I grew up listening to the music of Fleetwood Mac, thanks to my dad's copy of their number one album, Rumours, and local radio station Algoa FM. I was drawn to Stevie Nicks' raspy vocals and the catchy guitar hooks of Lindsay Buckingham, both of whom had joined the band in the 1970s. They enjoyed tremendous success through the 70s and 80s but by the end of the 80s the band was starting to break up, largely because of personal conflict within the group. Since then members have come and gone, with Christine McVie rejoining the band in 2014 and Buckingham being fired in 2018 and being replaced by Mike Campbell (who played with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) and Neil Finn (formerly of Crowded House).
The band has said the following about their current European and North American tours: “We are thrilled to welcome the musical talents of the caliber of Mike Campbell and Neil Finn into the Mac family. With Mike and Neil, we’ll be performing all the hits that the fans love, plus we’ll be surprising our audiences with some tracks from our historic catalogue of songs. Fleetwood Mac has always been a creative evolution. We look forward to honoring that spirit on this upcoming tour.”
I once attended a Fleetwood Mac tribute show and never imagined I would have the opportunity to see the real band live. As expected, tickets to their NYC show were hard to come by and on the expensive side so Philadelphia a better option. Ahead of the show, I revisited some of my Fleetwood Mac favourites including Go Your Own Way, Seven Wonders, Everywhere, As Long As You Follow, Dreams and Landslide and the excitement built as the concert drew closer.
The legendary band exceeded my expectations with a hit-filled show that had the entire audience singing and dancing for most of the evening - well except for a couple of killjoys in the row behind us who complained about people standing up (insert eyeroll and middle finger here). Stevie Nicks sounded and looked amazing - it's hard to believe she's 71! She even did a little spin after Gypsy much to the audience's delight. Her two standout moments were hands down the always moving Landslide and the epic Gold Dust Woman. I could have done without Mick Fleetwood's lengthy drum interlude during World Turns and I think Seven Wonders should have been included on the setlist but aside from that, the show was a wonderful celebration of the band's legacy and a reminder of their collective talent.
The complete setlist was as follows:
The Chain
Little Lies
Dreams
Second Hand News
Say You Love Me
Black Magic Woman
Everywhere
I Got You (Split Enz cover)
Rhiannon
World Turning
Gypsy
Oh Well
Man of the World
Don't Dream It's Over (Crowded House cover)
Landslide
Hold Me
You Make Loving Fun
Gold Dust Woman
Go Your Own Way
Encore:
Free Fallin' (Tom Petty cover)
Don't Stop
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