I went to see Fleetwood Mac last night. I am a massive fan. Massive. I don't think a week has gone by since I first bought Rumours that I haven't listened to them. I saw them on their first reunion tour back in London last September at the O2 and the differences between the two shows left me wanting to put a few words down on metaphorical paper.
I should probably apologise first. 10 months of living in Canada has taught me, if nothing else, that it's always good to start with an apology - just to cover all your bases. But this will probably be a very sycophantic, rambling and ultimately boring post. I'm not a music journalist, a writer or anything really, other than someone who can type. And let`s be honest, I'm such a huge Fleetwood Mac fan that Stevie Nicks could wander onto the stage in jeans and a hoody, half cut and announce that the band just isn't really feeling it, SOZ and I would still probably declare it one of the best experiences of my life. "Man the way she sauntered onto stage, talk about presence, y'know". So, yeah, in advance, sorry and all that.
Anyway, so last night was hands down the best gig I think I have ever been to. It has left The Breeders gig I saw in 2008 a toppled champion. The Mac were incredible and notably better than when I saw them last year. Last year will always hold an extremely special place in my heart because it was the first time of seeing them live and because I was with the wife and everything is better when you are with your one.
That said, the O2 is not a great venue. It's huge - and therefore I'd challenge any band to really succeed in mustering a satisfying atmosphere. In my opinion the only song which got the entire stadium going was Go Your Own Way. Whereas last night, it was a much smaller and better suited venue. The acoustics were incredible and the atmosphere was fantastic. It was almost palpable - which is more than I can say for the O2.
But the biggest difference was Christine McVie. McVie is hands down my favourite member of Fleetwood Mac. Consistently, my favourite Mac song has been You Make Loving Fun, and without McVie Fleetwood Mac were incomplete. They, understandably, didn't play any of her tracks and to me the set always seemed to be missing something.
Seeing them onstage last night - all 5 where they should be, they looked complete. I can't describe how happy it made me to see McVie jamming away at her keyboard. But more than that - she brings a real warmth to Fleetwood Mac. Her songs aren't heavy guitar, Buckingham esque anthems - they are keyboard driven. Her vocals too have a real warmth to them which brought a depth which was missing to the harmonies on the previous occasion. And her songs were just fantastic, to put it bluntly. You make loving fun, Don't Stop, Everywhere, Say That You Love Me, Over My Head, Little Lies and the entire set finished with Songbird. I could not have been happier.
Overall, the band felt much more... together. At the O2 there was a lot of hand holding between Nicks and Buckingham as if to say "look how much we still love each other. We are going to be best friends forever." which to me, felt a little forced and over the top. There was a bit of that last night, but really no where near as much and it seemed more genuine. Even the backdrop animations (or whatever you would call them) were better, just more engaging and exciting. I think they had also put more graft into adjusting the songs so that Nicks no longer had to reach such high notes and it really, really showed. They are the songs that you know and love, but with a more mature, deeper sound almost. Really excellent.
I won't dribble on forever about how amazing they were. I feel incredibly lucky and dare I say, #blessed even. I will just finish with what was a standout highlight of the show for me.
Nicks told this story about how when she was living in San Francisco with Lindsay, there was this clothes shop called `The Velvet Underground`(amazing), which was where all the successful female artists living in San Fran went to buy their clothes. So she saved up her money for a couple of months and went to check it out. Upon arriving, it immediately became apparent that she had no where near enough money to buy anything at all. She gave quite a detailed description of the shop and how the floor was elaborately decorated with lace and paper flowers - it was cool. And then she said she had this overwhelming premonition that she would one day be in a successful band with Lindsay and that she would be able to afford to buy clothes at the Velvet Underground.
So I'm back, to the Velvet Underground / Back to the floor, that I loved / To a room with some lace and paper flowers / Back to the gypsy that I was.
