his body rebelled against coffee, but now his body lives for coffee, also told us a nice story about when he was trying to court Jenny Boyd back in the mid-sixties that he used to wait for her to finish school whilst he sat in a coffee shop! The photos then start so I am first, walk over to the drum kit with Mick, I thank him for taking the time to do this and he thanks me for coming, two shots and then the next person, so I exit the stage and take my seat. Mick’s assistance is now collecting items for Mick to sign, I hand over two CD booklets, others have their VIP laminate and someone had the Tusk LP. Once Mick has finished the photos, he then comes down to the floor at the foot of the stage to start signing and taking questions. Again I am first with a question…….

Me: “As Chris appeared at the last show, did you record the show and will you release the show on DVD and audio, as we will buy it!”
Mick: No, he rambled about HD and that the audio was recorded and something will end up on YouTube, but no official recording will be made available”

Other questions were taken, one question/comment stayed with me and that was please tell Lindsey that he needs to tour the UK, Mick replied that it was intended, but the backing guitarist was very poorly and they couldn’t reschedule, and that was that.  We were given back our signed items and led out the main concourse ready for the show.

To sum up this section of the night, Mick came across as very likeable, genuine and interested that we had a good time, I felt is was defiantly worth the money as a potential one time only event, now to roll on the show…….

Photos from Show

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Continue reading Fleetwood Mac: Live at the O2 London, 27th Sept 2013 →

Fleetwood Mac, Reviews, Tour Info, UK Articles

Fleetwood Mac, London O2 Arena, September 27, 2013 | Uncut.co.uk

Fleetwood Mac, London O2 Arena, September 27, 2013
Michael Bonner
Uncut.co.uk
28th Sept 2013

“Life is good,” reflects Mick Fleetwood. We are over two hours into Fleetwood Mac’s third and final show at the O2, and it has fallen to Fleetwood to introduce his fellow bandmates on stage.

fleetwoodmac270913w

While Fleetwood was talking for the most part about the enduring friendships that exist between the various members of Fleetwood Mac, he could just as easily be surveying the last, remarkable 12 months in the band’s career. This sprawling world tour has been a tremendous success – “We’re doing the best business we’ve done in 20 years,” Lindsey Buckingham recently told Rolling Stone. The 35th anniversary of Rumours earlier this year provided a useful reminder of the band’s most successful and notorious period, while the Extended Play EP showcased a clutch of new songs that seem redolent of the Rumours-era sound. Elsewhere, there are the broader cultural threads that have pillowed Fleetwood Mac’s 2013 – the revival of the soft rock aesthetic, and the kind of West Coast vibes evoked on Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories and Haim’s Days Are Gone. Continue reading Fleetwood Mac, London O2 Arena, September 27, 2013 | Uncut.co.uk →

Fleetwood Mac, Reviews, UK Articles

Love is in the air for return of the Fleetwood Mac: Daily Mail Gig Review

Love is in the air for return of the Fleetwood Mac: Adrian Thrills gives his review as band tour Britain

By ADRIAN THRILLS
27 September 2013

Rock’s greatest soap opera rolled into London this week as Fleetwood Mac began their UK tour with a marathon concert dominated by the hits of the Seventies. Emotional punch was added by the presence of two ex-members who were major players in the Anglo-American group’s chequered history.

article-0-183CCB0F00000578-755_634x334

For a rollicking encore of Don’t Stop, the band were joined at the O2 Arena by keyboardist Christine McVie — onstage with them for the first time in 15 years.

Earlier, singer Stevie Nicks dedicated a poignant Landslide to original Sixties guitarist Peter Green, who was watching from the wings.

As a generation-spanning audience demonstrated, our love for Fleetwood Mac shows little sign of abating, partly because their biggest hits are still so intertwined with their love lives. Continue reading Love is in the air for return of the Fleetwood Mac: Daily Mail Gig Review →

Fleetwood Mac, Reviews, Tour Info, UK Articles

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, Reviews, Tour Info, UK Articles

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 →

Fleetwood Mac, Reviews, Tour Info, UK Articles

First night: Fleetwood Mac, The 02, Dublin | The Independent

THE INDEPENDENT
SUNDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 2013

UnknownThree songs into the first European date Fleetwood Mac have played since 2009 comes the first of several magical moments as mad-eyed drummer and ringmaster Mick Fleetwood suddenly hits his monogrammed kit harder to underpin the “loneliness of a heartbeat drives you mad” lyric of the US chart-topper ”Dreams” Stevie Nicks is delivering in her trademark low yearning voice. This perfect marriage of musicians from two different countries united by a common language and purpose is part of what makes the Mac such a compelling concert attraction and must-see act into their fifth decade.

However, the main ingredient remains the soap opera of their intertwined relationships, acknowledged from the off with ”Second Hand News” from 1977’s epochal Rumours, and given a sense of closure with the apposite ”Say Goodbye” at the end. Not many set lists have a narrative arc or the feel of a group therapy session but no band, not even ABBA, have lived their personal lives in public and used this emotional roller-coaster as inspiration like the Mac. Guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, wearing a Ramones-like tight jeans and leather jacket combo, admits as much, talking about “the power of change” before an impassionate solo version of ”Big Love”. He has just been hugged by Nicks after a sublime double whammy of ”Sisters Of The Moon” and ”Sara”, two of four selections from Tusk, the somewhat self-indulgent double set the Mac issued in 1979, since reclaimed by left-field acts like Camper Van Beethoven. Continue reading First night: Fleetwood Mac, The 02, Dublin | The Independent →

Fleetwood Mac, Reviews, Tour Info, UK Articles

Fleetwood Mac, O2 Arena, Dublin, review – Telegraph

The Telegraph – Live Music Reviews

Sunday 22 September 2013

Fleetwood Mac: Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood and Lyndsey Buckingham back in the spotlight 

Amidst an absolute thunder of drums, a sleek, racing Formula One bass line and a fuzzed-up guitar attack, a high male and low female voice coalesce in a gorgeous California sunshine harmony to deliver Fleetwood Mac’s key message: “You can never break the chain.”

Apparently not. They’ve been going 45 years in one incarnation or another, yet they still seem quite unlikely, a fundamentally disparate and unstable set of elements forced through sheer popularity to share a stage together with results that may well be greater than the sum of the parts but still teeter on the brink of a kind of explosive disintegration. This long-running soap opera of conflicting personalities and opposing musical styles remains extraordinarily alive and compelling.

Even without the perfect pop songs of Christine McVie (who left the soap at the end of the last century but is rumoured to be returning for a guest appearance at their London concerts this week) and unwilling to draw on nine early albums of blues rock, Fleetwood
Mac still seem to comprise at least three groups in one. There’s the British rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, looking all Chas & Dave in waistcoats and flat caps, driving everything along with a propulsive pub rock efficiency. Then there’s Lyndsey Buckingham’s new wave art rock energy, hopping up and down on the spot in tight pants and leather jacket as he rips out trippy, echoing guitar parts and sings snappy songs like he’s going to combust if he doesn’t get the words out. Meanwhile Stevie Nicks, the hippie wet dream now looking like a dark folk witch, still waving her scarves about and drawling poetic fantasies in a voice that no longer floats ethereally but cuts and thrusts with the Americana grit of a female Dylan. On paper, this is a combination that shouldn’t work. Yet
that sense of hanging together by a thread is part of what lends the old troupers such vitality. This may be the least comfortable excercise in nostalgia I have ever seen and all the better for it. Continue reading Fleetwood Mac, O2 Arena, Dublin, review – Telegraph →