July 5, 1977 review: Fleetwood Mac and Kenny Loggins at the Aud

 


Fleetwood Mac at their absolute max. “Dreams” had just given them their first and only Number One single and their popularity was so immense that their one sold-out show at Memorial Auditorium wound up turning into two.

July 5, 1977

‘Mac’ Is Memorable

In Two Super Sellouts

          “This is a song about a witch.” Stevie Nicks murmured it into the mike, still saying it a year after “Rhiannon” went Number One, talking over the tawny riff of Lindsey Buckingham’s guitar intro.

          She was all flowing black and she stood absolutely still as the music rose into the first verse. She sang it with her arms folded under a pair of sheer black scarves: “Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night/ And wouldn’t you love to love her …”

          The spotlight illuminated half her face and most of the frizzy blonde abandon of her hair. This song, more than any other, burned the vamp image of Stevie Nicks into the libidos of all the young men in the 14,000-seat double sell-out in Memorial Auditorium Saturday and Sunday nights.

          Nicks and Buckingham, who came aboard Fleetwood Mac about two years ago, have stepped right to the front of the band. The nucleus of the group, the former Mr. and Mrs. John and Christine McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood, functioned like backup.

          And what great backup. You couldn’t ask for better support. There’s Fleetwood’s brilliant, improbable shuffle, John McVie’s bass pinning it down and Christine providing a cushion for Buckingham with fat organ tones and a  breather for Nicks by singing her own tunes, like “Oh Daddy” and “Over My Head.”

* * *

IN THE FACE of such superlative sobriety, Buckingham and Nicks sometimes seemed excessive. One pictured Nicks as the Theda Bara of rock and roll. And Buckingham matched his neatly-honed guitar licks with every facial contortion in the book. By the time the firecracker-dotted double encore came, he was overplaying.

          The buzzing allure of Nicks’ fragile voice held up through “Rhiannon,” but she had a narrow escape in “Landslide” as her throat cracked on the last note before the instrumental break.

          She got extra cheers for her recovery. Saturday, she’d done all right, it was reported, but those on the tour acknowledged she could be a lot stronger. After singing in the first encore of “The Chain,” she watched the second one – Buckingham doing “Second Hand News” and Christine’s “Songbird.”

* * *

KENNY LOGGINS, on his first solo tour since separating from longtime partner Jim Messina, recovered from less-than-perfect sound Saturday night with a sound check and rehearsal Sunday. Good strategy, since this was his third date opening for Fleetwood Mac, and it paid off.

          Loggins, the bandleader, in gold velvet drawstring pants and velvet hooded sweatshirt, luxuriated in the punch and fullness of his seven-man aggregation.

          His Irish tenor was in fine fettle and he jumped about, leading handclapping and singalongs whenever he moved from his new numbers to the old ones he did with Messina, like “House at Pooh Corner,” “Love Song” and “Danny’s Song.” His finale was a powerful “Angry Eyes” and the encore a triumphant “Vahevala.”

          Loggins, speaking backstage, indicated that the next year will make or break him as a solo artist. From the looks of Sunday night’s show, he’s going to make it.

* * * * *

IN THE PHOTO: Fleetwood Mac in performance June 1, 1977, in Atlanta.

* * * * *

FOOTNOTE: Fleetwood Mac was two months into the first part of the second leg of their massive “Rumours” tour when they hit Memorial Auditorium. Here’s what they played, according to setlist.fm, although the review suggests there was more to the encore.

Say You Love Me

Monday Morning

Dreams

Oh Well

Rhiannon

Oh Daddy

Never Going Back Again

Landslide

Over My Head

Gold Dust Woman

You Make Loving Fun

I’m So Afraid

Go Your Own Way

World Turning

Blue Letter

Second Hand News

The Chain

(encore)

Songbird

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