An Evening With Fleetwood Mac

[elfs]

Fleetwood Mac

Omaha and I went to the Fleetwood Mac concert at the Tacoma Dome, and I had a very good time. We were on the floor, about halfway up from the stage, so the photograph isn't great. The crowd was a mix of people who've been listening since the 1970s and people who were younger than my first ISP account.

The replacement of Lindsey Buckingham by Neil Finn (former frontman for Crowded House and Mike Campbell, the lead guitarist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers worked better than expected. Given Buckingham's penchant for melodrama, replacing him with two musicians who, together, add up to much more than his own talent and who bring some self-discipline and decorum to the show (and who are, together, probably working for less than what Buckingham would have demanded). Finn's voice is similar to Buckingham's, and Campbell's guitar playing is better.

Along with about every Fleetwood Mac song you probably already know, they played Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'," including a montage on the back screen of Petty's career, with several shots of Petty & Stevie Nicks working together, and Nick Finn & Stevie Nicks had a small, unplugged duet of the Crowded House hit "Don't Dream It's Over."

I did not know that Fleetwood Mac had started as a blues band, and that prior to the 1975 release of "Fleetwood Mac" (which had, grief, "Rhiannon," "Landslide," "Say You Love Me," and "Over My Head" on it), they had had two big hits with Peter Green's power-blues piece "Oh Well" and "Black Magic Woman," the piece most people know best from Santana.

Christine McVie is 75, Stevie Nicks is 70, John McVie is 72 and Mick Fleetwood is 71. Christine McVie looked and sounded a little tired but held up well during the performance. Stevie Nicks is still amazing, and Mick Fleetwood performed a 15 minute drum solo with a little assistance (but very little relief) from his drum set partner, Taku Hirano. Mick also introduced the touring members, the people in the back who aren't part of "The band" but who lend their support, which was delightful since often those people don't get much credit. You get the sense that Fleetwood Mac is Mick's band, and if you're very good you might get to play in it.

We had a lot of fun. The greatest emotional hit came from playing "Free Fallin'," and it's clear the band was still having fun on stage.

The playlist last night is below. There was no intermission.

• The Chain


• Little Lies


• Dreams


• Second Hand News


• Say You Love Me


• Black Magic Woman


• Everywhere


• Rhiannon


• I Don't Want To Know


• World Turning


• Gypsy


• Oh Well


• Don't Dream It's Over


• Landslide


• Isn't It Midnight


• Monday Morning


• You Make Loving Fun


• Gold Dust Woman


• Go Your Own Way


• Free Fallin'


• Don't Stop