Fleetwood Mac Concert Review

To quote Mick Fleetwood from Tuesday night’s concert at the Verizon Center in Washington, "The Mac is back!" While I agree with him, he or Lindsey Buckingham could have said this at the beginning of the show instead of when they exited the stage. Before I write about the concert, I want to start with the fact that Fleetwood Mac is a fascinating group. There’s the Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green from the late 60s/early 70s and then the one with huge mainstream success with Stevie Nicks and Buckingham. Between Nicks, Buckingham and Christine McVie, who unfortunately is not on the tour, I can’t think of another band with three different lead singers and songwriters. (I’m not counting a group like Destiny’s Child where all three singers have their own verse of a song. A Christine McVie song is completely different than a Stevie Nicks song which is completely different than a Lindsey Buckingham song.) Plus there have been some relationship issues between the band members over the years.

Anyway, the concert was awesome. To paraphrase Buckingham, the band isn’t promoting a new album; they are just playing their hits. And play their hits they did. The Chain, Rhiannon, Landslide, Go Your Own Way, Silver Springs, Don’t Stop, Gold Dust Woman and more. Excuse me as I go into notes format:

- Who do you put in the Pantheon of great guitarists? Hendrix, Clapton, Van Halen, Santana, King, Berry, and Slash could all be candidates. After seeing Fleetwood Mac live, I think Buckingham deserves some consideration.

- Nicks performed her trademark twirl during Stand Back. While she was great all night, I think Nicks may have lost a step on her twirl. (Of course, it could also have been the shoes she was wearing.)

- The Post-Gazette’s review of Fleetwood Mac’s concert in Pittsburgh included the set list. The list didn’t change between the Pittsburgh and Washington shows.

- If anyone reading this was at the DC show, can you please translate what Fleetwood said during the encore of World Turning? I couldn’t understand a word coming out of his mouth.

- The last concert I saw before Fleetwood Mac was Neil Diamond. There's probably about a 10-year age difference between Neil (late 60s) and most of Fleetwood Mac (around 60). What 50 year-old performer can I see next?

- I was tempted to buy a $45 Rock On Gold Dust Woman T-shirt but decided against it. (The shirt sells for only $34.95 on the Fleetwood Mac website store although I don't know the cost of tax and shipping.) I feel like I bought a Dave Matthews Band T-shirt for only $15. Of course, that was also 15 years ago.



The Washington Times and The Washington Post reviewed the show, but the Post included a picture (from 2004 accorinding to the comments) that wasn’t taken during the concert. In addition, you can read more about the show from local bloggers Jason’s View from DC (plus a video) and The Pink Cheeseburger.