Fleetwood Mac

June 24, 2013

Charlotte, NC

Time Warner Cable Arena

Concert Review by Joseph Hett

Fleetwood Mac Links The Chain In Charlotte

Fleetwood Mac made a stop in Charlotte, NC on Monday night at the Time Warner Cable Arena. The tour was in support of the 35^th anniversary of the landmark album “Rumours” and newly released “Extended Play” EP.  This was their first stop in Charlotte in over four years.

The stage had an intimate feel, with video screens on each side and one big one in the middle. The backup band consisted of a keyboardist, guitarist and two backup singers.  

The four core members: Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie were on their A-game the entire night. It was a night full of the classic hits and a few new tunes also.

Drummer Mick Fleetwood also celebrated his 66^th birthday on Monday. Several times throughout the evening, the crowd would sing impromptu versions of “Happy Birthday To You.” Fleetwood would always brush it off with playful remarks.

Fleetwood Mac walked on the stage to an eruption and started “Second Hand News.” They then went into “The Chain,” where McVie got to showcase his signature bass riff. McVie stayed low key all night long, standing to the left of the drum kit.

Buckingham said, before premiering a new song, “We [recently] cut a whole bunch of new stuff. We really think it’s the best we’ve done in a long time, not quite sure how it’s all going to fit together yet.” They then played a song called “Sad Angel.”

They did a nice block of songs to showcase the 1979 album “Tusk.” They featured “Not That Funny,”  “Sisters Of The Moon” and “Sara.” During the song “Tusk,” the beginning was changed into more of a softer wind chime sound instead of pounding drums. It then picked back up and featured the USC Trojan Marching Band on the projector screen.

The scaled down acoustic section came next with “Big Love,” “Never Going Back Again” and the Nicks classic “Landslide.” Whenever Nicks and Buckingham would embrace, the crowd would just erupt. The two have a great sensual chemistry on stage. 

Nicks told a detailed story of how they discovered an old song of a Buckingham Nicks recording, “Without You.” “One of our sneaky friends stole it and copied it and then brought it back, so we never knew it was stolen and then we lost it.” The lost song was then unearthed in 2010 and they decided to record it again.

Later, Nicks got to showcase her classic Mac tunes with “Gypsy” and an extended version of “Gold Dust Woman,” where she danced to the rhythm and put on a one-woman show.

Throughout the night, Nicks would do her signature twirl and would receive a massive eruption from the capacity crowd.  Her twirl could even rival Peter Townshend’s windmill in popularity. 

The highlight of the night had to be Buckingham’s blazing guitar solo during “I’m So Afraid.” He had every finger on his right hand working, since he doesn’t use picks, as he played for a memorized audience.

They closed out the set with the Nicks solo hit “Stand Back” and the Mac classic “Go Your Own Way.” They exited the stage and the lights went dim.

They came out for the encore and started up “World Turning,” which then transitioned into a drum solo by the birthday boy Fleetwood, which was then followed by band introductions. They closed out that encore with “Don’t Stop.”

They came back out, and the whole band finished with “Silver Springs.” Buckingham and Nicks remained on the stage and finished the night out for good with “Say Goodbye.”

All members then came out and bowed and then left the stage. Fleetwood came back out in a red top hat and gave a few closing words and ended by saying, “The Mac is back.”

We all must agree that the Mac really is back! They still have what it takes to get the crowd going during their two and a half hour show.