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Fleetwood Mac Grasps ABCs of Reunionizing
BY MIKE BOEHM
Monday, October 20, 1997
Los Angeles Times
The Baby Boomer mega-band reunion drill has gotten so familiar and
predictably consumer-ready that we can now sort through each new
manifestation alphabetically.
A, B and C mark the minimum essentials for an enjoyable, if
unambitious, reunion concert of the sort Fleetwood Mac managed, despite
some glaring lapses, on Friday at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. If famous
rock returnees still have Ability (voices and instrumental chops
reasonably intact), make a persuasive display of Bonding and have a deep,
still-appealing Catalog to exploit, no fan is going to go away unhappy,
and even a critic can't complain too much.
D is for Detox, sometimes a necessary precondition of the undertaking.
E through H contain the crux of the matter: Enormous Financial Gains
Harvested.
I stands for Inspiration and all the possibility it holds for fresh
creativity matching former peak standards. No superstar reunion gets to
I.
But given the tightly wound all-around talent and nervous energy of
Lindsey Buckingham, still an exceptional singer-guitarist and sonic
architect, and the strength of "The Dance," Fleetwood Mac's version of
the obligatory MTV comeback concert album, an optimist could hope that,
this time, it might not be impossible. But all the Mac could muster was a
sometimes sparkling, occasionally clunky recitation of the standard A, B
and C of reunionizing.
The show touched on each facet of Fleetwood Mac's
something-for-everyone appeal, including its late-'70s celebrity status
as a traveling soap opera of intra-band romantic entanglements.
Buckingham, Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie all contributed to the
catchy, readily digestible Southern California soft-rock side of the
band, but Nicks and Buckingham had moments exploring romantically charged
drama with taut urgency (Buckingham was so intent on putting a dramatic
charge into the proceedings that he overdid it at times with shrill
singing that eventually made him hoarse).
* * * The show teetered at first, with a lethargic sequence of disconnected
oldies. Things began to flow better with a sequence of solo showcases and
stripped-down acoustic readings of songs. The audience was indifferent to
three of the four solid if not quite inspired new songs from "The Dance,"
hailing only Nicks' "Sweet Girl" with applause.
Nicks has overcome most of the croakiness that marred her singing
after the mid-1980s; "Landslide" and a stormily building "Rhiannon" were
highlights, and she didn't do her patented swirling in diaphanous shawls
to annoying excess. Annoying excess was Mick Fleetwood's department: a
tiresome routine in which the gangly drummer pranced around at stage
front, making bug eyes, screaming and tap-tap-tapping on drum-synthesizer
pads sewn into his velveteen vest and knickers.
Buckingham and Nicks were savvy enough to rekindle the old soap opera
at several junctures, with lots of fixed-gaze eye contact during "Go Your
Own Way" and especially during Nicks' glowing disappointed-lover's curse,
"Silver Springs."
The tour marks the 20th anniversary of the "Rumours" album, but this
also is the 30th anniversary of Fleetwood Mac's original, all-British
lineup. Including one or two very-oldies might have prevented the early
lethargy.
While it covered the ABCs of rock reunionizing, Fleetwood Mac's
performance didn't fan any hopes kindled by "The Dance." And it didn't
stop the final refrain of "Don't Stop"--"Ooh, don't you look back"--from
being unintentionally ironic.
* Fleetwood Mac plays Friday at the Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland
Ave., 8 p.m. Sold out. (213) 850-2000.
Thanks to John Kinney for sending this to us.
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