Sunday, May 03, 2009

Fleetwood Mac at the Toyota Center

I don't go to live shows very often, so rest assured that concert reviews will be few and far between on this blog.

That being said, last night's show was pretty impressive, especially for a band whose members' ages range from 59 to 63. Yes, they can still rock.

The line-up was 4/5ths of what most people would consider "classic" Fleetwood Mac: Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Stevie Nicks. Christine McVie's absence meant that some of my favorites - "You Make Loving Fun," "Everywhere" - didn't make the set list, but they played most of my favorites: "Dreams," "The Chain," "Gypsy," "Go Your Own Way," "Tusk," "Rhiannon," for example, as well as a rather mesmerizing solo acoustic performance by Buckingham of "Big Love." Nicks also dipped into her solo repertoire with "Stand Back."

Buckingham was clearly the most dynamic member of the group, singing and performing in every song. I can only hope to have anywhere near that much energy when I'm that age. Nicks, for her part, looked great for her age (she can afford the plastic surgery, of course) but wasn't quite as energetic as Buckingham, and didn't even try to hit the high notes in a couple of her songs. That being said, the band's overall abilities have not diminished; they sounded very good.

Lori and I, believe it or not, were not the youngest people in the audience. In fact, while the audience was clearly Boomer-centric, there were a lot of teenagers and twentysomethings there, a testament to the cross-generational appeal of this band's music.

This was my first concert at the Toyota Center, but for all the grousing I've heard about the arena's acoustics - some folks never got the memo that the place was designed as a sports venue, not a concert hall - I thought it sounded fine. On a couple of occasions an echo became noticeable, but that was the extent of it.

All in all, a good performance by a good band.

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