Fleetwood Mac Scotiabank Arena, Toronto
After 51 years, Fleetwood Mac are still pop’s biggest soap opera. The latest episode finds one of the main characters, Lindsey Buckingham, being sacked by the others (among them an ex of his).
He responds by suing them for $14 million, the amount he says he would have made from this tour, which I caught in Canada (it arrives at Wembley Stadium on June 16 next year).
On stage, Buckingham isn’t mentioned, but he does receive a compliment: two men are required to replace him. His role as the band’s only male singer goes to Neil Finn from Crowded House. In a blatant bid to add some youthful energy, Fleetwood Mac have sent for a 60-year-old.
They still have Stevie Nicks (now 70, above) dancing with her scarf, Christine McVie (75) relishing her comeback from retirement in rural Kent, and John McVie hiding under a white cap
Finn might be the oldest new recruit ever to join a great group, were it not for Buckingham’s other successor – Mike Campbell, ace guitarist with Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers, at 68. The $14 million question is whether all this makes Fleetwood Mac a different band. The answer is yes and no.
They still play almost all the hits you’re hoping for, though personally I miss the beautiful shimmer of Sara.
They still have Stevie Nicks (now 70) dancing with her scarf, Christine McVie (75) relishing her comeback from retirement in rural Kent, and John McVie hiding under a white cap. They still find room for a drum solo by Mick Fleetwood that is so reliably awful that every- one else abandons the stage.
The song Neil Finn (above) brings from Crowded House, Don’t Dream It’s Over, is less of a fit but more of a treat. ‘This is a song of unity,’ Finn says, and he shows it with a meltingly simple rendition
But some things have changed. Finn brings an airier voice than Buckingham, and a far warmer presence: he looks thrilled to be there. Campbell nails the solos without hogging the limelight, as Buckingham tended to do. The one song he brings from the Heartbreakers, Free Fallin’, slots right in, with Nicks lending a woozy sadness to her friend Tom Petty’s lines.
The song Finn brings from Crowded House, Don’t Dream It’s Over, is less of a fit but more of a treat. ‘This is a song of unity,’ Finn says, and he shows it with a meltingly simple rendition, just him and his acoustic guitar and 18,000 people singing ‘Hey now, hey now’. It’s the highlight of the night, which is saying something.
Just behind are several tracks from Rumours, Fleetwood Mac’s masterpiece, currently spending its 756th week in the UK album chart. Dreams, Go Your Own Way and Don’t Stop can make you swoon while also impressing you all over again with their meticulous carpentry. ‘Yesterday’s gone,’ we all yell. Not yet it hasn’t.
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
The Beatles The Beatles (aka the ‘White Album’) Out now
Rating: 
I recommend the triple CD, which includes rough drafts of Hey Jude, Let It Be and John Lennon’s Jealous Guy
The Beatles have done it again. After celebrating Sgt Pepper’s 50th with a glossy box set and a discreet remix by Giles Martin, they’re giving its successor the same treatment. To the ‘White Album’, a golden jubilee.
It comes not just as a double LP but a triple CD, a quadruple LP and six CDs plus a Blu-ray disc. I recommend the triple, which includes rough drafts of Hey Jude, Let It Be and John Lennon’s Jealous Guy.
Martin, son of the great Sir George, has become a restorer of old masters. He has the skill, and the sang-froid, to enhance a ramshackle classic.
The variety is still astonishing, from Sexy Sadie to Bungalow Bill, from the frenzy of Paul McCartney’s Helter Skelter to the grandeur of George Harrison’s While My Guitar Gently Weeps. There’s Paul being political on Blackbird, and John baring his soul with Julia.
In the out-takes you witness The Beatles’ grumbles and giggles, their fraternal ease and friction – but above all their creativity. If it wasn’t for Pepper, this album would be seen as their most Beatleish.
THIS WEEK’S CD RELEASES
By Adam Woods
Mumford & Sons Delta Out Friday
Rating: 
The folky superstars’ third album, Wilder Mind, swerved off into electric rock, and Delta swerves only halfway back – still thoughtful and prone to artfully textured brooding, but not averse to a big crescendo and haunting old-time harmonies
Muse Simulation Theory Out now
Rating:
The Devon-born power trio are on engagingly concise form for their eighth album, having fun with Daft Punk-style vintage synth sounds while fretting flamboyantly about virtual reality and mind control. They never fail to sound like Muse, though
Mark Knopfler Down The Road Wherever Out Friday
Rating:
His ninth solo album buffs up all the Knopfler essentials: virtuosic playing, heart-tugging character sketches, brushes with the blues and late-night jazz, and a nod back to early Dire Straits, that luminous electric guitar sound and all