Fleetwood Mac at Wembley
Wembley Arena, 6 November 2009
For my third Fleetwood Mac concert in a week I was expecting more of the same, and while the set list didn't change, the final show of the European tour took me by surprise because it was really something magical.
From the very start of the show it was clear the band were feeling happier, more energetic (it was their last show for a while afterall) and ready to give every song their all. Whereas I hugely enjoyed the first two London shows I hadn't experienced that overwhelming thrill I had the last time they were in town, a "diminishing returns" experience (thank you, James) if you will, but this show brought my full love of the band flooding back and there were a couple of moments that were especially amazing for me (the pure joy of Go Your Own Way almost brought a tear to my eye, for instance, it was so good).
After the upbeat opening number Monday Morning and the always atmospheric The Chain (John McVie sounding particularly inspired on his iconic bass solo), the audience were revved up and ready for a good show, but it even more exciting to learn that ex-member Christine McVie was in fact in the audience. "We have lots of good friends here to tonight who we want to thank," Lindsey told the crowd "in particular we'd like to mention Christine and just tell you, we love you." Obviously this meant there was a little disappointment too, because, having mentioned her, there was no way that she was now going to make a surprise appeareance at the end of the show, as some had speculated. Still, apparently seated in the tier to Stevie's right, she got yet another mention later in the show when Stevie dedicated Landslide to her. "As I was coming out here I told myself that this wasn't going to be a sad thing, because it's not really it's a joyous thing," Stevie said sincerely. "But I want to dedicate this song to Christine, who is in the audience tonight, and tell her: I miss you every single day and I miss how funny you are and how brilliant it feels to be in your presence." It was an incredibly sweet moment and got a tremendous cheer from the crowd and the following version of Landslide seemed even more poignant because of it and as if Stevie poured more heart into singing it because it was for her friend.
Lindsey once again was full of fire, I Know I'm Not Wrong becoming a new concert favourite (I can't believe it was off the set list for so long), Go Insane sounding like a lost pop classic and even the acoustic Big Love sounding rejuvenated. But while Lindsey was the star of the first two shows, Stevie really gave him a run for his money for the final show. In particular Gold Dust Woman was a knockout, the song having become the new Rhiannon during the set, exuding sensuality and power and featuring Stevie's very best vocals of the night. Unlike Saturday night we were also treated to a second encore featuring an incredible Silver Springs, the soaring finale uninhibitied, raw and emotional.
At the very end of the show, you could tell the band knew this had been a superior show, you could feel a mixture of pride and relief. Speaking from Lindsey's microphone, which the roadie had set too low ("Lindsey can't be this short can he?" laughed Mick), Fleetwood gave his usual thanks and advice to be kind to one another, but made sure we knew that, while this may be the end of the tour, it certainly wasn't the end of the band, telling us enthusiastically "Remember: the Mac will be back!" Hopefully it won't take another six years next time though.
I think Mick found Lindsey's microphone too low because some of the people at the stage had kept pulling on the mic wire whilst Lindsey was saying his piece.
ReplyDelete(I was about 6 feet to the right of all that :) )
It was a magical night - you're spot on with the sheer energy output they had on stage.