BuckinghamNicks.net

Happy birthday, Lindsey Buckingham!

2011-10-03T23:54:00.002-04:00

Lindsey's 61st year was one bursting with creativity and accomplishment. Here's hoping his 62nd year is even better!

Lindsey Buckingham's album is out today!

2011-09-06T23:23:00.005-04:00

Seeds We Sow is available now! You can also buy it on iTunes (that version has a bonus track which is different from the Amazon.com bonus tracks I posted about earlier). Get your copy ASAP!

Get "Seeds We Sow" as MP3s a day early!

2011-09-05T17:00:00.003-04:00

Lindsey Buckingham's new album Seeds We Sow is officially released tomorrow, but you can download it for $3.99 exclusively at Amazon.com today! What a bargain! To do so, go here:
Seeds We Sow Amazon Exclusive mp3 format

Lindsey Buckingham announces new album and tour dates!

2011-06-13T17:24:00.006-04:00

The album, called Seeds We Sow, has a Sept. 6, 2011 release date and he will be hitting 31 cities to promote it. Check out Lindsey's official site for more details!

Stevie's album comes out today!

2011-05-03T22:30:00.003-04:00

In Your Dreams is available in stores now. Go out and get yourself a copy!

It's also available via iTunes.

Closing the BN board / Stevie's new single

2011-01-16T03:29:00.005-05:00

Well, it was a long time coming, but I'm getting rid of the Buckingham Nicks message board. As many of you know, I stopped being able to actively moderate it several years ago when I started working on my dissertation. Lately, a lot of spammers have struck it, and I'd rather get rid of it than have it be a board of spam. If there's something you'd like to copy off of there - perhaps old reviews or something - please do so within the next week.

http://buckinghamnicks.yuku.com/

It's been a great run and I want to personally thank everyone who participated in the community over the years. We had some wild times back in the day! I'll never forget 'em.

In happier news, there are a lot of exciting things going on in the fandom now. Stevie is putting out a new album and touring with Rod Stewart soon, and her first single, the updated "Secret Love", has just been made available to anyone who pre-orders her album In Your Dreams. Lindsey also has an album coming out soon, as yet untitled.

Obviously, I haven't been keeping up with things here on the site. However, there is a place that always keeps up with the news and that I check out whenever I want to know what's happening. I encourage you to do the same. Many of you probably are already familiar with it. I'm talking about:

Fleetwood Mac News and Reviews

By the way, the closure of the board does not presage the closure of the site. BuckinghamNicks.net will stay online as long as I retain my mental faculties and my credit card number.

Happy birthday Lindsey Buckingham!

2010-10-03T18:54:00.003-04:00

Happy birthday to DA MAN himself, Lindsey Buckingham!

Hope it's a great one!

Happy Birthday to Stevie!

2010-05-26T20:53:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday to our favorite "high priestess", Miss Stephanie Lynn Nicks!

Stevie to Perform at the Grammys 1/31/2010!

2010-01-30T11:20:00.005-05:00

According to various sources, Stevie will be performing at the Grammys this Sunday!

After much speculation, two people who were at the Grammy rehearsals last night have reported that Stevie will be singing Rhiannon with multiple Grammy nominee this year, Taylor Swift! It may be during a 70s "flashback" segment or just a random performance!

This should be awesome and can't wait to tune in!

BN.net finally updated!

2010-01-30T11:04:00.002-05:00

Well, I finally got around to updating the site and will hopefully KEEP up with it this time!!!

New featured videos, photos and polls are up for your enjoyment! I know things are slow with Stevie/Lindsey/Fleetwood Mac now that the tour is completed but I will try my best to give some news as it comes!

Sorry for the lack of attention to the site, guys!

Happy 60th Birthday Lindsey Buckingham!

2009-10-03T00:19:00.000-04:00

Lindsey turned 60 today. Hope he had a great time! Thanks for the music, Lindsey, and keep on rockin'!

Second NZ Show Added!

2009-09-08T18:19:00.001-04:00

Fleetwood Mac - First Show Sells Out In Minutes

Wednesday, 9 September 2009, 9:49 am
Press Release: The Publicity Machine

For IMMEDIATE Release

Fleetwood Mac - First Show Sells Out In Minutes!!!! Second NZ Show Announced -

TSB Bowl of Brooklands, New Plymouth - SUNDAY December 20th 2009 Andrew McManus Presents is pleased to announce a second show on Sunday December 20th due to overwhelming demand.

'As promoter of this tour, even I am amazed at how quickly the first show sold out in New Plymouth and am proud to be able to announce a second concert, which will be the bands last show of their Unleashed World tour - a fitting completion to their sold out world tour and great way to finish for the fantastic New Zealand fans at such a beautiful venue as the New Plymouth Bowl'

Following on the heels of their hugely successful 55-city sold out North American tour, Fleetwood Mac - Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie - will bring their 'Unleashed' tour to New Zealand for a two-hour plus celebration of all the greatest hits from undoubtedly one of the most enduring, celebrated and influential rock groups of all time.

Don't miss the chance to see this extraordinary, iconic band in what promises to be one of the musical highlights of the year. NEW PLYMOUTH, TSB BOWL OF BROOKLANDS

SATURDAY DECEMBER 19th - SOLD OUT SUNDAY DECEMBER 20th - TICKETS ON SALE NOW!!!!

Still going their own way

2009-09-08T12:01:00.003-04:00

Lindsey Buckingham is surprisingly laid-back about being a jilted lover. It's been more than 30 years since his then girlfriend and Fleetwood Mac band mate, Stevie Nicks, got it on with the band's drummer, Mick Fleetwood, while on tour in New Zealand.

It's not that time has healed his aching heart. You see, back when the infidelity happened Buckingham didn't give a hoot either - it was 1977 and they were promiscuous and drug-fuelled times, after all.

In a recent interview the guitarist and pop genius of the group recounted how Nicks and Fleetwood made a big deal of coming round to his house to tell him about their affair, to which he responded, "Yeah? So? That's it?"

And he's just as flippant on the phone today from his home in Los Angeles: "Stevie and I were on the road to breaking up before we joined the band."

Considering the two lovers - who before Fleetwood Mac were making music as the duo Buckingham Nicks - joined the band in 1975 it must have been a long, rocky break-up.

No band has mixed a cocktail of melodrama, romantic shenanigans, and hedonistic substance abuse quite like Fleetwood Mac - and through it all they came up with two cracker albums, the mega-selling Rumours (1977) and kooky double album Tusk (1979).

It was Rumours, though, with songs like Buckingham's Go Your Own Way, Nicks' Dreams, and keyboardist/singer Christine McVie's Don't Stop, that went on to sell more than 40 million copies - currently the tenth best-selling album ever - and made Fleetwood Mac the biggest band in the world.

It's these songs, and many others, that the band will be playing at New Plymouth's Bowl of Brooklands on December 19 when they return for the first time since 1980's Tusk tour.

The Unleashed Tour is a two-hour plus show of greatest hits material and the Downunder dates follow a sold out 55-city North American tour earlier this year, and a European leg which starts in October.

The version of the band coming to New Zealand is the classic Rumours line-up of Buckingham, Nicks, Fleetwood and bassist player John McVie, minus his former wife Christine McVie who quit the band in 1998 because of her fear of flying.

"One of the things that makes the tour fun, and a little bit profound for us is that we don't have a new album - yet anyway - so we're not trying to go out there and do material that is unfamiliar," says 59-year-old Buckingham. "And oddly enough, for the first time, we've been able to sit back and take stock of the body of work that we have and appreciate it.

"When you're in the moment of making songs, and especially for us with the politics and all the drama that went on, it has never been that easy, and the fun of being on stage has always been tempered by all of that."

So for the first time in 35 years, it seems this classic yet troubled line-up of Fleetwood Mac is the most settled they've ever been.

"We're having a good time," says Buckingham who has the sort of relaxed - almost lazy - lilt you expect from a born-and-bred Californian.

Fleetwood Mac started out as a rough-and-ready British blues band in 1967. With the two constants being Fleetwood and John McVie, the group enjoyed a brief flurry of popularity, underwent a number of personnel changes (including the departure of legendary guitarist Peter Green) , and moved to Los Angeles in 1974.

Meanwhile, Buckingham and Nicks had started making a name for themselves in the early 70s in LA as a duo, combining two-part harmonies and lush orchestral rock arrangements. The pair recorded an album together, with both pictured naked on the cover and Nicks especially striking a sexy and sultry pose, which Buckingham looks back on these days as an "immature" effort by a "fledgling" duo. Buckingham first met Fleetwood at the Sound City recording studio in LA in late 1974. He happened to walk into a room where the tall, skinny drummer was being played the Buckingham Nicks song Frozen Love.

"He was this really thin, kind of bizarre looking guy, bopping away and nodding his head," remembers Buckingham. "I thought, 'What is going on here?' And my first impression was quite correct: Mick is a true individual, quite eccentric, and his presence is certainly unusual. I didn't know who he was at first and then I got introduced to him and of course I was familiar with his band."

It turned out Fleetwood was looking for a new guitarist, with the departure of Bob Welch who had been with the band since 1971, and a week after his first meeting with Buckingham he called him to see if he wanted to join Fleetwood Mac.

"Stevie and I were not planning on doing anything like that and I just said, 'Well, you gotta take my girlfriend too'."

Buckingham says joining Fleetwood Mac was initially a tricky transition as an instrumentalist because he found himself in a group of powerful musicians with "a certain force".

"A great deal of the sound was pretty much established. John and Mick had a very distinct sound that was pre-ordained. It was my challenge to fit into that and contribute to it and somehow not lose my sense of self. There were things I had to give up to do that. Certainly the orchestral side of the playing that was present on the Buckingham Nicks album became something that had to be pared down. You know, John McVie's bassline, and Christine's keyboard playing take up a lot of space.

"Basically, I had to find the holes that were left and that required me pulling back on my style."

Despite these musical differences, there was very little friction on a sonic level - as we've heard, it was the emotional goings-on and the drug and alcohol excesses that caused the most turbulence.

"I couldn't change the way they played, all I could do was influence the production, the direction of the arrangement, and the direction of, for lack of a better term, a pop sensibility."

Which he did, very well, and while the first album with Buckingham and Nicks on board, 1975's Fleetwood Mac, was well received, it was Rumours that made the biggest impact.

Considering the amount of cocaine consumed, and the twisted love affairs going on within the ranks of Fleetwood Mac during the making of, and in the aftermath, of Rumours, the record turned out pretty well.

"Ever since Stevie and I joined the band there was always emotional turmoil," says Buckingham. "It may or may not have existed for most groups, but it was more so for us because there were couples in the band, and so everything, even the time during Rumours, with that amazing commercial success, I don't want to say it was overshadowed, but it was definitely counter-balanced by this other stuff that was going on, which wasn't that much fun to have to go through.

"I think the residue from that [emotional turmoil] went on and on and on, but I think we are at a point now, in our never-ending struggle to become adults," he says with a laugh, "we are getting to the point where we not only appreciate the body of work, but appreciate each other and appreciate that we have this great chemistry as a band," he reminisces.

While there is much made of the problems Nicks, Fleetwood, and John McVie had with drug and alcohol addiction - for example after Nicks got clean of cocaine she became addicted to the painkiller Klonopin - it seems Buckingham fared pretty well.

"To some degree it was 'when in Rome' in the sense that I think we existed in a subculture of rock'n'roll. It was [about] living with substances and that's how things evolved.

"That lifestyle got away from a lot of people. For sure. I was not one of them, but I was certainly there and did partake, but for some reason Stevie and Mick in particular seemed to run into more problems with that."

The ongoing addiction problems his bandmates were having had a lot to do with Buckingham's decision to leave the band in 1987, following the album Tango In the Night.

"But you know," he offers, "I think it's as much a representation of a lifestyle shared by a whole generation of people during a certain time more than anything else. I think in many ways we were all doing things we thought we had to do in order to be creative - which turns out to be ridiculous."

One imagines the excesses of those heady times did have something to do with Tusk, the sprawling and kooky 20-track follow-up to Rumours.

The album was driven almost single-handedly by Buckingham who wrote half the songs, although Stevie Nicks' Sara was the chart-topping and reasonably normal sounding single.

You can tell he's most proud of Tusk. "The Tusk album was a direct reaction to the massive commercial success of Rumours and the proposition that someone would like us to make Rumours II."

So what does he think of the term soft rock - a common term associated with Fleetwood Mac - because Tusk is anything but soft. It's quite crazy, really.

"Yes it is," says Buckingham gleefully. "You could say soft rock, you could also say way more sophisticated," he laughs.

"It's orchestrated, there is a lot of intelligent playing going on, some great musicianship; and I don't care what you call it and in some ways I think it's hard to put one label on Fleetwood Mac. I think the music holds up over time in a way that other stuff doesn't."

The band have no long-term plan, they're getting along well, and Buckingham says they're talking about the possibility of a new album.

Which means, of course, Fleetwood Mac will have to work together as a songwriting unit once again.

"Which is maybe something we've never been able to do, since the first few years. And I'm excited about that and it really is a way that dignifies what we've been able to accomplish and dignifies our relationships with each other as friends, and as co-workers."

- Article by Scott Kara, NZ Herald

Two Stevie Articles from VMagazine!

2009-09-08T11:54:00.004-04:00

There are two Stevie interviews/articles from VMagazine. One is about Stevie's different styles and looks over the years and another is a general interview about touring, etc.

Here are the links:

TOTALLY STEVIE

THE WILD HEART

NZ Stevie interview from TVNZ!

2009-09-08T11:49:00.002-04:00

There are a couple of Stevie interview videos over at TVNZ of Stevie talking about the band.

To watch, click here & here!!

Truth and Rumours

2009-08-30T11:32:00.002-04:00

The kiss-offs are in the lyrics, the choruses and - most brutally - the titles. On Dreams, in between Buckingham declaring that he feels like Second Hand News and that he’s Never Going Back Again, Nicks warns her former beau that (other) “women, they will come and they will go”.

Later on side one, in arguably the greatest break-up song in pop history, Buckingham counters by telling her to Go Your Own Way. Which they did at the end of 1976 before these unguarded moments propelled Rumours to the top of the charts.

More than 30 years after those tumultuous times, Fleetwood Mac are still together - albeit without Christine McVie, who retired a decade ago - performing those classics on their Unleashed greatest hits world tour, which comes to Australia in December.

Speaking from her home in Santa Monica, California, after finishing the 53-date North American leg of the tour, Nicks says the songs still summon strong memories.

“We all really time-travel back to those days - drama, drama drama,” the 61-year-old says. “That’s why we’re able to sing them now and sing them with a lot of heart because we never lost the value of why they were written or the fact that they were real.

“It was real hearts being broken like bowling pins going down.” Despite the dramas, Nicks says that the Rumours sessions were a lot of fun.

In particular, the three months of recording at The Record Plant Studios in Sausalito across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco provide some of her fondest memories.

“The Record Plant was looking out over the ocean, so it was very romantic and beautiful,” she says.

“Then when we went back to LA that was fun too because we probably recorded in every studio in this city. Sometimes we had two or three running at the same time. So, it was huge and it was a lot of fun and it was very exciting - and the songs were brilliant. We were just having the best time ever doing it.”

The five stars of rock’s greatest soap opera were having the best time but falling apart because of the volatile cocktail of drugs and passions.

Somehow the creative bonds outlived the emotional ones, and the band forged on to prove (putting to one side Buckingham’s departure from about 1987 to 1997 and McVie’s retirement a year later) that you can never break the chain.

Today, Nicks is looking out over the same ocean, albeit from her Santa Monica condominium where she lives with her Chinese crested-Yorkshire terrier cross, Sulamith (named after fairy-obsessed German fantasy illustrator Sulamith Wulfing).

When she’s not on tour, which is not very often, Nicks prefers to live at her modest apartment rather than her big property in the Pacific Palisades up in the Hollywood hills.

“When I walk into my really beautiful little condo, I feel like an international star and when I walk into my big house, I feel like an old woman who can’t figure out what to do,” she says.

“I’m keeping my big house because I have my pianos, I can record there, but I really live in a very small, albeit very beautiful place. I’m looking straight at the ocean right now and I just love it.

“I have a little dog. I bought this big house and she and I would look at each other and go, ‘What the heck are we doing?’”

While she claims that the rigours of touring, either for solo shows or with Fleetwood Mac, leaves little time for socialising, Nicks has become a mother hen figure to a group of younger female musicians, including Sheryl Crow, Vanessa Carlton, Michelle Branch and the Dixie Chicks’ Natalie Maines.

And while Nicks has had high-profile affairs with Mick Fleetwood (a secret liaison while the band were touring Rumours), Eagles’ members Don Henley and Joe Walsh, and record producer Jimmy Iovine, she still considers Buckingham the unattainable love of her life.

“Lindsey and I have that bittersweet thing,” she says. “He’s married, has three kids, he’s very happy in his marriage. I’m very happy for him.

“He’s not like me. I’m happy to grow old with a bunch of friends and dogs, and he was not. He never really wanted to have kids . . . (but) all of a sudden he had this beautiful little boy and I think his whole life changed.

“I chose purposely - my choice - to not be married or have children so I could follow being a true artist,” Nicks continues.

“So I can turn around and say to my little dog, ‘We’re going to New York tomorrow’. We don’t have to ask anybody if we can go and we don’t have to have anybody mad at us because we don’t know when we’re coming back. I chose that and I’m very happy with that choice.”

But when Fleetwood Mac start playing those classics, Nicks gets back on that rollercoaster of love and heartbreak.

“When we walk on stage, it’s no longer these two ruffian kids,” she says. “We still have that love. We’ll always have it. We go back way too far now to not be appreciative of what he and I dreamed up and actually made happen.”

- Article by Simon Collins, The West Australian

New Photos up!

2009-08-26T07:42:00.003-04:00

Hey guys!

We have updated the, Buckingham Nicks, Stevie & Lindsey photo sections with lots of new pics! Most of them are from the Unleashed Tour.

Special thanks to Darlene & Jennifer who helped us in our search!

If you know of any other pictures that we can can put up on the site, please drop us a line! We are always looking to add more content!

Enjoy!

Aussie/NZ Tour Dates!

2009-08-22T15:19:00.001-04:00

Although they are not on sale as of yet, I added the tour dates for the Australian/NZ leg of the Unleashed tour! Take a look at the list to your right!

Fleetwood Mac rocking on

2009-08-22T15:16:00.002-04:00

THE last time Fleetwood Mac played in New Zealand, Rob Muldoon was prime minister and we still had the "carless days" scheme. There was a major strike at Kinleith Paper Mill that year, and the police noted that a staggering amount of pot was smoked, right out in the open, at the first Sweetwaters music festival near Ngaruawahia.

It was 1980. Fleetwood Mac played two sold-out shows here that year, with most of the band nursing raging cocaine habits financed by the success of their biggest album Rumours, released three years earlier. Rumours was inescapable in New Zealand we heard it in shopping malls, takeaway bars, petrol station forecourts, drifting from the open windows of houses and passing cars. Radio stations thrashed it, and your mum quite possibly played it at fondue parties where the after dinner instant coffee arrived in earthy brown Temuka Pottery cups.

And I played it myself, incessantly. When Rumours came out, I was 16 and Stevie Nicks was a powerful object of desire, a Californian hippie witch with ragged hems and come-to-bed eyes. Now Nicks is 61, and Fleetwood Mac are returning to play their first New Zealand gig in 29 years in New Plymouth in December.

"Really, I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to it," says Nicks from her home in Santa Monica, her speaking voice as nasal and husky as her singing voice. "I came down there on a solo tour in 2006 and I loved it, and so when Fleetwood Mac were booked to come to Australia, I convinced the rest of the band we should play New Zealand as well."

It is, says Nicks, a tour that will delight their fans. They won't have to suffer any new songs; it'll be singalong nostalgia all the way.

"It's our first ever greatest hits tour. In the past, we've always had a new record to promote, and the fans are, like you're not doing `Say You Love Me' because you wanna play a song we don't know? C'mon! So this time we're gonna pick 23 of the biggest songs Fleetwood Mac ever did and play 'em all over two-and-a-half hours. It's like OK, here's our body of work. Here are the best songs we've made since this line-up came together in 1975. This is our tapestry."

And what a rich tapestry it has been. Even within the notoriously dramatic world of rock'n'roll, Fleetwood Mac's career has stood out for its lack of calm and restraint. The band's history resembles a particularly tumultuous soap opera, or perhaps a soft-rock Spinal Tap, replete with madness and cults, lawsuits and lust, bogus touring bands, clandestine shagging, industrial strength bitchiness, oceans of alcohol, blizzards of cocaine. Numerous members have burnt out, flipped out or been kicked out along the way, leaving drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie the only surviving members from early line-ups.

Read the rest of this great article over at The Sunday Star Times!

Stevie Nicks is a hard act to follow

2009-08-22T15:11:00.003-04:00

SUPERSTAR Stevie Nicks will not allow Lindsay Lohan to play her in a planned Fleetwood Mac biopic.

"Lindsay cannot be me until she gets her life together," Nicks, 61, told the Sunday Herald Sun. "If I were to do a movie, or allow a movie about my life, Lindsay Lohan is not the person I would pick to do it.

"She has got completely off track. She has a bad reputation. She is a party girl.

"I would want somebody who is an excellent actress and dedicated to their craft."

Fleetwood Mac is swamped by movie offers and Nicks has picked the actor to play her.

"I want Reese Witherspoon to play me," Nick said. "Reese knows. She would play Stevie Nicks really well."

Nicks can relate to the traps snaring Hollywood's new brat pack.

She once released a solo album, Trouble In Shangri La, about the perils of celebrity and fame.

"I look at Miley Cyrus and wonder how she can keep it up because she is everything," Nicks said. "She is a singer, an actress, a dancer, a song writer. She is very famous. And she's only 16."

Nicks knows Miley's father, singer-actor Billy Ray Cyrus, keeps his daughter on track.

"He's a good old boy. He's tough as nails underneath that sweet smile," she said.

Nicks said Paris Hilton should not be rated alongside Cyrus, Lohan or Britney Spears.

"Paris is an heiress. She has so much money, she never has to work a day in her life," Nicks said.

"But she has purposely chosen to build an empire. So God bless her."

But Nicks gave her strongest support to Spears.

"I love Britney and I want the best for her," Nicks said. "She has got her life back and she has two boys who need her.

"But Britney has her body back, her beauty back and, hopefully, she will get her power back."

Fleetwood Mac performs at Rod Laver Arena on December 1. Tickets go on sale on September 4.

mA 40TH anniversary edition of Frank Sinatra's classic album, My Way, will be released in October.

"There's simply no one like Frank Sinatra. His music is one of the reasons I got into this business," Universal Music chairman Lucian Grainge said. "Now we plan to bring it alive for a whole new generation of fans."

- Article from the Heraldsun

Australian dates are coming!

2009-08-13T12:08:00.002-04:00

Hey Aussies! Great news! Looks like according to this article, Fleetwood Mac are "coming to town"!

Check back here next week for the dates, it looks like that's when the announcement will be made!

Hiatus is over! Anyone have photos to spare?

2009-08-09T13:47:00.006-04:00

I want to apologize for the loooong 2 month hiatus I took from updating this site. At least our band, our girl and our guy has been pretty quiet since June, so hopefully I didn't make any of you miss something super important since I have been lacking in updates lately!

Anyway, I have updated the videos, photos, and tour dates. There is also a new poll up, and I'll be posting important articles and reviews as per usual !

I have a favor to ask all of you. If you have any Stevie/Lindsey solo or photos of them paired together that you do NOT see in our photos sections, feel free to e-mail them our way! We are looking to update the photos section of the site, and we figured that this would be a good place to start! There is a link to your right for e-mailing us. If they are photos you took yourselves, feel free to put a small watermark on them if you so choose for crediting.

Thanks so much, guys! It's good to be back!

Winnipeg: Fleetwood Mac go their own ways

2009-06-07T11:19:00.002-04:00

Imagine being in a wildly successful business. With your ex. For the rest of your life. And just to sweeten the pot, imagine that you would make your money by repeatedly rehashing the ups and downs of your long-dead romance. In public.

Faced with that prospect, there would be only three paths you could choose: 1) Refuse and stay home; 2) Do it and live in a state of constant angst and depression from having to pick at those scabs day after week after month after year; 3) Get over yourselves, find a way to get along and reap the rewards.

If anyone still harboured lingering doubts that Fleetwood Mac have wholeheartedly embraced the latter option, the band erased it with their Saturday night Greatest Hits Unleashed concert for 11,000 fans at MTS Centre. Well, four of the Mac did, anyway — singer-keyboardist Christine McVie took a powder out Door No. 1 a decade ago, leaving singer-guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, vocalist Stevie Nicks, drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie to make the best of it.

And make the best of it they have. "We decided to just go out and have fun," the 59-year-old Buckingham exclaimed early on in the proceedings, explaining why the veteran ’70s band are back on the road without a new album. Despite his claims, however — and despite a few moments of undeniable fun that occurred during their 150-minute program — the bulk of their 24-song set felt less like a party than one of those holiday gatherings where both sides of a divorced couple show up and everybody is very deliberately and very publicly on their best behaviour.

That much was apparent from the moment the band played their first song (fittingly, it was Monday Morning, the opening track from their self-titled 1975 album). Buckingham and his former paramour Nicks (who, it must be said, doesn't look anywhere near 61) entered from opposite corners and took up positions several yards away from each other on the massive stage. Behind them were 61-year-old drummer Fleetwood (with whom Nicks once also had an affair, just for the record) and 63-year-old bassist McVie (the only member who, lucky for him, no longer to share a stage with his ex). Flanking the rhythm section were two auxiliary musicians handling extra guitars and keyboards, plus a trio of female backup singers.

- Read the rest of this article over at the Winnipeg Sun

ALSO, check out the live blogging that was done over at the Winnipeg Free Press.

Suskatoon Review: Fleetwood Mac show crowd pleaser

2009-06-06T11:39:00.002-04:00

It may be the most successful breakup story of all time. Not only did the damaged relationships of Fleetwood Mac yield one of the most popular albums of all time, but the band is still on stage together, mostly, and playing songs you'd have to be completely clueless not to know.

It was music from the aforementioned album, 1978's Rumours, that got the most attention Friday at Fleetwood Mac's Credit Union Centre show. And former couple Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, whose fallout inspired many of the band's pain-infused songs, stole the spotlight.

Nicks and Buckingham were joined by bassist John McVie and the lovable oddball, and band namesake, Mick Fleetwood, whose signature Rumours ponytail is still flowing, albeit much greyer.

Fleetwood Mac has had regular personnel changes since forming in 1967, but the incarnation most are familiar with was fully represented Friday night, save for Christine McVie, who is no longer touring with the band. Several of her best-known songs -- Little Lies, Over My Head and You Make Loving Fun -- were noticeably absent from the set. But the show still showcased most of the American/British band's finest.

The show opened with the song Monday Morning. Buckingham and Nicks took the stage hand in hand, one of several gestures -- which later included a prolonged hug -- to prove just how over the past they are. The first song segued into the darker The Chain, followed by Dreams, before which Nicks exclaimed, "We figure we might as well just get the party started." Great song? Yes. Party music? No.

The band made no attempt to gloss over past personal problems -- why would they, considering how profitable they were? -- with Buckingham saying, "Fleetwood Mac has had a fairly complicated, convoluted emotional history. At the end of the day, it has actually worked in our favour."

Nicks -- at 61, still dressed in her signature drapey, gypsy-like garb and singing into a scarf-covered microphone stand -- doesn't try to hit the higher notes anymore, but has retained that inexplicably sexy, smoky quality that makes her voice so special.

The foursome -- backed by three singers and two extra musicians -- definitely left the enthusiastic audience satisfied. The band barrelled to 21/2 hours of hits, including Gypsy, Go Insane, Second Hand News, Sara, Say That You Love Me, Go Your Own Way and Gold Dust Woman. A highlight for Nicks was her performance of Rhiannon, a song that sounds better the older she gets. The encore included the crowd favourite Don't Stop.

- By Stephanie Classen, The StarPhoenix

Salt Lake Review: Buckingham steals the show during Fleetwood Mac concert

2009-06-06T11:34:00.003-04:00

Not to disparage the rest of Fleetwood Mac, but the June 3 show at EnergySolutions Arena turned into The Lindsay Buckingham Show.

The nimble-fingered guitarist-singer for the British-American rock band put on a fevered showcase during the band's 2 ½-hour show, never leaving the stage during the quartet's generous 23-song offering, picking up the slack for the still-missed Christine McVie, who isn't touring with the band.

Mick Fleetwood, the ageless drummer and founder of the band with bassist John McVie at his right-hand side, applauded Buckingham during the show, calling him the "mentor in the studio, maestro on stage, and man with the magic fingers."

Buckingham was so possessed that he overshadowed singer Stevie Nicks' return to Salt Lake City. The Nicks family lived in Salt Lake City between 1961 and 1964, and Nicks spent her eighth, ninth and part of 10th grade in town. During her introduction to "Gypsy," Nicks told the crowd how devastated she was to move from Utah, and later dedicated "Landslide" to her friends who still live here.

Nicks, 61, looked and sounded ageless. She dressed in several different costumes that included long, billowy dresses, a top hat, and a tambourine and microphone adorned in charms and laces, and still played the part of the band's muse and fairy-rock goddess. Fleetwood and McVie looked nearly identical with matching vests and berets that covered their balding heads: Fleetwood is also 61, and McVie is 63.

Buckingham, 59, couldn't help stealing the spotlight from his older bandmates, who were backed by five musicians and back-up singers. It's not that he was envious, jealous or scheming. He just fed off the crowd all evening, and the large video screens hanging from the ceiling of the arena often focused on his pickless right hand strumming and picking furiously near the scratch plate. Clad in a leather jacket and jeans, he danced joyously on the heels of his black boots all night, often standing at the slightly outstretched lip of the stage like a guitar hero.

Seven songs were from "Rumours," the band's classic 1977 album produced during the break-up of the McVies' marriage and Nicks and Buckingham's relationship. While the band was able to blow kisses to one another on stage, Buckingham summoned rage and anger during the emotional "The Chain," with him seething during the lyrics, "Damn your love, damn your lies." And he changed up the fingerpicking classic "Never Going Back Again," also from "Rumours," into a slower song that barely masked the resignation and the pain.

The sound of the arena was strong, with the sole exception of McVie's bass, which sounded like muddled thunder during "The Chain," sounded better on "Rhiannon," and then became awful again during "Gold Dust Woman." Another quibble is that the concert's arrangement of songs lacked a consistent theme; for example, the show's opener, "Monday Morning," is a song about early mixed feelings about a relationship, but then the band followed that with the devastating break-up song, "The Chain." It was too sudden a change, and too early.

The band played songs from its entire, vast catalog --including Buckingham's stinging take on "Oh Well," a bluesy rave-up that predated his entrance into the band.

The nearly sold-out arena -- although the entire upper bowl was curtained off -- was offered some good news by Buckingham early on.

He said, "There's no new album to promote -- yet."

- By David Burger, The Salt Lake Tribune

Dates for the UK have been announced!

2009-06-03T18:07:00.002-04:00

Please turn your attention over to the tour dates section to your right.

Some Fall dates for the Unleashed tour have been announced for the UK and Ireland and tickets will be on sale soon! As soon as they go on sale, I'll announce it here!

Stevie on (or NOT on) Twitter

2009-06-03T17:58:00.003-04:00

According to the NicksFix - Stevie isn't using Twitter. So....all that hype from the Fox News show a couple months ago is apparently just that - hype. If you are following RealStevieNicks on Twitter currently - looks like it doesn't matter anymore. :-)

Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham on not sweating the small stuff

2009-06-01T18:28:00.002-04:00

From Gibson.com

Lindsey Buckingham has a bit of a reputation. For years, the Fleetwood Mac singer and guitarist has been as well known for his ability to knock out sublime pop tunes as his propensity to mix it up with bandmates Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. But the Buckingham we spoke to on the eve of Fleetwood Mac’s latest reunion tour — once again without Christine McVie, who left the group at the beginning of the decade — is far different than the character you’ll find in rock history books. At 59, the father of three has admittedly mellowed, telling us that the little things no longer bother him in a big way.

How do you make it through two hours on-stage every night?

It goes pretty quick. Somebody made the comment the other day that you don't get paid for going on-stage; you get paid for the downtime before and after. A lot of the time what seems more challenging is maybe the few hours leading up to the show. In terms of energy level, it comes from somewhere. I know it's all very age inappropriate what I'm doing.

Does it bother you that Stevie gets the biggest cheers of the night for her twirls?

It's very balanced out for me. I don't feel like I have to compete with a set of preconceptions in terms of focal point. All I can say is she has her moments where she gets big applause and there are many points in the show where I feel I'm getting the energy. I certainly would not begrudge Stevie her moments.

Are there any of the old songs you refuse to sing, either because they bring up too many memories or you’re just sick of them?

Not really. We sat down and we came up with a set list, which was a pretty obvious group of songs. It's what we do. It's our job. We have a good job. A lot of people would want our job. The older you get the more you feel blessed that you have not only survived the business this long but stayed on top of it. My challenge is working out the logistics of making my solo albums every once in a while.

This seems like a pretty good gig. What did you get out of making your last solo album?

It relieved a sense of frustration I had for a number of years of wanting to do something solo and having it intervened upon on every occasion. Which is fine. If you're a band member you've got to think about what the group wants to do first. But after Say You Will, I was in a place of clarity where I said, "Don't bother me for three years. Let me get this done.” I think I learned a lot.

Do you ever bring your kids out on the road?

Some of the time. Last time we went out they were all pretty portable but now they're all in school so it's a little bit tough. I think they do like it. They've grown up with it. They're actually a little more aware of the stuff I was doing solo since my oldest is 10. They don't remember that much from the last Fleetwood Mac tour.

Are you feeling more mature with age?

I have to try. You hit a point where a lot of things that you thought would push your buttons don't really push your buttons any more. That's why this tour is going so smoothly. Nothing has really been bothering me. Something must have changed. Things that used to bother me don't bother me anymore.

LA Review: Lindsey Buckingham takes spotlight on Fleetwood Mac tour

2009-05-31T14:02:00.002-04:00

If the name had not already been taken, Fleetwood Mac might be more accurately known as the Buckinghams.

Guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, dubbed the veteran rock band’s “mentor” and “maestro” by drummer and co-founder Mick Fleetwood, poured on the highlights during the Mac’s 2-1/2-hour concert at the Staples Center on Thursday.

Clearly invigorated by his tour last year to promote his latest solo album, Buckingham wowed the 18,000-strong boomer crowd with flashy, pick-free guitar work on such tunes as “Go Insane,” “I’m So Afraid” and “Big Love,” which he dedicated to his wife and young children in the audience.

Co-conspirator Stevie Nicks was off stage for the latter two songs, but she won over fans with her gravel-voiced take on “Gold Dust Woman” and show closer “Silver Springs.” Perhaps the loudest roar was reserved for her synth-laden solo tune “Stand Back.”

Not all of Buckingham’s tunes worked. The brassy climax of “Tusk” could have benefited from a guest spot by the University of Southern California Trojan Marching Band, who performed on the original recording and are based down the road from the venue. Instead, some deft playing by a touring keyboardist had to suffice.

Singer/keyboardist Christine McVie was also sorely missed. The writer of such tunes as “You Make Loving Fun” and “Little Lies” retired to her English country estate a decade ago to focus on her culinary passions. But that did not prevent Buckingham and Nicks from trading verses on two of her best-known songs “Don’t Stop” and “Say You Love Me.”

Fleetwood Mac are touring without a new album — “yet,” Buckingham told the crowd. The idea is to “just go out and have fun,” he said.

But for the first half of the show, Buckingham, Nicks, Fleetwood and bass player John McVie barely acknowledged each other, firmly keeping to their designated areas of the simple stage. However Nicks embraced Buckingham after she finished singing “Sara,” and other bonding moments soon occurred. By the end, it looked like a major love-fest among the various ex-lovers and combatants.

The souvenir stands did a roaring trade in $40 tambourines (what recession?), though this led to a lot of unnecessary accompaniment during the show. Mick Fleetwood wigs might be a better choice on the next tour.

- by Dean Goodman, Reuters

Calgary & Edmonton Shows have been Rescheduled/Sacramento show is NOT being rescheduled

2009-05-31T13:59:00.002-04:00

The Calgary show has been rescheduled for June 23rd, the Edmonton Show has been rescheduled for June 24th. Links to purchase tickets are over to your right!

Unfortunately the Cancelled Sacramento show will NOT be rescheduled:

SACRAMENTO, Calif. --

Fleetwood Mac won't be coming to Sacramento this summer after all.

Because of scheduling conflicts, the concert that was originally scheduled for May 18 at Arco Arena has been canceled.

Live Nation said refunds for tickets to the Arco Arena show are available at point of purchase.

"Fleetwood Mac and Live Nation apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused fans," Live Nation said in a statement.

Happy Birthday Stevie!

2009-05-26T19:46:00.001-04:00

Long may you rock!

AZ Review: Fleetwood Mac delivers greatest hits

2009-05-25T18:25:00.003-04:00

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers in Fleetwood Mac showed Sunday night that they have emerged from a five-year performance hiatus with their musical mystery and superstar aura intact.

In a homecoming show for singer Stevie Nicks, the band served up an ambitious set of classics that ran nearly 2 1/2 hours at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale.

Its four members, augmented on their Unleashed tour by three singers and two other musicians, may be in their early '60s, but there was plenty of energy onstage from the bouncing opening chords of 1975's “Monday Morning.”

Guitarist-singer Lindsey Buckingam seemed to be the most supercharged Sunday, enthusiastically diving into the vocals of that tune, which like much of Mac's catalog, talks about the double sword of romance.

The Phoenix-born Nicks exuded a regal, dignified presence onstage, suitable for her status as one of rock's most magnetic and complex performers. But she clearly was happy to be back in Arizona, where she owned a home for 25 years.

“We have family here tonight (including her sister-in-law, Lori Nicks, on vocals). I am thrilled to be here,” Nicks said early on. “It is my home, you know.”

Nicks later dedicated a poignant version of “Landslide” to her mother, Barbara, a longtime Valley resident.

The arena crowd, a few thousand seats short of a sellout, responded to the between-song banter Nicks and Buckingham with loud love.

Though Mac is viewed as a baby-boomer act, a healthy number of teens and 20-somethings were in the Glendale crowd, perhaps drawn by the group's decision to spotlight its biggest hits on this tour.

With no new album to promote, Buckingham told the audience, “This time, we said, ‘Let's just go out there and have fun.'”

The set which included such mega-hits as “Rhiannon,” “Go Your Own Way,” “Dreams,” “Sara” and “Don't Stop,” left longtime fans like Pamela Frady, 54, of Fountain Hills satisfied.

“All the old songs were really good,” she said.

Frady's husband, David, 54, who has seen the band through the years, added, “They have done nothing but improve phenomenally.”

Buckingham remained as fiery as ever when he attacked his guitar on “Big Love” and the show-stopping “I'm So Afraid.”

He mentioned “the power and importance of change” before starting the rapid-fire plucking of his acoustic guitar on 1987's “Big Love.”

When he was done, he looked up at the crowd, smiled and touched his heart.

As 1975's “I'm So Afraid” built to a raging climax, Buckingham ran around the stage, pausing several times to pound on the fret board of his guitar, within inches of the outstretched arms of fans.

Nicks' vocals were smooth and strong on the aforementioned hits, as well as “Dreams,” “Gypsy,” “Gold Dust Woman” and the show-ending “Silver Springs.”

The keys of some songs appeared to have been lowered, and Nicks long ago altered her treatment of some lyrics to avoid high notes, but her rich voice remains of of rock's most distinctive.

Nicks, who reportedly has lost 60 pounds, looked as mystical as ever, dressed early on in a dark dress with material cascading from its sleeves and tall boots. She had some subtle costume changes during the show, including various shawls that added drama to her trademark move — extending her arms and twirling (done more slowly than in the '70s and '80s).

During the always-powerful “Gold Dust Woman,” Nicks turned her back to the crowd and stretched out her arms, silhouetted by an onstage spotlight. As the haunting song wound down, Nicks' dance moves were eerie and ghostlike, and the crowd responded with a roar.

Drummer Mick Fleetwood, who co-founded the band with bassist and fellow Brit John McVie in 1967, got into the act with a spirited drum solo during the first encore song, “World Turning.”

Wearing a microphone and looking like rock's crazy, old uncle with his gray beard and bulging eyeballs, Fleetwood cracked up the crowd with yelps and hoots.

McVie, whom Fleetwood introduced as “the backbone of Fleetwood Mac,” was his usual low-key self on stage, decked out in a cap and dark vest.

Throughout the set, Fleetwood waved his approval at Buckingham's masterful guitar work and blew kisses at Nicks.

Nicks and Buckingam, who were a couple before and during their early days in Fleetwood Mac (they joined in 1974), came out for the first encore holding hands, and Buckingham gently kissed the singer's hand.

The gesture was bittersweet and powerful, just like Fleetwood Mac's latest concert set.

- By Larry Rodgers, azcentral.com

LIVE: Fleetwood Mac at Anaheim's Honda Center

2009-05-25T10:00:00.003-04:00

Fleetwood Mac, the American-British powerhouse behind one of the bestselling albums of all time, is rock's greatest example of the good gained from ignoring every bit of sage advice known to humans about love and relationships.

But thank the dysfunctional heavens they did: The Mac has emerged some 30 years later as a weather-worn but still gripping outfit, currently touring in its most potent configuration, minus the singer and songwriter of some of its most durable hits, the retired Christine McVie.

For those needing a refresher course in popular rock scandal, the band forged ahead for 1977's blockbuster "Rumours" despite breakups between front couple Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, and founding member John McVie and wife Christine.

It's all ancient history now -- or is it? This latest greatest-hits trek, titled "The Unleashed Tour," inevitably finds the band revisiting "Rumours" and its more challenging follow-up, the sprawling and fantastic "Tusk," but instead of shying away from its fractious history, Fleetwood Mac has woven it into the concert repertoire.

In one of his song introductions at Anaheim's Honda Center on Saturday night, Buckingham explained that the first "Rumours" tune they recorded revealed his emotional temperature at that moment -- anger, bitterness, even a little humor, but "we had to reconcile . . . at least for a short time." The band then launched into one of its strongest performances of the night, a thrillingly muscular "Second Hand News."

Buckingham often spoke with the measured tones of someone who's been in therapy. Other times, he would yowl, stamp his feet or thump his lean-muscled chest before pointing reverently at the crowd. He also dropped a big hint about the Mac's future: "There's no new album to promote yet" (his emphasis).

Nicks occupied her side of the stage with an entirely different energy. Clutching a tambourine festooned with strips of fabric, her performance was sometimes too sedate, though not without breakthrough moments of fiery engagement.

Maybe the gypsy queen was conserving her energy for the lengthy show (total time was 2 hours and 40 minutes), but her early performance of "Dreams" only spottily struck on the song's slumberous wisdom. Nicks' range has narrowed over the years, but by the middle of the set her voice seemed warmed up, her presence more keen.

For "Gold Dust Woman," Nicks, wrapped in one of her many luminous shawls of the night, reveled in her favorite role of stage-bound shaman, her brown eyes finally blazing as she gave her most convincing vocal performance of the night. McVie and Fleetwood provided stellar rhythm support as she closed the song in a classic Nicks position -- draped arms out, back to the crowd, light pouring in around her figure.

Despite her listlessness at times, Nicks is no less a treasure to behold, the rare rock 'n' roll frontwoman who's still inspiring to legions of young bands. Her sense of mystique provides an important counterpoint to Buckingham, who -- blistering guitar solos and all -- is familiarly situated in the rock god vein.

But when Buckingham and Nicks hugged at the end of "Sara," an awkward but nevertheless moving gesture, they proved they have the ability to surprise the audience as well as each other. And so new depths of Fleetwood Mac will surely be plumbed for lovers everywhere, old and new.

- By Margaret Wappler, The Los Angeles Times

San Jose Review

2009-05-23T17:56:00.002-04:00

The last time I saw Fleetwood Mac in San Jose, there was a near-riot—and it wasn’t because people were trying to get in. When the U.K./American outfit played the half-empty, three-thousand capacity San Jose Civic Auditorium in January 1974, somebody must have thought the local residents were pretty stupid. The band that followed warm-up combo Silverhead (fronted by Michael DesBarres, husband of famed tell-all author/groupie Pamela DesBarres) onstage was definitely not Fleetwood Mac. We’d seen their photos, bought their records, and these were five guys named Moe. Patrons immediately stormed the box office, demanding their money back and were told that the band’s manager, Clifford Davis, who owned the name “Fleetwood Mac,” had fired the original members and hired an all-new lineup. Sign this list, kid, and you’ll be mailed a full refund. Still waiting for that check.

The itch was finally scratched last night when Fleetwood Mac played to a near-capacity crowd of more than 20 thousand at cavernous H.P. Pavilion, home of the San Jose Sharks. Lindsey Buckingham and Stephanie “Stevie” Nicks climbed onboard the Mac express in 1975 and shepherded the group through its superstar period during a 10-year run. Buckingham and Nicks reminisced onstage about their local connections. Both attended Menlo-Atherton High School in Menlo Park in the late ’60s, San Jose State in the early ’70s, then cut their only Buckingham Nicks album in 1973. “When we played the Fillmore West opening for Quicksilver Messenger Service,” said Nicks, “Bill Graham screamed at a guy who was heckling me, ‘Get out of my Fillmore and don’t ever come back!’ That’s when I knew we were going somewhere.” Dressed in her trademark, free-flowing ensemble, Nicks spoke warmly of the boyfriend/girlfriend days she spent with Buckingham, dedicating the band’s ‘82 hit “Gypsy” to “the paper roses, the house we had in Los Gatos and the gypsies that we were.” Nicks, who just turned 60, tentatively tried a pirouette on ‘76 smash “Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win)” but gave up about halfway through. With her voice as strong as ever, it’s probably time to think about switching from playing Ophelia to a long run as Lady MacBeth.

Buckingham, a year younger than Nicks, proved especially feisty, reeling off a juicy guitar break on “Dreams” (”Thunder only happens when it’s raining”) and a solid vocal turn on a re-tooled version of “Oh Well,” a searing, stop-and-start blues number first cut by the 1970 version of Fleetwood Mac that featured guitartists Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer and Danny Kirwan. It was also a treat to hear Nicks perform onetime Mac singer/keyboardist Christine McVie’s showcase number “Say You Love Me.” A hired keyboard player did his best to replace the USC marching band, the original accompanist (recorded at Dodger Stadium) for stirring 1979 number “Tusk,” a revered highlight of the Mac’s masterpiece double album of the same name.

Drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie (the band’s original namesakes) remain in place, with the stork-like Fleetwood, dressed in black knickers and red shoes, particularly nimble on a gavotte-styled bow that followed big hit “Go Your Own Way.” Everyone knew what the encore would be—the only ace in the deck they hadn’t dealt. 1977 classic “Don’t Stop” gained a second life as the campaign theme song for Bill Clinton in 1992. It sounded every bit as exciting in the first term of Barack Obama.

- Jud Cost, Magnet Magazine

Oakland Review: Fleetwood Mac at the Oracle Arena

2009-05-21T16:10:00.002-04:00

Delving into the convoluted history of Fleetwood Mac is tantamount to stepping in a cow pile for the casual fan (and here I shall raise my hand), so let's sidestep cries of "heresy!" and stick to what went down at the Oracle last night.

When you've got a catalogue of hits like Fleetwood Mac, the quality of the show leans heavily on whether or not the band is in top form. And on this night, for most of the 20-song set, the band was tight and the vocals crisp. Father Time may have stiffened the bones of John McVie and Stevie Nicks (who headed backstage for a break and shawl swap after almost every song), but Mick Fleetwood and Lindsey Buckingham had obviously been eating their spinach - these two gentlemen of Pop had far more fun than anyone in the audience. Which is no easy feat considering the crowd was on its feet for more than half of the show, tears of nostalgia wetting many an eye.

The addition of three back-up singers, a guitarist and keyboardist (who also sang harmonies) contributed to the lush sound that is the hallmark of many a Fleetwood Mac recording.

Both Nicks and Buckingham commented on how thrilled they were to be back in the Bay, where their former band Fritz opened for acts like Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. San Francisco is the "velvet underground" mentioned in "Gypsy," added Nicks before launching into the song.

Fan favorites "Go Your Own Way," "Landslide," "Dreams," "Say You Love Me" and "Rhiannon" made appearances, as did "Storms," which Nicks said had never been performed onstage outside the current tour.

Add dueling guitar leads between veteran guitarist Neale Heywood and Buckingham and an over-the-top drum solo from Fleetwood and you've got a show that will be bragged about having been at for quite some time.

- Janine Kahn, SF Blogs

Tonight's Sacramento show POSTPONED

2009-05-18T13:39:00.003-04:00

SACRAMENTO, CA - The Fleetwood Mac concert scheduled for 8 p.m. Monday night at Arco Arena has been cancelled.

Arena officials said they are still confirming whether or not the concert has been postponed to a later date or cancelled for good.

Sacramento was one of the last stops on the popular blues rock band's "Unleashed" tour that started in March.

News10/KXTV

UPDATE - This show WILL be rescheduled:

Monday, May 18

ARCO Arena

Sacramento

Fleetwood Mac has postponed their scheduled show for tonight, May 18th at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento due to illness.

A rescheduled date will be announced soon.Tickets that were purchased for the May 18th ARCO Arena show will be honored at the newly rescheduled date.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

The pop partnership that revinvented Fleetwood Mac

2009-05-17T15:39:00.001-04:00

The musical pairing of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks reinvigorated Fleetwood Mac's sound, which continues to influence artists today. Are they due a resurgence?

This week, I received an email from Joe Cardamone of the Icarus Line regarding a new project he has been working on with Annie Hardy from Giant Drag. He included a demo of their song Lake of Fire, stating that "Fleetwood Mac is the new black". The track is fantastic. Joe and Annie have perfectly captured the vibe of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks in their pre-Fleetwood Mac days, when they were a folk-rock duo.

Musical partnerships are plentiful, but iconic partnerships are not. If you've not heard the Buckingham Nicks debut release, you really should as it helped define the Pacific coast FM pop sound of Fleetwood Mac. Both Buckingham and Nicks were prodigies of their producer Keith Olsen (a member of Music Machine and early production partner of Curt Boettcher). It was while Olsen was pitching for a job with Mick Fleetwood that he played him the Buckingham Nicks debut. Fleetwood was struck by their track Frozen Love and later invited the pair to join Fleetwood Mac, hence reinventing the band and their sound.

Buckingham introduced the California sound to a struggling Fleetwood Mac and the band ran with it. For me, the lynchpin of Fleetwood Mac wasn't original member Peter Green, who has somehow acquired the genius status of Syd Barrett or Skip Spence. The earlier, bluesier Peter Green recordings lack the essential buzz of Buckingham.

When I first got into Fleetwood Mac it was anathema. If you had to admit to liking them, it was only by praising Peter Green. But man, Rumours! What an album! Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham were world-class songwriters, and it was shocking the world wasn't listening in 1973. Even the tension between Nicks and Buckingham's romantic and songwriting relationship resulted in many Fleetwood Mac classics: The Chain, Go Your Own Way and Landslide. Their partnership provided the energy behind the epic Rumours – the second Fleetwood Mac album and one of the biggest-selling records of all time – and the focal point of their legendary live shows.

While they were recording the third Fleetwood Mac album, Tusk, Buckingham and Nicks's relationship disintegrated, but somehow this manifested into one of the most wilfully self-destructive albums since the Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique or Sly and the Family Stone's There's a Riot Going On. Buckingham, now in love with punk and new wave, insisted they record in his house and, although not as successful as Rumours, it was a strange, coke-fuelled masterpiece.

Their influence reaches unlikely places. My friend Nick Laird-Clowes of the Dream Academy had Buckingham brought on as a producer for their second album Remembrance Days in 1987. He recounted how the sessions involved going down to Buckingham's LA mansion, skinning up and playing the Korgis' Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime.

Courtney Love, of course, worshipped Fleetwood Mac and, in particular, Stevie Nicks. Love was responsible for bringing the band back into the pantheon of cool in the early 90s, which culminated in the classic 1997 Nicks/Love joint interview in Spin magazine.

Love believes fervently that everyone should listen to Rumours before even thinking about picking up a guitar. And she's right. More recently, contemporary bands have been heading towards the Pacific Coast Highway with their music, be it new folk-rocker Nico Georis or even Love's still unreleased classic Nobody's Daughter (which sounds like her Noughties answer to Rumours). In a recent Pitchfork interview, Dave Portner of Animal Collective talked about his email exchanges with Buckingham and how the Fleetwood Mac sound was an influence on their latest album, Merriweather Post Pavilion.

Psychedelic west-coast rockers, Comets On Fire and Six Organs of Admittance have also credited the influence of Buckingham's guitar-style (over that of John Fahey). The more I think about it, Buckingham and Nicks's genius is Zelig-like, and they're seemingly everywhere. Between the guitar style of Buckingham and Nicks's gravely west coast blues voice, it is no wonder during swings and roundabouts of popular culture, music has come back to the Pacific-coast pop of Fleetwood Mac. And with Buckingham's recent statement that he intends to produce another album, plus the fact that the band are currently on the road, could 2009 see another resurgence of Fleetwood Mac? If it can produce another Rumours or Tusk, I say bring it on.

- Gardian.co.uk

Q&A With Lindsey Buckingham

2009-05-17T15:36:00.001-04:00

The mercurial forces behind Fleetwood Mac - John McVie, Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood and Lindsey Buckingham - are back on the road, once again without Christine McVie. And for the first time in a long time, the band doesn't have any new material to promote, so the Unleashed Tour is made up of two hours of fan favorites. We asked the group's 59-year-old guitarist - and a recent father of three - Buckingham how he felt about that. Fleetwood Mac plays Wednesday at Oakland's Oracle Arena and Thursday at San Jose's HP Pavilion.

Q: There was some talk last year that Sheryl Crow was going to take over Christine McVie's position in the band. Did you block that?

A: No, I didn't block it. One of the things that made this go so smoothly is that I've been really unparticular about my opinions. I did not think that was a good idea. One, she was going to come in for a period of time and it spoke to me like something that had come from the top down, like a marketing idea. The other thing is that it struck me as a bit loungey to have someone else come in and do Christine's songs. She went and shot herself in the foot anyway.

Q: How's that?

A: She somehow announced she was going to join Fleetwood Mac. We had talked about it, but it had not been decided. So that became a red flag for the band. At the end of the day, it wasn't the right thing to do. So that was it. I was actually quite happy it turned out that way. We're much better working with the four core people.

Q: Besides, the last thing you need is another ego in this band.

A: That's right. Stevie and I are still working on our dynamic, which, believe it or not, is still evolving.

Q: Does doing a greatest-hits tour make you a nostalgia act?

A: This resting-on-our-laurels tour? We have a body of work that will transcend that label, I think. Had we gone in to make a new album first, it would have felt more in line with the things I value. Oddly enough, having not done that, it put us in the position of going into rehearsals completely anxiety-free, as opposed to having the residue of making the album to deal with. The actual experience of doing the tour has been quite thrilling. I have no explanation for that. It's kind of like a point you get to as a band, and for a moment you can rest and say, "This is what's happened, and it's pretty f- good."

Q: Having three children probably puts the band dramas in perspective.

A: It's certainly put a balance on everything. It's made it easier to enjoy what I'm doing now. It probably helped that I did a couple of solo albums and got some touring out of the way. You hit a point where a lot of things that you thought would push your buttons don't really push your buttons anymore. That's why this tour is going so smoothly. Nothing has really been bothering me.

Q: How much do you think your robust chest hair had to do with Fleetwood Mac selling those 100 million albums?

A: Wow. I would say none. The whole band, or just me?

Q: Specifically you, since I don't remember Stevie or Christine having much chest hair.

A: John has got a good tuft on there. I would hope very little. That's the first time I was asked that. It could have been something I missed.

- SFGate.com

Omaha, Kansas City, Denver, Vancouver & Tacoma show Reviews

2009-05-17T15:20:00.004-04:00

Hey guys!

I know I'm behind so I thought I would just post a couple of external links to some reviews to the Omaha, Kansas City, Denver, Vancouver & Tacoma shows. As I'm sure all of you know, the Calgary & Edmonton shows were Postponed due to an illness in the band. Rumours were that it was Stevie who was sick but no confirmation on that. Anyway, the band stated they WOULD reschedule the shows for 'sometime in June' so hopefully it all works out and those that planned to go will STILL get to go!

Omaha Review
Kansas City Review
Denver Review
Vancouver Review
Tacoma Review

Stevie Nicks blasts Lindsay, Britney

2009-05-17T15:17:00.002-04:00

If anyone has the right to give advice to the Britney Spearses and Lindsay Lohans of the world, it’s Stevie Nicks. In her more-than-30-year career as a solo singer and as one of the lead vocalists of the rock group Fleetwood Mac, the 61-year-old icon has paved the way for women in the music industry. And she has the war wounds to prove it. From battles with drug addiction to notorious love affairs, her life is tailor-made for a Hollywood film. Which is probably why Lindsay Lohan keeps telling reporters about her burning desire to play Nicks in a yet-to-be-made Fleetwood Mac biopic. This has Nicks a little concerned. Via phone from a presidential suite in New York City, she repeats the words “over my dead body” when the mention of a Lindsay-as-Stevie movie comes up. “That girl is the antithesis of everything that I don’t want for younger girls to be. I don’t want anyone as messy as her messing with my history.”

The legacy Nicks is so protective of is still going strong. This spring she has been busy promoting her latest two projects—a DVD called Live In Chicago and a live CD titled The Soundstage Sessions—as well as reconnecting on stage with Fleetwood Mac on its current greatest-hits North American tour. Packed with five remaining Canadian concert dates, the tour has Nicks performing more than 50 shows, many of which are sold out. Which explains why Hollywood execs have been banging on her door. “Most of them,” she says, “want to focus on when I first joined the band and the three fun, crazy years after that. Quite frankly, I don’t blame them—they were a roller-coaster ride!”

To clarify, Nicks is talking about when she and her then-lover, guitarist-vocalist Lindsey Buckingham, became members of Fleetwood Mac in 1975 (joining drummer Mick Fleetwood, vocalist Christine McVie and bassist John McVie). Shortly after the group’s first album together, Nicks experienced the side effects of being in a band with three Top 20 singles. “I was a waitress and Lindsey was a telemarketer back then,” Nicks recalls. “By the end of the summer, we were millionaires. It transformed our lives completely. Then Rumours happened and everything went berserk.”

Nicks is referring to Fleetwood Mac’s hit 1977 disc, which sold more than 30 million copies. According to Nicks, the title of the disc was prophetic on many levels. “I fell in love with Mick [Fleetwood] at the end of the Rumours tour in 1978 while I was still on rocky ground with Lindsey. Fortunately Mick and I ended it for the sake of the band. Around that time, people began saying that I was performing witchcraft—which I never did—and that the band had orgies—which we never had.”

On top of the widely reported false accusations, Nicks had to deal with a growing substance abuse problem. The miracle of it all was that she was still able to write songs (chart toppers Edge of Seventeen, Stand Back and Landslide) while maintaining a sense of mystery about herself. That secrecy is something Nicks feels is missing in the pop stars of today. She points to Britney Spears as a prime example of a singer who has overexposed herself beyond repair. “For her, it’s all about TMI: too much information. She needs to stop sharing. Period. After that toxic reality series she did, I decided I will never buy another one of her CDs because now I know how dippy she is.” When Nicks hears that Spears cursed about wardrobe malfunctions while performing on stage during her recent tour, her voice begins to thunder. “You do not tell the audience about your stupid-ass problems,” she says. “You will never, ever see a sweat drop start to fly off of my face—even if my heel is broken. I’ll do the song heel-less. People paid good money for you to take away their problems and inspire them.”

Other than her beef with Britney, Nicks has a record of embracing the newer divas on the block. “The fact that Etta James got so angry about Beyoncé singing At Last at President Obama’s first dance is tragic. C’mon Etta, just let Beyoncé sing it—she’s the new thing. [James] is still selling concert tickets so she should move over for a moment.” And with that, Nicks pipes down, takes a breath and begins to reflect. “In music history, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Elvis were all called the kings of rock and managed to be quite amicable to each other. They even did shows together! There is no reason why us women can’t do the same. Besides, I don’t want to be known as a queen of rock. When you start having to tell people that you are the queen, you’re done.”

St. Louis Review: Fleetwood Mac hit show hits all the right notes

2009-05-06T18:34:00.002-04:00

Fleetwood Mac's show Tuesday night at Scottrade Center in St. Louis was billed as "Fleetwood Mac: The Unleashed Tour 2009 - The Hits.” That’s exactly what it was.

At first, it was exciting when the band hit the stage with “Monday Morning,” followed by “Chains” and “Dreams.” Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks took turns introducing most of the songs after that, and it wasn’t clear how that format was going to work — because as their music doesn’t really need to be introduced.

However, that format it added to the atmosphere of the evening, and proved to be very informative, if not inspiring and surprising. The introductions from the duo shed a new light on what some of their songs meant, or refreshed a memory or two and added to the nostalgia of the evening.

It was very hard to ignore the special magic that still exists between Nicks and Buckingham — it was as evident as daylight. With a storied past such as theirs, it was only understandable how the duo, along with founders Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, have to seriously contemplate if, when and how the group can come together for another tour.

Nicks herself told me in an interview last year that it’s not an easy undertaking.

“We have four different, creative personalities and talents,” Nicks said, “along with four strong passions. When you collectively put all those things together you’re asking for the most wonderful and yet a most emotional experience of your life.

"It’s like a marriage that has it’s extreme ups and downs. We’re all a little older and more settled now, so we’ll see what that brings.”

What it brings together is a family that, through it all, relies on each other and feeds off of each other to make things work. That said, it was a little sad not to see Christine McVie on this tour, but it was no surprise that she would be absent.

With a longtime reluctancy to tour, Nicks announced last year that Christine would not be joining her cohorts onstage for this tour. In fact, she has not performed publicly with the group since The Dance tour in 1997.

But Nicks and Buckingham did quite well on her featured hit as part of the group, “Say That You Love Me.” Other than the obvious hits the highlight of the evening would have to be “Storms”and the second encore of “Silver Springs.”

Buckingham alluded to a possible new album from the group, but we’ll see. In the meantime, this was a perfect reminder of the band's impact and hold on us.

By Scott Kiefer - BND.com

Fleetwood Mac rocks Tulsa's BOK Center

2009-05-04T19:24:00.004-04:00

The passing of four decades, the retirement of a core member and one of the most turbulent histories in rock ‘n’ roll haven’t dimmed the star power of Fleetwood Mac one watt.

The remaining members of the seminal pop-rock band — singer/guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, singer Stevie Nicks, drummer Mick Fleetwood, and bassist John McVie— effectively sent the BOK center into a time warp back to the 1970s for about two and half hours Sunday night.

“There’s no new album to promote — yet,” Buckingham told the appreciative near-sellout crowd of about 13,000. “So we decided let’s just go out and do those songs that we all love, and hopefully, they’re the ones you love, too.”

For the Tulsa stop on the “Unleashed: Hits Tour 2009,” the quartet let loose on a string of favorites, mostly from their classic ‘70s albums “Fleetwood Mac,” “Rumours” and “Tusk.” The years have taken their toll in a few ways, and the warm vocals of former singer/pianist Christine McVie (who retired in 1998) were certainly missed.

But Fleetwood Mac has maintained its consummate chemistry and musicianship. And that’s amazing considering what Buckingham described as the band’s “complex and convoluted emotional history.”

Emerging from darkness to the crowd’s excited cheers, the group launched the concert with the bouncy “Monday Morning,” putting Buckingham in the lead on vocals and showing off his still fleet fingers.

On his solo “Gift of Screws” tour last fall, the multitalented musician, 59, electrified Tulsa’s intimate Brady Theater, and he proved Sunday that his spellbinding picking and quirky vocals can still captivate an entire arena, too. He blazed through his flamenco-style version of “Big Love,” the frenetic “I Know I’m Not Wrong” and the intense “I’m So Afrai d,” often bending over limply and then straightening to shout “Oh, yeah” at the end of his songs.

With their deep catalog of hits, the group could afford to put their throbbing trademark “The Chain” second on the set list. The dramatic song got the fans chanting along on the chorus and proved that Fleetwood and John McVie still form a formidable rhythm section.

When Nicks stepped into the spotlight with the hopeful hit “Dreams,” the show briefly took a worrisome turn. Her vocals were markedly deeper and less supple than in the past, and she let the trio of female backup singers carry the high note at the end.

But the songstress, who turns 61 on May 26, sounded more like her familiar sultry-voiced self on the evocative “Gypsy.” Plus, she shared the story behind the music: Buckingham was a former schoolmate who called her a couple of years after they first met to ask her to join his hard rock band.

“That moment catapulted me into the greatest musical time of all time, 1965 to 1970, in San Francisco, Ashbury Park. ... where I’m back to the velvet underground,” she said, referencing the opening lines of “Gypsy,” a childhood favorite of mine that brought back potent memories.

By the time she got to her witchy signature track, “Rhiannon,” Nicks’ voice was warmed up and ready to blast out her powerful ballads. With her black dress, glittering shawl and long blond tresses flowing, she looked lovely and ethereal, and it wasn’t long before she was doing her distinctive swaying dance and twirling around the stage.

Later donning a crimson gown and shimmering golden shawl, Nicks wailed tunefully about shattered illusions of love and mesmerized the audience with her hypnotic dancing on “Gold Dust Woman.” My favorite Fleetwood Mac song, it thrummed with the drama of a Wild West showdown.

Though their romance ended long ago, the musical chemistry still crackles between Buckingham and Nicks. The former lovers were in perfect sync as they belted out hits chronicling their rocky relationship, from the achingly beautiful “Landslide” to the rollicking “Second Hand News.” They ended the wistful “Sara” with a tender moment, each laying their head on the other’s shoulder, with Buckingham still playing guitar.

“For the tour, we wanted to include a song we’d never performed live before. This is a stormy song for a stormy group of people,” Nicks said in introducing the heartbreaking “Storms,” which all four members performed at the forefront of the stage, with Fleetwood on a mini drum set.

The quartet stayed front and center for a bold take on “Say You Love Me,” a Christine McVie hit. Nicks and Buckingham took turns on vocals for their rootsier rendition, which was fun but couldn’t surpass the original.

The show featured too many highlights to mention, but Fleetwood Mac made sure to end the set on a high note. An extended drum intro built anticipation before the band erupted into the rollicking pop classic “Go Your Own Way,” which got the fans bouncing and singing along.

Screaming, clapping and stomping their feet, the crowd demanded an encore, and the band obliged with a foot-stomping rendition of “World Turning” which included a raucous extended drum solo from the wild-eyed Fleetwood.

The perky pop hit “Don’t Stop” again got the fans singing and dancing to what seemed to be an upbeat end of the show. But soon after the lights dimmed, they came up again for a second encore, the sparkling ballad “Silver Springs,” a soulful and fitting finale.

Before he left the stage, Fleetwood quipped, “Remember, the Mac is back.” And on Sunday night, they showed everyone at the BOK Center that their greatest hits truly are still great.

- By Brandy McDonnell, The Oklahoman

Houston Revew: Fleetwood Mac takes musical walk down memory lane

2009-05-03T18:22:00.002-04:00

There were no surprises, radical reworkings or new tunes to promote during Fleetwood Mac's Saturday night set at Toyota Center.

There were just music and memories — keys to the complete Mac experience. (And Stevie Nicks in a shawl, of course, during Gold Dust Woman.)

The echoes of hope and heartache informed every lyric, and each song signaled a memory, a moment in time for someone in the crowd (and onstage).

"Fleetwood Mac, as I'm sure you know, has had a complex and emotional history," Lindsey Buckingham told the crowd.

"It's kind of worked for us. Every time we come together, there's a sense of possibility."

The band walked onto a dark stage, Buckingham leading Nicks by the hand. They kicked off with a jangly, lighthearted Monday Morning — but things quickly intensified with the pounding groove of The Chain, which boasted solid harmonies (aided by a trio of background singers).

The staging was simple but effective, a maze of shadows and light. Nicks' trademark scarves were wrapped around her microphone stand.

The gypsy woman can't quite hit the girlish high notes of enduring hit Dreams, but her voice still has a bleating allure. She introduced Gypsy as a nod to her musical history in San Francisco, which gave it a wistful sense of remembrance.

Less dynamic were the moments when Buckingham took command (I Know I'm Not Wrong, Go Insane). The crowd thought so, too, and several folks scurried up toward the lobby. His voice-and-guitar take on Big Love, however, was a searing set highlight.

Nicks sparkled amid the rueful strains of Rhiannon, and Second Hand News (the first song recorded for the Mac's legendary Rumors album, Buckingham said) was a blaze of joyful vocals and instrumentation. Tusk boasted a blaring kick, and it's impossible not to be moved by Landslide's weary grace.

But the small details often made the biggest impact: Nicks sweetly placing her head on Buckingham's shoulder during a heartfelt Sara; Buckingham taking quick moments to soak in the cheers after every song.

- By JOEY GUERRA, The Houston Chronicle

More new Tour Dates: Fleetwood Mac Extends Concert Attack

2009-04-30T18:42:00.002-04:00

The additional dates are being described by band representatives as an extension of the second leg of the tour. Kind of like an annex with stops ranging from Salt Lake City at the Energy Solutions Arena on June 3 to June 20 when the group lands in the Big Easy for a show at the New Orleans Arena.

In between look for Fleetwood Mac appearing in Saskatoon at the Credit Union Arena on June 5; Winnipeg at the MTS Center on June 6; Milwaukee at the Bradley Center on June 8 and Baltimore at the 1st Mariner Arena on June 10.

Other stops include New York City (June 11); Atlantic City (June 13); Manchester, NH (June 16); Uncasville, CT (June 17) and Nashville (June 19).

When it comes to band names, Fleetwood Mac has to be one of the luckiest groups in the world. The moniker comes from when founder Peter Green combined the last names of Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie, who replace the group’s original bass player when the band was only a few weeks old. 42 years and several personnel changes later, Fleetwood and McVie are still playing in the band.

Along with Fleetwood and McVie, the band’s touring lineup consists of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, both of whom helped spearhead the band's comeback in the mid '70s.

Fleetwood Mac has been on the road since their first date on March 1st at Pittsburgh’s Mellon Arena. The group’s performances have earned accolades from normally difficult-to-impress critics, including a write-up in the Chicago Sun-Times, which wrote, “Fleetwood Mac offers a love affair to last.”

- From Pollstar.com

I have listed three more Tour Dates to the right: Manchester, Nashville, & New Orleans

Four more Tour Dates added!

2009-04-27T20:15:00.001-04:00

I have added four more Unleashed tour date links to the right side of the site for Salt Lake City, Milwaukee, Baltimore, & Uncasville!

Fleetwood Mac feeds Charlotte fun, favorite songs

2009-04-26T14:47:00.001-04:00

How great would it be to reach a point in life where you only had to do things that were fun?

Fleetwood Mac, which has been around as a band since the 1960s and as a pop phenomenon since 1975, is there. The band shared the result with a crowd that reached the rafters of Time Warner Cable Arena on Saturday night.

There's no album to promote -- "yet," singer and lead guitarist Lindsey Buckingham told the crowd. That leaves the band's free to pursue its stated mission for the "Unleashed Tour 2009" -- have fun, and play the songs that are fun and important to them.

The show, two hours 25 minutes of non-stop music that paused only momentarily to set up two encores, does, sort of, support an album, though. "Rumours," the 1975 album that made Fleetwood Mac a big part of the pop soundtrack for a generation, is being re-released in conjunction with the tour. Of the 23 songs they played, seven were from that album, which has sold more than 19 million copies worldwide.

The crowd sang along with "Rumours" staples such as "The Chain," "Second Hand News" and "Gold Dust Woman" sprinkled throughout the show. But that was not all Fleetwood Mac had to offer.

Buckingham's guitar riffs, Stevie Nicks' still-velvety voice and the bass of John McVie were all solid. British-born band founder Mick Fleetwood's percussion, showed off most impressively during the title track to 1979's "Tusk," kept the energy level high.

The passion for the work they shared was evident, notably in Fleetwood's wild-eyed looks on the big video screens and Buckingham's riff during "I'm So Afraid." But there are signs beyond Fleetwood's white beard and ponytail that they're getting older, too.

Nicks didn't quite hit the original highs in "Sara," and she and Buckingham couldn't generate the on-stage sexual tension they could when they were younger, during what Buckingham acknowledged was a "complex and convoluted emotional history."

Still, Nicks, at 60, can pull off wearing ankle boots with 6-inch heels without looking silly. And there was more than enough in the music to satisfy the big crowd and carry it to the end.

Buckingham's performance of "Big Love" celebrated a song he said explored both who he was and the power of change. It featured a brief embrace with Nicks near the end that drew a cheer. And the three-song span of "Go Your Own Way," "World Turning" (featuring a drum solo by Fleetwood, 61) and "Don't Stop" had the crowd on its feet.

If there's an album to be made at the end of this tour (which continues tonight with a stop in Greensboro), it'll feature a group with plenty left to celebrate. If Saturday was an indication, it's still worth thinking about tomorrow for Fleetwood Mac fans.

Tomorrow could be fun, too.

- Article by Michael Persinger, The Charlotte Observer

Stevie in 5/4/09 issue of People Magazine

2009-04-24T14:56:00.003-04:00

Stevie is featured in a 2.5 page spread in this week's issue of People Magazine - lots of great pics included! Head on out to get your copy!

Ft. Lauderdale Review: Fleetwood Mac's chemistry still on display in concert

2009-04-24T14:39:00.003-04:00

Fleetwood Mac's always done dysfunction well.

Rumours, the group's greatest hit, was a testament to making art out of madness, and Thursday, before about 10,000 fans at Sunrise's BankAtlantic Center, guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, along with ex-lover Stevie Nicks and the terrific core rhythm section namesakes of the band, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, paid homage to what Buckingham called ``a complex and convoluted emotional history.''

But for this Unleashed Tour, devoted to the band's greatest hits, Fleetwood Mac, for only the second major road trip sans their old ray of light Christine McVie, ''just wanted to go out and have fun,'' Buckingham said.

''Fun'' in Fleetwood Mac lingo, of course, was primarily the domain of Christine McVie's sunny pop tunes (she's the one, after all, who wrote You Make Lovin' Fun). For Buckingham and Nicks, ''fun'' is in the airing of their romantic disappointments in songs that champion all the ways in which lovin' isn't much fun at all.

''If you don't love me now, you will never love me again,'' spit the duo on the set's second song, The Chain, and it was hard not to observe Buckingham's glare at Nicks, who harmonized on the other side of the stage.

''You'll never get away from the sound of the woman who loved you,'' retorted Nicks in the show closer, Silver Springs, more than two hours later.

For 140 minutes and 23 songs, Buckingham and Nicks traded hits -- musical ones, natch -- to entice fans who are still hooked on the strikingly scored soap opera aspect of this band.
For Sara, a 1979 hit rarely performed live, Nicks sauntered over to Buckingham's mike from her side of the stage and the two entangled, heads resting against each other's shoulders. ''There's a heartbeat, and it never really died,'' Nicks whispered in Sara's delicate coda. Needless to say, the crowd delighted. Storms, a 1979 beauty never performed live until Unleashed, was even better as Nicks, 60 and radiant, introduced the album track as a song about ''stormy'' situations and people. Few do justice to the big time world heartbreak of drugs, sex and rock 'n' roll so well.

All of this would be trite melodrama if the band had chosen to coast on its enviable catalog. Buckingham, 59, in particular, had always bristled at taking the easy way out by repeating the success of Rumours, for instance. But for this tour, heavy on favorites from mid- to late-70s classics Fleetwood Mac, Rumours and Tusk -- nothing newer than 1987's Big Love featured and the foursome dug back into its '60s Peter Green blues period for a blistering Oh Well -- Buckingham and his musical partners proved amenable to celebrating the band's legacy. The most pleasant surprise, and a concert highlight, was Buckingham returning his solo single, Go Insane, to its original '80s synth-pop arrangement.

But any concerns that potentially shop-worn songs like Don't Stop, a Rumours hit burnished further into pop culture by a former United States president's fondness for classic rock, or Go Your Own Way or Gypsy might feel perfunctory evaporated as the band's stellar musicianship revitalized the material.

Nicks, introduced by drummer Fleetwood as ''the First Lady of Fleetwood Mac,'' was in strong voice, hitting the intense vamping ending of Gold Dust Woman and her sassy Stand Back with surprising ease and resonance. Buckingham's inventive electric guitar work is peerless as anyone who witnessed previous tours, The Dance (1997) and Say You Will (2003), can attest. But his voice, which hadn't kept pace, was in the best, most pliable shape it has been in since he first left the band in 1987.

Fleetwood Mac still matters because the links that kept this particular chain together -- the interpersonal chemistry, the passionate songwriting that has endured for 42 years, the desire for growth and the joy in the playing -- remains intact.

- Article by Howard Cohen, The Miami Herald

Fleetwood Mac full of heart, drive in Tampa concert

2009-04-23T07:33:00.002-04:00

TAMPA - Stevie Nicks' "Sara" was winding to a close midway through Fleetwood Mac's concert Wednesday night. Nicks strolled from center stage to the microphone of guitarist and ex-lover Lindsey Buckingham. She sang a final line and then embraced Buckingham – still playing the song's guitar figure – before she walked off stage.

It was a small gesture that said a lot, since Fleetwood Mac's intraband romantic tangles are almost as well-known as its songs; and those songs are ingrained in the memories of anyone who had access to a radio in the mid- to late-'70s.

Those hits made up the lion's share of the band's set list before a St. Pete Times Forum crowd of 10,008. However, there were enough surprises in the arrangements and song selection to keep the proceedings from utter predictability.

Buckingham and Nicks shared vocals on departed keyboardist Christine McVie's "Say You Love Me." Buckingham went back to the Mac's first incarnation as a '60s blues band, remaking Peter Green's "Oh Well" into a loose-limbed but fiery jam reminiscent of The Who's take on Mose Allison's "Young Man Blues."

Even a casual fan could have guessed the rest of the tunes, but the performances were full of heart and drive. Drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie have been in the pocket since 1968 and show no signs of leaving. Buckingham is simply an amazing performer, closing "Big Love" with frightening yelps and barks, and playing spectacular guitar throughout. Nicks paced herself, with her finest numbers, "Storms," "Gold Dust Woman" and the show-closing "Silver Springs," coming after midset.

Article by Curtis Ross, The Tampa Tribune (Tampa Bay Online)

4 more Tour Dates announced!

2009-04-21T21:11:00.002-04:00

Fleetwood Mac has added 4 more tour dates to their Unleashed Tour!

Information from Pollstar: Presales for Suskatoon, Winnipeg & NYC are all for tomorrow at 10 AM! Check to the right under the Tour Dates section for the links to the Ticketmaster pages!

The Atlantic City presale has not yet been announced!

Orlando Review: Fleetwood Mac turns back the clock at Amway Arena

2009-04-21T07:38:00.003-04:00

When it comes to nostalgia, Fleetwood Mac’s "Unleashed" tour occupies the same neighborhood as the Eagles latest reunion trek.

Like the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac reliably delivered a boatload of vintage hits in a generous 2 hours and 20 minutes on Monday at Amway Arena.

Unleashed, however, implies a sense of abandon and risk that Fleetwood Mac doesn’t reach that often. Instead, band members Mick Fleetwood, Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks and John McVie offer a combination of precision and pacing.

It’s a decent trade.

With keyboardist Christine McVie now retired from the band, it was pretty much the Buckingham-Nicks show. Although the duo harmonizes as well as ever on the signature songs, it was hard for longtime fans not to miss the sweetness of McVie’s voice in the mix. A trio of backing vocalists and two additional musicians added texture to the hits.

And there wasn’t any shortage of them: "The Chain," "Dreams" "Gypsy," "Rhiannon," "Second Hand News," "Say You Love Me," "Go Your Own Way." Hearing them again, for those of a certain age, is as much a reminder of a bygone radio era as the band’s formidable catalog.

At age 60 (!), Nicks is still a mystical presence, even if she mostly stands in silhouette with her beaded capes instead of doing those spins.

Buckingham, at the same age, remains an under-appreciated guitarist capable of intricate acoustic picking and fiery rock-star heroics.

His creative abuse of an electric guitar in "I’m So Afraid" and other solos offered the best justification for that "unleashed" title.

Nicks and Buckingham were pretty chatty, too. She introduced "Gypsy" by explaining that "there are many meanings to a song, not just one." He aptly described "Second Hand News" as a song that dealt with the band’s fractious personal relationships "with a lot of humor, a lot of optimism and certainly a lot of aggression."

In a rare departure from the familiar arrangements, the band offered slight twist on "Never Going Back Again," slowing it down into a moodier ballad.

The Nicks-Buckingham chemistry ignited sparks in that song, a lovely version of "Landslide" and in "Sara," when she gently rested her head on his shoulder.

At such moments, when it was evident how much of the band’s history was tied up in the music, nostalgia just wasn’t enough to cover it.

Article by Jim Abbott, Orlando Sentinel

Columbus Review: Band's history creates winning night of hits

2009-04-19T12:01:00.002-04:00

Fleetwood Mac led a packed Nationwide Arena Saturday night in perhaps the biggest, loudest singalong heard in Columbus in some time. Touring with no album newer than 2003's Say You Will and the vast majority of its material more than 20 years old, the group was clearly out to play the hits-and maybe make a buck.

With singer-songwriter Christine McVie no longer on board, the weight was more than ever on Lindsey Buckingham to play ringmaster over the famously disparate elements of the band. He said the four members agreed to "just go out there and have fun."

Augmented by five other instrumentalists and singers, they delivered on the promise. Buckingham was clearly the MVP, never leaving the stage for the more-than two-hour show and working up a sweat while singing and banging on his guitar.

He made songs such as Monday Morning, Go Your Own Way and his own Go Insane hard-driving and precise pop. He led the band in a dynamically delivered version of the strange Tusk.

It was plain from the beginning, though, that the killer rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood on drums and John McVie on bass-the namesake and only constant thread in the 40-plus year band saga-are still the foundation of its sound.

Distinctive as the two were when the band played blues in the 1960s, they lent their stamp last night to The Chain and many more hits.

Buckingham mentioned the group's famed romantic entanglements. Last night that was evident as he and Stevie Nicks stood at opposite ends of the stage while the video screen artificially brought them within inches for dramatic effect.

More than once Buckingham carried the ball for Nicks, who looked half-awake. During Second Hand News she seemed to barely follow the tune's clip. During frequent trips to the dressing room she looked like she might fall off her high heels.

Introducing Gypsy with a nonsensical rap, Nicks suggested that San Francisco's "Summer of Love" and the Velvet Underground together inspired the song. (In reality, the two musical cultures were as far apart as the thousands of miles that separated their scenes.)

Still, Nicks' distance-and the three dresses, a half-dozen scarves, top hat and tambourine-didn't detract from a winning night of non-stop hits.

By Curtis Schieber, The Columbus Dispatch

Cleveland Review: Fleetwood Mac doesn't stop thinking about yesteryear in hit-stacked concert at The Q

2009-04-18T11:08:00.002-04:00

"Ooooo, don't you look back," Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks sang at the end of "Don't Stop."

And if the irony of singing "Ooooo, don't you look back" after spending more than two hours doing nothing but looking back wasn't lost on them, they didn't show it.

Without a new album to promote, Fleetwood Mac stared deep into the rearview mirror Friday night at The Q, yielding a concert stacked with classic-rock hits.

A sprightly "Monday Morning" got the proceedings off to a galloping start, followed in short order by "The Chain" and "Dreams." The arena was approximately two-thirds full, with most of the top tier curtained off.

Half-apologizing for not having any fresh material to play, Buckingham explained the rationale behind the band's latest road trip: "Let's just go out there and have fun."

Mission accomplished, to the tune of guaranteed crowd-pleasers such as "Gypsy," "Tusk" and "Go Your Own Way."

Besides Buckingham and Nicks, the core lineup included founding members Mick Fleetwood on drums and John McVie on bass. They're all in their 60s.

In the middle of several particularly intense musical passages, various band members clutched their chests, feigning cardiac arrest. At least it looked as if they were only faking it.

Two sidemen and three backing vocalists fleshed out the sound nicely, especially on the intricate, harmony-laden "Sara."

A twangy stab at "Say You Love Me" (originally popularized by Christine McVie, who went her own way more than a decade ago) was among the evening's few surprises. Ditto a suitably overcast "Storms," a ballad off 1979's "Tusk" album that Fleetwood Mac hadn't played live prior to this tour.

Buckingham and Nicks also touched on their solo careers, by way of "Go Insane" and "Stand Back," respectively.

Early on, Buckingham joked about the group's "fairly complex and convoluted emotional history." As usual, that history was milked for all it's worth.

The poignant "Landslide" was a highlight, with ex-lovers Buckingham and Nicks alone onstage for a stripped-down duet. They also looked into each other's eyes as they traded barbs via "Second Hand News."

The latter tune was prefaced with a long-winded introduction courtesy of Buckingham, who babbled on about "emotional opposites" and the song's elements of sadness, aggression and humor.

He fared better when he let the music do the talking, most notably when he punctuated a jaw-dropping "I'm So Afraid" with a cathartic guitar solo.

At times, you got the impression that Buckingham might snap up there -- and thank goodness. His emotionally raw vocals and unhinged guitar heroics stole the show.

Sure, this was essentially one big nostalgia trip. Yet thanks largely to Buckingham's efforts, at least it was a trip worth taking.

For her part, Nicks was in fine voice as she led various well-received excursions into the mystic, via "Rhiannon" and other spellbinding oldies. And if there was any lingering doubt about it, "Gold Dust Woman" reaffirmed that nobody -- but nobody -- works a shawl like Fleetwood Mac's leading lady.

- By John Soeder, Cleveland.com

April 26th, 2009 Greensboro show has been canceled!

2009-04-17T19:24:00.002-04:00

Fleetwood Mac won't be giving a planned performance at the Greensboro Coliseum this month, coliseum officials announced today.

The Sunday, April 26, concert in Greensboro has been canceled because of scheduling conflicts, according to the news release.

Tickets purchased online and via phone will be refunded automatically starting Monday, April 20. Tickets purchased at outlets or the box office can be refunded at point of purchase, beginning at 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 21.

Fleetwood Mac’s concert on Saturday, April 25, at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte will continue as scheduled.

Tickets are still available for the Charlotte concert at livenation.com, the Arena box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, or charge by phone 800-745-3000.

- from Ticketmaster.com

Philadelphia Show Review: Fleetwood Mac at the Wachovia Center

2009-04-17T12:45:00.002-04:00

Early in Fleetwood Mac's show at the Wachovia Center Wednesday night, Lindsey Buckingham dropped a reference to the "convoluted emotional history" that spawned many of the band's best songs.

Rumours (1977), one of the best-selling albums of all time (and, given the state of the music industry, likely to remain so in perpetuity), was famously inspired by the simultaneous dissolution of the relationship between Buckingham and his then-girlfriend Stevie Nicks and the marriage of John and Christine McVie. Songs like "Go Your Own Way" and "Second Hand News" are more exultant than morose, but their slick surfaces are studded with spikes.

Wednesday's show, though, was all surface.

Supplemented by three backing singers and two guitarists who stood to the side and in the shadow, the core quartet of Buckingham, Nicks, John McVie, and drummer Mick Fleetwood rolled comfortably through a selection of their greatest hits. (Christine McVie left the band a decade ago.)

With 14 years elapsed since their last studio album, there was nothing to add to their repertoire, and only a handful of surprises in the set list: "I Know I'm Not Wrong," from the overreaching Tusk, and "Oh Well," reworked from the band's first incarnation as a British blues act.

Buckingham put on the semblance of a show, grunting and grimacing his way through a solo version of "Big Love," and frequently sounding out of breath, as if he'd just bounded on stage after running a few laps.

But his posture seemed dictated more by pose than passion. Buckingham is a true pop visionary, but he's also plainly enamored of his mad-scientist image, and prone to displaying his formidable guitar technique at excruciating length. Part of what makes "The Chain" and "Never Going Back Again" thrilling in their original versions is the way Buckingham's flourishes poke through the songs' watertight structures. Nowadays, his bandmates seem uninterested in reining him in.

Nicks seemed content to go through the motions, which didn't much faze the crowd; it's hard to think of another performer who could draw cheers just by spinning in a lazy circle.

Fleetwood and McVie stuck to the background, anchoring the songs without much in the way of flash. Fleetwood demonstrated both power and (with the exception of an ill-advised drum solo) grace, providing the kind of excitement his colleagues at the front of the stage couldn't quite seem to manage.

Article by Sam Adams, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Lunch with Stevie Nicks: Rolling Stone Smoking Section

2009-04-15T18:28:00.003-04:00

If we had a single regret about going to Australia with the Kings of Leon (for RS's current cover story), it would be that we missed Fleetwood Mac performing at Madison Square Garden. But, when we returned, we had the pleasure of lunching with Ms. Stevie Nicks, who was in New York to promote her new live CD-DVD, The Soundstage Sessions: Live in Chicago, a collection featuring some of her biggest hits and baddest rarities. We chatted about the first time she met Lindsey Buckingham (at a Mormon Party), and that time she unceremoniously dumped Don Henley.

But it was truly awesome to rap about "Silver Springs," an amazing track that was left off Rumours. The song is about her breakup with Buckingham -- "I'll follow you down till the sound of my voice will haunt you," she sings. "It was me realizing that Lindsey was going to haunt me for the rest of my life," she says. "And he has."

When she performs "Silver Springs" these days -- it's the final number on Fleetwood Mac's current tour -- Nicks resists the opportunity to get up in Lindsey's face: "I don't want fans to walk away in the middle of our argument."

- From Rolling Stone

FYI....The rest of this interview will be posted on their website tomorrow! I'll be posting it here!

"What Lindsey and I are to each other will never change."

2009-04-10T17:44:00.004-04:00

Here is a short video clip of some of the stuff Stevie says during this interview!

It's one of rock's most enduring love stories, one that's played out in the media, "Behind the Music" and the imaginations of millions of fans for decades: Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham.

Nicks and Buckingham first met in high school, when Buckingham was singing at a party and Nicks walked up and joined him.

"We were at some get-together and he was there, sitting, playing his guitar — [the Mamas and the Papas' hit] 'California Dreamin' ' — and I walked up and brazenly burst into harmony with him. It was cool, and I said 'I'm Stevie Nicks' and he said 'I'm Lindsey Buckingham.' I never saw him again for two years, until he was in a band and he remembered that night and he called and asked me to join their band."

That second meeting resulted in the formation of their romantic relationship as well as their musical career. They released an album entitled Buckingham Nicks in 1973 (the cover of which is a photograph of the two of them topless). Two years later, they joined — and revitalized — Fleetwood Mac, which was formed as a blues band by drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie in 1967, but became one of the biggest pop acts of all time after Buckingham and Nicks joined. Their eponymous 1975 album and 1977's Rumours were among the biggest sellers of the era.

Yet with success came discord: Nicks and Buckingham's always-tumultuous romance unraveled in 1976; McVie and keyboardist Christine McVie filed for divorce, and drummer Mick Fleetwood divorced his wife as well. The result of such romantic turmoil was famously reflected in the songs on Rumours.

The group split in the 1980s and, with the exception of their 1993 performance of "Don't Stop" at President Bill Clinton's inaugural ball, did not reunite until 1996 for The Dance. The album includes "Silver Springs," a song that that did not make the final cut of Rumours, much to Nicks' dismay, but it remains a striking representation of the Nicks and Buckingham's relationship ("Time casts a spell on you, but you wont forget me/ I know I could have loved you, but you would not let me").

On Fleetwood Mac's recent tour, which Buckingham has described as "fun" and "drama-free," and Nicks' agreed that the two are in a better spot than in the past.

"I don't feel like screaming at Lindsey right now. ... I'm not in a violent state of mind," Nicks, 60, said. "I want people to leave feeling the emotion of 'Silver Springs,' but without seeing Lindsey and I clawing at each other."

However, she concedes that "fun" might not be the most suitable word for their relationship on or off the stage "When he goes onstage and does his little speech where he says, 'You know, everything is great and we're just all grown up now and we're having fun,' I'm just standing on the other side of the stage and going [rolls her eyes], 'Whatever!' Right now, we're trying to be a little more on the high road, but let us go in and do another album, and bang! Back down to the bad, low road go we."

Still, fans find it hard to let go of the vision of Stevie and Lindsey together. "That electric crazy attraction between Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks never dies, never will die, never will go away," she said. "He's married, he's happy, he has three beautiful children that I love. You know, he's found a good, happy, calm, safe place — but who Lindsey and I are to each other will never change."

Still, she said, "It's over. It doesn't mean the great feeling isn't there, it must mean that ... you know, we're beauty and the beast. It means that the love is always there but we'll never be together, so that's even more romantic."

Asked when she knew the romance was really over, Nicks said, "The day his first child was born. I knew that was it ... that was the definitive thing."

Whether or not that was really it, the romance of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham clearly lives on for fans, and perhaps in their own hearts as well.

Article by Kim Stolz - MTV.com.

Q&A: Rock legend Stevie Nicks explains why she's a technophobe

2009-04-09T19:12:00.002-04:00

Nekesa Mumbi Moody, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Canadian Press, 2009
Article from The Record

Here is a video of portions of this interview over at The Rock of Gibraltar

NEW YORK - Friends who want to get in touch with Stevie Nicks know not to send an email, call on a cellphone, or reach out by text message, because she won't respond.

It's not that she's being rude: Nicks doesn't own a computer or a cellphone. The 60-year-old rock legend, who is currently on tour with Fleetwood Mac, is a proud technophobe.

"I believe that computers have taken over the world. I believe that they have in many ways ruined our children. I believe that kids used to love to go out and play," Nicks says in her famously smoky voice.

"I believe that social graces are gone because manners are gone because all people do is sit around and text. I think it's obnoxious."

Nicks does own an iPod, but she prefers to listen to music - which includes her new CD, "The Soundstage Sessions" - on a boombox. (The CD also comes packaged with a DVD.)

Better yet, give her a cassette version and she'll be in musical heaven. "It sounds better and you'd be convinced," she says.

AP: This is your first live project in 22 years. What took so long?

Nicks: I don't really know exactly how that happened. Before I knew it, it was 2007 ... (my) tour was over, and I'm sitting in my house going, "I can't believe I'm sitting here again, and I didn't film this show." So I got on my phone and I called my managers, and I said, "Make some calls, because I need to film this show." I'm very, very proud of it. I'm almost glad that I waited this long to do it, because maybe that's what God wanted me to do.

AP: You say you hope this project is a blueprint for the next generation. Why do you think there's a lack of strong rock acts?

Nicks: Because the music business is in terrible trouble. People are stealing our music. That's all there is to it. In the old days ... they would help you to develop into the artist that they knew you were going to be. In the last 10 years, the record companies don't have the money to do that. I don't know what the answer is to it. The only thing I can say to people is, "Buy music, do not steal music." If you do, you won't have any new music later on.

AP: If you and I were having lunch, and I pulled out my cellphone ...

Nicks: I'm gonna put my hand on your hand and say, "Turn it off, for now. Just give me an hour, of you, I really want an hour of just you, and your heart. I don't want you talking to someone else while we're having lunch." It's love, you know, it's relationships. I don't want love and relationships to be lost, and I feel like that's happening.

AP: Have the nation's economic troubles inspired you musically?

Nicks: Absolutely, I want to go home and write Bob Dylan songs, I want to go write radical, rebellious "let's try to make it better" songs. I'm very affected by everything going on. When I do get finished with this Fleetwood Mac tour, I will absolutely write about the political situation, which I have never done before. I have never actually been very political before, and I'm starting to feel more political every day. So, pretty soon, governor (laughs).

Still Dressing for Stevie

2009-04-09T07:39:00.002-04:00

STEVIE NICKS is the consummate tease. Fanning out her arms, which are veiled, as always, in chiffon, she seems about to fold her audience into an embrace. Yet when she turns away, raising those arms in a priestesslike gesture, that fabric acts as a curtain, shielding her from prying eyes.

Her audience last month at Madison Square Garden, where Ms. Nicks sang with Fleetwood Mac, was clearly seduced by her come-hither/keep-back performance. Aging hippies and youthful rockers swayed and twirled in the aisles, their faces upturned to watch her shake her tambourine.

Her stylistic persona is as rock steady as her sound. Part healer, part sorceress, at 60 she is still working the gossamer tunics and shawls that have influenced two generations of Stevie acolytes, and given her performances the feel of a Wiccan ritual. Now, as if timed to the vernal equinox, Ms. Nicks has resurfaced with two new DVDs and a three-month concert tour. As might be expected, troupes of leather-and-lace-clad Stevie clones are popping up like crocuses.

They love her music, of course. “But time makes you bolder/Children get older/I’m getting older, too,” lines from the ballad “Landslide,” which she wrote at 26, can bring tears to their eyes. But they are besotted with Ms. Nicks herself. Never mind that the rock star is no sylph. She is the anti-Madonna— fragile and ethereal — and as constant as the tides.

“She does her own, thing, always has done,” said Lily Donaldson, the celebrity model who attended the concert last month. “I love her music and her look, that whole flowing thing.”

Anna Sui, who dedicated an entire collection to Ms. Nicks in the late ’90s and turns out Stevie-inspired handkerchief hems almost every season, admires her consistency. “She’s the iconic California woman,” Ms. Sui observed. “Everyone has their version of her.”

Read the rest of this article over at The New York Times!

Lindsey Radio Interview 4/12/09!

2009-04-07T07:36:00.002-04:00

This Sunday, 4/12, from 7 to Midnight Eastern, "Amazing April" continues, featuring a brand new interview with Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac! (click on his name to hear a preview!)

In this rare interview from a very private, quiet man; find out details about Fleetwood Mac hits and his solo singles!

We'll chat about the turbulent recording of the "Rumours" LP and his relationship with Stevie Nicks...including when he first met her in High School!

Plus, find out the true meaning of "Tusk" and which guitar Lindsey surprisingly first learned to play!

You'll hear a bunch of demo versions of Fleetwood Mac tunes! We'll have a 1977 Yearbook and a box set of 'can' songs!

Listen Live at 103.3fm Boston on Sunday between 7-12pm eastern

Links to Purchase Soundstage Sessions & Live In Chicago DVD Concert

2009-04-06T14:17:00.005-04:00

Obviously, Stevie released The Soundstage Sessions CD & the Live In Chicago DVD concert, so here are the links to purchase them if you have not done so already:

CD/DVD/Lithograph/"Rhiannon" & "The One" Downloads: Warner Bros.
The Soundstage Sessions CD only: Amazon.com
Live In Chicago DVD: Amazon.com

CD Listening Party & Barnes & Noble Appearances

2009-04-06T14:04:00.002-04:00

Here are two short videos of Stevie's two public appearances last week:

LIFEbeat Appearance (listening party):

Barnes & Noble Book Signing:

Stevie Articles

2009-04-06T13:36:00.004-04:00

Since Stevie has done so many interviews, I figured it would be easier to just put direct links to all of them in one post (easier for you, and easier for ME hehe!):

"How I Look Fabulous At 60" - People.com
"Nick of Time: Q&A With Stevie Nicks - WWD
"One in a Thousand" - HX
"This is What 60 Looks Like Now" - WowOWow
"Stevie Nicks on Her Favorite Songs: A Music Mix Exclusive - EW.com
"Nicks of The North" - Winnipeg Sun
"Solo or with Mac, Stevie Nicks always busy" - The Republican
MTV Interview (talks about Timbaland & Prince)
Kim Stolz blogs about Stevie Interview - MTV Newsroom

Stevie is also on page 66 of the April 15th, 2009 issue of US Weekly, talking about her "Worst Look Ever"

Stevie has a Twitter!

2009-04-06T13:31:00.003-04:00

Well, never thought I'd personally see the day....but our girl Stevie has a Twitter account now! She has only posted one tweet so far and honestly, who knows if she ever will post something else again (or shall I say, have Karen do it for her), but if anyone is interested, her name is RealStevieNicks (see Fox & Friends interview below) and here is the direct link to the Twitter page itself: RealStevieNicks

Stevie's TV appearances from last week!

2009-04-06T13:24:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone!

I am so sorry for the long hiatus, work has been busy and I actually went away for a few days, go figure that it was during the week that Stevie was EVERYWHERE!

Anyways....I will put in some updates as much as I can, starting with the TV Appearances Stevie made last week:

Jimmy Fallon 4/1/09:

The Today Show 4/2/09:

Extra:

Fox & Friends 4/5/09:

Montreal Review: Fleetwood Mac's golden oldies are aging just fine

2009-03-26T07:57:00.002-04:00

When Mick Fleetwood and John McVie formed Fleetwood Mac as a British blues band in 1967, they probably never envisioned that they'd be playing to adoring arena audiences, paying up to $150 per ticket, 42 years later.

And they certainly could not have foreseen, during that long-gone summer of love, that all the adulation would be directed at two Yanks they had yet to meet.

As any of the 11,000 fans at the group's Bell Centre concert last night will tell you, drummer Fleetwood is a muscular timekeeper and bassist McVie provides an unobtrusive, solid anchor of his own. But it's also clear that, at all times, virtually all the energy in the room emanates from - and comes back to - singer Stevie Nicks and guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, the group's songwriters and its heart and soul.

If there was a defining moment in last night's hit-heavy show, it was when Buckingham completely took over Oh Well, a snarling 1969 rocker by original guitarist Peter Green that predates his and Nicks's presence in the band by more than five years. While Buckingham, undeniably the group's frontman, soloed away furiously, Fleetwood played the crazy-old-grandpa part for the benefit of the giant video screens.

Buckingham's prowess on his instrument simply isn't talked about often enough. Whether he's playing tasteful, economical phrases, as he did during ex-member Christine McVie's Say You Love Me, hammering out manic rock-flamenco note clusters in Big Love or fingerpicking the tasty folk-blues licks of Never Going Back Again, he's one of rock's most interesting players.

During his five-minute solo in I'm So Afraid, he made the instrument rumble, shriek and gasp, sending out shards of high-pitched squeals and hammering out repeated patterns. Unlike your average guitar god, Buckingham made no attempt to show how many different notes he could squeeze in per minute.

What makes a Fleetwood Mac show so satisfying, however, is the way Buckingham and Nicks complement and balance each other, in both their vocal blend and their approach to songwriting. For every Buckingham power-pop stomper like I Know I'm Not Wrong or Second Hand News came one of Nicks's earthier, more linear crowd-pleasers, like Gypsy or the sweetly nostalgic Landslide, which she sang in her long-familiar husky, lower register. (And, incidentally, how fantastic did she look?)

Buckingham spoke on stage of the emotional challenges that have defined the group's internal relationships over the years. But during Sara, Nicks crossed over to his side of the stage and he put his head on her shoulder.

Staged? Probably - but really, who cares? That affectionate gesture spoke of a hard-won victory that pretty much ensures that - to paraphrase the group - the chain will never be broken.

Article by By BERNARD PERUSSE, The Montreal Gazette

Ottowa Review

2009-03-24T07:38:00.002-04:00

OTTAWA - Not they don't still look pretty darn good, but listening to Fleetwood Mac and wondering who's sleeping with who just doesn't have the same appeal as it did 30 years ago.

Did Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood get it on before the show? Who cares? Probably not even Lindsey Buckingham.

He's already told her to go her own way. She went.

But she's back, again, still sexy at 60. They were all back last night at Scotiabank Place. All except Christine McVie, who declined to join her ex -- bassist John McVie -- and the four other bandmates for the tour, which kicked off March 1 in Pittsburgh and heads to Montreal tonight and Toronto on Thursday.

That left Nicks as the only woman in the band that became known in the 1970s as much for their tangled love lives as their chart-toppping hits.

"As you know, Fleetwood Mac has a convoluted and emotional history," Buckingham wink-winked to the 14,000 fans last night.

Yes, we know. Their 1978 Grammy-winning album, Rumours, filled us in. Stevie-Lindsay, Mick-Stevie, John-Christine, Christine-lighting guy-etc. It's what gave songs like Go Your Own Way, Second Hand News and Dreams an almost voyeuristic feel.

Teenage imagination, run wild.

Anyway, time heals all wounds. As Buckingham said last night, "We take breaks, long breaks, and every time we reconvene it's a little different. This time, we just said let's go out and have some fun."

They stuck to the plan last night. On drums, Fleetwood -- the ponytail, so prominent on the Rumours album cover, now grey -- sported a perma-grin. Buckingham teased the crowd by hinting at an upcoming album. "With no album to promote -- yet," he said, "we thought we'd sing the songs we all love."

And Nicks was warm and engaging in her black top and grey skirt -- and later, ruby dress and gold shawl, and even later, black dress and top hat -- that flowed when she swayed and twirled in that familiar hippie-like dance.

Proof of the reconciliation was in the encore. Stevie's Silver Springs, which reportedly caused a row when Mick cut it from Rumours, was the closer last night. Apology apparently accepted.

So while there may not have been much sexual tension on stage last night -- Stevie did lay her head tenderly on Lindsay's shoulder at the end of Sara -- there was plenty of good music. The songs stand up on their own, without the "convoluted history."

They sang most of their greatest hits last night, but not all. They couldn't, not without Christine. Over My Head, You Make Lovin' Fun, and Little Lies wouldn't be the same without her distinct lead vocals. Nicks and Buckingham attempted Say That You Love Me, which was sung by McVie on their self-titled album, but it didn't sound quite right. Nicks fared better on the second verse of Don't Stop, which was McVie's. But, hey, if Bill Clinton could sing it during his 1993 presidential campaign, anybody can.

Regardless, Nicks and Buckingham sing vocals on enough Fleetwood Mac hits to easily fill out a three-hour concert. If it was Nicks, instead, who wasn't there, they wouldn't have attempted Rhiannon, Gypsy and certainly not her solo hit, Stand Back.

And that was a pretty good tradeoff.

Article by Shane Ross, Sun Media. Link from Jam! Showbiz.

NJ Review: Fleetwood Mac explores its past

2009-03-22T16:56:00.003-04:00

At Fleetwood Mac's Saturday night Izod Center concert, singer-guitarist Lindsey Buckingham talked about getting together in January, after several years apart, to rehearse for the current tour. Band members told each other "Let's just have fun," he said.

At the Meadowlands, Buckingham, seemed to be doing just that, belting out songs, taking long, flamboyant guitar solos and stomping around the stage. Drummer Mick Fleetwood also seemed to be enjoying himself immensely -- every time the video camera caught his face in a closeup, he was smiling like a mischievous schoolboy who just got away with an outrageous prank. Bassist John McVie didn't seem to be having fun, or experiencing much emotion of any kind. Then again, he's been a stoic figure throughout his 40-plus years with the band, so it would have been foolish to expect anything else of him.

The biggest problem with the show was that singer Stevie Nicks, who co-fronts the band with Buckingham, didn't seem to get the fun memo. Granted, most of the songs she sang, such as "Dreams," "Sara," "Gypsy" and "Rhiannon," are low-key affairs, powered by subtle hooks and an air of mystery. But she sang them so half-heartedly they didn't exert their usual charm. It wasn't until the second half of the show, on songs like "Stand Back" and "Gold Dust Woman," that she seemed fully engaged.

Nicks' diffidence didn't kill the show: the repertoire the band has assembled over the years is too indestructible for that. But it kept a solid show from becoming transcendent.

The band's history goes back to the British blues-rock explosion of the '60s, But it wasn't until the mid-'70s, when the lineup settled on Fleetwood, McVie, Buckingham, Nicks and McVie's then-wife Christine McVie, that Fleetwood Mac became a hit-making machine. This is the band's second tour without Christine McVie, who retired from touring in 1998.

Read the rest of this review over at NJ.com.

On The Road: Rolling Stone Fleetwood Mac Artcile/Lindsey in EQ

2009-03-21T18:58:00.004-04:00

Hey guys! Fleetwood Mac is on page 18 of the April 2, 2009 issue of Rolling Stone. I took the liberty of scanning the article, hopefully this posts correctly....

Also, Lindsey is featured in the April issue of EQ magazine - he basically talks about his technique in the studio and whatnot. Nothing about the tour or Fleetwood Mac or anything like that. Just giving you all the heads up! Enjoy the NJ show tonight, whoever is going!

Stevie Will Be Signing Copies of her Soundstage release!

2009-03-21T13:43:00.003-04:00

New York Post states the following.....

THAT on March 31, a lot of Stevie Nicks' devotees are expected at the Barnes & Noble in Union Square for the rock goddess' first in-store signing of her "Live in Chicago" DVD.

Barnes and Noble: Union Square
33 East 17th Street
New York, NY 10003
212-253-0810

7pm

Good luck to anyone that can make it, I'm sure the place is gonna be a ZOO!!!

Nicks Rules Out Autobiography

2009-03-21T13:40:00.002-04:00

From ContactMusic.com

The singer has enjoyed an extensive solo career in addition to her tenure with the Landslide rockers, who began their latest world tour earlier this month.

Nicks admits she's been approached to chart her life on the big screen and in books, but the singer is convinced she has much more rocking to do before her story can be told.

She tells the New York Daily News, “I could certainly write the story of my life, and do it well, and people have approached me about doing a movie, but I’m not ready because I don't think my story is over.”

Tamed By Time: Ex-Lovers, Hit Songs (MSG Review)

2009-03-21T13:36:00.004-04:00

House lights still dimmed, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks came out onto the Madison Square Garden stage on Thursday night holding hands, then took their positions at opposite sides of the stage and got into character: Ms. Nicks the romantic mystic, Mr. Buckingham the petulant cad. At points over the next two hours Ms. Nicks would cede the stage to her former lover, disappearing backstage as if she couldn’t bear to watch, or couldn’t be bothered. Probably the latter.

This is Fleetwood Mac, the golden years, catering to two different constituencies. Mr. Buckingham, with his extravagant gestures, indulgent guitar playing and general air of preening, was trying very hard to keep a flickering flame alive — a panting salesman. Ms. Nicks, on the other hand, appeared content with laurel-resting, coasting along on the familiar: the shawls, the twirls, the fringe dangling from her microphone and, occasionally, the piercingly cloying vocals. A screen with scrolling words — lyrics, presumably — sat at her feet.

As ever, the rhythm section — the drummer Mick Fleetwood and the bass player John McVie, for whom, together, the band is named — soldiered on like exceedingly tolerant parents. Mr. Fleetwood, ponytail intact and wearing short pants that brought to mind plus fours, played with force, if not grace, and Mr. McVie succeeded by not drawing notice to himself. In a band so obsessed with role-playing, such restraint qualifies as innovation.

“There is no new album to promote — yet,” Mr. Buckingham teased early in the night. But even the most rabid Fleetwood Mac fans probably don’t crave the distraction of new songs and were perfectly content with this show, designed as a hits revue and sticking closely to the band’s self-titled 1975 album and its follow-up two years later, the tragicomic “Rumours,” one of the biggest-selling albums ever. (These were the first with the band’s essential lineup, which included the Buckingham-Nicks combo and Christine McVie, who no longer tours with the band.) Here, particularly on the breakup songs from “Rumours,” Ms. Nicks and Mr. Buckingham still had a touch of zest, making for rare moments of lightness. (Mr. Buckingham also shined on a theatrically unhinged version of “Go Insane,” from his solo album of the same name.)

Mostly, though, the band sounded desiccated. On “I’m So Afraid,” Mr. Buckingham’s guitar solo, which he accompanied with hoots and hollers, was excruciatingly long, and excruciatingly dull. On “World Turning,” Mr. Fleetwood saw him, but thankfully did not raise him, with his own numbing solo.

And just as it did 30 years ago, the band succumbed to an obstacle of its own creation, and its name was “Tusk.” That 1979 album, driven by Mr. Buckingham’s experimental impulses, was an overreach, burdensome and needlessly decadent. Here, after the band played the title track and “Sara” midset, it never fully recovered. Introducing “Storms,” from that album, Ms. Nicks said the band chose it for this tour because they had never played it live before, though the turgid rendition that followed made it clear why that had been the case.

Unexpectedly, the night’s most invigorating moments came when the band stepped out from its own long shadow. “I Know I’m Not Wrong,” a song from “Tusk” played early in the night, sounded like the Replacements, as if the band had just discovered punk. And “Oh Well,” an electric blues from before Mr. Buckingham and Ms. Nicks joined the group, was a welcome nod to the band’s early history as a tribute to something bigger than itself.
By John Caramanica, The New York Times

Toronto Review

2009-03-18T07:40:00.002-04:00

TORONTO - It felt like the mid-to-late '70s all over again at the Air Canada Centre on Tuesday night as Fleetwood Mac's Greatest Hits - Unleashed tour pulled into the hockey hanger for the first of two shows on St. Patrick's Day.

And while the opening song, Monday Morning, wasn't a very smooth start to the two-hour-plus concert - singer-guitarist Lindsey Buckingham's first words weren't on microphone - and the followup tune, The Chain, sounded a bit disjointed and unpolished, the evening eventually picked up as the veteran rockers found a decent groove by the third number, Dreams.

"We are Fleetwood Mac, and we're thrilled to be here tonight. We hope you have a wonderful time. And now I think we should get this party started," said iconic singer Stevie Nicks, 60, decked out in her usual costume of flowing black dress and black suede boots with black scarves and silver chains decorating her microphone stand.

On their first tour together in five years, the band - rounded out by Brits Mick Fleetwood, 61, on drums and John McVie, 63, on bass - played material primarily from 1975's Fleetwood Mac, 1977's juggernaut Rumours (30 million copies sold worldwide and counting) and 1979's Tusk, embracing their most commercially successful years after Americans Nicks and Buckingham joined the group. (British keyboardist Christine McVie - and John's ex - gave up touring in 1989.)

Notable deviations from that trio of albums were Gypsy from 1982's Mirage, Big Love from 1987's Tango In The Night, Oh Well from 1969's Then Play On, Buckingham's 1984 solo tune, Go Insane, and Nicks' 1983 solo song, Stand Back, all highlights in a set brimming with hits.

Read the rest of this review over at Jam Showbiz!

Rochester Review: Fleetwood Mac sticks to basics

2009-03-17T07:39:00.002-04:00

Concert: Standard legacy rock act, Fleetwood Mac.

When and where? Monday night, Blue Cross Arena.

Attendance: About 8,000. Just a few hundred seats empty at the back of the building.

What was the band wearing? Drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie sported white shirts, black vests and motorcar caps, like a couple of chaps out for a spin in the English countryside. Fleetwood was also wearing knickers. Guitarist/singer Lindsay Buckingham chose a black leather jacket. Singer Stevie Nicks opted for several outfits, opening with a basic-black Wiccan gown with bat wings, later a wine-colored, sequined Victorian wing-backed chair cover.

What was Christine McVie wearing? Probably flannel pajamas and fuzzy slippers, the standard uniform for a night in front of the telly. She hasn't toured with the band for almost two decades. Three back-up singers filled her backing-vocal parts (and ably supported the husky-voice pixie, Nicks).

Did they play their hit songs? Opened with "Monday Morning." "The Chain," "Rhiannon," "Second-Hand News," "Stand Back," "Say You Love Me," "Go Your Own Way," "Don't Stop." You could have gotten many of them on the CD for $18.99. My ticket cost $149.50 (plus service charge of $11.35).

Any insights into interior design of the rock stars? Nicks says her bed is still on the floor, just like the line says in "Gypsy."

Did they play any Dixie Chicks songs? Sure, "Landslide."

That's actually a Mac song from 1975. Any new numbers? "Go Insane." That was a Buckingham solo hit in 1984, wasn't it?

C'mon, it wasn't that stale, was it? Not at all. Midway through the show, Buckingham seemed to lift it to a new level. He's clearly the one most interested in steering away from nostalgia, although he did sneak a few chunks of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" in there. The night became a showcase for him as a guitar player. The guy can really, really play. He turned "Big Love" into a raging animal, yelping with glee. Nicks was the comfort food; the crowd loves her and Fleetwood, who's about eight feet tall.

Any marching bands? No. "Tusk" was an early highlight, reworked amazingly, with Buckingham spookily reciting the opening lines to minor-key accompaniment, laughing with evil intentions, then the whole thing taking off into some kind of a Highland stomp.

Did the audience wish it was 1975 again? Oh yeah. Everyone cheered when Nicks came out on Buckingham's arm, and when he nuzzled her shoulder like a puppy at the end of "Sara." But their romance ended decades ago, they've moved on, they have lives now beyond the circus that was Fleetwood Mac. Early in the show, Buckingham told the crowd that Fleetwood Mac had once enjoyed a "complex, convoluted emotional history." Everyone seems to have survived.

Did you like the show? Yeah. Buckingham stole it.

Make deadline? Yeah.

By Jeff Specak, Democrat & Chronicle

Fleetwood Mac Focuses on Familiar in Uncasville

2009-03-15T19:27:00.002-04:00

There is no false pretense to the current Fleetwood Mac reunion tour. With no new album to push, it is a pure nostalgia play, a look back and the band's considerable height of popularity in the 1970s and '80s. At Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville Saturday night, the group focused on precisely that, a parade of hits that retained their accessible appeals even when the people forging them showed signs of wear.

With four of the five members from its commercial heyday on hand, the act leaned heavily on the familiar from the outset, opening with the contoured pop rock of "Monday Morning" as a showcase for guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, who recalled the greatest part of his past appeals when barking lyrics. He was the sharpest part of the vocal harmony as he joined with vocalist Stevie Nicks for "The Chain," which John McVie's plump bass line pushed toward its familiar driving finish.

Always a somewhat unconventional vocalist, Nicks retained some of the ragged sweetness that was her hallmark, but made her offerings with limited intonation that stiffened the otherwise fluid pulse of "Dreams." The musical backdrops over which she hovered were sturdy and smooth, strong enough to cover for her flattening the lyrics of "Gypsy" and a brittle reading of the otherwise supple "Rhiannon."

Drummer (and lone original from the band's initial 1967 incarnation) Mick Fleetwood manufactured robust pacing for the likes of the rattling "Second Hand News" and the bounding "Tusk," the latter of which saw its marching band passages replicated by keyboard player Brett Tuggle, one of two support musicians who, along with three vocalists, filled out the show's arrangements.

Alongside such familiar fare as a Nicks/Buckingham acoustic duet on "Landslide" and a jaunt across "Say You Love Me," the show also ranged a bit off the beaten path, forgoing bigger hits (including some sung by the now-retired Christine McVie) for the likes of the flowing ballad "Storms" and the rumbling, propulsive 1969 number "Oh Well." Buckingham and Nicks also dipped into one solo catalog tune apiece; he strummed hard on an acoustic guitar for "Go Insane," while Nicks yelped at the synthesizer backbone of "Stand Back."

Most of the big spotlight moments came from Buckingham, who extended "I'm so Afraid" with an indulgent electric guitar solo, and turned the set closer "Go Your Own Way" into a finale that amounted to little more than everyone else in the band watching him work out. After an initial encore that included a full-bore trip through "Don't Stop," the group returned a second time, stretching its show to two hours and twenty minutes with "Silver Springs," an outtake from its 1977 album "Rumours." The show featured seven other tunes from that popular album, and not a one from the most recent Fleetwood Mac disc in 2003, a tally certainly in keeping with the show's greatest hits theme.

By Thomas Kintner
The Hartford Courant

Fleetwood Mac Lights Up Nassau Coliseum

2009-03-15T19:23:00.002-04:00

Four of the five original members of Fleetwood Mac lit up Long Island's Nassau Coliseum on March 13, 2009 during their one-night show in Hempstead. Embarking on their first concert tour in five years, the group chose to call the tour "Unleashed", which was a perfect description for the crisp, focused vocals and solid musicianship displayed on the stage. Without having to support a new album, the group was able to play all of the crowd's favorite hits and show off each member's unique personality.

Stepping to the front of the stage where they produced highlight vocals and sincere duets were former-couple Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. Long parted, the two produced many fine memborable moments during the evening. Toward the end of the sweetly-sung "Sara", Nicks walked toward Buckingham on stage and let him lay his head on her shoulder as he smiled at the audience. During many of their songs, they earnestly looked toward at each other, giving the audience an up-close view into the dynamics of this duo. Before she sang "Landslide", Nicks told the crowd that she was switching from dedicating the song to her father to dedicating to Alicia Keys, "one of the most talented artists out there." On "Tusk", Buckingham started slow and quietly by singing, "Why don't you tell me who was on the phone; Why don't you tell me what's going on," then put all of his emotions into the song's refrain with wrenching animal cries that fit into Fleetwood's drum beat.

Throughout the show, Mick Fleetwood kept the band cooking with fine drumming while the audience was kept amused with his bug-eyed expressions or teasing facial tics. During one of the final songs, World Turning, Fleetwood was given a drum solo to display why he is still considered one of the leading drummers in the world. Fittingly, as the founding member of the group, it was Fleetwood who introduced everyone on stage, even "Stephanie" Nicks, better known to all of us as Stevie. He called John McVie his partner in crime and joked about how they've been playing together for 40 years.

John McVie was the more reticent member of the group. Even with a spotlight showing on him all night long, he remained toward the back of the stage, playing bass, but never making eye contact with the crowd or any of his band mates.

Missing from the group was Christine McVie, who has retired from the stage. Her vocals were replaced in the song she wrote "Say You Love Me" by a solid duet between Nicks and Buckingham. These two, plus Mick Fleetwood, carried the night with strong voices, incredible guitar and drum work, and an unabashed love for the audience, which was sent right back to the legendary group. The evening ended on a high note with the upbeat "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" anthem giving everyone a positive lift to a very positive show.

By Debora Toth
Long Island Travel Examiner

Stevie & Lindsey Interviewed

2009-03-14T09:29:00.001-04:00

Here is another section of the ET interviews we got back in December, this time it's for CNN - a little longer and a little more interesting!

Two Boston Reviews

2009-03-12T07:43:00.003-04:00

Fleetwood Mac Don't Stop Delivering
By Lauren Carter
The Boston Herald

It’s official: Fleetwood Mac hasn’t lost a step.

They may be aging rock stars on the back end of massive stardom and near-meltdowns, but apparently they’re no worse for the wear.

Five years since their last tour, sans keyboardist and singer/songwriter Christine McVie, the Mac remains a well-oiled machine that need only be kicked into gear when the timing is right.

Wednesday night at a nearly sold-out TD Banknorth Garden the famous foursome rocked as though they’re not technically hovering near senior citizenship.

John McVie was the silent, sturdy anchor of the rhythm section, tugging at his bass with businesslike precision.

Counterpart Mick Fleetwood was, as usual, giddy and borderline crazed with joy to smash away at a drum set and serve as the band’s pulse.

At 59, Lindsey Buckingham continues to play with the inspired, tortured fervor of a guitarist with much more to prove and much less in his bank account.

Whether plucking away solo on the acoustic monster “Big Love,” playing backup to Stevie Nicks on the always poignant “Landslide” or letting loose like a man possessed on “I’m So Afraid,” Buckingham’s guitar work remains an undeniable star of the Mac spectacle.

A radiant Nicks reprised her role of dreamy enchantress on “Gypsy,” a beautiful “Sara” and “Storms,” the “Tusk” gem that is seeing the light of performance for the first time on this greatest hits tour.

Nicks’ voice has deepened, but its emotive quality is still intact, and she accessorized the Mac’s music with her typical array of add-ons - layers of lace and chiffon, a top hat during “Go Your Own Way,” swats at the tambourine, wry smiles, her signature sways and spins, wardrobe changes while Buckingham went to work on the guitar, and - occasionally - shared glances with Buckingham that probably did as much for the crowd as the music itself.

At two-plus hours and 23 songs, the set allowed latitude for the band to delve into their greatest hits and beyond, including “The Chain,” the shadowy “Gold Dust Woman” and “Say You Love Me” as well as “Don’t Stop,” Nicks’ synth-rock hit “Stand Back” and the one-time “Rumours” B-side “Silver Springs” during the second encore.

The extra dimension that Christine McVie adds to the band’s harmonies - as well as their musical selections - was clearly missed, but her absence let the focus alternate between Nicks and Buckingham.

Golden dreams with Fleetwood Mac

By James Reed
The Boston Globe

With no new album to plug, Fleetwood Mac is on the road again for the best and right reason: to have fun with the band's 40-year catalog.

Guitarist Lindsey Buckingham admitted as much last night at the TD Banknorth Garden, which was just shy of selling out but long on fervent audience enthusiasm.

The 2-hour show didn't present the band's greatest hits in a new light, but rather was a striking reminder of their endurance. If I didn't already own them, I would have rushed out to buy "Rumours" and "Tusk" after realizing how timeless songs from those seminal albums still sound.

Fleetwood Mac has always thrived on, for better or worse, the dynamic among its members, and that tension was a vital part of the show's ebb and flow. Introducing "I Know I'm Not Wrong," Buckingham said the band has had "a complex and convoluted emotional history."

Case in point: After singing "Sara," Stevie Nicks sauntered over to Buckingham's microphone, peered into his eyes, and sang the last verse directly to him. Even though the song is more about Nicks's relationship at the time with Mick Fleetwood, Buckingham collapsed his head on her shoulder. Scripted or not, it was the evening's most poignant highlight. "We didn't rehearse that one," Buckingham said afterward, looking a bit flushed.

Nicks, ever the beloved rock goddess at 60, often kept her strength in the reserves. With her signature shawls and gold-flecked black scarves dangling from her mike stand, she was unusually tepid on "Dreams" early on but then a lively, black-magic woman on "Rhiannon" a few songs later. "Gold Dust Woman" ended with Nicks cast in silhouette, arms outstretched and her back, covered in long blond hair, to the audience.

Buckingham, however, was a man on fire, showing a youthful elasticity in his singing and guitar playing. He's 59 going on 40. Some songs were clearly tailor-made to showcase his guitar prowess, namely a bombastic take on "Big Love" and a searing, extended solo on "I'm So Afraid."

Meanwhile, every time the cameras caught him, Mick Fleetwood looked like the mischievous kid who had scampered onstage to pummel the drums on his favorite songs. Chrome-domed and still sporting a ponytail, he was the evening's designated ham - and eminently watchable. And bassist John McVie looked happy where he's always been: anchoring the group from the shadows. Fleetwood Mac's other anchor, Christine McVie, decided to skip this world tour.

Even without her, the band was at its most thrilling when all its members were in synch with the crowd. On "Go Your Own Way" and "Don't Stop," you couldn't tell how much of the volume was coming from the stage or from the surround sound of stadium-size singalongs.

It says something, though, when an entire arena falls silent for spectral ballads such as "Landslide" and the evening's farewell, "Silver Springs." Sometimes the greatest hits, even with some dust on them, are indeed still the greatest.

DC Review: Like Old Times

2009-03-12T07:37:00.003-04:00

By Adam Mazmanian
The Washington Times

Mick Fleetwood acts as if he has the best job in rock 'n' roll. Resplendent in breeches, stockings and bright red shoes, he commands the stage from his position on a riser surrounded by a gargantuan drum kit, complete with a shiny golden gong. The occasional close-ups of him on the JumboTron at the Verizon Center last night revealed a man gleefully possessed, whether tapping on a cowbell or unloading on the crash symbols. His drums are amplified beyond what is normally considered decent for a band that attracts, let us say, mature audiences.

Mr. Fleetwood's drive, energy and sheer joie de vivre are perhaps underrated as a force behind Fleetwood Mac's success. Another reason behind the band's success was there only in spirit - Christine McVie, singer, songwriter and ex-wife of founding bassist John McVie.

The band is crisscrossing the United States and Canada playing arena shows on its "Unleashed" tour. With no album to promote, the band mates are playing a selection of their most popular hits, a few of Miss McVie's compositions among them - including "The Chain," "Say That You Love Me," "World Turning" and "Don't Stop." For longtime fans steeped in the band's romantic intrigue, tempestuousness and shifting lineups, the current tour offers a familiar, passionate approach aimed at pleasing the vast majority of the audience.

Guitarist and singer Lindsey Buckingham alluded to this, introducing "Dreams" with a brief monologue on the "fairly complex and convoluted emotional history" of the band. By and large, though, Mr. Buckingham let his nimble fingers do the talking. His fiery, loose finger-picking style is a rarity among big-name electric guitarists. His frequent solos appeared to leave him spent, and he seemed authentically humbled by the applause that rained down after his efforts - especially after the lengthy, lightning-fast shredfest that concluded "Go Your Own Way."

Mr. Buckingham also does justice to the softer side of the Mac oeuvre, shifting adroitly between the frenzied, pulsating electric material and the acoustic miniset he performs with just Stevie Nicks at his side, including "Landslide" and "Never Going Back Again."

Miss Nicks was the wild card of the foursome. Her voice is best when it's rough and edgy, but at times her signature timbres seemed to give way to a flatter, more generic sound. On a few songs, her vocal lines were buoyed by the efforts of three backing vocalists. Her performance was uncertain at times as she leaned on her microphone as if for support. Perhaps, because it's early in the tour, she was pacing herself.

Still, by the time Miss Nicks had worked her way through two costume changes and the band had busted out the classic (and local favorite) "Silver Spring," she sounded a little more like the Stevie Nicks of yore. If Miss Nicks was feeling shaky, her audience was more than prepared to forgive her. She got her biggest cheer of the evening on "Landslide," with the lyric "But time makes you bolder/Children get older/I'm getting older too."

The 23-song set was more than businesslike but less than riveting. While the Verizon Center was filled nearly to the rafters, there wasn't an overpowering energy in the crowd. Even in the very front, just a few rows danced their way through the show. But my guess is that people who grew up on Fleetwood Mac will experience whatever transcendence their memories supply so long as the band keeps cranking out their old hits.

3/8/2009 Detroit Review (Billboard)

2009-03-09T21:19:00.004-04:00

Early in the fourth show of Fleetwood Mac's Unleashed tour, guitarist Lindsey Buckingham referenced the group's "fairly complex and convoluted emotional history," drawing a laugh from the crowd and even some knowing smiles from his bandmates.

But can there be a Fleetwood Mac without the drama?

The Unleashed outing makes a case that there certainly can. For the group's first tour in five years there's no new album and therefore none of the attendant tension that comes when introducing fresh material. Everyone is purportedly getting along well these days. And the group has had even more time to adjust to life without Christine McVie, now 11 years (but only one tour) removed from Fleetwood Mac.

What that leaves the Mac and its audience with is hits -- an abundance from one of the most successful catalogs in rock history, more than enough to keep the two-hour and 20-minute show airborne from start to finish. The Fleetwood Mac that's trotting around North America now is comfortable in its position and is cheerfully celebrating its legacy, and the warm familiarity of its 23-song greatest hits set is likely just what its fans -- particularly those paying $80 or $150 for their tickets -- want.

The parade began with "Monday Morning" before sliding into "The Chain" and "Dreams," each in their usual No. 2 and 3 positions on the set list. "Gypsy," "Rhiannon," "Sara," "Landslide," "Gold Dust Woman," "Go Your Own Way" and "Don't Stop" had everyone singing along. And the group still managed to deliver a few surprises including "Tusk," album deep cuts such as "I Know I'm Not Wrong" and "Storms," the return of "Second Hand News," and a rendition of McVie's "Say You Love Me" with Buckingham and Stevie Nicks trading verses.

But more than ever, the Unleashed show underscored the fact that in McVie's absence, Fleetwood Mac has become the Buckingham and Nicks show -- which does not minimize the continuing strength of drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie as a rhythm section or the six additional musicians' role in bringing a studio-quality sheen to the songs. It gave the night two distinct flavors -- Nicks' ethereal cool and Buckingham's manic edge.

It's an equation that gives a dominant edge to Buckingham, with his fluid, finger-picked guitar styles and aggressively inventive melodies such as "Go Insane" and a solo acoustic rendering of "Big Love." He delivered a spirited take of the original Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well (Part 1)," then tore the roof off with a searing solo at the end of the slow-burning "I'm So Afraid" that made it as much a highlight as any of the set's bigger hits. Nicks did rise to the occasion with her 1983 solo hit "Stand Back," and had the night's last word with "Silver Springs," but even she seemed respectful of, and perhaps resigned to the sheer force of her former boyfriend's musical personality.

Buckingham noted during the concert that "every time we get together again it's always different, always a sense of forward motion, and we always have more fun." The Unleashed show is more like a holding pattern, but few in the audience would deny there's fun in hearing all those hits.

Article from Billboard
Written by Gary Graff, Detroit

Mick Interviewed for The New York Post

2009-03-09T07:42:00.004-04:00

Renowned for caustic divorces and boozy intra-band affairs, Fleetwood Mac never seemed likely to celebrate a 42nd anniversary. Throughout the years, the only constant has been drummer Mick Fleetwood, who stuck it out behind the skins no matter how crazy things got. Now the band - including Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks and John McVie - is back on tour for the first time in six years, playing the group's biggest hits and a new version of "Rumours." The group hits Nassau Coliseum on Friday, Madison Square Garden on March 19 and the Izod Center on March 21. We asked Fleetwood about the reunion.

So, who caved in and got the reunion going?

There really wasn't any single person doing the coercing. We've been talking about it for two years, but needed to wait for the right time. Lindsey was working on solo records, I was touring with my blues band and both Stevie and Christine [McVie, a former member] were working on projects.

Is the group still tight?

Yes. John lives in Oahu and I live in Hawaii, so we see each other a lot. And Stevie has always been like family. We've all gone through such an emotional roller coaster together - everyone falling in and out of love with each other. Our story is pretty damn unique. A lot of the troubles Stevie and I went through are so well-documented, they've almost become boring.

Most of the band's insane alcohol- and drug-fueled stories are commonly known.

Any chance of creating new ones?

[Laughs] The days of putting up silver paper over the windows to keep the sunlight out are well and truly over. There's not much "partying" anymore. We still have fun . . . sitting around sharing old war stories, but nothing crazy. Most of us are in our 60s, with kids.

Which outlandish tale(s) stand out?

The thing that truly amazes me was the time we spent in the studio recording "Rumours." We made that album under impossible circumstances - everyone's life was falling apart. I was divorcing my wife, John and his wife Christine were separating, and Stevie and Lindsey were breaking up. It was a hell of a mess. But even though it was a horror show, we created something special that has withstood the test of time.

Any chance you'll be back into the studio?

I have three hairs left. If they all don't fall out following the tour, we've talked about recording again. I don't think we want to just sit around for another five years. We're all healthy, we still have loads of energy. [Laughs] Plus, some of us still have mortgages to pay.

By Joseph Barracato of The New York Post

2nd Chicago Performance Review

2009-03-07T10:58:00.003-05:00

The grab-n-go revenue stream of aging rock bands is the greatest-hits tour. You spend the first half of your life creating groundbreaking hits; then you spend the second half performing them each time a new wife requests alimony or Bernie Madoff made off with your fortune.

Fleetwood Mac's current revival on the tour circuit has those hallmarks -- it is the Anglo-American band's first since 2003, when core members Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood reunited for a new album that was surprisingly very good.

Their return is not featuring any of those songs, only hits from their blockbuster albums of late 1970s: "Tusk," "Rumours" and "Fleetwood Mac." Thursday night at the Allstate Arena, the first of two consecutive nights, Buckingham admitted there was "no new album -- yet" and the two-hour show would concentrate on "things we love and hopefully stuff that you love, as well."

It was a love affair to last. Unlike most outings like these, the band steered through its hits with interest that went well beyond professional courtesy. While the last tour was more like a revue, with secondary players crowding out the band, this outing was nicely subdued, with even the clownish Fleetwood kept in check.

Forty-one years past its earliest incarnation, the band wisely chose not to dwell on the same old references. Instead, it let the body of work stand on its own ground. At 60, Nicks is at an age where her voice is robust and layered with lovely textures; she sang "Landslide," as a blues song, tarnished but with strength.

She and Buckingham sang lead vocals together on many songs, harmonized sweetly on others, but made the unfortunate decision to trade vocals on "Say You Love Me." Their reconstruction did not suit their voices, and the interchange was strained.

The night belonged to Buckingham, who injected paranoid intensity into every guitar lick, whoop, holler, growl and foot stomp. His peers may have been knighted early in their careers for their guitar flash and mastery, but at age 60, Buckingham has emerged as the only one who still carries it forward with sparkle and commitment.

He elevated even his own revenue generators when the night's highlight became a pairing of the band's lesser-known songs: "Oh Well" and "I'm So Afraid." Played back-to-back, they built into an emotional purging of volume and odd detouring. As Buckingham stalked the width of the stage, he injected an edge-of-cliff abandon into his playing, yet maintained a remarkable technique.

Near the end, his body worked in convulsion over his instrument until he stopped to skip back to his spot -- a concluding image that was peculiar but well-deserved.

Chicago Sun Times
By Mark Guarino
Mark Guarino is a Chicago-based journalist. Visit mark-guarino.com.

The Boston Globe Interviews Stevie & Lindsey

2009-03-07T10:43:00.003-05:00

Article by Sarah Rodman

The Boston Globe

All iconic rock records begin life as the dreaded "new stuff" fans don't want to hear.

Stevie Nicks vividly remembers a time when Fleetwood Mac fans weren't interested in the songs from the landmark album "Rumours." Granted, it didn't take long for the 1977 release to become a multiplatinum monster, but there was definitely an initial resistance to the charms of "Gold Dust Woman."

"The audience is always going to be like, 'We need to hear the songs we came here to hear,' " says the 60-year-old singer-songwriter. And at the start of the "Rumours" tour, the songs they came to hear were hits like "Rhiannon" and "Say You Love Me" from Fleetwood Mac's eponymous 1975 album, the first to feature Nicks and her then boyfriend, singer-songwriter-guitarist Lindsey Buckingham.

As the title of the current road show makes clear, Fleetwood Mac's "Unleashed: Hits Tour 2009," which comes to the TD Banknorth Garden on Wednesday, will not feature any new stuff. "We've had incredibly good luck with successful radio songs, so if you start with that and make a list, it's not a short list," says Buckingham, 59.

But this is no farewell jaunt for the band, which also features the namesake rhythm section of drummer Mick Fleetwood, 61, and bassist John McVie, 63. (Singer-songwriter-keyboardist Christine McVie retired from the group in 1998 but performed on the 2003 album, "Say You Will.") In separate back-to-back interviews, we talked to Buckingham and Nicks about the past, present, and future, and they made it clear that the British-American band that has withstood more than a half-dozen permutations will continue to make new music for the masses to disregard - at least at first.

Singing McVie's praises

This tour is the group's second go-round without McVie. The absence of her harmonies and keyboards was definitely felt on the "Say You Will" tour, as were her songwriting contributions, including the hits "Say You Love Me," "Over My Head," "Hold Me," "Everywhere," and "Little Lies." This time out, the group has decided to add some of her tunes to the set list.

Buckingham: "I think she would want us to do that. I think she's going to be flattered as well."

Nicks: "She's delighted. Chris is the greatest, she's not selfish and she's not conceited. She's just a wonderful, wonderful girl. She doesn't like to fly and you just have to. She was having panic attacks and she didn't tell us, so we were all very surprised when she said 'I can't do this' because we never knew she was having a hard time."

The Stevie/Lindsey dynamic

McVie's absence was also felt on a personal level, especially by Nicks, who felt adrift as the band's gender balance shifted. Buckingham was having a blast, however, digging into his songs and guitar playing. Onstage in Worcester in 2003, the former lovers could be seen shooting intense glares at each other.

Buckingham: "When we got off the road in 2004 with Fleetwood Mac, I know Stevie was not very happy with me. I think she maybe wasn't that comfortable onstage in a situation where, without Christine, I had half the material to do and I was just up there being a guy. I think her sense of herself, the context kind of got blurred for her without the female compadre. I had a great time; she didn't."

Nicks: "It went from being a band with two powerful women and a bunch of guys to a bunch of guys with one powerful woman. And Christine really was the powerhouse anyway, she really was the leader of the pack, our Mother Earth. So without Chris it definitely changed the dynamic. And I was lonely because I was obviously so used to having her there since 1975."

Buckingham: "That was one of the reasons we decided we would do a few more Christine McVie songs this time and that we would find ways to do them that are more about Stevie's and my dynamic. I've been talking to Stevie a lot and it's great, the chemistry, the history; I've known her since we were both in high school. And it's not only intriguing but it gives me a big smile that we're going to go out there as a band, the four of us, and particularly Stevie and myself, and be able to bridge all the crap that maybe we've never been able to completely bridge before. We're talking about a band whose sensibilities are so disparate that probably on some level we don't really have much business being in a band together. . . . It's the synergy of that, that makes it work, that makes it greater than the sum of its parts. I think it becomes important and timely to acknowledge that and to share it with each other."

New record on the horizon

The band members hope to keep that synergy going when they get off the road and into the studio.

Nicks: "There's nothing better than having a totally tight, rehearsed band go in and make a record because you're playing great and you've been hanging out for a long time. I'm excited about it because I think the world should have another Fleetwood Mac record. Even if it doesn't sell one record, what it is for us is the experience of making the record. It really is the journey of making 'Rumours,' of making [her first solo album] 'Bella Donna,' of making these really precious records in the long run that is almost more important than what they did when they left us."

Buckingham: "I think there are chapters yet to be written with this band, and there are chapters that need to be written for the people themselves. There have been some things left hanging out there, and this isn't just a band getting together to do it for the bucks. . . . I'm getting quite excited about it, I have to say."

Fleetwood Mac at Allstate Arena: Lindsey Buckingham burns through nostalgia

2009-03-06T07:30:00.004-05:00

Article from The Chicago Tribune
greg@gregkot.com

The Fleetwood Mac set list Thursday at the packed Allstate Arena was straight out of the ‘70s, but Lindsey Buckingham was very much in the present tense on the quartet’s latest reunion tour.

The leather-jacketed guitarist played like his graying hair was on fire most of the night, throwing himself into the songs with a gusto that frequently erupted into manic howls and fleet-fingered, shrapnel-tossing solos. Buckingham pulled the 23 creaky songs out of the long-lost “Rumours” era and into the now, with enthusiastic assistance from drummer Mick Fleetwood.

With the stalwart bassist John McVie at his side, Fleetwood looked like he had just popped out of a Dickens novel, a towering, pony-tailed Fagin in knickers. For all the mugging and preening, he pounded the drums with maniacal glee, blending bluesy firepower with orchestral flair. The inventively propulsive drum parts on songs such as “Rhiannon,” “Go Your Own Way” and “World Turning” colored the arrangements with authority, and matched Buckingham’s passion.

Stevie Nicks was the only member of this revived version of the band’s classic ‘70s lineup (minus singer-songwriter Christine McVie, who retired from the business years ago) who wasn’t quite up to speed as the show began. Her voice has not only deepened, it has lost much of its flexibility, and her performances of “Gypsy” and “Rhiannon” fell flat. She re-accessorized continually with boots, dresses, shawls, scarves, tambourines and even a top hat as the show progressed over two-plus hours. Halfway through the set, she finally shook off the doldrums and audibly rose to the occasion on “Landslide,” accompanied only by Buckingham’s guitar.

“I’m getting older, too,” Nicks sang with soaring, if melancholy conviction. By the time she trotted out her solo hit “Stand Back,” she felt frisky enough to revive one of her trademark twirls.

But it all would’ve been little more than a quaint rehash of a bunch of golden oldies were it not for Buckingham. He started strong, pushing his voice hard on “Monday Morning,” and by the end of the set was finger-picking shrieking, gale-force solos from his instrument, reanimating Peter Green’s early Mac classic “Oh Well” and investing “I’m So Afraid” with scarifying intensity. Wired and still wiry, Buckingham looked like he could’ve raved all night with this rhythm section at his back.

Reminder: Stevie to be on 'The Chris Isaak Hour' TONIGHT!

2009-03-05T07:38:00.004-05:00

Hey everyone!

Just a reminder that Stevie will be on 'The Chris Isaak Hour" on The Bio Channel (10 PM EST)!

It looks like she will be the only guest, so it should be a good show and a must-see!

We hope everyone enjoys The Mac concert in Chicago tonight! Have a blast!

Mick's New Album: Blue Again

2009-03-05T07:35:00.005-05:00

Hey everyone - Mick Fleetwood's new album with The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band will be released on March 17th!

Head on over to pre-order it at Amazon.com!

3/3/09 Minneapolis Review: Fleetwood Mac Outdoes Itself

2009-03-04T07:41:00.002-05:00

Soap operas are addictive, aren’t they? Eventually we come back for a peek even if the cast of a long-running soap has changed, because the story lines remain the same.

That’s true of rock’s longest-running soap opera, Fleetwood Mac. The romantic tension between Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, lead singers for about 34 years, never goes away, even though these high school sweethearts broke up in the 1970s. They walked onstage Tuesday at the Xcel Energy Center hand in hand — in the darkness.

Then for the next 2¼ hours, they put on one of those rare shows in which it was about the individuals of the band rather than the sum of the parts. Even though the 42-year-old band has had more different lead guitarists than Spinal Tap had drummers, Fleetwood Mac has always been about being greater than the sum of its parts. That was certainly true when Buckingham Nicks, a former duo, joined in the mid-’70s, sharing vocals and writing duties with keyboardist Christine McVie (who retired in 1998).

While the rhythm section of drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie was rock solid all night, the rest of Tuesday’s concert felt like the Stevie Nicks Show or the Lindsey Buckingham Show. Not that it was a competition.

Lots of S&L mentionings in this review, check it out over at StarTribune.com!!!

Fleetwood Mac Still Rockin' After All These Years

2009-03-02T07:30:00.005-05:00

Back in the '70s when you were listening to "Rhiannon" and "Gypsy," you may have given a passing thought to the concept of Stevie Nicks at 60.

Now we're at the point where we don't have to imagine anymore.

We saw her last night at the Mellon Arena on the opening show of the Unleashed tour, and we can testify that she's still the golden haired diva, still mysterious, still beguiling, still beautiful as she sings those haunting, heartbreaking love songs.Her partner in crime since they were teenagers, Lindsey Buckingham, is still on the brink of 60, at 59, and he's, well, he's going to be an intense dude up until the day he dies.

The former lovers came out holding hands and then went off to their positions to dazzle with the promised greatest hits show, plus some surprises from the back catalogue.

Buckingham made early mention of the band's "complex and convoluted emotional history," saying that every time they come back together "it's always different." He added that they "had a ball" during their days of rehearsal at the arena, and the evidence was on stage.

A nod to their fresh start was "Monday Morning," an unexpected opener, as it was never a staple of the "Say You Will" tour five years ago. It wasn't until the second song, "The Chain," that we got that first taste of the magical Buckingham-Nicks harmonies, two voices that born for each other.

Read the rest of this great review over at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette!

OPENING NIGHT 'UNLEASHED' SETLIST - SPOILER!

2009-03-01T21:25:00.006-05:00

Below is the set list for tonight's opening night in Pittsburgh! The font is black so just highlight below to see it, otherwise don't bother if you plan on being surprised! Obviously since this is opening night, things might change for future shows but as things stand....here it is, what we've been waiting for!

Monday Morning
The Chain
Dreams
I Know I'm Not Wrong
Gypsy
Go Insane (full band)
Rhiannon
Second Hand News
Tusk ('slow' version)
Sara
Big Love
Landslide
Never Going Back Again
Storms
Say You Love Me (Stevie/Lindsey trade vocals on verses)
Gold Dust Woman
Oh Well
I'm So Afraid ('blues' version)
Stand Back
Go Your Own Way

Encores
World Turning/Drum Solo (Mick)
Band Intros
Don't Stop
Silver Springs

I hope everyone who attended enjoyed the show, and I hope everyone who is going to see them SOON has a great time! The Mac is back, let the fun begin!!!

Stevie Interviewed for Rolling Stone

2009-02-21T00:41:00.003-05:00

Fleetwood Mac's singer on their new tour, turning 60 and making mixtapes

By Austin Scaggs

"It still gives me goose bumps, and it still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up," says Stevie Nicks, who is eagerly anticipating the first Fleetwood Mac tour in five years, which kicks off on March 1st in Pittsburgh. And later in the month, Nicks is releasing a DVD, Live in Chicago, and a concert CD, The Soundstage Sessions. With her dog barking in the background, Nicks checks in from her home in Los Angeles: "We still feel like Fleetwood Mac have a lot to give to the world. In this time of trouble and turmoil, I think the world needs Fleetwood Mac."

What's the latest from the Mac rehearsals?

I don't want to give the set list away, but it's pretty exciting. The fact that we haven't been on tour since 2004 makes every song sound fresh. It's just bang, bang, bang- all fantastic songs. We always start with the staples: "Go Your Own Way," "Gold Dust Woman," "Rhiannon" and "Dreams." We will play one song we've never done at all. If I were going to see Fleetwood Mac, this is definitely the set I'd want to see. It's like a big steam locomotive that doesn't stop until we walk offstage.

How are you getting along with Lindsey Buckingham?

When Lindsey and I aren't getting along, nobody's getting along. We haven't had one disagreement since we started rehearsing. And instead of treating me like his miserable old ex, he's treating me like his difficult but beloved older daughter. He's been very sweet.

How often do you speak with Christine McVie?

We check in with each other, but we can't hang out, because she lives in England, and she won't fly. The only time I've seen Chris since 1998 was when we did three nights in London in 2003. I miss her every day. But we've all finally started to accept that nothing could make Chris go back out on the road.

Last May you turned 60. How do you feel about that?

I don't feel any different at 60 than I felt at 50. Age is a state of mind. You can either get old or not get old.

On the "Live in Chicago" DVD you're joined by Vanessa Carlton on a couple of songs. What other artists of her generation do you mentor?

I love Vanessa - I feel like she's an adopted child, in a way. And Michelle Branch and I had dinner the night before last. I have a lot of information for all of these women. I should do a "Dear Stevie" column in Rolling Stone. When Mariah Carey was going through her craziness a few years ago, I wrote her a long letter telling her how everybody else is crazy - not her. I saw her recently, and she told me she keeps the letter with her jewelry! I love that.

What's wrong with the record business today?

The internet has destroyed it. I miss buying an album and lying on the floor for three days and going over it with a magnifying glass. I still go to the record store and spend hours there and buy a big bag of CDs. I don't have a computer of a cellphone, because I don't want to be that available to anybody. I'm all about mystery. Little girls think it's necessary to put all their business on MySpace and Facebook, and I think it's a shame.

You've always made mix-tapes on cassette. Do you still do that?

That's how I do it. Cassettes sound so much better. And I'm deaf as a doornail, so I like to crank my little boombox.

What songs are worthy of a Stevie Nicks mixtape?

I was just in Hawaii, and I made a mix called "Lahaina Twilight." It's got songs by the Goo Goo Dolls, Jackson Browne, Sting, Coldplay, Tom Petty, the Fray, Snow Patrol.

What albums do you love in their entirety?

I don't, usually. In the beginning, I was inspired by songwriters like Jackson Browne, David Crosby, the Eagles, Neil Young, Buffalo Springfiled - those are the people I learned from. And I probably listed to Joni Mitchell's For the Roses, Blue and Court and Spark a hundred million times. But now, I can't listen to a whole album unless it's a Fleetwood Mac record, where I made sure that every song is spectacular. Sequencing is my forte. I sequenced Rumours. Lindsey doesn't like to admit it, but he will admit it.

Last year, Sheryl Crow claimed that she would be part of the 2009 Fleetwood Mac tour, but Buckingham later denied it. What really happened?

It was absolutely discussed and she was absolutely invited to join. The reason was because I missed Christine [McVie] so much, and I wanted another woman in the band - it's hard to be in the boys' club. I explained to Sheryl what it was like to be in the group - that it's all-encompassing. Like, on 2003's Say You Will tour, we went out expecting to do 40 shows, and it turned into 135 shows. So Sheryl called me and said, "I'll have to pass." As Stevie Nicks, I was disappointed. As her friend, I told her she made the right decision. Sheryl Crow passed on Fleetwood Mac - I want that out there.

What are the origins of your patented onstage twirl?

A lot of ballet and a lot of dance. I wanted to be a ballerina, but I realized I was not going to be Pavlova, so I became a rock singer instead.

Two Divas named Stevie & Lindsey

2009-02-21T00:23:00.004-05:00

As the relationship between Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham goes, so goes Fleetwood Mac.

The band, formed as a British blues-rock outfit in 1967, has a history that reads like a soap-opera script. Band members have literally gone crazy. Some have gone AWOL. Others have slept with one another. Marriages were broken. More than 73 million records have been sold. And still the quarrels continue. Even a 2004 tour that raked in $22 million ended in acrimony, with a fed-up Nicks saying she was through and Buckingham returning to his solo career.

But now, on the eve of another Mac tour, the biggest problem facing Nicks is a sore arm. While being interviewed, she mentions that a physical therapist is working her over. “I strained my right arm doing arm curls, which I never do, so I’m trying to get it back so I can comfortably and enjoyably play tambourine.”

Such are the rigors of being a multimillionaire icon in a band that defined mainstream pop in the ‘70s. Mac is commanding as much as $149.50 per ticket (plus service charges) for a national tour that includes two concerts March 5-6 at the Allstate Arena. They promise few surprise; just a show with more than two hours of greatest hits --- just the way their fans presumably like it. “The songs we’re playing are the tapestry of not only our fans’ lives but our own lives,” Nicks says.

Buckingham has long detested the idea of doing a nostalgia tour, but he says he’s “just trying to ride the machine.” Part of Mac’s on-off existence the last three decades has been due to Buckingham’s creative restlessness; he’s maintained a solo career defined by adventurous albums in between Mac projects. As one of the band’s primary songwriters as well as its producer and arranger, Buckingham is first among equals, and his word goes a long way in determining Mac’s fortunes. This time, he agreed to do a hits tour to promote a box-set release of the band’s best-selling 1977 “Rumours” album.

To read the entire article from the Chicago Tribune, click here!

Stevie's Horse Illume wins its first race!

2009-02-16T18:50:00.002-05:00

Herald Sun, February 16, 2009

LEGENDARY US hit maker Stevie Nicks has had her first taste of success as a racehorse owner.

Nicks part-owns a thoroughbred with leading promoter Andrew McManus, his wife Jacqueline and business partner Patrick Prendergast.

The speedy four-year-old gelding, called Illume, won his first race at Wyong in New South Wales on Thursday.

Illume was bought as a yearling for $240,000 in 2005, and has had just four starts.

Originally trained by Gai Waterhouse, the horse had to be spelled for 18 months after contracting equine influenza during the outbreak that closed racing in Sydney in 2007.

Now trained by John Hawkes, Illume started a short-priced favourite when it saluted in the 1000m maiden handicap at Wyong.

McManus said he called the famed Fleetwood Mac singer after the race.

``She is pumped. She is wrapped,'' he said. ``She is getting a photo done and has been watching a replay of the race on the internet.''

Nicks was bitten by the racing bug when she was a guest of McManus's at the Melbourne Cup in 2005.

60 Demos Added!!!

2009-02-15T12:25:00.004-05:00

We have added SIXTY (6-0!) demos to the Stevie Multimedia page! Please enjoy...they are TRUE GEMS!!!

Wow! What a busy S&L news day! Stevie talks ticket prices....

2009-02-11T20:07:00.003-05:00

“We wish we didn't have to charge anything,” says Stevie Nicks, Fleetwood Mac singer. “We wish we could go out and play. That's what we do – we're performance artists.”

Rock on, gold dust woman. During a teleconference Tuesday, Nicks and her fellow Mac mates were chatting up their upcoming North American tour (which kicks off March 1 in Pittsburgh, with dates in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver to follow) when the subject of ticket prices came up. Fleetwood Mac, legendary for its rock-star indulgences in its prime, charge up to $149.50 for top seats in Toronto.

“The price of life in general is a gazillion dollars more than it was four years ago,” reasoned Nicks, not an economist. The British/Californian band's most recent tour wrapped up in 2004. “Our emotions are about trying to do this in the best way that makes sense for our audience,” chimed in drummer Mick Fleetwood, “and in a way that we can get to our audience.”

Ticket prices and ticket distribution are a touchy subject these days. A $510-million Canadian class-action suit filed this week alleges that Ticketmaster and subsidiary TicketsNow.com are conspiring to hold seats from the public and reselling the tickets at a higher prices – seemingly a violation of anti-scalping laws.

Read the rest of this article over at GlobeAndMail.com!

Fleetwood Mac Tuning Up For Spring Tour

2009-02-11T15:21:00.002-05:00

Not having a new album is working to Fleetwood Mac's advantage as the group prepares for its upcoming Unleashed North American tour.

"This is the first time we've gone on the road without an album," drummer and co-founder Mick Fleetwood told Billboard.com during a teleconference with reporters on Tuesday. "This is truly a new experience for Fleetwood Mac to go out and play songs that we believe and hope people are going to be familiar with and love.

"Singer/guitarist Lindsey Buckingham added that not having to integrate new songs into the set -- which the group has been rehearsing since Jan. 5 in Los Angeles -- "just allows you to relax into the situation. We're not coming off a new group of tunes, a new album ... the stakes for that side of it become a little bit lower."

As for a new Fleetwood Mac album, vocalist Stevie Nicks said "there isn't any plan at this point ... for any album. We're going to get through this tour before deciding what to do with an album." Fleetwood, however, confirmed that "there have been discussions, for sure, that we would love to make some more music ... We hope it happens, and certainly it's been somewhat loosely touched on ... My heart says I believe that will happen. Certainly I know that all of the songwriting department, both Stevie and Lindsey are continually writing ... The whole creative bowl is very much intact, so I would love to see what happens."

Read the rest of this article over at Billboard!

"Lindsey & I don't need a buffer." - The Sheryl Crow Story

2009-02-11T07:40:00.003-05:00

Stevie Nicks has revealed that three years ago Sheryl Crow almost joined Fleetwood Mac but at the last moment chose not to for personal reasons.

Undercover was part of the Fleetwood Mac media conference today and Stevie where Stevie revealed that Sheryl almost joined following the departure of Christine McVie. “We rented a studio and hired a crew,” Stevie said. “We were ready to go in and called her and needed her to come for two or three days to just play. It was Mother’s Day and she had invited 300 people in her family there. It was her first Mother’s Day as a mom and she could not do it. At that point she said “I am going to have to pass”. I said “I think you are making the right decision. You have a new baby, you have survived breast cancer and Lance Armstrong. I don’t think this is the right thing for you”. That is what happened with Sheryl Crow. She is still our friend and I still adore her. She is one of my dearest friends”.

While Sheryl came close to joining, no other female has been considered. “As far as having another girl in the band, after we went through that we really realised that there wasn’t going to be another woman that could come into this band who could fit,” she said. “I was looking at it three years ago as a buffer between me and Lindsay. Lindsay and I don’t need a buffer. Certainly Sheryl Crow and not any woman in the world is going to be able to get in the middle of Lindsay and me. The fact is if Lindsay and I can’t work out our problems by ourselves we might as well throw in the towel. That's what we are currently trying to do is work out own problems and certainly another person could not do that for us. Think about this – Christine has been gone since 1998 so I have been the only girl in this band for a long, long time. I’m used to it now. At first I was not used to it. After ‘The Dance’ was horrifying for me. She has been gone time and I’m fine with it now”.

Christine McVie was a member of Fleetwood Mac from 1970 to 1998. Prior to Fleetwood Mac, she sang with English band Chicken Shack but left in 1970 after marrying Fleetwood Mac bass player John McVie.

After leaving Fleetwood Mac, she released her third solo album ‘In The Meantime’ in 2004 but has remained relatively out of the public eye.

Fleetwood Mac will begin their `Unleashed` tour, their first tour in five years, on March 1st in Pittsburgh.

- by Paul Cashmere - February 11 2009, Undercover.com.au

Cost Of Fleetwood Mac Tusk Was Privilege Says Mick

2009-02-10T21:54:00.003-05:00

Fleetwood Mac founder Mick Fleetwood says that the cost of making the 1979 `Tusk` album, the first album with a budget over $1 million, was a privilege, not an over-indulgence.

In a conference call with Undercover today, Mick said, “For all of the blessings we had bestowed on us for being successful I always thought that it was a fully righteous thing that a band such as Fleetwood Mac would plough that money back into the very process that we’d been blessed by to have made that money because it was our money.”

‘Tusk’ was the follow-up to the classic ‘Rumours’. While ‘Rumours’ turned the band into a supergroup, they still paid their own way. “People often assume that you are the star of the show and some production company pays for everything. That is not the case literally by 100%”, he told Undercover. “I always thought it was incredibly righteous to taking the time to plough back the energy, time and expense to make an album like ‘Tusk’ coming out of the most successful album that this band ever had, not that we knew it at the time, ‘Rumours’”.

Read the rest of this article over at Undercover.com.au!

New Downloads added to Multimedia sections!

2009-02-05T18:10:00.003-05:00

Lots of new Demos/Live Performances have been added to the Stevie, Lindsey & Buckingham Nicks Multimedia pages! Enjoy!

Lindsey Buckingham Talks Guitars, Fleetwood Mac Reunion Tour

2009-02-04T20:47:00.003-05:00

On March 1, a reunited Fleetwood Mac will hit the road for their first concert tour in five years. Concurrently, an expanded CD/DVD package of the band's landmark 1977 album, Rumours, will hit record stores. In the following interview, guitarist Lindsey Buckingham talks about the differences between his work in Fleetwood Mac and his solo work. He also shares his thoughts about his distinctive six-string style.

Wasn't your very first guitar a cheap Harmony acoustic?

That's right, although I first learned some chords on a plastic ukulele. There was a TV show called The Mickey Mouse Club, which marketed a smaller version of what the guy on the show played. When I was about eight years old, I got a Harmony 6-string three-quarter-size guitar for Christmas. I think it cost about 35 or 40 bucks.

Did you feel an immediate facility for the instrument?

It's hard to say. I had been exceptionally interested in music before then, although I didn't have any lessons. I was tuned in to my parents' record collection, which ranged from the South Pacific soundtrack to Patti Page to my Dad's collection of Dixieland Jazz 78s. I was always interested in what was making those sounds. Then, when Elvis Presley came onto the scene, there was a role model, visually, and music that subverted our parents' sensibilities. It was something we could call our own.

Lindsey talks lots more about his guitar styling and about the reunion tour. Check out the answer to his final question over at Gibson....veerrryyy interesting.

New Lyrics posted!

2009-02-01T22:47:00.002-05:00

Two new unreleased song lyrics have been added to the Lyrics Speculation Index. The songs are unreleased from the Buckingham Nicks Era: Farewell Failure as well as You Won't Forget Me.