By MATT RILKOFF - Taranaki Daily News
Last updated 10:28 20/12/2009
Just as the rain kept falling the hits kept coming at Fleetwood Mac's sold out New Plymouth concert last night.
Unashamedly playing their most popular songs the supergroup had taken to the stage 15 minutes earlier than scheduled and managed to avoid the rain for that long.
The heaving crowd of nearly 18,000, one of the biggest ever seen at the Bowl of Brooklands venue, took the weather in their stride and let out a roar of approval to the opening lines of The Chain, the second song of the set.
"Well it's taken us a long time to get back here. I think it's been 25 years,'' said singer Stevie Nicks. "That being said I think we should just get this party started."
But it already was.
The hits Rhiannon, Landslide and Go Your Own Way kept adding to a thrilling momentum that threatened to derail in a tangled mess of middle-aged dance moves by the time Don't Stop was played as the second encore song.
The gig, which was the first of only two New Zealand concerts and the last in a 10 month world tour, pulled in people from all over the country.
More than half of the crowd in New Plymouth for the night had travelled there from outside of Taranaki.
Accommodation in the city had been booked out for months and despite hundreds of locals putting up visitors in their spare rooms and garages, many concert goers spent the night in their cars.
Others like Andy Blair of Taupo had no other choice but to drive home when the show finished at 10.30pm last night.
"It was worth it though,'' she said.
Drummer and founding member Mick Fleetwood gave the fans two pieces of advice to take away.
"Take care of yourself and more importantly take care and be kind to those around you in this crazy world we live in. We love you and remember the Mac will be back'' he said.
FLEETWOOD MAC DELIVERS
"We have had a ball."
Mick Fleetwood spoke for 36,000 fans and the city of New Plymouth when he said goodbye for the 83rd time on the final concert of their 10-month Unleashed tour last night.
However, guitarist and singer Lindsey Buckingham hinted there was more to come.
"New Zealand, thank you so much for making our last show so great. We absolutely loved it. You were an absolute pleasure. We will see you next time," he said.
However, when next time will be was left hanging.
Whether they come back or not, the supergroup has left everyone satisfied for now.
Fleetwood Mac could not put a foot wrong during their two concerts at New Plymouth's picturesque Bowl of Brooklands on Saturday and last night.
Hardly a shower touched last night's crowd at the Bowl for the second concert by the much-loved supergroup.
By comparison Saturday's fans got soaked, but neither group would have traded places for the world.
Wet and dry, fans revelled in being so close to the music heard in so many of their memories.
From the first song Monday Morning those who hoped to sit through the concert realised it was hopeless.
As a mass the crowd rose and for the next 2 1/2-hours bounced, swayed and cheered with the energy pouring from the stage.
Between the big hits like Gypsy, Rhiannon and Landslide guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and singer Steve Nicks reflected on their own successes, excesses and the relationships that kept the band gravitating towards each other through all the turmoil.
"Something you will notice is we take breaks, sometimes long breaks," said Buckingham, in reference to the on-again off-again relationship the band members share.
"But each time we come back it's something different."
Although not so different their fans didn't drift into a pleasant fog of nostalgia. For the many baby-boomers it was a chance to relive their 20s and dust-off the dance moves that still embarrass their offspring, who themselves knew the music from their childhood.
For everyone in between, the songs were soundtracks to memories they would never forget.
Sue Greenville of Te Aroha proudly declared the group her favourite of all time.
The fact the voices of Nicks and Buckingham lacked the raw power of old was never going to detract from her experience.
"It was absolutely fantastic. I knew every single one of the songs and loved every minute of it. It was really, really cool," she said.
The concert was her first time at the Bowl of Brooklands and if Fleetwood Mac came back, as Mick Fleetwood hinted they might do, so would she. And from the rumbling cheers the opening bars of each song were met with, it is unlikely she would be alone.
Although their 10-month world tour finished last night, from the way all the individual group members revelled in the experience it is unlikely the band members will go their separate ways.
Early in the set Buckingham spoke of how much they were enjoying the tour.
"There is none of the pressure of promoting a new album because there is no new album to promote. Yet," he said.
That they were having fun was plain to see, even from the very back of the Bowl where the on-stage antics were best watched on the two large video screens on each side of the stage.
Fleetwood's energetic drumming and vast array of facial expressions were beaten in enthusiasm only by Buckingham's near crazed strutting guitar solos which belied his age and expected hip strength.
For many it was Nicks who stole the show with her many changes of costume, her high heeled prancing and otherworldly dance style.
Despite the Bowl hosting one of the biggest crowds ever, there was little trouble to speak of.
BOWL SHOW IN TOP 5
Veteran Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham declared Saturday's New Plymouth concert as one of the five all-time top shows of his career.
That gig was the first of two the supergroup played at the TSB Bowl of Brooklands in New Plymouth at the weekend.
More than 36,000 people attended the concerts and all walked away with the memory of an energetic band still full of melodic power after more then 40 years in the business.
Fleetwood Mac promoter Andrew McManus said the whole band was more than impressed with the venue and the crowd's enthusiasm.
"Stevie [Nicks] knew the venue from playing last time and when I spoke to the band after the show they were just glowing."
He said he received a text message from Buckingham yesterday morning which said it all.
"It said it was one of the top five shows he has played in his career – and he has played a lot of shows."
And the persistent rain during Saturday's show did little to put the band off. In fact, they said it added to act. During the short time Fleetwood Mac was in New Plymouth Mick Fleetwood took his family out and about while Nicks took the day to rest, Mr McManus said.
"Stevie is a professional, she always says `I've got an instrument which 17,000 people are paying to hear and I need to protect it'. So she rests in her suite and doesn't talk."
As for rumours this is Fleetwood Mac's final world tour it won't be if Mr McManus has anything to do with it.
He said Buckingham was writing new material and another album, coupled with another world tour, could be in the works. "And if they do tour and New Plymouth is not on the itinerary then I will be having a serious talk with them," Mr McManus laughed. "Mick and John [McVie] just love touring, they love being on the road and Mick has just been nominated for a Grammy in the jazz section.
"Stevie is the key and I would love to think they could all work together again and be on the road in two or three years.
"This is the third show I have brought to New Plymouth and the venue is just world-class," he said.
"It is the ambience and the acoustics that make it work. We have played a lot of bowl venues where the acoustics just swirl around. It's amazing really."
He says the success of the Fleetwood Mac shows has opened the floodgates for other promoters to bring artists to New Plymouth.
"The band's enjoyment is important and at the bowl all the boxes were ticked."
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