Monday, 10 January 2011
Rumours of Fleetwood Mac, Queen's Hall
The group's 43-year career saw them establish a huge following that remained loyal in the face of constantly changing line-ups, mental illness and crumbling marriages.
So it was perhaps with some trepidation that the six-piece Rumours of Fleetwood Mac set about the task of putting together a tribute show which would engage the die-hard fans of the original supergroup and also capture the imagination of a new generation. A pre-recorded message of praise from Mick Fleetwood which welcomed the band on stage added to that weight of expectation.
Monday, 28 June 2010
Florence covers Fleetwood Mac at Glasto

During her performance on the Other Stage, Florence Welch revealed that 'The Chain' was her favourite song and that she was hoping the band would be there to watch her sing it, according to the Sunday Express.
She said: "This is pretty much my favourite song of all time. All my heroes are in this band and I thought they were going to be here but they're not.
"We're never going to play it again. We hope you enjoy it Glastonbury, this one's just for you."
The singer also allegedly fought back tears during a performance of 'Dog Days Are Over', saying: "This is a pretty big moment for me. To start in a tent and then be here. It means a lot to be on this stage in front of you. I never want to leave."
Thursday, 8 April 2010
Death Cab For Cutie, Fleetwood Mac, Tom Waits songs on Mates of State covers album

Hey! It's almost summer! Good thing we have a new Mates of State album to serve as soundtrack, a covers set at that.
"Crushes (The Covers Mixtape) " is a 10-song set that the duo -- Jason Hammel and Kori Gardner -- produced themselves, with some help from The National producer Peter Katis. A diverse set of acts like Tom Watis, Belle & Sebastian, The Mars Volta, Fleetwood Mac and Nick Cave are having their songs included; Death Cab For Cutie also gets the covers treatment -- Ben Gibbard, after all, helped sing some on the Mates' last "Bring It Back" in 2008.
Below is a tracklist, and below that, a stream of the Mates of State performing indie buzz band Girls' "Laura." It's sunny, as could be predicted, but does have the crew breaking out of their normal structures of just drums, keyboards and vocal harmonies. Check out the turntable scratches and the drum machine, the omnipresent, buzzing bass and a dreamier delivery from Gardner. Download the track via their website matesofstate.com.
They promise that psycho-psych of The Mars Volta track "Son et Lumiere" is going "breezy" and Waits' "Long Way Home" came out as "an adrenalized anthem."
"We hadn't counted on this covers project making us approach our own songs in these new ways. Too often in the past, we'd get stuck writing in a certain structure. In dissecting these songs, taking out the biggest creative component--actually writing the song--we were more thoughtful of other musical aspects... In a sense, these other great bands made us a better band," the couple says in a statement.
No tour dates yet, though they pulled off a handful back in February.
1. Laura (Girls)
2. Son et Lumiere (The Mars Volta)
3. Sleep the Clock Around (Belle & Sebastian)
4. Technicolor Girls (Death Cab for Cutie)
5. Long Way Home (Tom Waits)
6. Love Letter (Nick Cave)
7. Second Hand News (Fleetwood Mac)
8. 17 Pink Sugar Elephants (Vashti Bunyan)
9. Roller Coaster Ride (Dear Nora)
10. True Love Will Find You in the End (Daniel Johnston)
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
Fleetwood Mac: Famous and Infamous Classic Live Performances
First up this week is Fleetwood Mac with 'Oh Well'. No, not that Fleetwood Mac, but the original incarnation led by Peter Green. After Green had a nervous breakdown in the early 70's drummer Mick Fleetwood and bass player John McVie recruited new members and carried on, resulting in their mutli-platinum success in the late 70's with 'Rumors' et all.The Peter Green led Fleetwood Mac were a raw blues band in stark contrast to their later MOR sound. It goes without saying they were a hell of a lot better with Green at the helm. BB King has gone on record stating that Peter Green was one of the few guitarists whose skill and tone he admired. Here's why:
Wednesday, 11 November 2009
Fleetwood Mac - Sounds Write

The fact that Fleetwood Mac in 2009 are now, seemingly, the most stable of units is nothing short of a phenomenon and a testament to their individual and collective survival instincts. Messrs Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie (Christine McVie quit the band in ’98, opting for a quiet life these days down in Kent) have long since cleaned up their acts and settled their personal differences and, on the recent ‘Unleashed’ world tour which rolled up in Manchester last week for a sell out show, they convincingly demonstrated that their performance levels are as high now as any point previously in their lengthy career.
In the early 1970’s, Fleetwood Mac were a British blues/rock group whose moderately successful career up to that juncture had been seriously derailed by the departure(due largely to one too many bad acid ‘trips’) of founder member, legendary guitarist Peter Green. The group continued to splutter along for a while until the pivotal moment when an American duo, Buckingham and Nicks, joined the band. Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were lovers as well as performers and came very much as a package, with Buckingham, having been identified as a replacement for Green(after a succession of other players had not worked out), refusing to join Mac unless his partner came ‘on board’ too. The introduction of the duo in 1975, who had previously been bit part players on the West Coast music scene, struggling to eke out a living, succeeded in adding a radio friendly sheen to Fleetwood Mac’s blue/rock roots, turning around their fortunes in the process and completely revitalising the group’s career. The now new look Anglo American Fleetwood Mac embarked on a glorious period of unbroken musical success throughout the remainder of the 1970’s/early 80’s but the new chapter in the group’s history also heralded the start of those well-documented problems that very nearly destroyed the band.
The 2009 ‘Unleashed’ tour has a real celebratory triumph over adversity feel to it and the crowd pleasing tone of the evening was set in place from the very moment Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham walked out on stage hand in hand to thunderous squeals of delight. And in truth, the two and a half hour show that followed did very much belong to the duo who were undeniably the main focal point with their great on stage dynamic.
Fleetwood Mac don’t presently have any new album to promote, their last one being 2003’s ‘Say You Will’, though they did hint during the show that there could well be one in the offing, news that was met with great audience excitement. The set list of the recent show is drawn largely from the group’s trilogy of 1970’s albums, the self titled ‘Fleetwood Mac’, the 25 million plus selling ‘Rumours’ and ‘Tusk’, records which marked the band’s halcyon days. “This time we said, ‘let’s just go out and have fun’”, Buckingham told the crowd when explaining the show’s rationale and content and so, what was subsequently served up amounted to a veritable Fleetwood Mac musical feast for fans with great big dollops of classic songs such as ‘The Chain’, ‘Dreams’, ‘Rhiannon’, ‘Gold Dust Woman’, ‘Gypsy’, ‘Oh Well’ – a solitary doff of the hat to the Peter Green Mac era, ‘Never Going Back Again’ and ‘Second Hand News’, which Buckingham introduced, with another reference to their ‘crazy’ years, by saying, “This next song, if memory serves, and these days it often doesn’t serve, due to living one’s life a certain way for a number of years, was the first song written for the Rumours album.”
Buckingham himself is, physically, remarkably well preserved these days and with his boyish, skinny frame, still thick though greying mop of tousled hair, makes a mockery of his sixty years. As for his guitar playing, it is nothing short of dazzling and if anyone present had any doubts beforehand about him deserving to be ranked right up there alongside the greats, they would surely have left the building utterly convinced that he is indeed, a bona fide guitar maestro. He plays his instrument with a manic intensity, at times a picture of almost demonic intent and his spine tingling solo performance on acoustic guitar for ‘Big Love’ (from the ‘Tango In Night’ album) was something very special to behold, with his breakneck speed of hands building to an awesome finger shredding climax. Elsewhere, he turned in immense solos on ‘Tusk’ and ‘Go Your Own Way’, shamelessly playing up to the crowd with his whoops and stomping of feet as well as his frequent forays to the very edge of the stage where, on bended knee while soloing, he allowed fans to run their eager fingers all along his guitar fretboard. He still sings great too, possessing a natural flair for harmonising and he does all this, whilst visibly drenched right through in sweat from the second song in yet never once bothering to remove his short black leather jacket in a great display of ultimate rock star ‘cool’.
Miss Stevie Nicks, the perfect onstage foil for Buckingham, still sports her career ‘uniform’ of cropped style riding jacket complete with floaty shawl, billowing skirt, suede platform boots and (occasional)Victorian top hat whilst her mic stand and tambourine are draped with trademark sheer scarves and long ribbons. At sixty one, despite her years of hard living having clearly taken their toll on her looks and her once svelte figure certainly a little more rounded these days, Nicks remains effortlessly sexy and the epitome of Californian hippy/mystical chic. Her vocals however are her greatest seduction tool, as smoky and ethereal as ever and although she now noticeably avoids notes in the higher register, her dulcet tones still cast quite a spell.
There’s some lovely Buckingham/Nicks coming togethers’ during the show that are played out for maximum effect and which the audience readily lap up. A stunning Nicks rendition of ‘Landslide’ sees her alone on stage with her former paramour accompanying on acoustic guitar and, at the conclusion of ‘Sara’, the pair warmly embrace and hug, sway momentarily in each others arms with a resting of heads on shoulders and there’s a tender kiss from Buckingham to the back of Nicks’ hair. It’s all a little too stage managed but it’s a poignant moment nonetheless and elicits the intended crowd cheers.
As something of a backdrop to the Buckingham and Nick’s floor show, there’s the two ageing gents and somewhat unsung heroes of the group, bassist John McVie (64) and drummer Mick Fleetwood (62), driving things along at a frenetic pace as one of the tightest rhythm sections in the business. McVie, typically motionless and doing his best to avoid eye contact with all, hiding under his flat cap, could easily pass for a grizzled farmer that had just parked his tractor at the back and ambled on stage whilst the towering 6ft 6in Fleetwood, with his grey/white hair slicked back in a short ponytail, wild, wide-eyed gaze, white shirt and black waistcoat and, with those omni present, what appear to be, pair of oversized clackers dangling from his waist, looks for all his worth as though he has come straight out of the pages of an old English medieval novel. And when he gets his big moment under the spotlight during a fairly lengthy drum solo towards the show’s end, he goes into full on frenzy mode, battering the hell out of his monstrous kit as he barks out some incomprehensible words to the crowd and generally exhibiting characteristics of a deranged madman. The alln-absorbing and enthralling concert reaches a actual peak with everyone coaxed to their feet for the big crowd sing-a-long anthems that are ‘Go Your Own Way’ and the rousing encore of ‘Don’t Stop’. It leaves the audience on an exhilarating high and the final utterance from the stage of “We’ll see you next time” is a promise all present surely hope Fleetwood Mac will keep.
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
SECC, Glasgow, Fleetwood Mac

Guitarist, sometime singer and key songwriter, Lindsey Buckingham, alludes to previous traumas with mention of recording their classic album, Rumours, during which period he and Stevie Nicks were breaking up their relationship: "there were a lot of emotional opposites between us". Yes, there was "aggression" to be worked out during "Second Hand News", but rarely has such spite sounded as joyful as it did here.
Whatever bridges may have been burned during this era and Buckingham's departure from the band following 1987's Tango in the Night have obviously been long since rebuilt. At the end of "Sara", Nicks – a hippyish figure in a changing array of sequinned shawls and dresses, her eyes dreamy and her hair a fresh bottle-blonde – takes Buckingham in a tender embrace of friendship. To applause and camera flashes from the audience, words are whispered between the pair, and it's another moment for the photo album when they emerge holding hands for the encore an hour later.
These two have clearly settled into a lifelong friendship, but many might have noticed the opposite attraction of their musical relationship. While the pair's voices manage a beautifully rootsy combination on duets like "Don't Stop" and particularly a stripped-back acoustic pairing for "Never Going Back Again", their individual contributions are markedly change.
Nicks, spinning gently on the spot, is a folky bohemian, a rustic chanteuse during familiar tracks like "Gypsy", "Rhiannon" and an acoustic "Landslide". While the musical styles of the Janis Joplin-esque "Gold Dust Woman" and "Stand Back"'s alarmingly contemporary electronic keyboard riff are markedly different, Nicks's persona doesn't shift.
Buckingham, on the other hand, is a study in almost manic intensity, specially when Nicks has walked off to effect another costume different and he's left alone to indulge himself with the stalwart rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. Perhaps over-fond of the extended instrumental, he plays with a serious stare and punctuates each song with whoops and stamps of the feet. It's a little overwrought, but Buckingham conjures a young man's vitality during "Tusk", "Go Your Own Way", "Oh Well" and a truly spine tingling acoustic take on "Big Love".
For a band who deal in definitively enduring pop classics, there was the odd clunking moment – a dull "Go Insane", Fleetwood's literally barking drum solo during "World Turning". Yet the magic far outweighed these brief lulls, and the drummer's assertion at the end that "we'll see you next time" was a promise we'd like to hold him to.
Thursday, 8 October 2009
keeps hits in the family to Singer Colbie

Her father Ken co-produced one of the best selling releases of the 1970s, Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, and has produced many of the songs on his daughter's latest album Breakthrough.
COLBIE CAILLAT
Colbie and Ken Caillat would "butt heads" while making her new album When I was four or five, I remember my family having parties. We'd be blasting music all day long it was all about music and it was always fun.
It was all classic rock the Steve Miller Band, Tom Petty, Joni Mitchell, Fleetwood Mac.
The first concert I ever went to was Fleetwood Mac at the Hollywood Bowl and we were allowed to go backstage.
My parents have stayed friends with Fleetwood Mac over the years. The first time I ever went out on a boat, we went out on John McVie's yacht in southern California and I threw up off the side.
Dad would take me, my sister and my mom into the studio all the time. We'd be at the console and watch him. When he had his record label, I'd go into the offices.
Sometimes we'd sit in on meetings. My sister and I helped them name one of their record labels. We were brainstorming with them on what a cool name would be for a label. We ended up with Silverline.
My parents are so proud now seriously, they wanted to take another tour bus and follow my tour
When Steely Dan's song Hey Nineteen would come on at home, I'd rock out and sing all the words to it. That's when my parents saw the interest. My dad started teaching me what song structure was. That's how it started.
Working with my dad now, we can be honest with each other and I'm not nervous to tell him if I don't like one of his ideas and he's not nervous to tell me if I need to re-do a vocal. Of course there are times when we butt heads and argue but we end up compromising. It's all about the music and not about ego.
My parents are so proud now. Seriously, they wanted to take another tour bus and follow my tour. They knew I've been wanting to be a singer since I was 11 years old when I sang my first talent show with my two best friends in sixth grade.
Thursday, 24 September 2009
“Seven Wonders”, Fleetwood Mac

I carry a tiny iPod shuffle (with Seven Wonders cued up) in my jacket pocket, and whenever I feel myself wanting to punch someone in the face, I stick my headphones in and soak up Stevie Nicks’ faintly silly vibrato and I feel straight better. I hope if you’re having a stressful Tuesday, it’ll have the same effect on you.
Friday, 4 September 2009
Still going their own way

Friday, 28 August 2009
Fleetwood Mac legend to perform at grace Aldershot stage

He is touring to play the band’s classic hits and will seem at the West End Centre on September 3.
He played with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and, most excellently, Fleetwood Mac.
Raised in the East End of London, Peter was playing bass in several amateur bands before he met drummer Mick Fleetwood during a brief stint playing lead guitar with Peter B’s Looners.
He left the Looners to replace Eric Clapton as guitarist in the John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers.
Taking Clapton’s place was never going to be easy but it didn’t take too long for Peter to prove his worth and become the new ‘darling’ of the blues scene.
After Peter joined them the Bluesbreakers recorded their seminal Hard Road album, which included his major instrumental masterpiece The Supernatural.
Having collaborated on just the one album, Peter left the Bluesbreakers to start his own band, with Mick Fleetwood on drums and John McVie on bass, and Fleetwood Mac was born.
The band liberationed their first album in 1968 to rave reviews, and Green’s classic tracks Black Magic Woman and the number one hit Albatross cemented the band’s achiever.
Drugs took their toll on Peter’s mental health and he decided to leave Fleetwood Mac in 1970.
He recorded a solo album but then faded into obscurity.
He made guest visual aspect on albums by ex-band mates and friends before recording more albums in the late 70s and early 80s.
In 1998 he and the rest of Fleetwood Mac were inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame.
At the time, Mick Fleetwood said of Green: “He’s back in the studio, he’s really playing again, which is why he’s here on this planet. I do earnestly believe he has a magic touch. I think you will never see Pete back out in the showbiz sense of the word but I think you will hear some more music from Peter Green and I hope I’m part of that. I hope that comes to pass.”
Westy employee Nicci Hewett said: “We’re pleasured Peter has chosen to play at the Westy, because you actually never know when you will get another chance to see this legend, who played such a large part in shaping contemporary music.”
Wednesday, 26 August 2009
Fleetwood fluster over ticket prices

One website, www.showbiznz.co.nz, has begun offering pre sale tickets at $147.50 for general acceptance to $369 for the best seats on the platform over the lake at New Plymouth's Bowl of Brooklands.
But these prices look to be more valuable than what will be suggested when tickets go on general sale next month the Taranaki Daily News understands they will range from $120 to $320.
That won't be officially known until September 4 when first claim on Fleetwood Mac's December 19 gig will go to TSB Bank customers, who will be able to buy them on line until September 8. Public sales will then open the next day.
Leesa Tilley, general manager of promoter Andrew McManus Presents, said promoters often worked with on sellers like Showbiznz who were admeasured a very limited number of ticket "holds".
"These aren't real tickets these won't be available until the general public tickets go on sale and they can market or sell them however they like," she said.
"How they market and sell them is up to them."
The prices to be asked for the big gig look similar to pricing for Taranaki's last major concert, the performance by Sir Elton John in December 2007.
Sunday, 23 August 2009
Fleetwood Mac play at Pokolbin

The band, which recently finished a 55 city sold out tour of North America, will act a two hour plus show at Hope Estate on December 5.
The tour is its first in five years and will feature wonderful hits including Rhiannon, Dreams, Tusk, Go Your Own Way and Sara.
After the successful American tour, Fleetwood Mac also included a two month European leg.
The Australian tour will start at Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena on December 1 and then head to Hope Estate before accomplishment in Sydney, Perth and Brisbane. Tickets are on sale through Ticketek from September 4.
Tuesday, 18 August 2009
Fleetwood Mac on the way

The band are gearing up for their Unleashed wonderfu hits tour, with fans hoping a New Zealand and Australian leg will be approved.
It seems some more big musical action could also be recent headed to Perth later this year that's if some cryptic clues delivered by the administration of Member's Equity Stadium at a event are anything to go by.
Allia Venue Administration chief executive officer Peter Bauchop addressed a crowd of sports representatives assembled for a night of celebration at the venue hinting at big things to come. And the events had nothing to do with sport.
"I don't want to scattered any rumours, and I would much rather stay alive, than take the glory and the consequences," he said.
He told the crowd the months of November and December would be huge for the arena, but assert that he was only joking around and could not conform anything.
But the guessing games started with hopes that his reference to "rumours" referred to Fleetwood Mac's legendary album,"stay alive" to Pearl Jam's hit Alive and "take the glory" to Badly Drawn Boy.
Pearl Jam is playing at the stadium on November 14. Tickets are on deal now.
There is now a list of major acts heading for the city, including Beyonce, Marilyn Manson, Britney Spears, Greenday and ACDC.