Fleetwood Mac: It Was A Night For Celebration

----------------------------------------------------------------- Concert review

Fleetwood Mac, Saturday night at the Tacoma Dome. -----------------------------------------------------------------

TACOMA - All is forgiven.

Fleetwood Mac didn't look or sound like the splintered band it had been for so long. It was as if all the past acrimonies, romantic entanglements, financial disasters and drug horrors that had plagued the superstar group for so long had never existed. All the bad stuff fell away and all that mattered was the music.

If there was one moment in the nearly two-hour show that epitomized the new era of sweetness and light it was when Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham - former lovers who had long been at odds - hugged each other tenderly after performing an especially touching "Landslide."

Better than recording

Performing the song close together on stage, Nicks' singing was as strong and emotional as ever, and Buckingham's guitar accompaniment was even better than that on the original hit recording.

Another moment that showed that Fleetwood Mac was back came when Mick Fleetwood - still the tallest and skinniest drummer in rock - performed a good old-fashioned drum solo, concluding with his roaming the stage "playing" his vest, which had synthesized drum pads all over it, played with his hands and fingers. He may be gray and balding, but he showed he could still wail, just as he did in the band's heyday 20 years ago.

As always, Nicks was the focal point whenever she was on stage. She did not waver a bit from her gypsy image, even after all the jokes and ridicule. She twirled in a fringed golden cape at the end of "Gold Dust Woman," arms outstretched, rhinestone bracelets glittering on her wrists and her blond hair flowing. Under the cape she wore a fringed black dress that looked like lingerie, with a revealing, plunging neckline.

After singing her trademark song "Gypsy," she remarked, "There's a houseful of gypsies here tonight." She must've spied some of the Stevie Nicks wannabees in the crowd, dressed and made up just like her (only most of them were in their 20s). Nicks apparently is still a fashion icon.

The most supercharged member of the reunited lineup was Buckingham, who obviously kept his chops up during the seven years or so that the band was largely inactive, prior to its reunion earlier this year. Always the best musician in the band, he threw himself into his performances, almost to the point of being scary.

Plenty of intensity

He seemed to ravage his throat singing his intense songs, "I'm So Afraid" and "My Little Demon." His guitar playing was impressive throughout, but especially his searing solos during "Afraid," "Big Love" and "Bleed to Love Her."

And let us not forget Christine McVie, always the most normal and most stable member (and thus the least noticed). Looking elegant, as always, behind her black, shiny grand piano, she added greatly to the harmonies and sang, in a voice unchanged over the years, "Everywhere," "You Make Loving Fun" and "Sugar Daddy."

The concert resembled the band's new live comeback album, "The Dance," a mix of classics and new songs, but also was much richer, with almost twice as many numbers.

Many of the band's classics were represented, including "Rhiannon," "Don't Stop," "The Chain," "Dreams, "Say You Love Me" and "Go Your Own Way."

Others on stage

The five band members were augmented by five additional musicians, including two guitarists/keyboardists, two female backup singers and a percussionist.

The show sputtered at first, with some sour harmonies during the second song, "Dream." Nicks went over and huddled with the two backup singers, and everything went smoothly after that.

The evening had a celebratory feeling, with the worshipful, largely middle-age audience applauding and cheering every chance it got.