I’ve been listening to some Fleetwood Mac tonight. Not the older bluesy stuff, which will probably offend everyone else from my generation, but the Lindsey Buckingham version. And be honest, the definitive Mac line up is, in order, Buckingham, Nicks/McVie (C) and those blokes who played drum and bass. The current touring version is a joke.
Buckingham has been fired from the band and replaced by Neil Finn (Crowded House) and Mike Campbell (one of Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers). Now they are in a world tour and as part of it they are playing a series of two dates at Wembley Stadium. I am not trying to be funny here, but, why?
More than that, why have both dates sold out? Most bands don’t stay together forever and when you see them, it’s rarely the original line up. But how about Dire Straits without Mark Knopfler? Slade without Noddy Holder? Take That without Gary Barlow? Then, think about Fleetwood Mac without Lindsey Buckingham.
Go to Wembley and, yes, you will get Stevie Nicks, who can still sing okay and Christine McVie who can still sing, but not live and only in the studio, plus an elderly drummer and bass player, a bloke who always takes the weather with him and Tom Petty’s mate. Be honest: you are going to hear the old songs and you are forgetting about the bloke who made sure that Fleetwood Mac continued after the blues had gone.
Enjoy Mick Fleetwood’s half hour drum solo, close your eyes and pretend Lindsey Buckingham is still there. If you can’t, just remember, you’re watching karaoke.
