My First Fleetwood Mac Concert

I am 52 years old now, and yet had never seen the MAC live. Thanks to HDNET, Soundstage program, I have been reintroduced to Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham.
Having seen Lindsey in Hamilton Ontario in October, his guitar playing was the most extraordinary thing I have ever seen. There was only 300 or so of us in Hamilton Place. I don't know what happened with the poor turn out, but it was the best thing for those that attended. I was in the 5 the row and dead center with Lindsey. The small crowd did not detract Lindsey at all. He was amazing. It was this experience that I decided to get the best tickets I could for the Fleetwood Mac Concert in Toronto. There I was, in row 3, having paid a few extra dollars to have this experience, again, with my 17 year old son Peter. The concert was fantastic, Nicki was awesome, and Lindsey was unbelievable again on the guitar.

Lucky me to have finally wakened up, having really missed them during my teens and 20s. Back then, most people only listened to 3 or 4 bands and Fleetwood Mac was not my band back then. I was still following the Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin and a few others.

"The Buckingham Show"

Wow!! My wife and I went to the ACC in Toronto mainly to hear the hits and see two of my idols, being Stevie and Lindsey. Had amazing seats (well worth the price of $200 per) seven rows up (on Lindsey's side) about ten rows from the stage. From the moment the lights dimmed and they broke into "Monday Morning" there was no stopping Lindsey. He is definately an excellent guitarist but this is a "Fleetwood Mac" show and he sure stole the spotlight!! During the second song "The Chain" Stevie motioned the sound tech. to turn her up to Lindsey's level. At least, for the rest of the concert, Stevie and Lindsey's vocals were now level. Their sound by the way is loud yet crystal clear. The lighting was simple yet complex at the same time with moving light boxes above the stage. Stevie shone on "Dreams, Gypsy, Rhiannon, Sara, Landslide, Storms, Gold Dust Woman, Stand Back and the last encore "Silver Springs" while Lindsey dominated the rest. The highlights for Lindsey were "Big Love (of course), Go Insane, and I'm so Afraid" I totally enjoyed the revamped version of Peter Green's "Oh Well" where Mick Fleetwood showed off his drumming skills. There was even a bluesy version of "Never Going Back Again" which was a surprise. During the first encore, Mick Fleetwood had a solo on "World Turning" showing that he remains the great drummer that he is. The only time I missed Christine was during "Say That you Love Me" in which both Lindsey and Stevie shared the verses. Everyone in the floor seats were either standing or dancing. Truly a show to remember for a long time despite the "over showman-ship" from Lindsey.

Mac IS Back

Rating: 4.5

Who would have thought they could still be so good. They walked on w no intro and
went right into a song as if they had never left the stage. It was obvious they had
as great time as me. Lindsey-crazy, hyped and so talented, Mick magic on the
drum-too bad they added keyboard to Tusk couldn't hear him that well, Nicks still
great even if she can't hit the high notes any more, John unobtrusive but excellent.
Played about 2+ hours mixing old +new, fast+slow. There were afew moments that the
band seemed into each other but not that tight. Not much interaction w audience -
exception Lindsey and later Mick.

I noticed no one on the floor sat the entire night - just danced. I'm horse from
yelling and thoroughly enjoined myself. Yeah old school!