Fleetwood Mac fans’ expectations last night were as high as Stevie Nicks must have been when developing her dance moves. It took the band three songs and a bit of crowd interaction to ‘warm-up’. Lindsey Buckingham was the adhesive of the band; in trackDreams when Nicks was out of tune or lacking energy, he seemed to compensate with his suave skill on the guitar. This deflection played out the entire set, showing the very heart of Fleetwood Mac; while in its entirety they lacked synchronicity, too much focus on individuals made it feel like a geriatric Woodstock. It was a paradox of a performance.
The percussion in Tusk rumbled seats; it was Fleetwood’s time to shine on drums, as stampede stomps from the stalls echoed in time to the industrial track. It was a jamboree of percussive bliss. In this rare moment the sound was in-sync. Christine McVie emanated jolly noises from the accordion: Fleetwood Mac were back. Crowd Favourite Big Love was remastered by Buckingham and he wailed with conviction; some women geared-up to reef their smalls on stage. The crowd lapped-it-up. Cult-like fans exhibited some truly original expressions of love for ‘The Mac’: two-handed fist pumps and a simulated one-man seated tango.
Solos and duos were the band’s strengths, as they didn’t have the precision to play their ballads with the seamless intensity and timing as in their original form.
A beautifully simplistic version of Landslide brought Nicks’ soul to life as she smashed the high notes, weaving yodels through nostalgia-laced lyrics.
Like looking at a Picasso painting from afar, it worked, but when you really paid attention the finer details — tune, synchronicity and energy — it was a mess. A long hiatus and tag-team exits had clearly taken its toll on Fleetwood Mac.
Photo credit: Rohan Anderson
HMC Music 