In early April on the verge of announcing a highly anticipated tour it was revealed that Fleetwood Mac parted ways with Lindsey Buckingham and he would be “replaced” by Neil Finn of Crowded House and Mike Campbell of the Heartbreakers. This was extremely disappointing because Lindsey Buckingham is a monster guitar player, great voice and the songwriter responsible for many of the Fleetwood Mac songs I love. Even this huge loss could not keep Ingrid and I from attending because Fleetwood Mac had been on Ingrid’s bucket list for quite some time, they still had the great Stevie Nicks and they decided to come through San Diego ON A SATURDAY. We ended up scoring four tickets through a co-worker from an American Express presale and decided to take Ingrid’s dad and his wife with us as a birthday present. Ingrid’s father does not condone drinking in the manner that we like to so this meant no drinking for us but on the bright side also meant no hangover to deal with the next day.
A couple days before the show Ingrid’s dad informed her that he would not be able to go after all but his wife was still in and would be bringing her daughter along instead. Since I could not drink (I was driving) I instead ate half a gummy bear just to get a little in the zone but remain undetected. When we arrived at our seats I noticed that one of the seats had a puddle of beer in it that matched the exact same color as the beer one of the two ladies standing above us was holding. Neither of the ladies would look at us even after I looked at Ingrid and said very loudly “HOLD ON. I’LL GO GET SOME NAPKINS TO CLEAN THIS UP.” Much to the surprise of nobody one of the same “clumsy” ladies behind us later spilled beer on my head. To top it all off on the beer front the co-worker that helped us get the tickets ended up sitting directly across the aisle from us and later brought me a beer that I had to politely decline.
The absence of Lindsey Buckingham lowered my expectations quite a bit, especially since I had been so blown away the last time I saw Fleetwood Mac, but I could tell from the very beginning of this show when they played “The Chain” that it was going to be a good one. The sound was very full with 11 people in the band comprised of original members Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, veterans Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie, newcomers Neil Finn and Mike Campbell as well as an additional percussionist, keyboardist, guitarist and two female backup singers.
Lindsey Buckingham left some big shoes to fill but Neil Finn did an admirable job filling in for his vocals and some of the guitar work. I assumed they would just skip the songs that were predominantly sung by Lindsey like “Second Hand News” and “Monday Morning” but those songs were simply too big to ignore and Neil’s vocal timbre had enough similarities to make it work. I think in the spirit of celebrating a “new band” they brought back some Peter Green era Fleetwood Mac tunes with “Tell Me All the Things You Do,” “Oh Well” sang by Mike Campbell and “Black Magic Woman,” which I thought was a Santana song before this concert. I also thought it was pretty cool of the Mac to let Neil incorporate a solo version of “Don’t Dream It’s Over” from his Crowded House days into the show.
Another key cog to filling Lindsey Buckingham’s void was the guitarist Mike Campbell. This guy was amazing in the Heartbreakers and left my jaw on the floor more than a couple times on this particular evening. The hobo chic look he has adopted also worked well to emphasize that this guy is a total rock star and total pro.
Lindsey Buckingham could never truly be replaced. The two aforementioned gentlemen did an outstanding job in filling in the depleted lineup but the real person that filled in the most was Christine McVie, who was ironically the only person missing from the from the most commercially successful lineup of Fleetwood Mac the one other time I saw them back in May of 2009. What this meant was that although I did not get to see Lindsey Buckingham do “Never Going Back Again,” “Big Love” or “Tusk,” I did get to see Christine McVie do “Little Lies,” “Say You Love Me,” “Everywhere,” “Hold Me,” “You Make Loving Fun” and “Don’t Stop.” Fair trade.
The inimitable Stevie Nicks has still got it and as evidenced by the loudest applause of the evening during band intros people worship her. “Landslide” with just her singing and Neil playing guitar was damn near perfect as were her vocals on “Gold Dust Woman.” She did get a little emotional for a very cool Tom Petty tribute at the end of the show as she sang, “Free Fallin’,” which made the moment that much more beautiful.
Mick Fleetwood is an animal. He did what felt like a 10-minute drum solo and was interacting with the crowd the entire time he did this. The crazy visuals on the screen behind him that made me feel like I was on LSD almost matched his crazy eyes and even crazier energy that he kept up for the entire concert. At the end of the show he came to the front of the stage and announced, “The Mac is back!” Had I not just witnessed a hell of a two-hour run I may not have believed it a couple hours earlier but after they knocked my socks off I can wholeheartedly concur that indeed THE MAC IS BACK.
AFTERWARD: Parking in any “beehive” type structure is always a nightmare to exit in these situations but thankfully after not moving for close to 10 minutes sitting in the line to get out I remembered an alternate way out of the parking structure which ended up saving us what I am sure was at least 45 minutes. I guess that education I paid for at San Diego State University paid off after all!
SETLIST: The Chain, Little Lies, Dreams, Second Hand News, Say You Love Me, Black Magic Woman, Everywhere, Rhiannon, Tell Me All the Things You Do, World Turning, Gypsy, Oh Well, Don’t Dream It’s Over, Landslide, Hold Me, Monday Morning, You Make Loving Fun, Gold Dust Woman, Go Your Own Way, Free Fallin’, Don’t Stop
