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Fleetwood Mac
Tuesday, June 23rd, 2015 04:04 pmLast night we went to see Fleetwood Mac at the O2.
Funnily enough, I’d had the opportunity to get tickets earlier in the year as I have my phone with O2 and that grants a number of perks, including ‘priority access’ to gigs and other events in O2 sponsored premises. Anyway, at the time I let it pass, but a colleague of Furtle’s found himself with two spare tickets so we decided to tag along.
I don’t know precisely when Christine McVie re-joined the line up, but it’s clearly recently enough for the band to keep mentioning it. Maybe they weren’t allowed to play her songs when she wasn’t with them, thus severely curtailing their repertoire, I don’t know. Whatever, we saw the classic ‘Rumours’ era line up and that was good.
The set majored, unsurprisingly, on the trio of albums, Rumours, Tusk and Tango in the Night, with other material scattered through it. There was nothing that I could identify from the David Green incarnation of the band.
Lindsey Buckingham’s guitar playing was unsurprisingly excellent and he still has a voice good enough for rock. Christine McVie has retained her voice in its entirety and wrote and sang some of their best work. Stevie Nicks was more hit and miss. Some of her vocals were excellent, but she was flat on a couple of numbers, even allowing for her gravelly delivery. John McVie wqas reassuringly anonymous – yes, he played the bass and yes, he played it well, but it could have been anyone standing in the corner wearing a flat white cap. Mick Fleetwood was well, Mick Fleetwood. An overly energetic granddad with a white beard and ponytail. Mad as a spoon, but fun and friendly with it. More than any of them, he seemed pleased to be there.
My major gripe was with the sound mixing, particularly earlier in the set, when the rhythm section pretty much obliterated any and all of the harmonies and backing vocals and a couple of times I had to identify the choon from the bass line. It got better, but was never quite right. Some of this is doubtless down to the fact that we were up in the gods, in row Z right at he top, off to one side. That said, for £60+ a ticket I expected better. I blame the venue for that rather than the band, but it did spoil my enjoyment.
The O2 Arena as they like to call it has always had an odd policy regarding bottles (even plastic ones) of water. In preparation we pocketed a couple of spare caps as they have traditionally made you throw them in a bucket and only let you take water into the auditorium in open bottles. No longer. You can no longer take any refreshments in with you, open or sealed. We had to leave an entire unopened bottle of water at the entrance (we were not happy, but hardly in a position to argue), though we could buy beer once inside. Though we didn’t.
This is a poor policy.
Overall, though, a good gig. Three and a half out of five.
Because the band came on half an hour late, they played longer than scheduled, meaning we didn’t get home until after midnight. After a drink of lemon squash and a shower, it meant getting to bed after one in the morning, which is too much for me these days when I have to be up by 7am to get to work. I am fading now as I type this and will be happy to leave the office as close to 5pm as I can manage.
Glad I saw them, but I really wish I’d bought the tickets when I first had the chance. I would have got seats somewhere more central (if not much closer) to the band, where the sound would have been clearer (probably). Nonetheless, glad to have gone.
Funnily enough, I’d had the opportunity to get tickets earlier in the year as I have my phone with O2 and that grants a number of perks, including ‘priority access’ to gigs and other events in O2 sponsored premises. Anyway, at the time I let it pass, but a colleague of Furtle’s found himself with two spare tickets so we decided to tag along.
I don’t know precisely when Christine McVie re-joined the line up, but it’s clearly recently enough for the band to keep mentioning it. Maybe they weren’t allowed to play her songs when she wasn’t with them, thus severely curtailing their repertoire, I don’t know. Whatever, we saw the classic ‘Rumours’ era line up and that was good.
The set majored, unsurprisingly, on the trio of albums, Rumours, Tusk and Tango in the Night, with other material scattered through it. There was nothing that I could identify from the David Green incarnation of the band.
Lindsey Buckingham’s guitar playing was unsurprisingly excellent and he still has a voice good enough for rock. Christine McVie has retained her voice in its entirety and wrote and sang some of their best work. Stevie Nicks was more hit and miss. Some of her vocals were excellent, but she was flat on a couple of numbers, even allowing for her gravelly delivery. John McVie wqas reassuringly anonymous – yes, he played the bass and yes, he played it well, but it could have been anyone standing in the corner wearing a flat white cap. Mick Fleetwood was well, Mick Fleetwood. An overly energetic granddad with a white beard and ponytail. Mad as a spoon, but fun and friendly with it. More than any of them, he seemed pleased to be there.
My major gripe was with the sound mixing, particularly earlier in the set, when the rhythm section pretty much obliterated any and all of the harmonies and backing vocals and a couple of times I had to identify the choon from the bass line. It got better, but was never quite right. Some of this is doubtless down to the fact that we were up in the gods, in row Z right at he top, off to one side. That said, for £60+ a ticket I expected better. I blame the venue for that rather than the band, but it did spoil my enjoyment.
The O2 Arena as they like to call it has always had an odd policy regarding bottles (even plastic ones) of water. In preparation we pocketed a couple of spare caps as they have traditionally made you throw them in a bucket and only let you take water into the auditorium in open bottles. No longer. You can no longer take any refreshments in with you, open or sealed. We had to leave an entire unopened bottle of water at the entrance (we were not happy, but hardly in a position to argue), though we could buy beer once inside. Though we didn’t.
This is a poor policy.
Overall, though, a good gig. Three and a half out of five.
Because the band came on half an hour late, they played longer than scheduled, meaning we didn’t get home until after midnight. After a drink of lemon squash and a shower, it meant getting to bed after one in the morning, which is too much for me these days when I have to be up by 7am to get to work. I am fading now as I type this and will be happy to leave the office as close to 5pm as I can manage.
Glad I saw them, but I really wish I’d bought the tickets when I first had the chance. I would have got seats somewhere more central (if not much closer) to the band, where the sound would have been clearer (probably). Nonetheless, glad to have gone.