Fleetwood Mac

The Point Depot, Dublin, 19 November 2003

From the moment Fleetwood Mac walked on stage for the first of their two shows, they had the crowd eating out of their hands. If Fleetwood and McVie received a standing ovation, it was nothing like the applause that greeted Buckingham & Nicks when they walked on hand in hand.

Opening up with the 'Rumours' classics, 'The Chain' and 'Dreams', we didn't hear a word uttered from anyone until Lindsey introduced the recent single 'Peacekeeper' and another new track 'Eye of The World'. 'Second Hand News' and 'Never Goin Back Again' were just two of the many highlights for me, and it was great to see the younger members of the audience singing along to them.

Stevie Nicks' vocal ability is exactly the same as it was 25 years ago, and she showed no sign of weakness on 'Say You Will', 'Rhiannon', 'Gypsy', and the new track 'Come'. As ever she performed these songs with her unusual gothic style of dress and dance.

With a black background image of himself on the big screen, Buckingham sang a great solo version of Big Love, while performing the orgasmic ending without the help of Nicks. He even spoke about their pre-Fleetwood Mac days and is the first to acknowledge his own talents. "When Stevie & I were hanging around Los Angeles in the early 70s, deciding what to do with our talents, these guys came along and we met up with them". Nicks went on to dedicate 'Landslide' to the fans who she thanked for continuing to support the band, although some of the younger fans were probably more familiar with the recent Dixie Chicks version. Buckingham then joined her on 'Say Goodbye' and the duo embraced on the first of many occasions at the ends of this one.

Mick Fleetwood brought his drum set to the fore for 'What the World Is Coming To' and Nicks dedicated Beautiful Child "to my Dad who is here tonight, and only arrived in Ireland this morning".

'Gold Dust Woman', 'I'm so Afraid' and 'Silver Springs' followed, before the band brought us a fantastic version of 'Tusk' with Buckingham & Nicks play-acting like lions and tigers around the stage. Indeed, throughout the whole evening Buckingham was running up and down the stage, and whatever he was on, I wanted some of it. Even on two occasions he allowed female fans to climb up to the front of the stage and kiss him on the lips. On 'Go Your Own Way' he proceeded to jump down into the crowd and invited us to strum his guitar (I even got to shake hands with the great man).

After that, they all needed a break and Mick Fleetwood introduced the other band members "and these three guys behind me, I couldn't imagine my life without them" he said. When he introduced John McVie he said "this man played in Ireland with me a long long time ago, so long in fact that he won't let me tell you when it was".

While Lindsey took a rest at the side of the stage, Fleetwood played the drum pads on his jacket before the band burst into the only Christine McVie composition of the night 'Don't Stop'.

The crowd wanted much more, but the final encore consisted of the suitably titled 'Goodbye Baby'. The only thing missing from the show was obviously Christine McVie, and her pop orientated hits like 'Little Lies' and 'Everywhere', but what we got from the other members was fantastic. The last word was left to Mick Fleetwood. "We want you to take two things home with you this evening. The first is to take care of yourself, and of one another, and - remember - the Mac is Back".

Mick Lynch