fleetwood mac live review photo

Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow | Fleetwood Mac Live Review | Amalie Arena Tampa | December 20 2014

by • December 25, 2014

It was a three-hours-long coming back party for keyboardist Christine McVie disguised as a sold-out concert. Sure, it’s not necessarily brand new news that she’s been back—it happened near the start of this year, after all—but when you’re an integral member of Fleetwood Mac who decides to come back into the fold after 16 years, it stands to reason everyone is going to end up a little giddy.

Maybe that’s the exact reason why things sounded as good as they did last Sunday in Tampa. Honestly, the band could do no wrong. Nobody in the filled arena was unsatisfied.

fleetwood mac live review photo

My friend Gabe leaned over halfway through the festivities and said something to this effect: “I have the feeling that, if they stopped things right now, if they up and left the stage and didn’t come back, everybody here would be just fine.” I couldn’t help but agree.

How’s this for a powerful beginning? “The Chain” was followed by “You Make Loving Fun” and those got followed by “Dreams,” “Second Hand News” and “Rhiannon” (setlist here). If you didn’t already love the band before you got to the show, you left realizing just how many songs are forever embedded into the grooves of your brain (whether you knew it or not). That greatest hits parade of tunes cascaded on, too, without much allowance for a bathroom break. There was no opener. There wasn’t even an intermission in the space of three hours. Just song after song, a couple dozen in all.

All-time favorite moments? Here are a few wandering round my head. Lindsey Buckingham on stage, all by himself, singing a slowed-down, acoustic version of “Never Going Back Again” for one. Everything about “Gold Dust Woman.” Everything. Singing out loud (and loudly) to “Second Hand News” and feeling totally unabashed about doing so. Stevie’s seemingly off-the-cuff stories. Christine’s gentle gratefulness in being so warmly welcomed back. And so on.

It’s hard to consider there being very many bands like Fleetwood Mac 30 years from now. They’ve lived the rock ‘n roll lifestyle, enjoyed it, suffered from it, and kept right on going. We grew up as they grew up, singing their songs as often as the radio played them, trying to keep up with their behind-the-scenes history as it chaotically unfolded.

There will likely never be another voice and personality quite like Stevie Nicks. Few will ever match the enigmatic guitar-playing prowess that Lindsey Buckingham displays. Christine McVie is the gentlest of songbirds. Mick Fleetwood is equal amounts of fun and crazy (those bugged-out wide eyes will prove that statement). As for John McVie? He’s as steady as they come.

Maybe there needn’t be anybody quite like Fleetwood Mac, just as long as they don’t ever quite go away, just so long as they continue bravely forward.

fleetwood mac live review photo

Once the band closed shop, my friend Gabe and I wandered Tampa’s streets and found ourselves at The Hub Bar, almost on accident. We went inside and were treated to our second step back in time of the evening.

The Cadillac Bombers and The WildTones were taking turns singing and playing behind old-fashioned microphones. If you closed your eyes, you heard Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly and more. Rockabilly girls were swing dancing. It was as surprisingly bizarre as it was welcomed. What is it they say about how life’s best accidents aren’t necessarily accidents, not even in the least? We stuck around until the lights came on and were told we needed to leave, the bands treating us to live music right up until that same moment. It was perfect, where we needed to be even.

The Cadillac Bombers Live Review Photo

By the way, Fleetwood Mac will be a whole lot closer for their next Florida visit, right in our own backyard. Check them out when they land at Amway on March 23. This is a band whose songs and members have not dulled with time. They are brilliant stars that have brightened. Fleetwood Mac sounds just as good and warm as all the memories you have for them.

Fleetwood Mac Live Review by Dainon Moody.

Fleetwood Mac Live Photos by Brian Schanck.


▼ SHOWS TO GO TO ▼

LIVE-NATION---BOTTOM-GIF-031324

 


Thanks to our Sponsors, Kingfish Records in Clearwater, FL!

Kingfish Records Ad


Check out our South Florida SIGT Website! 

Shows I Go To South Florida Giveaway, Reviews, Photos, and more


Please support our friends who support us! Tell them Shows I Go To sends love! 🙂

Recommended Posts