Farewell to our Songbird, Christine McVie

 

Still trying to process the fact that we lost Christine McVie this week. She was one of my absolute heroes and as much as I love Stevie and Lindsey, it was her song Everywhere that introduced me to Fleetwood Mac and made me want to buy my first Mac album, Tango In The Night. Ever since then they have been my favourite band and accompanied me through so many ups and downs throughout my life, and Christine's songs have meant so much to me. I was fortunate to finally see the five fireflies together on stage in 2015 and I will forever be grateful. Farewell Christine McVie and thank you so much.

Lindsey Buckingham at the London Palladium

Lindsey Buckingham

London Palladium, 1 October 2022 

So, after all these years Lindsey finally played his first ever UK date but the rest of the European tour was cancelled the next day. I feel so lucky I saw one of only two dates that he actually played but hope Mr Buckingham is okay. What a night though! 

Lindsey Buckingham "On The Wrong Side"

Can't wait for the new Lindsey Buckingham album!

Goodbye Peter Green

Goodbye to the amazing but so tragic Peter Green, surely one of the greatest guitarists Britain has ever produced. Without him and Fleetwood Mac, the band he formed yet named after his rhythm section, my life would have been so much poorer. Thank you so much, Mr Green.

Buckingham McVie

We've all been waiting for a new Fleetwood Mac album for 13 years now and a new one with Christine McVie involved for far longer (1987's Tango In The Night is the last with the full Rumours line-up in fact). Sadly, although Christine, Lindsey Buckingham, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood, have all been in the studio together recording new material, Stevie Nicks declined to be involved. Everything from disagreements with Buckingham, writer's block to disillusionment with record sales these days (Stevie's own lame excuse) have been suggested but at the end of the day I guess no one really knows the truth. Thankfully though, Lindsey and Christine got tired waiting for Stevie and have decided to release the album sans Stevie as Buckingham McVie (they could have released it as Fleetwood Mac really given Say You Will was an all-but-one-member album too). The first track, In My World, is classic Lindsey with a nice little sampled grunts that seem to be a homage to his classic Mac track Big Love. Can't wait for the rest of the album, out on 7 June, and hear Lindsey and Christine's wonderful harmonies once again. I have a feeling Stevie may regret her decision not to join in on this one.

Best Gigs Of 2015

This definitely wasn't a prime year in gigs for me but it was nice to finally see a few reunited acts live for the first time, most notably The Replacements and Sleater-Kinney, and of course the incomparable Christine McVie back singing with the Mac. You would think that the Fleetwood Mac shows would be my absolute favourites (they were certainly the gigs that cost the most, probably as much as the rest combined) but seeing and hearing McVie singing Everywhere and You Make Loving Fun, although undoubtedly thrilling, was slightly overshadowed by finally seeing The Replacements and the pure ramshackle, joy of their show. Other than my usual fare of alternative and classic rock, I also got to experience some heartwarming pure country shows (Sturgill Simpson and Kacey Musgraves) and even a pop concert, albeit a rather unusual one (the fantastic Marina & The Diamonds). I can't imagine I'll go to many more pop gigs in the future but I do hope next year has some more country in store for me.

Fleetwood Mac at O2 Arena

Fleetwood Mac

O2 Arena, 27 June 2015

It's such a different experience being down at the front at an arena show, it's almost like seeing an entirely different concert. A month ago I saw the Mac's return with Christine McVie back in the band at an excellent vantage point in the side seats. In a lot of ways I feel I saw more of the show that time as I could see the whole band at all times and watch the cool films that were playing behind them and really just concentrate on the music. That said, it is undeniably thrilling to be up close to your heroes and see all the action close enough to be able to reach out and touch them or hear things they are saying away from the microphones.

Fleetwood Mac at O2 Arena

Fleetwood Mac

O2 Arena, 28 May 2015

Well, this was a long time coming: I finally saw the classic Rumours line-up of the Mac in concert. Aside from Christine McVie’s brief appearance with the band a couple of years back at the O2 (which I wrote about here), in all my years of being a fan it was the one thing that sadly eluded me. Although Buckingham Nicks have always been my favourites, it was Christine who drew me to the band in the first place when I first saw the video for Everywhere many years ago, so the promise of seeing her and hearing her play some of her many hits with the Mac this time was my main reason for paying a ridiculous amount (seriously, I don’t think I would do it for anyone but them) to see the band again for the eighth time.

Christine McVie is officially back in the Mac!

What awesome news to start the year with. But I really hope there's a new album and not just a tour, it's been far too long since we had a proper Fleetwood Mac album. 

Read more about it here:
Christine McVie rejoins Fleetwood Mac

Best Gigs Of 2013

Although I didn't go to as many shows this year there were still definite highlights and a few shows that I will never forget. I got to see Neil Young with Crazy Horse for the first time, a longtime dream, not to mention seeing Christine McVie briefly reunite with Fleetwood Mac for Don't Stop at the O2 Arena. I didn't do the festival thing this year (after last year's double dose of rain and mud it was something of a relief to be honest) or see as many new artists but I did get to see a few artists that have long been on my wishlist, like Patty Griffin and Grace Potter, as well as old favourites like Dinosaur Jr and Cat Power. So all in all not a bad year and 2014 is already shaping up to be great too. But for now here's my favourite shows from 2013: 

10. Built To Spill at Electric Ballroom

9. Patty Griffin at the Union Chapel

8. Simone Dinnerstein & Tift Merritt at the Purcell Room

7. Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell at Hammersmith Apollo

6. Grace Potter & The Nocturnals at Bush Hall

5. Neko Case at The Forum

4. Arcade Fire (as The Reflektors) at the Roundhouse

3. Fleetwood Mac at the O2 Arena

2. David Byrne & St. Vincent at the Roundhouse

1. Neil Young & Crazy Horse at the O2 Arena

Fleetwood Mac at O2 Arena

 
Fleetwood Mac
O2 Arena, 25 September 2013

It's no shock to anyone who knows me (or anyone who has ever read this blog) that Fleetwood Mac are my favourite ever band: I've loved them since I was 12 or 13 years old when I first heard Tango In The Night but never got to see them live until 2003. Thankfully, I've seen them quite a few times since and tonight was my seventh time in all. I'd have liked it to have been the eighth and ninth too but unfortunately this time around the already expensive tickets were practically twice the price. That said, I was pretty content to just see them the once this time given how little they change the setlist these days but began to severely regret only having one ticket when rumours began to swirl that former member Christine McVie, the woman with all the hits and was such a huge part of the Mac's success who I had never seen play live with the band, was going to make a guest appearance at one of the shows. As my ticket was for the second of three nights I was sure I had missed my chance, as these things mainly happened on the last night.

Goodbye Bob Welch

I'm just completely saddened to hear about the death of Bob Welch, one of the most underrated members in Fleetwood Mac's long history and definitely the bridge between the blues of the Peter Green Mac and the California rock of the Rumours era.

Albums of the decade

My favourite albums of the past decade. This has been a really hard task, much harder than I imagined. I've left out some really great albums that I've really enjoyed and loved but after a lot of consideration I think that this is the music that has meant the most to me over the past 10 years.

1. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
2. Mark Olson - The Salvation Blues
3. Midlake - The Trials Of Van Occupanther
4. Fleetwood Mac - Say You Will
5. The Twilight Singers - Twilight As Played By The Twilight Singers
6. Neko Case - Blacklisted
7. Lindsey Buckingham - Under The Skin
8. Ryan Adams – Heartbreaker
9. Joanna Newsom - Ys
10. At The Drive-in - Relationship Of Command
11. Songs: Ohia - Magnolia Electric Co.
12. Cat Power - The Greatest
13. Neil Young - Prairie Wind
14. Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans
15. Rufus Wainwright - Want One
16. The Mars Volta - Deloused In The Comatorium
17. PJ Harvey - Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
18. Stevie Nicks - Trouble In Shangri-La
19. Neil Diamond - 12 Songs
20. Hawksley Workman - (Last Night We Were) The Delicious Wolves
21. Elvis Perkins - Ash Wednesday
22. Kathleen Edwards - Asking For Flowers
23. Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cold Roses
24. Wilco - A Ghost Is Born
25. The Snake The Cross The Crown - Cotton Teeth

Best & Worst Gigs Of 2009

I learned many lessons from all the concerts I attended this year, important things such as: Bob Dylan fans are grumpy, selfish and have short attention spans but Pearl Jam fans are kind, cool and generally awesome; The Troxy is the worst venue in London unless The Flaming Lips are throwing confetti around the place; Steve Martin is an amazing musician and even more surprising, still very funny; M. Ward really doesn't like cameras; Fleetwood Mac security for the front row is really strict at their shows but the guards can be worn down if you're persistent and appeal to their better nature; going to gigs really sucks when you are ill and, finally, Roger Daltrey of The Who is one of the nicest guys in the whole world. And with that, here are my favourite gigs of the past year. Click on the titles to bring you to my original review of each show.

The Best
1. The Mars Volta at the ICA

2. Neil Young at Hyde Park

3. Crosby, Stills & Nash at the Royal Albert Hall

4. Pearl Jam at Shepherd's Bush Empire

5. Faith No More at Brixton Academy

6. M. Ward at The Borderline

7. Steve Martin at the Royal Festival Hall

8. Fleetwood Mac at Wembley Arena

9. Wilco at The Forum

10. Neko Case at Bush Hall

The Worst
1. Monsters Of Folk at Troxy
2. Bob Dylan at the O2

Fleetwood Mac at Wembley

Fleetwood Mac
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.

Two nights of Fleetwood Mac at Wembley

Photo by Suzy Vermoesen

Fleetwood Mac
Wembley Arena, 30 & 31 October 2009

When I was 14 my Dad took me to see Stevie Nicks as a birthday present. I was madly obsessed with her and Fleetwood Mac at the time and even though our seats were terrible, and by all accounts it was one of her least impressive tours voice- and energy-wise, it was a magical evening for me and started what would be a lifelong passion for music, concerts and, of course, anything Fleetwood Mac.

Happy birthday Tusk!

Fleetwood Mac's legendary double album Tusk was first released on this day, October 15, back in 1979. Thirty years on it still sounds as good if not better and it's still my favourite ever album. At the time it was considered something of a flop (having only sold a few million compared with the massive selling Rumours, once the biggest selling album in the world) and Lindsey Buckingham's folly for daring to experiment with the band's signature sound. But in the years since it's become hugely influential (it was even covered in its entirety by cult band Camper Van Beethoven) and many now consider it to be their best album, me included. Over the years it's come to mean a lot to me and I love it all from Lindsey's weird and punky hillbilly stomps to Christine's soft, moody and sensual lullabies to Stevie Nicks' dreamy, spaced-out tales of lost love, I really do believe it to be a work of true genius and I wanted to recognise the day that Tusk was first unleashed onto the public. So Happy Birthday Tusk!