Birmingham (Alabama) News, August 13, 1980

" 'Mac' Nearly Brings the Moon Down"

Charlie Burttram

Fleetwood Mac--something old, something new, and everything a concert should be.

Fleetwood Mac blew into town Tuesday night on the heels of a thunderstorm. They came onto the stage facing a crowd that was expecting, even demanding, that magic be performed.

You could feel the intensity, the anticipation of the crowd as they shouted and screamed while the band's road crew set up the sound equipment. The crowd was expecting Fleetwood Mac to call the moon down from the sky and roll it across the stage.

And, they almost did it.

Fleetwood Mac knows the price tags that come with success. Since 1975, when Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined up with John McVie, Christine McVie and Mick Fleetwood, the group has recorded three albums: "Fleetwood Mac," "Rumours," and their latest, "Tusk."

The albums have combined to sell more than 20 million copies. "Rumours" alone has sold more than 13 million copies.

Tuesday night the group didn't even stumble. They played the well-known (and loved) songs from their first two albums, and they played songs from "Tusk." And the crowd responded with bedlam to both.

The group opened with "Monday Morning." The group leaped into the songs, their voices sharp and clear and strong and ready to sing.

Early into the concert you could sense the difference; there was a new rawness--a Saturday night in the streets swagger in their music, blending with the always present soothing, mystical sweetness that characterized the group's first two albums.

On "Don't Stop," Christine McVie's voice flowed through the notes with the strength of liquid steel, while Mick Fleetwood rode her [sic] and the rest of the group along with his drums--lumbering and chugging through the song like a ghost train.

Lindsey Buckingham moved through the entire concert with a vibrancy that moved into the crowd like cannon fire.

Throughout the concert Stevie Nicks enchanted the audience. She moved about the stage, her varied costumes seemingly made of rags and feathers and spider webs that flowed into and became a part of her hair and body. She danced through each song, gliding like an enchanted bird one moment, doing a pagan mating ritual with the sounds of Mick's drums the next.

The longest round of applause was for "Landslide." It was done to a slower tempo than the recording, Nicks' voice almost talking, sighing and moaning the words. The fans, all 17,000 of them, sat in silence, haunted by the song.

Thanks to David for posting this to the Ledge and to Anusha for formatting and sending it to us.