Fleetwood Mac begins an ecstatic new chapter at Wells Fargo Center

Fleetwood Mac | Photo by Rachel Barrish | rachelbarrish.com

“Fleetwood Mac is a band that continues to grow through the good and bad times,” Lindsey Buckingham told the sold-out Wells Fargo Center crowd on Wednesday night. “Especially in the moment when Christine returned. I can say we have begun a beautiful, poetic and profound chapter.”

It certainly was a nostalgic evening as the legendary rock outfit – reunited with Christine McVie for the first time in 16 years – ripped through hits from their top-selling albums including Fleetwood Mac (1975), Rumours (1977) Tusk (1979) and more. The band members are of course almost 40 years older than they were when those records were made, but that in certainly no way stopped them from grooving out. Especially Buckingham, who darted back and forth across the stage, swiftly kicking his legs up and down, bending down towards the audience and playing the guitar like a total champ. The lovely Stevie Nicks also twirled and danced around whilst playing her tambourine.

A few songs that stuck out that included dedications to friends, family, and American Horror Story. (Nicks sang “Seven Wonders,” which she performed during a cameo in the television show’s last season, in which one of the characters was a crazed Stevie Nicks fan.) Buckingham followed with a solo acoustic performance of “Big Love,” shaking his hand out to prepare it for the intense finger picking that the song entailed. His vocals were sweet and sour, chiming well along with his guitar.

Nicks stepped out onto the stage next and spoke into the microphone saying that the next song was dedicated to “my little golden girl.”

“Her name is Tavi Gevinson,” Nicks said. “Listen closely and remember that name. She’s going to be very famous, she’s going to travel the world and do great things for mankind.”

She poured her heart out into “Landslide” – a song that Gevinson, the 18-year-old editor-in-chief of Rookie Mag, released a cover of a couple years ago – while the audience cooed along and swayed back and forth to lyrics that Nicks wrote when her father passed away.

When the other members returned to the stage, Mick Fleetwood set down a smaller set of drums smack dab in front of his larger set. McVie then said, “This is the first single we had after a lovely couple joined our group in the early 1970’s”, and began to sing “Over My Head”. The tune echoed in the mouths of the crowd members, so enthusiastic to hear the keyboardist’s lead vocals again.

The devout audience listened intently during the entirety of the two and a half hour set. During the first encore, as the band played “World Turning,” Fleetwood took the spotlight for a bit with a drum solo. He then stood up and thanked the audience for coming and introduced every individual member sharing the stage. The message was clear: despite all of the dramatic turmoil the band has endured in the past, Fleetwood Mac are still artists, and music is in their blood.

Setlist
The Chain
You Make Loving Fun
Dreams
Second Hand News
Rhiannon
Everywhere
I Know I’m Not Wrong
Tusk
Sisters of the Moon
Say You Love Me
Seven Wonders
Big Love (Lindsey solo)
Landslide (Stevie and Lindsey duo acoustic)
Never Going Back Again (Lindsey solo)
Over My Head
Gypsy
Little Lies
Gold Dust Woman
I’m So Afraid
Go Your Own Way

Encore 1:
World Turning (including Mick drum solo)
Don’t Stop
Silver Springs

Encore 2:
Songbird