Fleetwood Mac

Ziggo Dome
Amsterdam
The Netherlands

7th October 2013 (2013-10-07)


RECORDING:

Type: Audience master, recorded from seat in 2nd row of section 107, slightly
left of centre stage, approximately 35 metres from the overhead PA.

Source: Factory-matched pair of Schoeps CCM 41V microphones (DINa mounted) ->
Marantz PMD661 recorder with Oade Concert Mod
(-18 dB gain/44.1 kHz/24 bit WAV)

Lineage: Audacity 2.0.4
* Amplified right channel by 1.8 dB.
* Applied variable amplification across recording for consistent
listening experience.
* Crossfaded main set with encores.
* Some attenuation of audience noise.
* Added fades.
* Split tracks.
* Converted to 16 bit.
-> FLAC (compression level 8) [libFLAC 1.3.0 20130526]

Taper: Ian Macdonald (ianmacd)


SET LIST:

01. [04:03] Second Hand News
02. [05:19] The Chain
03. [00:29] [banter]
04. [04:42] Dreams
05. [00:51] [banter]
06. [05:09] Sad Angel
07. [05:52] Rhiannon
08. [01:24] [banter]
09. [02:48] Not That Funny
10. [04:56] Tusk
11. [05:08] Sisters Of The Moon
12. [08:01] Sara
13. [01:31] [banter]
14. [04:16] Big Love
15. [00:38] [banter]
16. [04:35] Landslide
17. [05:18] Never Going Back Again
18. [07:14] [banter]
19. [04:35] Without You
20. [05:02] Gypsy
21. [03:28] Eyes Of The World
22. [12:36] Gold Dust Woman
23. [09:29] I'm So Afraid
24. [04:55] Stand Back
25. [06:11] Go Your Own Way
26. [01:59] [encore break]
27. [09:00] World Turning
28. [03:58] [band introduction]
29. [04:35] Don't Stop
30. [02:37] [encore break]
31. [06:28] Silver Springs
32. [01:29] [banter]
33. [04:44] Say Goodbye
34. [00:52] [encore break]
35. [04:32] [banter]

Total running time: 158:57

NOTES:

I wasn't really considering this concert, but the opportunity to purchase a
very good seat for less than face value presented itself on the day of the gig
and I convinced myself that I might be able to get enough out of the
experience for it to warrant my attendance.

At 20:10, 10 minutes after the band were scheduled to come on stage, the three
empty seats to my right are finally filled by a trio of men who, beer in hand,
force the punctual amongst us to stand so that they may pass. As they do so,
they inform us that they will try to limit this kind of disruption during the
show.

Well, that's just great: three selfish wankers who regard music as little more
than the backdrop to their recreational drinking and who are going to be
passing in and out of our row during the show to buy beer. No doubt they won't
be able to keep their traps shut, either.

About five minutes later, Fleetwood Mac come on stage. My God, they look old.
None of us is getting any younger, of course, but a stage full of old-age
pensioners serves to really ram the point home like a pile driver.

Surveying the audience around me, the scene is a celebration of middle-aged
conformism. This is a world where a gurning Mick Fleetwood is considered
eccentric, live music is too loud by definition, and CDs are still considered
a new medium.

But shit, I'm part of this audience, too! I convince myself I'm not like the
rest of them and deftly avoid yet another pang from my ongoing midlife crisis.

I know what's coming tonight, because Fleetwood Mac's 2013 set-list is
chiselled in stone, right down to final encore. However, rather than killing
the surprise, it's precisely this knowledge that has swayed me to be here in
the first place. I do have a soft spot for a number of the Buckingham/Nicks
incarnation of the band's songs and most of those are due for an airing
tonight.

We open à la 'Rumours' with 'Second Hand News' and then it's on into 'The
Chain', a song I grew up thinking of as the Formula One theme. John McVie's
bass sounds good in here tonight, but its unmistakeable hook in this song is
probably the only time tonight that I'll even notice it.

Two of the clowns on my right pick the bridge of 'Rhiannon' as the natural
moment to rise, force all on their left to also stand up, and head out to the
bar for more liquid refreshment. Jesus Christ! They can't even wait until the
end of the song?

Stubborn prick that I am, I remain seated and merely angle my legs to the
right. The two inconsiderate boozers are forced to prise themselves past my
kneecaps, but it keeps the impact on the recording to a minimum. Nevertheless,
if you listen carefully, you'll be able to detect the moment that this takes
place.

What was shaping up to be the 'Rumours' show suddenly changes direction and
turns into the 'Tusk' show, with four songs from that album. The title track
forms a gig highlight for me, the song packing a punch that few others this
evening will equal. It's not the band's best composition, but it's performed
with gusto and sounds great here this evening.

'Sisters Of The Moon' forms the cue for the third and final drinker on my
right to exit section 107 to join his friends, who -- bless their warped sense
of priority -- never return. If they had turned out to like alcohol and music
in roughly equal measures, they'd have been back and forth all evening, so I'm
thankful that the booze is apparently more important to them.

'Sara' is another show highlight for me. Although it could easily be dismissed
as just another middle-of-the-road, saccharine ballad, I've always been
enchanted by Stevie Nicks' plaintive, melancholic delivery of this song.

Lindsey Buckingham performs a solo rendition of 'Big Love' next. His
guitar-picking style is phenomenal to behold. The flurry of notes boggles the
mind, but the overwrought vocals combine with the frenetic guitar to overwhelm
the song in this format. An exhibition of brilliant, idiosyncratic guitar, it
may well be, but the net effect doesn't really work for me.

The song 'Without You' has quite some history to it and Stevie Nicks is eager
to share it with us. As she regales us with the story, she takes on-stage
banter to a new level, rambling for a good seven minutes on the course of
events that led to this song's place in tonight's set-list.

It's too much. The story can't bear the burden of the time taken to tell it
and a crucial rule in the art of live performance is invisibly, but obviously
violated. This could have been condensed into a couple of minutes.

The impatience in the house is palpable and I feel myself becoming slightly
embarrassed on Nicks' behalf. When the song finally materialises, it comes as
a great relief to all.

'I'm So Afraid' is the scene of some good, old-fashioned guitar heroics from
Buckingham. It borders on self-parody for me, but is impressive nonetheless.

The main set bows out on the crowd-pleasing, rabble-rousing 'Go Your Own Way'.
It's a great finish, but merely a charade, of course. This is old-school rock
'n' roll and we have the well-worn performance cliché known as the encore to
contend with first.

With my recorder's display ticking past the two hour mark, this is my
opportunity to insert a new set of batteries. I fumble my way around the
machine in the dark, boot up and start rolling again. All in all, about a
minute's worth of cheering has been lost to the ether. I think we'll all live.

And speaking of clichés, next up, during 'World Turning', comes the grandest
musical faux pas of them all: the dreaded drum solo.

It doesn't help that Mick Fleetwood is merely competent, not spectacular.
There's just not that much to see and it doesn't sound impressive, either; but
then again, it's an extremely rare drum solo that does.

They've got Fleetwood triggering vocal samples to make it sound more
interesting, but it comes across like a choppy 80s 12" remix of some
long-lost, disposable pop tune. Nevertheless, the crowd lap it up, dutifully
responding to Fleetwood's bellows from behind the kit.

After the introduction of the band and the back-up musicians, things
drastically improve with 'Don't Stop', despatching us into the second encore
break.

The show is starting to feel very long in the tooth at this point. I'm not the
only one who thinks so, either. There's a steady trickle of people towards the
doors, all of whom are no doubt hoping they can beat the crowds to the
cloakroom or be the first in line for the exit barrier of the car-park.

It's not just that the show is sagging a little under its own weight; it
speaks volumes about the audience, too. For some, a gig like this is no
different than going out to eat in their local restaurant. You order a meal,
consume what you want and leave the rest. Like so many other things in modern
society, the experience is eminently disposable and as casually discarded as
the innumerable plastic Heineken glasses that litter the floor of the arena.

'Silver Springs' is followed by the final song of the evening, the lyrically
appropriate 'Say Goodbye'. It's a dull choice to conclude the proceedings and
the fact that the house lights slowly come up during the first half of the
song certainly doesn't help. The indifferent chatter of thousands of
distracted punters creates a hubbub that rises above the music, a phenomenon
more commonly associated with a reluctantly endured support act than with a
band one has paid EUR 75 to come and see.

Someone gets a clue at the halfway point and kills the house lights. People
continue to trickle out of the venue, but at least the scene no longer
resembles the fizzling end of a gigantic wedding reception.

The song ends and so, presumably, does the gig. But wait; there's more.

Stevie Nicks addresses the crowd. The very end of a show, after the final note
has been played and people have started to leave en masse, is an extremely
unorthodox moment to choose for anything more involved than a final thank-you,
but that's nevertheless what we get.

Nicks' heartfelt gratitude to the audience wanders haplessly into a
sentimental minefield when she informs us that we are, in fact,
"dream-catchers". On the off-chance that there's still a toe left uncurled in
the house, she then plants both feet squarely on top of a cringe-bomb by
telling us to "go home, wake up in the morning and write on a little piece of
paper that 'Stevie says I am extraordinary'".

Stevie's American, in case you didn't know. Bless her.

Mick Fleetwood then goes on to express yet more gratitude to us. He explains
that the band are doing what they love to do and wouldn't be able to do it
without us. Well, no shit.

I'm obviously not a huge fan of the band, but I've had a good time tonight. I
had a great seat, the sound was excellent and I paid less for the experience
than most people here.

The recording reflects the great sound of the concert and should be a delight
for any fan of the band. Samples are provided in the comments to allow you to
verify this yourself.

Images for all shows as well as full size images for this show.

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