I have five silver rings -- one for each member of the seminal group -- and I've always worn the ones of those performing to their respective shows. The most I'd ever gotten to wear was four. Until October 6.
It was a show like no other and a feeling like no other. I can't think of any other band in which it doesn't matter to me who the lead vocalist is. Even with The Beatles, I tend to show my preferences. But Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham, I love them all. And the different shades they bring out in their music ... and in me.
Stevie was my idol in my formative years. I had the most immediate connection to her -- the dreamer, a strong woman who bends but does not break. I pitched a fit once when we weren't home in time to watch her HBO special.
Then there was Lindsey. He feeds my hunger for guitar in a most soulful way. He's the bridge between the dreamer and the wizened woman of the world.
Christine. Always passionate and affecting, even when I didn't quite understand what she was singing about in my youth. In my youth, my favorite song of hers was "Over My Head." On stage at Madison Square Garden, she admitted the writing of that song was affected by the addition of Lindsey and Stevie to the roster. But now that I can understand the feelings and the yearnings, she's perhaps the most resonant of all with me.
It started off ... as their shows always do ... with "The Chain," the one song written by all five members of the band. It had so much power with the five of them on board, as it was indeed proven that you can never break the chain.
You know how many bands just save their most famous songs or the rockers for the back half of their set? Fleetwood Mac just can't do it, everything is a hit. I feared that the people behind me would call for me to sit down after the first few numbers, but I did stay on my feet and sway and dance for almost the entire night.
Christine's first chance to take the spotlight was on "You Make Loving Fun." That starts with the words "Sweet, wonderful you." And it was pretty much the way I saw it too. So wonderful to have her back. She may have not performed for 15 years or so, but she didn't miss a bloody beat. She completes Fleetwood Mac and she completes me.
And then Stevie stepped forward for my childhood song "Dreams." And then Lindsey took the mic to rock through "Second Hand News." See what I mean? Just one gem after another.
It's strange and wonderful juxtaposition, you go from Stevie's "Rhiannon" to Christine's "Everywhere." It seems and feels right. And then Lindsey rocked again for "I Know I'm Not Wrong."
And then the t-shirt portion of the program. The marketing people came up with the ingenious idea of "Tusk You" shirts in tribute to the the mostly instrumental "Tusk." Even a better idea to put the Stevie song "Sisters of the Moon" into the set. And even better than that to have "Sisters of the Moon" shirts to mark the occasion. And particularly well suited to me with sister in tow.
Lorrie was graciously taking pictures the whole time -- sometimes with my phone, and with each of her phones until the batteries wound down. At one point, my Lindsey ring tried to make a run for it, but luckily he was safely tucked in my bag when he did so. Brief panic, quickly averted.
I had different dances working for all the numbers -- Christine's "Say You Love Me," Stevie's "Seven Wonders" -- a song I was never a big fan that I really enjoyed that night, and Lindsey doing his fingerpicking magic on the reworked "Big Love."
And then I lost it on "Landslide." It's an emotional song to be sure, but I can't remember it ever affecting me that way before and certainly not as quickly as it did. I guess it was just being able to recognize in that moment that it was a landmark moment for me and how phenomenal it was to have my sister there for it.
But I recovered for Lindsey's "Never Going Back Again." Then Stevie prepared to deliver "Gypsy," only it was actually Christine's turn to sing "Over My Head." And then Stevie twirled away on "Gypsy."
Maybe because I hadn't seen Christine in 25 years, I was grooving on her songs pretty badly. Or pretty well-ly... "Little Lies" was a lot of fun, because subconsciously you're trying to sing all three of their parts. And I was tugging on Lorrie quite a bit during the number, while she was trying to take pictures and sing and sway. I'm quite sure whenever I hear this song hereafter, I will think about that and laugh ... and sing ... and sway.
We didn't lose incredibly much from the setlist with Christine's return. "Oh Well," yeah, it's one of my all-time favorite Mac songs, but ... wait for it ... oh well. The main others were Lindsey's slowed-down version of "Go Insane" and Stevie's "Stand Back." But in our favor, we still had Stevie's "Gold Dust Woman" and Lindsey bringing down the house as always with "I'm So Afraid."
By this time, we're rolling toward the big finish and if I wasn't having such a good time, I'd probably be forlorn about the night coming to an end. But when Lindsey kicked into "Go Your Own Way," it was impossible to go anyway but theirs. "World Turning" rocked out -- complete with wacky Mick solo and our favorite Brett Tuggle sampling Lindsey vocals -- and then right into "Don't Stop," which had been sung without Christine on the more recent tours, but never should be done without her again.
The band intros finally afforded us a better look at John McVie, and I had been supremely fearful about seeing the Mac in any version again after hearing he had been diagnosed with cancer last year. But he looked great -- when we could see him and he wasn't tucked away to the right of Mick's drum set, and thus, out of view. But he was perfect all night and it was inspiring to have him anchoring the lineup.
After a brief break, they returned with "Silver Springs," with the dynamic vocals between Stevie and Lindsey only bolstered by Christine. And then the traditional capper with an unusual twist, Christine came on stage to perform "Songbird," and this year, he had Lindsey in tow with tasteful guitar licks.
I'm not sure I can go back to seeing this band if ANY of these five go missing again. ... OK, I probably can, that's probably overstating the case, but I do know it won't be the same. This is the way it's supposed to be for me.
I was worried about this blog not conveying exactly what I needed it to. I've been fortunate enough to go to a lot of great events -- landmark concerts with once-in-a-lifetime occurrences and conventions where I got to meet childhood heroes and other people I adore -- but this one is just going to stay in my heart and soul forever. And I guess that really says it all.
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