February 2 2015 – Stevie Nicks came out at the end of the show and according to her “Never in my life have I ever walked out on stage in flat shoes. Ever! And never again so this is for you.”
Yes, apparently it was the first time she wasn’t wearing high-heeled platform shoes on stage. That’s what sort of night it was where a mega rock star let us in on a mundane fact about her wardrobe yet the cheers of thousands was deafening for that simple statement. For some bizarre reason we are all fascinated with the personal lives of the members of the band and with that, we rewind to the beginning…..
Note: out of pure randomness we were tipped off to where to buy those shoes – so here you go for $200 you can get your own pair of shoes that Stevie wore on stage. Ash Genial.
Fleetwood Mac played Toronto on October 18 2014 for what we deemed the best concert of the year. Fast forward 15 weeks and the band is back for their second leg of the tour this time on February 3 2015. While the show back in October was totally sold out (and in fact sold out seconds after it went on sale), tonight’s show was not the case. We reviewed the October 2014 show here, and I gripped about the scalpers/touts/brokers that had an iron grip on the tickets that night. At the end of the day I had to pay $335 for a $250 face value ticket in the 13th row that night. Well as of 4 hours before the show this time round, there were still plenty of tickets available for the show on Ticketmaster and even better, the Stubhub tickets were coming in much below face value. It was my turn to screw the scalpers and I was able to get a $250 ticket for $125. I chose to sit on the 100 levels and not on the floor this time so this review will be from 16 rows up on Buckingham’s side. Sweet revenge!
We also saw and reviewed Fleetwood Mac in their last show in Buffalo NY which we discuss here. There is nothing new to be honest between the shows so if you have seen it once on this tour you wont be in for any surprises and that’s just fine. The band is tight, phenomenal, rejuvenated and any number of flattering words anyone can think of on this tour and tonight was no exception.We will draw text from our last two reviews and update as appropriate for tonight’s show below.
Take 9 parts Rumours, mix up with 6 parts Fleetwood Mac, 4 parts Tango In The Night. Top up with 3 parts Tusk and a sprinkle of Mirage. Bring back 1 part not deemed good enough for Rumours and your 70’s nostalgia recipe served by chefs Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, Mick Fleetwood and John Mcvie is as close to aural perfection as anything available these days.
Fleetwood Mac is a group of 5 people whose personal lives are documented for the world – more than any of us should have a right to know about. However we all know about their rise to fame and conquering the charts with Rumours, we know about their over-indulgence of drugs and alcohol, but mostly we know the tales about their relationships and their disastrous breakups. Their story is so fascinating that it can only be real life – you can’t make up stuff like this.
Toronto, Ontario was the site for the February 3rd 2015 show of the On With The Show tour that featured a Fleetwood Mac that finally had its missing songbird back in the fold. While introducing Dreams, Stevie Nicks erroneously claimed this was the 47th show in the tour (it was actually the 50th show) but the main point is that Christine McVie is back. The show featured the exact same production order as all the other shows on the tour so far including the Toronto show back in October 18 2014. You can read our review of that show here.
Much like a three-ring circus the spotlight was spread amongst the three-ring leaders McVie, Nicks and Buckingham. With the steady beat provided by Fleetwood and (the other) McVie this was easily the most polished we have ever seen the band. The huge ultra HD video screen behind the musicians added an insane experience to the whole effect. The videos were incredibly appropriate and enhanced the show greatly. There were also three smaller screens above the stage used to great effect.
Even though I stated there were three ringleaders riding high on talent and charisma this truly was Buckingham’s show. It is beyond comprehension that this man is officially a senior citizen but is in better shape than dudes 30 years younger than him. His epic turn at the spotlight with Go Your Own Way, Big Love, Never Going Back Again and in particular the 9 minute I’m So Afraid reminded us once again that this man is up there on the pantheon of classic rock gods with Jimmy Page and David Gilmour. I am not a professional concert reviewer so no matter how hard I try I can’t come up with any words to do the spectacle so make sure you catch our YouTube videos of the night at the bottom of the article.
The 3 ring circus was fueled by the ladies as well. On one end of the scale we had Buckingham and his high-octane energy (even in the acoustic songs), and on the other side we had the mellow love musings of Stevie Nicks. The only person in the world that can get 20,000 people screaming just by doing a twirl she captivated us with her usual staples such as Landslide, Rhiannon, Silver Springs, Gypsy and Dreams. Landslide is usually dedicated to someone on this tour, and tonight was no exception. Nicks dedicated Landslide to “us” in Toronto who came out a second time to watch the band on this tour.
The balance between the Nicks Buckingham dynamic was of course the homecoming queen of the night Christine McVie. Her turn at the spotlight finally brought us back songs after her 16 year absence such as You Make Loving Fun, Little Lies, Over My Head, Everywhere and the most emotional moment of the night – the show closer Songbird. McVie delivered that powerful ballad on her grand piano sounding just like she did in 1977 – Buckingham strolled on stage and joined her halfway through the song to make the occasion one for remember for all in attendance.
Although as mentioned the 3 front liners had the spotlight most of the night there were moments where Fleetwood took center stage (quite literally for Gypsy) such as his drum solo for World Turning or his end of concert speech. John McVie even took the spotlight for his 10 second bass solo in The Chain but disappeared in the shadows the rest of the night.
This concert differed from the band’s previous tour with the removal of Sad Angel, Not That Funny, Sara, Without You, Eyes of the World, Stand Back and Say Goodbye and the addition of the mostly McVie related songs – You Make Loving Fun, Everywhere, I Know I’m Not Wrong, Say You Love Me, Over My Head, Little Lies, and Songbird. The night ended with some lucky fans scooping up a Buckingham autograph for their collections.
The last couple of years proved to be a very interesting year for Fleetwood Mac and T-Mak World. As a huge fan of the band I was able to purchase a front row center ticket for the band and wrote a very detailed review as seen from the holy grail of concert seating which any fan of the band should read here. Furthermore that review included a Mick Fleetwood Meet and Greet and I wrote up about that experience as well (read here). As if that VIP package wasn’t amazing enough I was also able to see them at a private function in Las Vegas in a hall that resembled a big wedding style banquet hall – that review can be read here.
Verdict: 5 out of 5. This show is in my top 3 of all time along with Roger Waters The Wall (which I saw 10 different times) and the early 90’s shows of Robert Plant and Jimmy Page (which is as close to Led Zeppelin as I will ever get). As a classic rock aficionado I am hard to pressed to think of any other huge band from the 70’s that is touring with its complete lineup and sounding so incredibly tight with a powerful and emotional stage show to back up the music. Fleetwood Mac’s On With The Show Tour is an early contender the best concert of 2015.
We leave you with a bunch of vides to capture the memory of the night.
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waited 30 years to see Fleetwood Mac and went for a coffee after 3rd song was so disappointed my wife and I left early 3/4 the way through concert the sound was poor and the screen images were baffling to say the least. What a huge disapointment
individually virtuosos, collectively unparalleled in the universe.
from the painful portrayal of cocaine addiction in Gold Dust Woman (operatic divas, eat your hearts out) to the mastery displayed by MR. Buckingham, they are unequaled.
and the sum is greater than the parts. toronto loves Fleetwood Mac, and it is obviously reciprocated. to see these five human being recognize and respect what they have together makes me so proud of my generation. they have been to hell and back, survived, and then improved. if you had told me 40 years ago what i would experience last night, i would have discounted it as a nice fantasy.
ALWAYS i will have the memory of this experience with me. not only did my daughter buy me a first row seat, she was there.
Love to Fleetwood Mac!
Wow, very cool!