FANS ARE NOW RATING THE SHOWS AS WELL

1-5

5 BEING THE BEST

Rated "5" by Karen

The concert was amazing!! Stevie sang wonderful and Lindsey was on fire!!! I loved every minute!!!

Rated "5" by Emma

Saw Fleetwood Mac in Birmingham, AL. It was absolutely incredible. We were seated to the right of the stage which allowed us a much-improved sound quality vs. other areas in the venue.

Mick Fleetwood is probably the best drummer I've yet to see, and the talent behind McVie's bass, Buckingham's guitar, and Stevie's vocals is what makes this show very much worth your time, your dime, and even your travels (if they aren't playing near you).

The concert was a "feel good" night. All members of Fleetwood Mac have maintained a stage presence that immediately moves their audience to claps, chants, cheers, and standing ovations at any given moment.

Their music is incredible, and the new material is nothing short of amazing. The drum and guitar solo's were so outrageous, full of talent, and wonder -- not only myself, but many of the people in our section were "awestruck".

Seeing Fleetwood Mac play live = the true high on life that makes music the best gift, the best drug, and it is quite successful in filling up a place with thousands of smiling faces and dancing folks. The beauty is that people are there from all generations!!! Amazing! Stevie and Lindsey had wonderful chemistry out there. The show was excellent, and what more can I say.

On a scale of 1-5... Fleetwood Mac is well above the 5 mark.

P.S. I really would like to see the songs Thrown Down, Running Through the Garden, Destiny Rules, Miranda, and of course Seven Wonders added to their set list. :) ,

Rated "5" by Michael

The next day, Friday June 6, I phoned the reviewer for the city newspaper to see if she was going to review the concert. She said she was in the process of doing that. She said she would like to know what I thought of the concert, but she wanted to wait until she was finished with her review. She said I could e-mail her my thoughts on the concert, and she would read them afterwards. Saturday, her review ran in the newspaper; it was not especially favorable(as you may have read).

Below is a copy of what I have e-mailed her(and all I probably will e-mail her. I have not heard from her(at least at this time). By the way: if this reads more like a commentary on a Nicks' concert, please note that I was planning to write also about the other band members, esp Buckingham, but since I never heard back from the reviewer, I didn't take the time to continue & compose the rest of my thoughts/observations.

"Recalling Fleetwood Mac in Birmingham 6-5-03"

This is Michael e-mailing you. We spoke on the phone Friday afternoon (6-6-03).

In summary, the recent FM album & tour: BuckinghamNicks 30 years later.

Or as I have articulated it in a poem:

a mini-review of FleetwoodMac's "Say Will You"

All you
wanted to hear
about Buckingham Nicks
their own ways redux together
after thirty years of making
music like making-love.
What can I say:
you will.

Exactly 2 months before the concert, on Thursday April 3rd, I won from the local classic rock station, before you could buy them, a pair of 2nd row tickets, by answering a FM trivia question that probably only a veteran fan would recognize:

How many #1 hits has FM had? One. "Dreams."

I probably would not have been able to have attended otherwise. And it was very exciting, like being back in my rock concert days.

The acoustics were not even & clear; the music production overwhelming the vocals. I was thinking: too bad this isn't happening at the outdoor Amphitheater. Conditions did seem to improve as the show progressed, or maybe my ears adjusted. But then that seemed to be also the pattern for the energy level on stage & in the coliseum.

The addition of 6 new songs from their latest, and the inclusion of staples which I wanted to hear anyway - "Gypsy," "Rhiannon," "I'm So Afraid," "Silver Springs" - and although I knew from reading the reviews from concerts in preceding cities what to expect, how much more unstandardized & unpredictable, and consequently a more inventive & even much more surprising & exciting tour if in addition to the above, this tour's setlist didn't kick off like the previous since the 80s with "The Chain/Dream," and instead included 3 more from the new collection, esp Nicks' "Illume 9/11," which she says is her favorite(if I recall my reading correctly), at least one FM pre-BuckinghamNicks, at least one BuckinghamNicks song, and a 21st revival of the TUSK trio "Sara," "Angel" and "Sister of the Moon."

"Sara," I would have prefered to "Beautiful Child," which was performed well & well-received, and was a move in the direction of the dream setlist; however, it is too much a lullaby to have been on the same with newbie "Goodbye, Baby," which made for a soothing farewell after the kinetic close & encores. But then why wasn't "Storms" chosen instead anyway?

"So I try to say
Goodbye my friend
I'd like to leave you with something warm
But never have I been a blue calm sea
I have always been a storm"

"Gold Dust Woman," sit this one out; re-enter, "Sister of the Moon.":

"Intense silence
As she walked in the room
Her black robes trailing
Sister of the Moon"

And "Sara" could have caused as much a landslide, or more given its long absence:

"Sara, you're the poet in my heart
Never change, never stop
And now it's gone
It doesn't matter what for
When you build your house
I'll come by"

Let "Seven Wonders" follow "Silver Springs." And why not put "The Chain" & "Dreams" in the encores. In this scheme, "Standback," with its anticipated & then wildly applauded spins, could have waited until the next Belladonna tour.

Besides, almost any setlist will provide plently of space for Nicks to twirl her shawls & perform her histrionics. Afterall, it is the addition of her performance art, especially in songs where she's the lead vocalist that contributed to make the Mac big.

However, if Nicks wanted or had to forego her signature platform boots, then I would have found a pair of Capezio ballet slippers more attractive & becoming to her & her personas than those orthopedic-looking Reboks, especially for this poem I composed in honor of her 55th & in anticipation to her arrival into Birmingham:

Chantre
ageless songstress
laced in lyrics drifting
into place up stage center of
the moon

Could the gypsy-woman/rock 'n roll ballerina had known this, as this 45 year old man at the front edge of the stage, on not the strongest legs in the world, but re-having one of the times of his life, jumped up and down like a kid on a trampoline, until in pointing she called to me and signalled her appreciation for my appreciation.

"To the gypsy that remains
faces freedom with a little fear
I have no fear, I have only love
And if I was a child
And the child was enough
Enough for me to love
Enough to love"

Rated "5" by Jenny